Fun fact: When all five teams win on the same day, that is loosely considered an organization sweep. It's ambivalent whether or not the big club's performance counts. Devil Rays, Pirates and Royals fans like to think not.
I'll tell you the VSLM's won. Did the other teams win as well? FIND OUT BELOW THE JUMP....
VSL Mariners 6, VSL Cubs/Twins 1
One for one!
Leonardo Rodriguez: 5 IP, 5 H, (1 R) 0 ER, walk, 4 K
Kervin Montbrum: 4 IP, 1 H, 2 walks, 7 K
Roberto Velasquez: 4-5, 2 R, RBI
Carlos Ramirez: 2-4, double, R
Cesar Fuentes: 2-5, 2 R, 3 RBI
Rigoberto Rangel: 2-4, double, RBI, walk, 2 K
Jose Hernandez: 2-5, RBI, K
Ah, the wonders of the Venezuelan Summer League and their consolidated org teams. I often wonder what the VSL Cubs/Twins logo looks like. I could probably find a pic with a Google search in Spanish, but it's more fun to speculate. Does it look like a big, silly percent symbol, with the two logos separated by a slash? Wouldn't they then be nicknamed Los Percentes by the locals? Do they wear the Cubs logo for 'home' games and the Twins logo for 'road' games to represent the respective stadium situations? Do they have a local celebrity sing Take Me Out To The Ballgame during the 7th inning stretch? Do they have a play by play guy named Berto who used to be a great Venezuelan hurler with a home run problem that has a telestrator for TV, with fans in the stands holding signs that say ¡Deme Vueltas, Berto!?
Oh yeah, the game... The VSLM's tacked on 3 in the 3rd to take the 3-1 lead, and piled on in the 7th and 8th.
High Desert 4, Lake Elsinore 3
Two for two!
Marwin Vega: 5.2 IP, 5 H, (2 R) 1 ER (HR), 4 walks, 3 K
Nicholas Allen: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 2 K, hit batter
Juan Zapata: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER (HR)
Josh Womack: 2-4, double, R, K (.244)
Michael Saunders: 0-2, R, 2 walks, 2 K (.287)
Jesus Guzman: 1-4, triple, 2 RBI, K (.292)
Adam Moore: 1-3, 2 RBI, walk, K (.273)
Travis Scott (DH): 0-4, K (.342)
Jeff Dominguez: 2-3, R (.249)
Down 1-0, Marwin Vega could not finish the 6th, or was not allowed to, as he retired the first two batters before Jose Lobaton took his deep to right to make it 2-0, and Vega immediately got yanked for Nicholas Allen. In the process of said yanking, Mavs manager Scott Steinman stated that he took offense with home plate umpire John Byrne's strike zone, so Byrne tossed him.
In the bottom half of the 6th, Jeff Flaig led off with a lined single, Jeff Dominguez lined a signle, and Manny Ayala was done for the night, ceding to Michael DeMark. Speedy Josh Womack laid down a nice bunt that moved the runners and got him aboard to load the bases. But Michael Saunders went down swinging for one out. Then Jesus Guzman went down swinging for two outs. Then Adam Moore went do- ER lined a single to right to score Flaig, Nick Crosta in RF threw home and could NOT get Dominguez in time, TIE BALLGAME BUT WAIT, Womack was going for 3rd, Lobaton the catcher turned, threw to 3rd and gunned Womack down for the 3rd out.
Lake reliever Greg Burke fared much better in the 7th, inducing three straight groundouts to work the quick inning. In the bottom 8th, Flaig grounded to short for one out, and Dominguez grounded to 1st for two outs. And Womack DOUBLED TO RIGHT for no outs! For whatever reason, Michael Saunders, despite being 0 for 2 with 2 Ks on the night, put the fear of hell in Burke, who intentionally walked him... to bring up a hitless Jesus Guzman.
And JESUS HAS RISEN for a lined triple to right that scored Womack and Saunders to make it 4-2. Saunders' run is especially important for reasons you will see shortly.
Juan Zapata came in to close it out, and after retiring Matt Bush and Mike Baxter, Seth Johnston took him deep to cut the lead to 4-3, HOWEVER... had Burke not walked Saunders earlier, this ballgame would be tied! Sometimes creating the force out pays off, and sometimes it does not. David Freese did line a single to left, but Kyle Blanks' liner found Josh Womack in LF for the final out, MAVS WIN.
NEXT: Last SP in the door has to start tonight at 7:05 pm PDT.
Wisconsin 4, Kane County 2
Three for three! Go rerish!
Anthony Varvaro: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 walks, 2 K
Justin Souza: 1.2 IP, 2 H
Rollie Gibson: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, walk
Andrew Fiorenza: 0.2 IP, 1 H, walk, wild pitch
Kuo Hui Lo: 4-4, 2 doubles, R, RBI, SB #11 (.239)
Carlos Triunfel: 1-4, RBI, 2 K (.311)
Carlos Peguero: 0-4, RBI groundout, 3 K (.240)
Kalian Sams: 1-3, double, R, walk, K (.240)
Gerardo Avila: 1-4 (.219)
Alex Liddi: 0-4 (.181)
Juan Beltran: 2-4, R, K, SB (.228)
By the time the Cougars got around to scoring, it was already 4-0 T-Rats in the bottom of the 9th, thanks to runs scored in the 1st, 3rd, 7th and 8th innings. Anthony Varvaro allowed nothing over his 6 innings and Justin Souza pitched into the 8th (talk about a turnaround after his disastrous first month!). Rollie Gibson tried, and failed, to finish the game, but Andrew Fiorenza, despite being rather erratic with his control, got the job done.
NEXT: Tony Butler's turn against Kane County at 4:05 pm PDT today. THROW STRIKES.
AA: West Tenn 3, Chattanooga 1
FOUR FOR FOUR! CAN I HAS ORG SWEEP?
Justin Thomas: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER (HR), 3 walks, 5 K, wild pitch
Aaron Troila: 2 IP, walk, 2 K
Craig James: 1 IP, 1 H, HEY no runs.
Sebastien Boucher: 1-3, double, 2 R, walk (.195)
Prentice Redman: 3-4, double, 2 RBI, K (.295)
Matt Tuiasosopo: 1-4, triple, 2 K (.296)
Charlton Jimerson: 0-4, 4 K: The Golden Sombrero
Rene Rivera: 0-3, 2 K (.197)
The Lookouts struck in the 2nd when Ryan Hanigan LOOKOUT went deep off Justin Thomas to make it 1-0. The DIAMOND JAXX could not respond against a dealing Richie Gardner until the bottom 5th when a fielding error and a wild pitch got Sebastien Boucher on 2nd with two outs. Brent Johnson smoked a grounder to 3rd that 3B Enrique Cruz could not gun to 1st in time and everybody was safe at the corners. Prentice Redman lined a single to center to score Boucher, and the relay throw from 2B Drew Anderson, who committed the earlier error, went YIKES AND AWAY to allow Brent Johnson to score and make it 2-1 DIAMOND JAXX. Gardner took a seat after that, ceding to Justin Mallett, but he could not smash Marshall Hubbard (SEE WHAT I DID THERE), who hit a smoking liner... right at CF Marland Williams for the 3rd out.
West Tenn tacked on anotehr run in the 7th when Sebastien Boucher drew a walk against a familiar face: Mike Flannery... then took 2nd on another wild pitch. Prentice Redman lined a single to left and drove him in to make it 3-1. Aaron Troila held the fort in the 8th, and Craig James righted the ship to pitch a scoreless 9th for the save.
NEXT: Andrew Baldwin's turn at home against Chattanooga at 5:05 pm PDT.
DID WE SWEEP?
Las Vegas 6, Tacoma 0
RERISH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Brad Thomas: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 walks, 5 K
Jamie Cerda: 1 IP, 4 H, (5 R) 1 ER (HR), walk, K
Jason Mackintosh: 2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, walk, K
Adam Jones: 0-4, 2 K (.313) HE SUCKS TRADE HIM (j/k calm down)
Jeremy Reed: 0-4, K (.263)
WLAD: 1-3, double, walk (.326)
Mike Morse: 1-4, double, K (.316)
Rob Johnson: 1-3, K (.273)
No Jeff Clement for the 3rd straight game. Minor injury prehaps? Jeff Clement (DH): 0-3 (.something low)
This was all on the pitching. Vegas hurlers Hong-Chih Kuo, who worked 4 scoreless innings and K'd 4, and Eric Stults, who allowed one hit over the final 5 innings while striking out 6. Tacoma only got 7 baserunners the entire game. Vegas hurlers were dealing, and I don't mean blackjack. Meanwhile, Brad Thomas was also dealing... except an overworked Jamie Cerda was not, and he fell apart in the 7th with the help of Rainiers errors and a passed ball. Speaking of overworked, Jason Mackintosh worked the final two innings and didn't look much better in the 8th, allowing an additional run in case we didn't get the point.
The top 7th, for your additional reading enjoyment:
Pitcher Change: Jaime Cerda replaces Brad Thomas.
- Mitch Jones reaches on throwing error by third baseman Mike Morse.
- Delwyn Young walks. Mitch Jones to 2nd.
- Choo Freeman hits a sacrifice bunt. Fielding error by pitcher Jaime Cerda. Mitch Jones to 3rd. Delwyn Young to 2nd. Choo Freeman to 1st.
- Ken Huckaby singles on a fly ball to center fielder Adam Jones. Mitch Jones scores. Delwyn Young scores. Choo Freeman to 2nd.
- Luis Maza ground bunts into double play, pitcher Jaime Cerda to third baseman Mike Morse to second baseman Gookie Dawkins. Choo Freeman out at 3rd. Ken Huckaby out at 2nd. Luis Maza to 1st.
- Tomas Perez singles on a ground ball to left fielder Jeremy Reed. Luis Maza to 2nd.
- Sergio Garcia homers (4) on a fly ball to left field. Luis Maza scores. Tomas Perez scores.
- Larry Bigbie singles on a ground ball to center fielder Adam Jones.
- With Matt Kemp batting, passed ball by Rob Johnson, Larry Bigbie to 2nd.
- Matt Kemp reaches on missed catch error by first baseman Jon Nelson, assist to third baseman Mike Morse. Larry Bigbie to 3rd.
- Mitch Jones strikes out swinging.