I darted over to the back fields for an hour to watch Mike Hampton throw his simulated game. Overall he threw very free and easy and seemed to have good velocity. He called it a "good workout without having to stress the legs too much." He felt good enough to say that he looks forward to pitching on his usual turn in five days.

He threw four simulated innings with Clint Sammons as his catch and Roger McDowell and Bobby Cox looking on. The coaches - Perez, Cadahia, Snitker, Pendleton - were playing the outfield. The batters he faced were Javy Lopez, Scott Thorman, Brayan Pena, and Gregor Blanco. Here is the simulated play by play:

First Inning
Lopez - ground ball to third, one out
Thorman - pop out to third, two outs
Pena - broken bat grounder to third, three outs
Hampton threw 14 pitches in the first

Second Inning
Blanco - ground ball to shortstop on the first pitch, one out
Lopez - fly out to left field (in which Eddie Perez tried to make a diving catch for, but missed - they unofficially called it an error on Perez)
Thorman - He got hit in the upper back by Hampton's third pitch, but being a simulated game, they kept going. Thor then flew out to center field, two outs
Pena - ground ball to short, three outs
Hampton threw 15 pitches in the second

Third Inning
Blanco - fly out to left, one out
Lopez - fly out to deep left-center, two outs
Thorman - grounder to second, some may have called this a hit (since the inning kept going). This also gave Hampton a chance to work out of the stretch
Pena - ground ball to second, three outs
Hampton threw 17 pitches in the third

Fourth Inning
Blanco - All the reporters were fairly certain that Blanco struck out on four strikes - essentially striking out twice
Lopez - he got absolutely fooled a 2-0 pitch that looked like some sort of change, and eventually flew out to center
Thorman - flew out to right field for the third and final out
Hampton threw 13 pitches

It was a rather funny game with Eddie Perez making a loud sound in the outfield every time there was a strike thrown (or called). He sounded like a well seasoned umpire, and several of the reporters remarked that he could have a nice career umping.

As they came off the field, Thorman asked Hampton if he would sign his bruise from where Hampton had hit him. Fun was had by all, especially since Hampton seemed to stay injury free.

Hampton warms up for his simulated game with pitching coach Roger McDowell looking on.