Big thanks to Jeff who filled in for me while I spent time traveling around the greater Northwest. On to the wrap!
Tacoma fell to Colorado Springs, 4-3. Remember this back on May 4th?
Well, they completed that game, finally. Rich Dorman went 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on two hits while walking eight (!), striking out four and allowing a homer. Up 3-2 in the ninth, Dave Brundage called on Emiliano Fruto to come in and close it out. Two hits, a walk, a very costly Adam Jones error and two runs later, the game went to the Sky Sox and Fruto had his first blow save of the season.
Notables:
Rich Dorman: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 8 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.
Adam Jones: 1-4, 1 BB. Huge error that handed the game to Colorado Springs.
T.J. Bohn: 2-5.
Scotty Youngbauer: 2-4.
Guillermo Quiroz: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Tacoma blanked the Sky Sox in the nightcap, 9-0. John Asahina wasn't fooling anyone as Tacoma put up five-spot in the 4th to decide this one quickly. In addition to the offense, Cesar Jimenez was solid as he went five innings and gave up a couple hits while walking three and striking out the same number. It's no surprise that Jimenez had an easy time, though, Colorado Springs had Bo Hart LEADING OFF. You can't ask for nicer gift. T.J. Bohn, Adam Jones, Hunter Brown and UnNomar all went multi-hit to lead the way.
Notables:
Cesar Jimenez: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Shin-soo Choo: 1-5, 1 RBI.
T.J. Bohn: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI.
Chris Snelling: 0-4, 1 RBI.
Adam Jones: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI. Yee-haw!
Hunter Brown: 2-4, 2 RBI.
Little Garciaparra: 2-4, 1 2B. (.327/.453/.365...hmmm.)
San Antonio was off. We learn from J over at Mariner Minors that Bryan LaHair, Wladimir Balentien and Yorman Bazardo were all named to the Texas League's South Division All-Star Team. That makes me smile.
High Desert shutout Inland Empire, 6-0. A few weeks ago, Jeff and I attended that Baltimore game where Rodrigo Lopez silenced the M's for almost eight innings, allowing only two hits. Prior to the game, we walked from my car to the left field gate and joked that Lopez would likely stymie the M's and we'd go home pissed off. Both of us knew this wouldn't happen, which is why it was so funny -- at least until the walk back to the car. See, this same thing happened in High Desert tonight, only reversed. Two High Desert fans had some sarcastic conversation about how Luis Cota and his 7.69 season ERA would completely baffle the 66ers. Their walk back to the car was just as shocking, but it felt great. They drove home with smiles and conversed with no trouble. Here's the entire dialogue between the two of us in my car after the Baltimore game after which there was no speaking until Jeff finally mentioned something non-Mariner related about 45 minutes later:
Jeff: I'm pretty numb after something like that.
Devin: @#%!ing Rodrigo Lopez. Are you @#%!ing kidding me? Jesus. @#%! @#%! @#%!
Anyway, there's no moral to the story, I just felt it was appropriate given how bad Luis Cota is and how good he looked in this game. Cota went 7.1 inning and allowed just five baserunners and struck out seven. The guy who was supposed to be pitching well, Shawn Nottingham, was torched for four runs on seven hits in five and a third. You'd think with all his grittiness, Josh Womack would have collected all four hits, but he didn't. What a horrible game.
Notables:
Shawn Nottingham: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR.
Brent Johnson: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB.
Reed Eastley: 1-4.
Marshall Hubbard: 1-3, 1 BB.
J.B. Tucker: 1-4.
Wisconsin got past Clinton 9-6. Don't you love it when your starting pitcher gets his stuff smacked all over the yard but it ends up not mattering? That's what happened as Jose Escalona was lit up for 5.2 innings. He finished giving up six runs on seven hits while walking three, fanning five and serving up two dingers. Good thing for him that only one T-Rat failed to get on base (Bryan Sabatella) and only one T-Rat ended up not scoring at least once (Bryan Sabatella). Only one man could rival Escalona in suckfestness in this one (Bryan Sabatella), and for once it wasn't LL Certified Whipping Boy Cibney Bello.
Notables:
Jose Escalona: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 2 HR.
Jeff Dominguez: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Casey Craig: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI.
Jeff Flaig: 2-3, 1 2B.
Eddy Hernandez: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Bryan Sabatella: Knows why he's hitting .187.
On the docket:
Tacoma: Cha Seung Baek at Colorado Springs. Game time is 6:05pm PDT.
San Antonio: Travis Blackley vs. Frisco. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: LL Certified Whipping Boy at High Desert. Game time is 7:05pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Ruben Flores vs. Kane County. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.