Fresno swept the doubleheader against Tacoma, 6-2 and 9-1.
I attended both games and, quite frankly, it was the most boring doubleheader I think I've ever seen. The best part about the entire day was the announced attendance of 3,623. The first game had about 1,000-1,500 fans present. The second game started with about maybe 300 people around and by the time it was over there were perhaps 75-100 left. Three sections in the infield were completely empty. The leftfield bleachers had six people and the rightfield bleachers had fourteen. I don't remember the last time I could hear the first baseman talk to the runner, which was possible in the second game due to the lack of noise. Pretty strange, really.
Rich Dorman got the ball for the first game and only lasted 2 1/3 innings as he took a nasty comebacker off what appeared to be the shin and was promptly removed by the Rainier medical staff. Masao Kida took over and was umimpressive. Matt Cain went all seven for the Grizzlies to pick up the win. In the 4th, Jamie Athas smoked a ball down the rightfield line and it hit the base of the foul pole for what was an obvious homerun. The ball was initally called foul by homeplate umpire Ryan West. After a tantrum from Fresno's head coach, West conferred with umpires Jason Kiser and Travis Reininger (both of whom were out of position) and reversed the call. Dan Rohn went into a complete tizzy with his argument, I'm assuming, being that both other umps weren't in any position to overturn the call. He lost, continued to argue, and was eventually tossed by Reininger.
Notables:
Rich Dorman: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
Masao Kida: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.
Justin Leone: 1-3, 1 2B.
Abraham Nunez: 0-3.
Chris Snelling: 0-2, 1 BB.
Mike Morse: 0-2, 1 BB.
The second game featured AAA poster child Andrew Lorraine going up against Brian Cooper. Lorraine quickly showed all 75 of us why he's logged over 1400 innings in Triple-A (I swear to God, I didn't believe it either) as his control was nowhere to be found and when he did get it near the plate it was bashed to kingdom come. Jeff Heaverlo was called in for mop-up duty and wasn't effective in his 2 1/3 innings. The only bright spot in ANY of the pitching was Brett Evert who pitched two scoreless innings. The offense was dry again in the second game with Shin-soo Choo and Chris Snelling accounting for four of the five hits. I do have to say that the best moment of the second game was when Ramon Santiago stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 5th with the Rainiers down 9-0 and his walk-up song was "Game Over" by Lil' Flip.
Notables:
Andrew Lorraine: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR.
Jeff Heaverlo: 2.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
Jamal Strong: 0-2, 1 BB.
Shin-soo Choo: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Justin Leone: 0-3, 1 BB.
Chris Snelling: 2-2, though one of the "hits" was a misplay on a popup.
Mike Morse; 0-3.
San Antonio held on to beat Frisco, 4-2. Justin Huber was excellent in his start as he went seven innings giving up only three hits and no runs while striking out five. The Missions had nine hits on the evening, each one coming from a different person.
Notables:
Jon Huber: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.
Yuniesky Betancourt: 1-5.
Ismael Castro: 1-3.
T.J. Bohn: 1-2, 1 BB, 1 RBI.
Nate Espy: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Modesto outslugged Inland Empire, 10-7. Aaron Trolia was throwing just fine...and then came Miguel Martinez. Martinez was roughed up in his relief work as Modesto ran away with the game in the 5th. Wladimir Balentien and B.J. Garbe both homered for the 66'ers.
Notables:
Aaron Trolia: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
Miguel Martinez: 0.0 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR.
Matt Rogelstad: 1-5.
Adam Jones: 1-5, 1 RBI.
Bryan LaHair: 0-4.
Wladimir Balentien: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI.
B.J. Garbe: 2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI.
Wisconsin beat up on Peoria, 10-5. The Timber Rattlers banged out 18 hits as Matt Tuiasosopo had four and Yung Chi Chen chimed in with three. Mumba Rivera got the start and wasn't extremely effective as he had control problems all night. It didn't matter a bit however as Wisconsin teed-off on Chris Shaver.
Notables:
Mumba Rivera: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.
Oswaldo Navarro: 2-6, 1 RBI.
Josh Womack: 2-6, 1 2B.
Yung Chi Chen: 3-6, 1 2B, 2 RBI.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 4-5, 1 RBI.
Brent Johnson: 3-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI. Thomas Hubbard: 2-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI.