This Wrap-Up is FULL... of shi-ERRRRRR losing. None of the org's stateside teams won. And only the Mavs were competitive. Just warning you.
Rk: VSL Mariners 1, VSL Pirates 0, 10 innings
Danny Cruz: 4 IP, 0 H, 3 walks, 3 K, hit batter
Oberth Guanire: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 3 walks, K
Carlos Sanchez: 1.1 IP, 1 H, walk, K
Kervin Montbrum: 2.1 IP, walk, 3 K
Carlos Ramirez: 1-2, double, R, walk
Humberto Espinoza: pinch hit, winning RBI on... heh, see below.
Notice I said STATESIDE. Venezuelan Mariner teams were 1-0 yesterday.
There were 4 hits in this game combined by both teams. There were more walks than hits.
Late in the game, still scoreless, top 8th, one out, the Pirates' Adenson Chourio beats out a grounder to 3rd to get on. Dixon Mavares came to the plate, and Chourio stole 2nd. Mavares drew a walk to put men at 1st and 2nd. Antonio Negron flew to center for two outs, and Carlos Sanchez was finished pitching for the Mariners, ceding to Kevin Montbrum.
Michaelangel Trinidad came to the plate and the Pirates ran the DOUBLE STEAL, Chourio sliding safely into 3rd as Mavares slid safely into 2nd. But Montbrum got Trinidad on strikes to end the threat.
Both teams struggled to get guys on 2nd base. Roberto Velasquez singled for the Mariners with two outs in the bottom 8th, but got caught trying to steal 2nd to end the inning. The Pirates' Rogelios Noris drew a two out walk in the top 9th, and even stole 2nd... but Anyelo Neira got called out on strikes to end that frame.
We went to extras, and in the bottom 10th, the Mariners' Carlos Ramirez got plunked. Jose Hernandez (no, not THAT Jose Hernandez) bunted him to 2nd... and beat the throw to 1st! Yidid Batista pinch hit for Alejandro Garcia... and bunted the runners ahead for one out. Wow, I guess Alejandro's bunting skills are not up to par. Rigoberto Rangel, who had sat out this game after playing the first three, pinch hit for Rafael Torrealba... and he put the Fear of Rangel in pitcher Humberto Iriarte, as he intentionally walked Rangel to load the bases.
With the bases loaded, Humberto Espinoza took one for the team, getting plunked to force in the winning run, and showing that someone other than the hitters was going to have to get the game winning hit. Congratulations to Espinoza on the walkoff... plunk.
A: San Jose 8, High Desert 6
Welcome back to the space park!
Ruben Flores: 6 IP, 1 H, (3 R) 2 ER (HR), 4 walks, 8 K
Juan Zapata: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER (HR), K
Steve Uhlmansiek (!): 1 IP, walk
Austin Bibens-Dirkx: 1 IP, 4 H, (4 R) 2 ER, walk
Paul Fagan: 1 IP, 1 H, walk, 3 K
Casey Craig: 2-3, R, 2 walk (.314)
Michael Saunders: 1-5, R, RBI, K, SB #12 (.281)
Johan Limonta: 1-3, RBI, walk, K (.329)
Adam Moore: 0-4, sac fly RBI, K (.265)
Chris Colton: 2-5, double, solo HR, 2 R, 2 K (.270)
Jeff Flaig: 1-3, RBI (.177)
Jesus Guzman: pinch hit RBI single
Chris Colton started us off in the bottom 2nd by taking Dave McKae deep to make it 1-0. That said, McKae held the Mavs in check otherwise, as San Jose tacked on a run in the 3rd and 2 more in the 4th, plus another in the top 7th to make it 4-1 little Giants.
Surprise surprise in the top 8th, as Steve Uhlmansiek made his first appearance in High Desert after getting the sink-or-swim promotion from Wisconsin. Uhlmansiek gave up a leadoff walk, a sac bunt and a stolen base, putting Requena on 3rd with one out, but two opportunistic groundouts got him out of the jam without damage.
David Quinowski came on to pitch for San Jose and wished he hadn't. Josh Womack tapped back to the mound and Quinowski threw it YIKES AND AWAY to give Womack 2nd. Casey Craig drew a walk, and Quinowski was deemed a failure for the evening, ceding to Sergio Romo. Michael Saunders smoked a grounder into right field to score Womack and cut the lead to 4-3 as Craig took 3rd. Johan Limonta flew to center for two outs, but Craig tagged up and scored to TIE THE BALLGAME at 4! Adam Moore, he with 9 HR in 30 games, came up. Michael Saunders broke for 2nd and catcher Adam Witter threw it YIKES AND AWAY to give Saunders 2nd AND 3rd. Adam Moore went ahead and put a charge in one, which was caught in center for two outs, but allowed Saunders to tag up and score to give the Mavs the 5-4 lead! Chris Colton popped up to end the inning.
In came Austin Bibens-Dirkx to lock it down. Adam Witter grounded to 1st for one out. David Maroul grounded to 3rd for two outs. But William Thompson lined a single to right and Kyle Haines lined a single to right to move Thompson to 3rd. Antoan Richardson walked to load the bases and UH OHS. But Alex Requina grounded to Juan Diaz at short, who flipped to 2nd- YIKES AND AWAY! Thompson scores! Haines scores and Richardson takes 2nd as it's now 6-5 San Jose! ABD got a grounder to get out of it but DAMN.
Taylor Wilding came in to shut it down, and Jeff Dominguez didn't get that memo as he drew a leadoff walk. Jeff Flaig bunted him to 2nd for one out. Juan Diaz took a seat and Jesus Guzman, left out of the lineup tonight, came in to pinch hit. Guzman smoked a grounder into center field to score Dominguez and WE ARE TIED AT 6. PLAY ZOMBIE NATION.
Josh Womack, however, flew to center for two outs. Casey Craig smoked a grounder into center field to move Guzman to 3rd, giving Michael Saunders a chance to go walkoff.
And he DID walk off... after flying out to center for out number three. Loser.
ABD came back out for the 10th, and Anthony Contreras led off with a grounder up the middle into center. Michael Mooney blooped one into left to move him to 2nd. That was it for ABD, who needs a rest, and in comes one-time starter Paul Fagan.
Adam Witter came to the plate and watched catcher Adam Moore muff a pitch, giving the runners 2nd and 3rd. Witter watched strike three for one out. Fagan went ahead and put David Maroul on to load the bases and give him the force at any base.
But William Thompson lined a single into center, scoring Contreras and Mooney to make it 8-6 little Giants. Fagan, assuredly pissed, blew away Kyle Haines and Antoan Richardson on strikes to end the inning, but the Mavs now needed another comeback.
Johan Limonta led off the bottom 10th with a walk. Adam Moore grounded to 3rd and 3B David Maroul took the lead runner at 2nd for one out. Chris Colton went down on strikes for two outs. And Jeff Dominguez grounded to 3rd to end the ballgame.
A: Lansing 11, Wisconsin 0
Anthony Varvaro: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 8 ER (HR), 4 walks, 6 K, wild pitch
Justin Souza: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER (HR), K
Joe Kantakevich: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 K
Kuo Hui Lo: 1-4, K, the only hit of the game, SB #9 (.221)
Carlos Triunfel: 0-4, 2 K (.286)
Greg Halman: 0-4, 2 K (.195)
Carlos Peguero: 0-3, walk (.253)
Leury Bonilla: 0-3, 2 K (.278)
Alex Liddi: 0-2, walk, K (.204)
The less said about this game, the better. Nathan Starner dominated the T-Rats over 5 no-hit innings and his bullpen, despite Edward Rodriguez losing the no-hit bid to lead off the bottom 6th, did the rest. Don't be fooled by Starner's 5.05 ERA: a 46/10 K:BB and only 2 HR allowed over 41 IP indicate he's much better than that indicates, plus 11 of his 23 ER came in one disastrous start vs Burlington on May 2nd, plus a team staff BABIP of .320 indicates his .358 BABIP is probably a factor of his Lugnuts defense. The T-Rats got gassed by a good pitcher.
AA: Huntsville 4, West Tenn 0
Justin Thomas: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, walk, 3 K, hit batter
Chad Fillinger: 2 IP, walk, 3 K
Kam Mickolio: 1 IP, 1 H, walk, K
Jeff Frazier: 0-4, K (.221)
Prentice Redman: 2-4, double, K (.282)
Matt Tuiasosopo: 0-3, K, BUILDING TO THE FUTURE (.316)
Charlton Jimerson: 1-3, K
Rene Rivera: 1-3 (.206)
LET'S ALL GET SHUT OUT! Sam Narron shut out the DIAMOND JAXX over 8 impressive innings. He too has a fat ERA (5.00) with good K:BB (35/10 and only 3 HR in 45 IP), but unlike Starner, he's had 3 bad outings that indicates a Dave Bush type pitcher who can throw consistent strikes and rack up K's but gets lit up when the hitters have his stuff booked. The DIAMOND JAXX clearly did not.
Prentice Redman showed something with two hits despite the team's struggles, Charlton Jimerson is meeting his one hit per game quota, but only one hit per game, while nobody can adequately explain how Rene Rivera's grounder snuck into center field for a single to lead off the top 8th.
AAA: Tucson 12, Tacoma 0
Brad Thomas: 3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER (HR), 3 walks, 4 K, wild pitch (ERA 8.22)
Jim Parque: 3.1 IP, 12 H, 5 ER, 2 walks (ERA 8.24)
Sean Green: 0.2 IP
Jamie Cerda: 1 IP
Jon Huber: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 K
Adam Jones: 0-4, K (.295)
Jeremy Reed: 1-4, 2 K (.283)
WLAD: 0-4, 2 K (.314)
Bryan LaHair: 1-3, K (.230)
Mike Morse: 0-3, K (.322)
Rob Johnson: 2-2 (.273)
Brant Ust: replaced Johnson as the catcher (!)
Ronnie Prettyman: 1-3, K
Jeff Clement had the night off.
I WASN'T SERIOUS, RAINIERS!
Jim Parque may want to retire after that appearance. Brought in to get some easy mop-up outs in a 7-0 ballgame, he instead got lit up himself and turned a rout into a comically bad blowout. In his last 10 outings, his only decent outing was a 7 inning start against Fresno on April 14th where he allowed only one run, but every other extended outing has been to some degree wince-inducing. Look, I know the guy had a potentially career-ending injury, and he's tried his best to make a comeback. But he clearly does not have what it takes to pitch competitively at the AAA level, let alone at the major league level. He needs to take his leave and let someone else have the chance to show their stuff at the AAA level.
As for Brad Thomas, maybe not yet: it was only his 2nd start after 11 relief appearances, and his 1st start wasn't all that bad, plus after a early series of disastrous relief outings to start the year, he had rebounded and looked reasonably decent until last night.
Also, WLAD and Adam Jones are either feeling the heat of the glory that comes with their hot starts, or opposing pitchers have now booked the two and have adjusted their approach when facing them, making things difficult. My guess is the latter. They're good sluggers and they'll be fine. Ditto Tui with the DIAMOND JAXX.