Bottom of the ninth, down by two, two outs, tying run at the plate … stop me if you’ve heard this before.

This time, though, there would be no magic in the bottle, no matter how eerily similar the situation became.

Things started out beautifully. Three runs in the first should have been a little breathing room for Tyler Lyons, who was looking to bounce back from a less-than-stellar outing in his previous start. The good vibes, though, didn’t last long. With two outs in the top of the second inning, the bottle of rookie magic ran dry. Lyons gave up three runs on two hits and two walks. He was charged with a fourth run after Joe Kelly scrambled in to relieve him, but gave a base hit that scored an inherited runner.

To state the obvious, going 1 2/3 with four runs on three hits, three walks and a strike out didn’t help his rotation case. In fact, Mike Shannon said something about the midnight train to Memphis.

Good thing Joe Kelly’s still around. (Yes, believe it or not, he is.) He came in and threw five complete innings, giving up five hits and striking out three. Basically, he validated the “long reliever” title by doing exactly what a long reliever should … and then some.

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