FanPost

4/21 Minor League Wrap-Up

The Mariners suck.  The whole damn organization.  I have proof:

A:  Lake Elsinore 13, High Desert 4

Let's just ignore the pitching, shall we?
Casey Craig:  2-5, double, R, 3 K (.317)
Michael Saunders:  1-3, R (.286)
Adam Moore:  4-4, double, 2 RBI (.286)
Chris Colton:  0-4, 4 K: The Golden Sombrero (.214)

It was a 3-2 Lake lead before the top 6th, where... well, you can probably guess.  Marwin Vega only faced 3 of the 12 batters that came to the plate for Lake before Jason Snyder came in.  Fortunately for Snyder's already bloated ERA, a wild pitch and Jeff Flaig throwing error meant that only 1 of those 5 runs were earned.  Even funnier, he was sent back out for the 7th, though he escaped the 7th without incident.

Also, catcher Adam Moore asks that we not get on the Travis Scott bandwagon just yet, as he went 4 for freaking 4 and knocked in a couple runs.  Chris Colton also went 4 for 4... in strikeouts.

A:  West Michigan 4, Wisconsin 3

Anthony Varvaro:  5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, walk, 6 K
Joseph Kantakevich:  1 IP, K
Rollie Gibson:  0.2 IP, walk, K
Andrew Barb:  0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER
Natividad Dilone:  1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, walk, K
Ogui Diaz:  2-4, K, SB (5) (.289)
Greg Halman:  1-4, double, R, K, SB (6) (.200)
Leury Bonilla:  0-4, 3 K (.333)
Carlos Triunfel:  2-3, R, RBI (.256)
Hargrove's kid:  1-3, RBI, K (.227)

The T-Rats had the 3-1 lead going into the bottom 8th, an error free performance buffered by some solid pitching from Anthony Varvaro and the bullpen.  Andrew Barb came in to work the 8th, as he'd done many times before successfully this year.  Gorkys Hernandez flied out for one, but Louis Ott threaded a grounder through the left side for a base hit.  Scott Sizemore took one for the team and Brennan Doesch smoked another grounder through the right side to score Ott and move Sizemore to 3rd.  Barb is done and in comes the dubious Natividad Dilone to shut this rally down... and he actually shuts it down with a pop up and K to end the threat!  Still 3-2 T-Rats.

We go to the bottom 9th with the T-Rats only needing three outs for a much-needed win.  Dilone deals to James Skelton, who smokes a grounder through the left side for a leadoff single.  Methinks they need an extra infelder.  Michael Bertram sac bunted the runner ahead to 2nd for one out.  Deik Scram smacks a hard grounder to third, and Alex Liddi can't make the play, so runners on the corners with one down.  Any run ties the game, and the runner on 1st can win the game.

Our friend Gorkys Hernandez hits a grounder to the left side and THAT gets through.  Skelton scores and we are TIED AT 3.  Scram is on 2nd.  One out.

Louis Ott draws a walk and the bases are loaded.  One out.  Looks like we're seeing Bad Natividad, except you can't blame him for the slow infield defense.

Scott Sizemore grounds hard to the right side, and it gets through.  Ballgame.  West Michigan wins, and this time you can't blame defensive gaffes.  Maybe infield speed or infield positioning.  And despite the blown save and loss, you certainly can't jump on Natividad Dilone for inducing a ton of groundballs that his defense couldn't snag.

AA:  Jacksonville 5, West Tenn 2

Juan Done:  5.1 IP, 4 H, (3 R) 2 ER, walk, 3 K
Juan Sandoval:  2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 walks
Chad Fillinger:  1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER (season debut)
Chris Minaker:  1-5, double, R (.217)
Thomas Marshall Hubbard:  1-2, RBI, 2 walks (.293)
Jeff Frazier:  0-1, 3 walks (.150)
Matt Tuiasosopo:  0-2, 2 walks (.358)
Rene Rivera:  0-4, K (.182)

Scoreless ballgame until the 5th, when Marshall McDougall doubled to center with one out, and Anthony Ragliani drove him in with a single down the middle.  The DIAMOND JAXX responded in the bottom 5th with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, when (Thomas) Marshall Hubbard threaded a grounder through the left side to score both.  2-1 West Tenn.  Jeff Frazier drew a walk, but there was no more scoring, as Tui flied to center and Xavier Paul, after making an unexpected catch, doubled Frazier off of 1st for the double play.

Juan Done, making the spot start in lieu of Jason Mackintosh (who made the spot start in Tacoma for Cha Seung Baek, who may make a spot start Monday for Felix Hernandez, who may make a spot appearance on the DL), had thrown five good innings, but was figured good enough to go out for the 6th.  Chin Lung Hu led off with a double to right, and Luis Maza sac bunted him to 3rd for one out.  Xavier Paul grounded to 1st but Hubbard candyarsed the play and Hu scored to tie the game at 2.  Paul took 2nd.  One out, and Juan... was Done.  Juan Sandoval came in and John Lindsey smoked a single to right to move Paul to 3rd.  Cory Dunlap flied out to right, and Paul was able to score.  3-2 Jaxtown.  Marshall McDougall flew out to end the inning but the damage was done.

West Tenn had runners on with back to back singles but Rene Rivera, go figure, managed to produce two outs with one swing despite not making contact, as he missed strike three and despite being rather rotund and in the way, Suns catcher A.J. Ellis was able to throw past him and get Prentice Redman stealing at 3rd.  Luis Valbuena continued to prove nothing more than a decent single A hitter and grounded out to end the inning.

Jacksonville added a run in the top 8th off Sandoval, and then welcomed Chad Fillinger to the 2007 season by pounding him and scoring another run in the top 9th.  West Tenn had once again put two men on to start an inning, then failed to bring any of them in like true MARINERS IN THE MAKING (and HEY, Rene Rivera killed THAT rally too!), then went quietly in the 9th.

AAA:  Salt Lake 4, Tacoma 3

Ryan Feierabend:  3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER (HR), walk, 3 K
Renee Cortez:  2 IP, 2 H, walk, K
Ryan Rowland-Smith:  1 IP, walk
Brad Thomas:  2 IP, 2 ER, walk, K
Jeremy Reed:  1-3, walk, K (.241)
Mike Morse:  1-3, R, walk (.237)
Bryan LaHair:  0-4 (.206)
WLAD:  2-4, 2 run HR, SB (.351)
Jeff Clement:  0-4, K (.210)
Jon Nelson:  1-3, 2 K (.275)
Rob Johnson (DH):  1-4, K (.240)
Oswaldo Navarro:  1-3, double, R, K (.184)

Ryan Feierabend had another one of his off days and left after 3 innings, with Tacoma trailing 2-0.  It was not until the top 7th that Tacoma managed anything against an effective Kasey Olenberger.  Mike Morse singled (meeting his quota of at least one effective AB per game), and after Bryan LaHair popped out to continue his mission of avoiding the big club by any means necessary... WLAD came to the plate and destroyed an Olenberger pitch, sending it out of the yard and tying the ballgame at 2-2.  Clement and Jon Nelson went quietly, but the damage was done.

Brad Thomas came in for the bottom 7th.  Adam Pavkovich got a grounder through the left side to get on, and Nathan Haynes sac bunted him to 2nd, one out.  Jeff Mathis smoked a grounder through the right side to score Pavkovich, and Mathis took 2nd on WLAD's throw home.  3-2 Stingers.  Brandon Wood drew a walk, and with Mike Eylward at the plate, Brad Thomas uncorked a wild pitch to move the runners into scoring position.  One out.  Eylward flew out to right, but Mathis scored to make it 4-2 Salt Lake, two outs.  Nick Goneault grounded out to end the inning, but the damage was done.

The Rainiers immiedtaely tried to jump on a tiring Olenberger in the top 8th.  Rob Johnson didn't get  the memo, however, and swung at strike three for one out.  Oswaldo Navarro, holding some serious goodwill debt after the last week, lined a double to center.  Gookie Dawkins flew out to right for two outs and Navarro took 3rd.  Facing Jeremy Reed, Olenberger uncorked a wild pitch and Navarro scored to make it 4-3.  Olenberger lost his command and walked Reed, and Olenberger was quickly yanked for Alex Serrano.  Serrano got Morse to ground out and the threat was over.

Brad Thomas did much better in the bottom 8th, and the Rainiers needed a run in the top 9th.  With one out (thanks again, Bryan LaHair), WLAD hit a sharp grounder  to 3rd that got through for a base hit.  Jeff Clement popped out for two out, and WLAD finally said screw this, stealing 2nd with Jon Nelson at the plate.  Nelson, himself slumping after an early season hot streak, needed only smack a single to any field to score the fleet footed phenom and tie the ballgame.  Alex Serrano helped him out and plunked him to put runners at 1st and 2nd with Rob Johnson coming up.  Sadly, Johnson is as clutch as Bartolo Colon is thin, and he popped out to end the ballgame.