Smirnoff Wild Grape leaves a bad taste in your mouth

The last time I went to Miller Park I picked up a six pack of Smirnoff Wild Grape for my brother, Nick. He doesn’t drink beer. I don’t really understand it but I know plenty of cool people who don’t like beer so I was happy to pick up something for him that he likes. He ended up being our sober cab that night so he didn’t drink other than the two he had in the parking lot before the game. Four of these bottles were left in my cooler and eventually ended up in my ‘fridge.

Because we were out of beer, and I like to enjoy an ice cold beverage while I watch the Brewers, I decided to try one of the Smirnoffs. The first sip wasn’t bad. It tasted like a cross between grape soda and a Smartie. After drinking about a third of it, I decided it was terrible.

“This is gross,” I told Seth. He urged me to stop drinking and dump it out. “But I can’t. I opened it so I should finish it,” I said. For some reason, I felt the need to finish it. I'm not a quitter. I choked it down vowing to never drink another one ever again.

This game had to be choked down, too. The first sip wasn’t bad. It was scoreless after one. But then Jim Edmonds unloaded on a 2-1 pitch in the second inning to give the Reds a lead they would never relinquish. A second Reds run scored in the second inning on a Chris Heisey bloop single. Bloop hits by the opposing team make me feel empty inside.

The Reds tacked on two additional runs, both unearned, in the third inning. With one out, Orlando Cabrera hit a shot at Prince Fielder that hit his glove and skipped through his legs. After getting the second out, Chris Dickeson slipped while going back on a fly ball and it landed for a double for Scott Rolen, scoring Cabrera. Rolen would score on a single by Cairo.

The Brewers were equally ineffective on offense for most the game, hitting into four double plays. Milwaukee collected only two hits in the first five innings and both were erased on double plays. The Brewers scored their first run of the game on a double play ball from Mat Gamel in the sixth.

This game was looking like a big bottle of Smirnoff Wild Grape until the bottom on the ninth when Milwaukee staged a little rally. With two on and two out, Casey McGehee singled to right. The single ended up scoring two runs when Jay Bruce misplayed the ball in the outfield and Cordero made a throwing error. The comeback died, however, when Carlos Gomez struck out.

Ugh. I can still taste that grape soda-Smartie-like thing. Gross.

Reds 4, Brewers 3
Game played 9-21-10