Two walkoff victories, two pitching- no wait, make that THREE pitching melt- wait, hold on, make that FOUR pitching meltdowns... concentrated in two games... and a partridge in a... is that right? Actually, it's more like a failed comeback by a bunch of LOSERS... who aren't us WOOOOOOOOO. Read the recap for more.
VSL Mariners 3, VSL Cardinals 2, 10 innings
Jessie Nava: 1 IP, walk, K, wild pitch
Jose Rios: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 7 K, hit batter
Rhonny Acosta: 5 IP, 0 H (!), walk, 6 K, wild pitch, 2 hit batters
Rigoberto Rangel: 2-3, triple, R, 2 walks
Jose Rivero: 2-5, double, 2 RBI
Jose Hernandez: 2-3, double, walk
The VSLM's got some great pitching from their staff, holding the fort against an early 2-1 deficit until Jose Rivero doubled in Jorge Agudelo with one out to tie the ballgame.
The VSLM's had a big chance to take the lead in the bottom 8th, when with runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs, pitcher David Brito balked to mov the runners over. Brito walked batter Humberto Espinoza to load the bases... for Cesar Del Rio... who grounded to short for the 3rd out. ¡MARINARAS EN LA HACIENDO!
No dice for either team in the 9th, so we headed to extra innings. Rigoberto Rangel, the early star for the VSLM's so far, led off the 10th with a triple to center. Jose Rivero immediately singled him in and that's your ballgame. ¡MARINEROS GANAN! ¡LOOOOOOOOOOOS... MARINEROS GANAN!
High Desert 6, Lake Elsinore 5
Two for two!
Aaron Cotter: 5 IP, 6 H, (5 R) 4 ER, 2 walks, 2 K, hit batter
Roman Martinez: 2.1 IP, walk, 2 K
David Asher: 0.1 IP, K
Austin Bibens-Dirkx: 1.1 IP, 2 walks, K
Casey Craig: 1-5, R, K (.327)
Michael Saunders: 2-4, 2 solo HRs, K (.290)
Johan Limonta: 1-3, RBI, K (.320)
Adam Moore: 3-4, R, RBI, K (.272)
Chris Colton: 2-4, 2 run HR (.286)
Edilio Colina: 0-4, K (.219... is this the last of Edilio in High A for 2007?)
The Mavs struck early on talented lefthander Wade Leblanc, as Michael Saunders took him deep with one out to get on the board, and after Jesus Guzman reached on an error and stole 2nd, Adam Moore drove him in with a lined single to center to make it 2-0.
Aaron Cotter, however, lost his control in the top 3rd. Matt Bush lined a single to center, and then Cotter walked Mike Baxter. Then Cotter walked Matt Antonelli to load the bases. Then Cotter plunked David Freese to force in a run and cut the lead to 2-1. Kyle Blanks flew to right, and Chris Colton caught it for two outs, but Baxter tagged up and scored to tie the ballgame. Then Chad Huffman lined a single to left to score Antonelli and give Lake the 3-2 lead.
To Cotter's credit, he recovered and held the fort, until he came back out for the 6th. Kyle Blanks led off by tapping back to Cotter, but Cotter threw it YIKES AND AWAY to give him 2nd. Chad Huffman lined a single to left that fortunately only moved Blanks to 3rd instead of scoring him. But Craig Cooper finished that job, lining a single to center to score Blanks and make it 4-2 Lake as Huffman took 3rd... and that was it for Aaron Cotter, who save for those two bad stretches did a decent job in the space park.
In came the no-so-overworked-anymore Roman Martinez. Jose Lobaton grounded to short, and Juan Diaz flipped to Jeff Dominguez at 2nd for the out, though Dominguez could not turn two. Either way, Huffman came in to score easily and it was 5-2 Lake. Yordany Ramirez grounded to 3rd, and Edilio Colina threw to 2nd for the 2nd out, though again Dominguez did not have the double play. Yordany did swipe 2nd base, but Matt Bush went down on strikes to end the frame.
Adam Moore led off the bottom 6th by smoking a grounder to David Freese at 3rd, and leaving Freese without a play. Chris Colton came up and took Leblanc deep to cut the deficit to 5-4, no outs. Leblanc did get Dominguez on strikes and Colina to pop up before making his exit.
The Mavs loaded the bases in the bottom 7th with one out... for Johan Limonta. Johan put a charge in one to left... and Chad Huffman got under it for two outs, though Casey Craig tagged up and scored to TIE THE BALLGAME. Adam Moore went down on strikes to end the frame.
Bottom 9th, Juan Diaz flew out to left and Casey Craig went down on strikes... but before you could say extra innings, Michael Saunders took Steve Delabar deep over the right field wall for the WALKOFF SHOT. MAVS WIN! THHHHHHE... MAVS WIN!
NEXT: Marwin Vega's turn in the space park against Lake Elsinore tonight at 7:05 pm PDT.
Wisconsin 6, Kane County 5
Three for three!
Nathan Adcock: 6 IP, 6 H, (3 R) 2 ER, 2 walks, 4 K, 2 wild pitches, 2 hit batters. YIKES, Nathan.
Joe Kantakevich: 2 IP, 2 H, walk, 3 K
Andrew Barb: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, walk, K, 2 wild pitches
Greg Halman: 1-4, solo HR, 3 K (.201)
Alex Meneses: 1-4, double, 2 RBI (.156)
Carlos Triunfel: 3-3, double, R (.313)
Carlos Peguero: 1-4, 2 run HR, K (.250)
Danny Santin: 1-4, double (.171)
The listed attendance for the game was 5,425, which for a Single A ballgame in Appleton, WI is WHOA. Was it Triunfel Bobblehead Night or something?
In any case, the T-Rats were motivated right out of the gate, blowing up James Heuser for 5 runs in the first 2 innings and holding a relatively comfortable 6-2 lead after 4. A token run in the 6th for Kane County and a comeback attempt on a wild Andrew Barb in the top 9th weren't enough.
Also, big transaction move: Gavin Dickey, the quick but erratic outfielder, was placed on the DL, and replacing him was the newly reactivated Gerardo Avila. RRRRRRRRRRICO...
...
... SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAVE!
Yes, I've been waiting two months for the right time to make that silly joke. Meanwhile, looks like it's time for Little Rain Delay's ass to become reacquainted with the bench, and not a moment too soon.
NEXT: Anthony Varvaro's turn in Appleton against Kane County at 4:05 pm PDT.
AA: Huntsville 11, West Tenn 3
Awwwww... no org sweep for us.
Doug FISTER: 4 IP, 8 H, (6 R) 5 ER, 2 walks, 2 K
Juan Sandoval: 3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 hit batters
Mumba Rivera: 1 IP, walk, K
Brent Johnson: 1-3, solo HR, 2 R (.282)
Erick Monzon: 2-4, RBI (.228)
Matt Tuiasosopo: 0-3, sac fly RBI, K (.297)
Rene Rivera: 0-4, 3 K (.202)
Just to show that crowd size doesn't necessarily correlate to the level of play, this AA game drew a whopping 788 fans, compared to the 5400+ the Single A game drew in Appleton (and the T-Rats usually draw 1600-1800 a night).
Meanwhile, Doug FISTER looked okay until Huntsville beat him up in the 4th for 4 runs to make it 6-3 Huntsville. Juan Sandoval relieved him in the 5th and got pounded for 5 more, putting the game out of reach.
After that, it was a good 7 inning night for Huntsville SP Lindsay Gulin, a vaguely familiar name who, if I recall correctly (and I could be wrong on this), tried out for the M's in ST back in 2006 but didn't make the team and disappeared to Indy ball, namely Lincoln of the American Association (managed by everyone's favorite phony Vietnam vet Tim Johnson), where he went 13-2 with a 2.10 ERA and 104/20 K:BB in 120 IP. It was enough to get him a shot in the Brewers org and here he is, dealing and holding his own in AA.
NEXT: Justin Thomas kicks off a home series with Chattanooga at 5:05 pm PDT.
AAA: Las Vegas 8, Tacoma 6
Jake Woods: 4 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 2 walks, 4 K, sucks.
Jim Parque: 2 IP, 1 H, surprisingly didn't suck.
Byron Embry: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 walks, K, hit batter, surprisingly sucked.
Travis Chick: 1 IP, 1 K. Baby steps.
Adam Jones: 3-5, 3 run HR, 4 RBI (.321)
Jeremy Reed: 0-4, K (.269)
WLAD: 2-4, 2 K (.326)
Rob Johnson: 1-4, solo HR (.272)
Gookie Dawkins: 2-4, solo HR, 2 R (.183)
Jake Woods got destroyed for 4 runs in the 2nd, though Adam Jones tried to keep it close with a 3 run bomb in the bottom 3rd. However, the 51's answered for a couple runs in the top 4th to make it 6-3. But Rob Johnson hit a solo shot in the bottom 4th, and Adam Jones knocked in Oswaldo Navarro to cut the lead to 6-5.
Jim Parque shocked the world by coming in and inducing three straight groundouts to finish the 5th without a problem. The Rainiers hitters looked similarly impotent (that's what she said) against Vegas reliever Casey Hoorelbeke, whose ancestors clearly couldn't spell Hurlbeck properly. Gookie Dawkins of all people hit a solo shot in the bottom 6th to TIE THE BALLGAME.
Relieving Jim Parque in the top 7th was... Byron Embry? Perhaps Daren Brown was using some common sense in bringing his best reliever into a high leverage situation, but it sadly blew up in his face. Embry plunked Matt Kemp to lead off, and surprisingly did not get ejected rimshot?. Kemp stole 2nd, and Mitch Jones doubled him in to give Vegas the lead again 7-6. Embry retired Delwyn Young and Choo Freeman, but Ken Huckaby smoked a grounder up the middle into center to score Mitch Jones and make it 8-6 as Huckaby took 2nd. Luis Maza smoked another grounder into center, but Huckaby turned for home and Adam Jones gunned him down at the plate for out number 3.
The Rainiers had a good shot in the 8th, as Jon Nelson tripled with one out and Ronnie Prettyman drew a walk. But Matt White got pulled for... Yhency Brazoban, who in the process of getting lost in the Dodgers shuffle ended up as the 51's ace reliever. That said, Rob Johnson flew to right, where Matt Kemp made the catch and Jon Nelson tagged up to score- EXCEPT Kemp threw home and gunned down Nelson at the plate for out number three. WHAT.
With Gookie Dawkins, Oswaldo Navarro and Adam Jones due up in the bottom 9th... the Rainiers went quietly and that was the end of the ballgame.
NEXT: Brad Thomas against Vegas at 6:05 pm PDT.