Note: I finally got a hold of Kalal and he graciously gave me the network key to the Rainiers WiFi. Should be smooth sailing from here on out.
Salt Lake Lineup:
Prieto CF
Callaspo 2B
Quinlan 1B
Allen RF
Gorneault LF
Pride DH
Sorenson SS
Budde C
Pavkovich 3B
Tacoma Lineup:
Santiago SS
Choo LF
Nunez CF
Jacobsen DH
Dobbs 1B
Lopez 2B
Leone RF
Brown 3B
Rivera C
Pitching surprise! Jesse Foppert going for the Rainiers.
Top 1: Foppert is taller than I thought and has a pretty dominating look out on the mound. Allowed a baserunner that ended up down at second on a hit and run fielder's choice. He has a slow delivery out of the stretch and it's easy to see when he's coming to first or going home. His left leg is crooked out of the stretch and his release point is a bit lower. His mechanics look fine from here, so far.
Bottom 1: Rainiers go down 1-2-3. Santiago bounced out weakly to first. Choo smacked one toward the LF hole but it was gobbled up and Nunez popped out.
Top 2: Dorman in. Foppert only goes one inning. Maybe that neck is still stiff? Gorneault and Pride began the inning by grounding out and then a Sorenson walk. Sorenson stole second rather easily but it led to nothing as Budde grounding to first on the next pitch. Dorman looks pretty good, velocity is there but his location is a bit spotty.
Bottom 2: Bad Knee Bucky broke his bat with a liner to third and Dobbs and Lopez both singled. Leone drew a walk to load them up and Hunter Brown blasted one into the LF gap to bring everyone home. 3-0 Rainiers. Rivera watched three strikes go by and Santiago again grounded out weakly to first.
Top 3: Dorman got into a bit of trouble as he walked Prieto with one out and scored on a Robb Quinlan single two batters later. Callaspo (who doubled prior) was gunned down at the plate by Leone. A wild pitch and fly out later, the inning was over.
Bottom 3: 1-2-3. Choo grounds outs, Nunez walks and Bucky hits into a DP.
Top 4: 1-2-3 for Dorman, two K's and a fly out. Dorman looks comfortable out there.
Bottom 4: Not much of a threat. Jose Lopez managed a single but that was it.
Top 5: Dorman starts to slow down a bit as he takes about 8-10 seconds to make a pitch, not sure he's tired yet though. Budde grounds out to Brown who has a bit of trouble making a routine play. Dorman loses Pavkovich on a 3-2 change badly out of the zone. Prieto lays down a helluva bunt but is nailed at first by Brown. Pretty close play, looked safe to me and Prieto agrees as he spent 30 seconds arguing. Callaspo grounds to Dobbs who flips it back to Dorman. Another nice inning for Rich.
Bottom 5: Rivera singled through the hole on the left side and Ramontiago popped up his bunt attempt, Budde had no problem with it. Choo drove it about 375 feet but Prieto ran it down. Rivera was halfway between 2nd and 3rd at the time of the catch and was almost doubled off at first. Nunez lined it hard, but right at Callaspo.
Top 6: Quinlan bounced weakly to short but Ramontiago took too much time and threw like a girl to first and Quinlan beat it out. Allen watched one pitch then quietly popped out to shallow center. Gorneault drew a walk after a bit of a battle. Dorman beginning to show a bit of wear, still taking a long time to come to the plate and is shaking of quite a few signs. Pride walks to load them and Rohn has seen enough. Here comes Heaverlo.
Dorman's line: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 2 K.
Heaverlo quickly goes 0-2 on Sorenson and then induces an inning ending DP, 6-4-3. Can't ask for more.
Bottom 6: Bucky takes one in the back, didn't look to bad. Dobbs bloops one into right but a nice play by Callaspo ends that. Ball gets away from Budde a bit and BUCKY TAKES SECOND!! Probably his first stolen base in 12 years. Lopez laces a solid basehit into left, Bucky to third. An absolute moonshot from Leone on the first pitch he sees. Into the night in left field, looked like Vlad's shot from last night. 6-1 Rainiers. First pitch to Brown goes behind him and Hunter is tossed. In comes Jonathon Rouwenhorst. Hunter lines the first pitch from Rouwenhorst into left for a single. Rivera strikes out swinging on three pitches...he looks ridiculous at the plate right now. Ramontiago pops out.
Believe it or not, my buddy who came with me won a car just a second ago. It's used car giveaway night tonight. So, I'm sure everyone is with me when I say congrats, Josh, on the acquistion of your "new" 1981 Volvo wagon. 301,000 miles. Way to go.
Top 7: Heaverlo still in there and is tossing some good junk. Just ask Budde who looked like a complete fool and struck out on three straight changes. Or Pavkovich who also K'd. Prieto grounded routinely to first, Heaverlo covered and Dobbs threw it behind him, E3. But hey, he has a sweet swing. Callaspo rolled it to Lopez at second and he threw him out. Easy inning for Heaverlo.
Bottom 7: Rouwenhurst has one of the wackiest windups I've ever seen. He see-saws his right leg before coming to the plate, trust me when I say it's weird. Choo blasts one to deep left and while Gorneault could have made a play had he been patient, he turned around too early and missed it as the ball hit the track, Choo coasted into second. Nunez grounded out to short moving Choo to third. Bucky launched a 3-1 fastball off the 385 sign in right-center and pulled up at second, Choo scores...he's baaaaack. 7-1 Rainiers. Dobbs lines it to SS and Ojeda (who's PRing for Bucky) has to stay. Lopez bounces one to third and Pavkovich makes a nice play to snag it and throw him out.
Top 8: Heaverlo goes out to work the 8th. Quickly gets Quinlan to strike out swinging on a nasty 1-2 change. Heaverlo went 1-2 on Allen but walked him after after two or three 3-2 fouls. Gorneault whiffed at a 2-2 change in the dirt.
Bottom 8: Scott Schneider goes to work now, lanky righthander with control problems (44:34 K/BB). Leone led things off with a four pitch walk, remember what I said about the control problems? Brown bounced into a 6-4-3 double play, but it's 7-1...I'm not sad. Rivera flys out to center to end it. Here comes the Rainier "Fun Squad" to throw out candy into the stands. Why they do this in the 8th inning, I'll never know. I'd be pissed if I was a parent, I don't want my kids loaded up on sugar at 9:45 at night. Oh, and the announced attendance is just over 6k. Woo.
Top 9: So, here we go. Nageotte's in to close it out. Nageotte starts by walking Sorenson on five pitches. Nageotte's struggling with his control quite a bit as he goes 3-0 on Budde (.245 OBP), throws a strike and another ball that's called a strike (Budde even tossed his bat) and finally induces Budde into a popup behind the plate. Sorenson steals second as the throw goes into center. Nageotte just about nails Pavkovich in the head with a 2-0 fastball, ends up walking him on four straight. Prieto bounces to first, it goes off Dobbs' glove...right to Nageotte who scoops it up and throws it back to Dobbs for the putout. Runners move up. Callaspo grounds to first when, you'll never guess, Dobbs screws up and bobbles it. E3, "second" error of the night, would have been three if Nageotte wasn't there to save him earlier. 7-2 Rainiers. Nageotte walks Quinlan, bases loaded once again. Nageotte drills Allen in the shoulder, he's done. Here comes Masao Kida. 7-3 Rainiers.
Nageotte's line: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP.
Kida goes 2-1 on Gorneault who then smacks it through the hole into left, 7-4 Rainiers. Curtis Pride walks on four pitches, 7-5 Rainiers, bases still juiced -- basehit ties this game. Wild pitch by Kida, 7-6 Rainiers. Holy crap. Kida gets Sorenson to lift a 3-2 pitch into center, Nunez grabs it. Game over. Rainiers survive the scare, 7-6.