Games are below the jump with interesting stuff, but I'd like to complain about the annoying glitch in this Acer Aspire's keyboard that will sometimes ignore keystrokes when I type double leters (like THERE, see?). I'm not sure if it's a mechanical defect, a Vista compatibility defect, Vista sucking (film at 11), the memory otherwise getting chewed up and slowing up the system enough to omit keystrokes at 50+ WPM, or what. Sure, I can try an old keyboard on this machine and see if that solves the problem, and I will, but it gets on my nerves, especially given it's a new machine and it otherwise is pretty nice (well, it will be once I can get XP back on here and punt Vista).
(In fact, I had to go back and add a few letters to that paragraph and this sentence)
Also, I didn't think I would, but I miss my old laptop. Aside from still having a lot of data I used on it, I now realized it worked incredibly well, overheating issues aside. It's getting a diagnostic at a shop right now and I will probably get a phone call shortly advising me that the motherboard and/or CPU are fried, but RIP, Inspiron. Your parts were crappy enough to warrant a class action lawsuit, but you still did a great job for me.
ON TO THE WRAP-UP....
Rk: VSL Mariners 18, VSL Tigers 2
Yoervis Medina: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 walks, 2 K, hit batter
Reynaldo Sabala: 1 IP, walk, 2 K
Manuel Campos: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, balk
Mayckol Guaipe: 1 IP, K
Roberto Velasquez: 1-4, 3 R, RBI, walk, K (.270/357/270)
Terry Serrano: 2-5, 2 R, RBI (.200/313/225)
Carlos Ramirez: 3-6, 3 R, RBI (.385/458/596)
Jose Rivero: 2-6, R, 3 RBI, 2 K (.259/310/296)
Cesar Fuentes: 1-2, double, R, 2 RBI, 2 walks (.279/360/395)
Rigoberto Rangel: pinch hit RBI triple (.227/352/432)
Jorge Agudelo: 0-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 walks, 2 K (.211/348/342)
Jose Hernandez: pinch hit, subed at catcher, 1-1, 2 RBI, walk (.286/355/321)
Jonathan Loaisiga: 3-5, double, 2 R, 3 RBI (.261/346/304)
Rafael Torrealba: 2-2, R, RBI (.231/286/308)
With the VSLM's crapping all over the VSL Tigers bullpen, this is a great day to put the whole lineup up there and give you a very brief look at where they're at after 10-15 games. Now, before you get to excited about any big numbers, tis is a prety small sample size, with no bater having more than 54 ABs and the the AB totals mostly hanging around the 20s, 30s and 40s... and these are raw 17-19 year olds playing against other raw 17-19 year olds. In fact, I'm a bit embarrassed to even put thse numbers up given the sample size, but I figured what the hell, just to give you some idea of how these mostly-total strangers are doing so far.
The pitchers haven't logged too many innings overal, so it's too son to tell anything with them, though one encouraging item from Jose Rios is a 14/2 K:BB over 12 relief innings. Given this is a smallball-heavy league for obvious reasons, though, the pitching numbers are going to look very good for the most part... thus whether or not the conclusion makes any sense, I'm gona wait a bit to post pitching numbers.
A: High Desert 13, Rancho Cucamonga 9
Marwin Vega: 6 IP, 9 H, (5 R) 4 ER, walk, 3 K
Paul Fagan: 2 IP, 1 H, walk, 2 K
Roman Martinez: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 walks
David Asher: 0.1 IP
Casey Craig: 2-5, R, RBI, K (.325)
Michael Saunders: 3-5, solo HR, 3 RBI (.282)
Jesus Guzman: 0-3, R, sac fly RBI, walk (.282)
Johan Limonta: 1-5, double, 2 R, K (.311)
Adam Moore: 2-5, 2 doubles, 2 R, 2 RBI (.278)
Chris Colton: 3-4, double, triple, 2 R, RBI, walk (.287)
Jeff Dominguez: 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB (.263)
Josh Womack: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, walk, K (.239)
The Quakes held a 5-1 lead going into the top 6th. Francisco Rodriguez (not the noodle limb four eyed cheater) came out to work the 6th and promptly got taken deep by Michael Saunders to cut the lead to 5-2. Jesus Guzman grounded to 3rd but 3B Tadd Brewer misplayed it to put him on. Johan Limonta grounded to short but SS Hainley Statia misplayed THAT and runners were now on 1st and 2nd. Yes, the Angels Championship Defense pervades the entire organization.
Adam Moore hit a towering double to center to score them both and cut the lead to 5-4. Chris Colton smoked a nasty grounder into center to move Moore to 3rd, and that was it for K-Rod II (or K-Rod With A Vengeance). In came, of all people, Justin Speier to relieve him, get some rehab work in, hold the lead and be a hero all at once.
Except Jef Dominguez tagged him for a line drive single to score Adam Moore and TIE THE BALLGAME at 5 as Colton took 3rd. Then Speier uncorked a wild pitch to move Dominguez to 2nd, but Flint Wipke, overrated Angels catcher of the future, kept it in front of him to prevent Colton rom scoring. Jeff Flaig struck out, because it's the only thing he understands, for the first out of the inning. But Josh Womack lined a single to center to score both runners and give the Mavs a 7-5 lead.
The Quakes did not get any closer than that, and the Mavs blew up again in the top 8th. Adam Moore led off with a double and Chris Colton tripled him in to make it 8-5. Jeff Dominguez singled him in to make it 9-5. Dominguez stole 2nd with Jeff Flaig batting, then Flaig watched Flint Wipke pass a ball to move Dominguez to 3rd before drawing a walk, so we'll just pretend Jeff Flaig hit a single and leave it at that.
Kevin Jepsen went to the dugout and wished the High Desert Mavs never existed, while Chris Hunter relieved him, and Mavs hitters basically relieved themselves all over his pitches. Josh Womack drew a walk, then Casey Craig smoked a single into left to score Dominguez, 10-5, and keep the bases loaded... for Michael Saunders.
And Saunders smoked a single into right to score Flaig and Womack, 12-5 Mavs, as Craig took 3rd. Jesus Guzman sac flied Craig in for a laugh to make it 13-5.
The Quakes staged a LOL rally in the 9th for four runs to fool the uninitiated into thinking it was a contest.
Also, a note: one day after stealing his 25th base of the season, Quakes leadoff bitch Bradley Coon stole his 26th base of the season. Between stealing 55 bags in single A Cedar Rapids this year and being on pace for even more this season, expect Bradley to get on your nerves while wearing an Angels uniform within the next 3 years.
A: Quad Cities 7, Wisconsin 2
Nathan Adcock: 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 walks, 5 K
Drew Fiorenza: 1.2 IP, 3 H, (5 R) 0 ER (HR), walk, K
Kuo Hui Lo: 1-4, K (.270)
Alex Liddi: 1-3, 2 run HR, K (.232)
You know, Quad Cities should call their team the Train, just so they have an excuse to play that ridiculous 90's jungle-mix song by the Quad City DJs. C'MON RIDE THE TRAIN... AND RIDE IT (WOO WOOOO) For a civic region whose apex of athletic local pride is a CBA basketball team, it sure wouldn't hurt.
Meanwhile, Alex Liddi continues to make strides, taking Eddie Degerman deep in the 5th inning to put the T-Rats on the board 2-0. But that was all Degerman allowed, striking out 8 over his 5 innings and only allowing 2 walks other than the bomb. Then Shaun Garceau, not starting for whatever reason, came in and went the rest of the way, striking out an absurd 9 batters over the final four innings while allowing only two hits.
Meanwhile, the Swing finally got to Nathan Adcock in the 8th, cashing in a run on three singles (apparently, no one ever told the Royals about those 4 for 3 coupons), and Adcock took a seat for Drew Fiorenza, who surrendered a sac fly that TIED THE BALLGAME but got out of the inning.
He was not so lucky in the 9th. After a leadoff single, Drew made two costly throwing errors, one on a pickoff attempt, to open the floodgates for a disastrous 5 run 9th, capped off by a 3 run homer from Jared Schweitzer.
AA: Mississippi 4, West Tenn 3, 10 innings
Justin Thomas: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 5 walks, 6 K
Mumba Rivera: 1.1 IP, 1 H, walk, K
Craig James: 1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER
Chad Fillinger: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 walks
Charlton Jimerson: 1-5, RBI, K (.222)
Jeff Frazier: 2-5, R (.230)
Rene Rivera: 2-5, R, RBI, 2 K (.187). What.
Luis Valbuena: 1-4, double, 2 K (.199)
Tui had the day off.
I'm not gonna mention Braves manager Phillip Wellman, but that meltdown was hilarious.
Good opposing pitching + bad closing relief = loss.
Tied at 1 in the 7th, the DIAMOND JAXX snuck Chris Minaker to 2nd with two outs and Charlton Jimerson smoked a gorunder into center to knock him in and given the DIAMOND JAXX the 2-1 lead. West Tenn tacked on in the top 9th when Rene Rivera led off with a lined single to center, then Luis Valbuena actually didn't blow for a change, doubling him to 3rd and leading to another run after Clint Sammons passed a ball. I bet the AA Braves miss Saltalamacchia now!
Craig James, putting it back together after a bad start to the year, came in to shut it down. Except the AA Braves had a coupon and four straight singles equalled TWO mamafreaking runs to TIE THE BALLGAME. The AA Braves even moved the winning run to 3rd, but Mark Jurich could not knock him in, sending the game to extra innings.
The DIAMOND JAXX went quietly in the top 10th and Chad Fillinger came in to pitch the bottom 10th, which is like sending Sean White into a tie ballgame. Josh Burrus walked and Van Pope sac bunted him over for one out. Fillinger intentionally walked Carl Loanderthal, and Mike Rozema tapped back to the mound, but Fillinger only took the out at 1st for two outs, moving the wining run 90 feet away. Fillinger intentionally walked Brandon Jones to get to Matt Esquivel, and you can guess what happened next. At 276/357/480, Jones isn't exactly an easy out, but with two outs, I'm not sure why walking him to get to Matt Esquivel (252/339/472) makes an easier matchup. You only need the out at 1st no matter what. Poor overmanaging there, with a pitcher so mediocre that it doesn't really help him anyway.
AAA: Iowa 4, Tacoma 2
Brad Thomas: 7 IP, 4 H, (2 R) 1 ER, walk, 5 K, wild pitch
Byron Embry: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER (HR), 2 walks, 2 K
Adam Jones: 0-4, walk, 2 K (.295)
Jeremy Reed: 3-5, 2 doubles, RBI (.286)
WLAD: 0-3, 2 walks, K (.319)
Jeff Clement: 2-4, R (.246)
Gookie Dawkins: 1-4, RBI (.230)
SEAN BURROUGHS?!?!: 1-4, double, R, K
Brant Ust: 2-3, walk (.268)
In a rather bemusing note, the starter on Saturday for Iowa's Cubs was Neal Cotts, who after 16.2 unimpressive innings out of the pen in Chitown is now working some pretty long rehab outings. This was his 3rd Iowa appearance, his first two lasting 3 and 4 innings, respectively, and he worked into the 5th this time, so it seems like they're trying to convert the giant load into a starter, which is understandable given the current state of the Cubs rotation but LOL considering it's Neal Cotts.
In an even more amusing note, Sean Burroughs has finally emerged from the DL cave and started Saturday at 3B. This means something will need to be done with Mike Morse, bad at SS, now blocked at 3B (Burroughs) and definitely blocked at LF (Reed)/RF (WLAD)... and with Ronnie Prettyman, who to his credit looked okay during his trial and got the swing back that he lost at AA. Prettyman likely goes back to Jackson, TN, though it's not as clear what happens with Morse. Oswaldo Navarro blows and Gookie Dawkins is a backup middle infielder at best, but Morse is a defensive liability at SS, plus there's no real need to call him up.
In a disapointing note, this was a tie game until Byron Embry blew it in the 9th, surrendering a leadoff walk and then a one out, 2 run bomb to Tony Richie. What has happened to Byron Embry?