Minor League Wrap-Up: 4/16/05.

by Devin on Apr 16, 2005 10:10 PM PDT in Seattle Mariners Regular News

Fresno outlasted Tacoma, 11-9 (11). After going down 7-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth, it looked as if the Rainiers were a dead stick. Instead, the bats came alive and the pitching hunkered down to all Tacoma to come roaring back to tie the game at 9 in the bottom of the eighth. It wasn't to be, however. George Sherrill, who isn't doing himself any favors to get Bavasi's attention blew it in the 11th as ex-Rainier Mickey Lopez's bloop single put two up on the board and the game away. The best news out of this one is that Chris Snelling did not break anything and will go on to play another game.

Notables:

Dan Reichert: 2.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HR.
Jamal Strong: 2-5, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 2 R.
Shin-soo Choo: 4-6, 1 RBI, 2 R.
Justin Leone: 4-6, 1 RBI.
Abraham Nunez: 0-3, 2 BB, 1 RBI.
Mike Morse: 0-5, 2 RBI.
Aaron Rifkin: 2-6, 1 HR, 1 RBI.
Chris Snelling: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 RBI.

Midland shutout San Antonio, 7-0. Nicholas Bourgeois was chased early by the Rock Hounds and struggled with control as he lasted only two innings before giving way to Ryan Rowland-Smith. Smith was brilliant for five innings, though it was an effort wasted as the Mission bats were quiet against Steven Bondurant.

Notables:

Nicholas Bourgeois: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.
Yuniesky Betancourt: 0-3, 1 BB.
Ismael Castro: 2-4.
T.J. Bohn: 1-4.
Jon Nelson: 1-4, 1 2B.
Rene Rivera: 1-3, 1 2B.

Modesto snuck by Inland Empire, 1-0. Jason MacKintosh was about as effective as you could possible hope, but like San Antonio, the 66'ers couldn't muster any offense. Modesto's one run in the first was enough to close this one out as both sides saw excellent pitching and incompetent hitting...not real California League-like.

Notables:

Jason MacKintosh: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K.
Juan Gonzalez: 0-4.
Matt Rogelstad: 3-4, all singles.
Adam Jones: 0-3.
Wladlmir Balentien: 1-4.
B.J. Garbe: 1-4, 1 2B.

Peoria smashed Wisconsin, 11-3. Casey Abrams was in midseason form tonight as he limped along for three and a third before getting the hook. Matt Tuiasosopo doubled and drew a few walks and Josh Womack and Michael Wilson both had multi-hit nights.

Notables:

Casey Abrams: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 0 K, 1 HR.
Oswaldo Navarro: 1-4, 1 BB.
Josh Womack: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 RBI.
Michael Wilson: 2-5.

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Tacoma game...

I just got home from the game....here are my observations.

Mike Morse is the largest shortstop in the world. The biggest guy on the field.
Felix and Campillo didn't leave the dugout during the pre-game roster announcements. I believe this is due to them being ordered to avoid as many stairs as possible.

Onto the game....

Dan Reichert is bad. Just terrible. However, it appeard that hitting the strike zone was purely optional for both teams.
Chris Snelling did not appear to hurt himself.
Leone botched an easy 2 hopper.
Leone made one of the more incredible plays I have ever seen. You know the highlight of Jim Edmonds that has been played 50000000 times? That's what Leone did. Only it was down the 3B line and in foul territory.
Choo has an absolutely ridiculous arm. He completely embarassed a Fresno player by gunning him down at 2B on what was an easy double into the LF corner. This throw was a missile.
Chris Snelling did not appear to hurt himself. It bears repeating.
Leone is clearly too good of a hitter to be in AAA. Even though all 4 of his hits were singles. One was a broken bat, err shattered bat, liner. He's very strong.

Lastly:

Don't let Sherrill's line fool you. He was FAR AND AWAY the best pitcher to take the hill in this game. He was simply over-powering. He did give up a 2B that was tagged pretty well but other than that he was great. This game may still be going as I type if it weren't for Mike Morse making a simply bonehead play trying to get a runner at 3B on a routine GB to SS when he could have just thrown to 1B and took the easy out. It would have been 2 outs and a runner on 3B, instead it was runners on 1B and 3B that came into score on Mickey Lopez's jam shot bloop single that Jamal Strong made a circus out of.

Non-baseball observation:

Some poor fan took a Rifkin foul ball off of his dome. This ball was simply smashed. This guy had no chance at all. I was probably 75 feet from him but I was elevated and had a good view. The game was delayed for 10 minutes or so while the man was tended to. He was actually put into a neck brace and taken off on a stretcher. This was definately an ugly situation. Let's hope the guy has a speedy recovery.

by Cy Meche on Apr 16, 2005 11:21 PM PDT reply actions

Agree on your perceptions

The bats were alive until the 10th and 11th, especially once they got going. Leone played a great game, except for the one error.

You are right on the bonehead play by Morse. That would have made it two outs with a guy at third, which the next guy struck out -- which would have ended the inning. Lopez then got a blooper, which Strong kicked into LF letting both runs score. They rated it as 1 ER and 1 unearned. I don't see how both aren't unearned as they would have been out of the inning if it weren't for a mental mistake on the part of Morse.

by elsid on Apr 17, 2005 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions

Thanks

Cy Meche -- thanks for the comments about my bro, I appreciate it and glad some people take the good out of the "bad".

Devin -- you will get yours when due

by elsid on Apr 17, 2005 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions

Sid...

It was true. Sherrill was clearly a man among boys out there. The Fresno hitters were simply clueless against him, other than the Knaedler double. Morse throwing that ball to 3B was totally little league. Maybe he thought that there were no outs in the inning. The move would have had some merit to it then. However, not knowing the situation is inexcusable.

You Bro's velocity looked great too. From what I could tell, him and Jared Thomas were the 2 hardest throwers out there last night.

by Cy Meche on Apr 17, 2005 11:02 AM PDT up reply actions

So why

Considering our bench situation and the fact that Leone and Snelling are so good... why on earth hasn't Hardgrove given them the call??

Jeff said it wasn't like they weren't ready. Bring them up for chrissakes and this time, let them actually have an at bat!

by manyoso on Apr 17, 2005 9:06 AM PDT reply actions

Re: So why

Well, Snelling definately needs some rehab time. Still, though he's a fantastic hitter and we all want that guy to be healthy.

Now, Strong and Leone OTOH, would be significant upgrades to the bench. Leone would provide much needed extra base power and strong would be a fantastic pinch runner and pinch hitter for some guys.

The organization loves Greg Dobbs like they love Matt Thornton though. They don't care about results, they only care about the "tools."

by Cy Meche on Apr 17, 2005 9:22 AM PDT up reply actions

Elsid.

I feel compelled to remind you that I am a huge Sherrill supporter and love what he does on the mound. Keep in mind, while I tried my best to attend the game last night (and will be heading to the DH in about a half hour today) all I had to go on was a Curto call and a boxscore. I am certainly not trying to diss Sherrill.

by Devin on Apr 17, 2005 11:47 AM PDT reply actions

Re:

That is all I had to go on as well. I wasn't dissing you either. You guys do a great job on this site.

However he did have some things to impress whomever last night. He threw only 24 pitches, 20 of which were strikes. There should have been no runs scored against him, and he struck out two in a row, upon coming in the game, with two on.

by elsid on Apr 17, 2005 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions