Pitch – Scratched

By starrymag | December 6, 2016

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

As the sports world speculates over a possible Mike Lawson (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) trade, he receives a phone call from the Chicago Cubs. They are thrilled that he has waived his no trade clause and ask him about his World Series ring size. Though Lawson isn’t enthused with the idea, the Cubs tell him that they want to work out a deal that will get him to Chicago in two days. Ginny Baker (Kylie Bunbury) asks him if there’s truth to the rumors and the sports anchors report that Lawson’s trade will be unpopular among the Padres fan base.

 

Ginny pitches in a motion capture suit for the MLB video game and Noah Casey (Tyler Hilton) flirts with her as he gives her instructions. Amelia Slater (Ali Larter) and Will Baker (B.J. Britt) discuss Ginny as they watch the motion capture. Casey asks Ginny out and Elliot (Tim Jo) tells Ginny that he is a billionaire pioneer in the motion capture industry. She turns Casey down, saying that her life is too hectic at the moment to go on a date.

 

Later, Ginny goes to dinner at Blip Sanders (Mo McRae) and Evelyn Sander’s (Meagan Holder) house and discusses Lawson’s prospective trade with Blip. At dinner, Evelyn is surprised that Ginny turned Casey down and Blip tells Ginny that she needs to get some. Will shows Ginny the menu for his and Evelyn’s sports bar and Ginny is surprised that he is moving so quickly on opening it. Blip questions Will’s food industry experience, but decides to invest in the business with some convincing from Evelyn. In her hotel room, Ginny turns off the television as the anchors continue to speculate about Lawson. Ginny receives a text from Casey with an animated version of himself asking her out.

 

The next day, Lawson receives applause from the staff as he walks into the stadium. Amelia asks him about the rumors and Lawson denies the trade. Amelia sees right through him and urges him to tell Ginny the truth. Charlie Graham (Kevin Connolly) tries to convince Oscar Arguella (Mark Consuelos) that the Lawson trade is good for the team. Oscar tells him that the fans will be angry with the trade, but Graham insists that he cares more about winning than sentimental fanfare. Lawson comes in and Oscar fills him in on the status of the trade. Though he is not happy about leaving, he requests Oscar and Graham to keep the details quiet until the trade is done.

 

Amelia is surprised that Will and Evelyn are moving so quickly on the sports bar and is concerned when Ginny tells her that she wrote a check for the business. She tells Amelia that she will always have her brother’s back. In the locker room, she finds her cleats nailed down. When she asks her teammates who is responsible, they tell her that pranks don’t begin until the rookies come up in September. Ginny realizes that the person who pulled the prank won’t be on the team then and goes after Lawson.

 

Natalie Luongo (Sarah Shahi) comes up to Oscar and tells him that she just got back from having lunch with her father, Al Luongo (Dan Lauria). She tells him that her father is not happy with the potential trade and lets him know that she has been offered a permanent position elsewhere. Oscar asks her to stay in San Diego with him. Ginny confronts Lawson about the trade and attempts to convince him to stay in San Diego and win a world series with them.

 

Oscar talks to Luongo and Buck Garland (Jack McGee) about Livan Duarte (Christian Ochoa) and Luongo tells him that he’s worried about his progress without Lawson’s guidance. Luongo asks Buck to leave the room and tells Oscar that he knows about his relationship with Natalie. He expresses his concerns about the relationship and Oscar fails at reassuring him. Ginny decides to take Casey up on his offer and agrees to go out with him.

 

As the game begins, Amelia approaches Evelyn and tells her that she is worried about Will and Ginny’s blind spot for him. However, she brushes her off and affirms her commitment to the business. Ginny tells Blip about her frustrations with Lawson’s trade and Blip tells her that he’s doing what he believes is best for him. Ginny eggs Lawson on as he is taking batting practice and he hits several home runs to the cheers of the fans. Graham and Oscar negotiate the trade and the Cub GM asks for Lawson to be taken out of the lineup to avoid injury. Despite Oscar’s objections, Graham doesn’t want to ruin the potential deal. Lawson is angry to find out that he has been scratched from the lineup and Luongo tells him that there’s nothing he can do.

 

Lawson is furious as he watches the game from the dugout. Eliot asks Amelia to try and deal with the problem his way and she agrees. She apologizes to them, but is furious that it accomplishes nothing. Duarte scores a run, but Luongo is angry that he ignored the third base coach and continued to run. After seeing how frustrated Lawson is, Ginny encourages him to put on a batting helmet and signals the cameraman to turn the camera towards the dugout. Despite Luongo’s objections, the crowd starts chanting Lawson’s name and he comes in to pinch hit. Graham is angry that Lawson is in the game, but Oscar tells him he doesn’t care what he thinks. Lawson misses the first ball, hits a foul ball on the second pitch and then strikes out – ending the game. The fans give him a standing ovation and he does a curtain call for them.

 

In the locker room, Ginny assures Lawson that the last pitch should have been a ball and tells him that he is going to be great in Chicago. Blip criticizes him for not saying goodbye to the team and tells Lawson that he would do things differently if he were leaving. Duarte comes over and shakes Lawson’s hand. Lawson criticizes his refusal to listen to the third base coach and tells him that he needs to be a team player. Luongo confronts Natalie about her relationship with Oscar. After Oscar comes in, Luongo defends his decision to put Lawson in and Oscar insists that he’s on his side. Natalie criticizes both of them and tells them to start listening to each other before announcing that she is taking an international job. Luongo and Oscar talk about the game and come to an understanding.

 

Ginny meets Casey for their date and he tells her that she can order anything she wants. After she orders, she asks Casey for advice on investing in a restaurant. He tells her to not invest, as the majority of restaurants fail. Plus, he adds never to mix business with family or friends. Meanwhile, Evelyn shows Will a discrepancy in the spreadsheet and Will tells her that he has a separate ledger for promotion and that he spent some of the money on kitchen equipment without telling her. She is suspicious about the dishonesty, but Will assures her that everything will be fine. As Ginny enjoys her date, she gets a text from Lawson asking to meet for a drink. Ginny tells Casey that she needs to go and leaves the restaurant.

 

Arriving at the bar, Ginny sees Lawson sitting alone. She asks where everyone else is and tells him that she left a date to be here. They drink together and Lawson tells her that the trade is going through. She tells him that his teammates don’t want him to leave and Lawson asks how she feels. She admits that she’s conflicted because she wants him to win the World Series and Lawson tells her that he will miss her. After joking around, Lawson tells her that he has an early flight the next day.

 

Evelyn calls Amelia and asks for her help and Oscar hammers out the rest of the trade details with Graham. Oscar tells Graham that he doesn’t want to trade Lawson, as the team needs him. Ginny’s car arrives, but before she gets in Lawson stops her and admits to nailing her cleats down. They hug for a long time and nearly kiss before Lawson gets a call from Oscar. After Lawson speaks to him, he informs Ginny that the trade fell through and that he’s staying in San Diego.