Jeff's note: please don't ask me about the LL/USSM weekend. Dave and I will give you the details when everything's arranged.
While you may be depressed about the Bedard news or today's abortion of a game, I am depressed with learning that the timing of this year's LL/USSM event and my college graduation fall on the exact same day (June 14th), and thus for that and various coinciding reasons (I have family in town for the graduation who will rely on me to help them get around), I cannot go to the event and probably won't be able to go to any other meetups that weekend. If you're going, have fun.
Meanwhile, it was a much better day for the minor league squads. Some players had crappy days, but for the most part, today was a good day for them. Details await within.
On to the wrap-up.
A: They played two in Appleton!
Game 1: Wisconsin 4, Dayton 1, 7 innings
Edward Paredes: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 walks, 4 K
Travis Mortimore: 1 IP, K
Keith Meyer: 1 IP, 1 H
Calvin Beamon: 2-3, double, R, RBI
Gavin Dickey: 1-3, double, R
Alex Liddi: 2-3, RBI
Joe Dunigan: 2-3, double, R, RBI, K, SB
Edilio Colina: 1-3, double, RBI
Some teams rust with time off and come out of the gate slowly. This did not happen with the T-Rats, whose bats were hot out of the gate starting with the 2nd inning, where Edilio Colina smacked an RBI double to tie the ballgame at 1. Four straight hits in the 2nd cashed in 2 more to give the T-Rats a 3-1 lead.
It would be enough for Edward Paredes, who did a solid job and put in his 5 inning minimum of work before leaving the bullpen with some work to get loose with.
Groundballs: 8
Flyballs: 6
Line Drives: 3
Walks: 3
Strikeouts: 4
Game 2: Dayton 3, Wisconsin 1, 7 innings
Nathan Adcock: 6 IP, 4 H, (2 R) 1 ER, walk, 5 K
Ryan Moorer: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, K
Alex Meneses: 1-3, double, RBI
rest of T-Rats lineup: 4-21, R, walk, 6 K
Well, that could've gone better, but still, two games of baseball! That's two more than they were able to play last week!
Nathan Adock was mostly solid, but with a 1-1 tie in the top 5th, he gave up a leadoff single to Jake Long, then fielded Jacob Kahaulelio's sac bunt and threw it YIKES AND AWAY to let Long score and make it 2-1. Adcock got out of the frame without further incident, and he even struck out the side in the 6th, but with the offense sputtering, the loss was as good as his after that.
Groundballs: 9 (plus 1 bunt)
Flyballs: 2
Line Drives: 2
Pop Ups: 3
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 5
Ryan Moorer got lit up a bit in the top 7th for the insurance run. And again, the T-Rats put up little fight at the plate.
A+: High Desert 4, Inland Empire 0
Kyle Parker: 6 IP, 2 H, walk, 5 K
Michael Wagner: 2 IP, 2 H, walk, 2 K
David Asher: 1 IP, K
Jamie McOwen: 1-4, RBI
Kuo Hui Lo: 2-4, double, R, RBI
Johan Limonta: 1-3, 2 run HR, walk, 2 K
Greg Halman: 0-4, K
Matt Mangini: 0-2, R, walk, K
Kyle Parker may not have the tools of demolition derby-mates Steven Richard and Anthony Varvaro, but he's certainly pitching better than either one. Even given the wonky early efforts of Empire to force runners home, Parker was undeterred, reverting to his usual groundballing ways to get out of and stay out of trouble.
Groundballs: 9 (plus 1 bunt)
Flyballs: 3
Line Drives: 0
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 5
Leury "Latin Campaneris" Bonilla Watch: Started today at 2B, went 0-2 with a run, a walk, a stolen base and a K.
Jose Yepez sucks. Twice he committed catcher's interference, which BTW awards the batter 1st base. I'm sure Kyle Parker appreciated that.
AA: West Tenn 8, Huntsville 1
Ryan Ketchner: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, walk, K
Travis Chick: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 2 K
Craig James: 1 IP, K
Michael Saunders: 1-5, R, 2 K, SB
Adam Moore: 2-4, double, 2 R, RBI
Marshall Hubbard: 2-2, 2 doubles, 2 R, RBI, walk
Prentice Redman: 1-3, double, R, 2 RBI, walk
Jon Nelson: 1-3, double, 2 RBI, walk
Mike Wilson: 1-4, double, R, 3 K
Ronnie Prettyman: 1-4, 2 run HR
Jeff Dominguez: 1-4, double, K
Clearly, this is as well as the DIAMOND JAXX could have expected to do today. Everyone not named Mark Kiger contributed offensively, pounded Stars pitching into oblivion, and Ryan Ketchner would not listen to the pleas of the gods of failure, mainly because Ryan Ketchner is deaf. See, disabilities can be worth a few runs. Ketchner was getting hit hard with regularity, though, and started getting hit consistently in the 6th, and after a sac fly cashed in the only Huntsville run of the game, Scott Steinmann lifted him for Travis Chick, who did a solid job in relief.
Groundballs: 6
Flyballs: 5
Line Drives: 6
Pop Ups: 3
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 1
AAA: They played two in Colorado Springs.
Game 1: Tacoma 11, Colorado Springs 7, 7 innings
Joe Woerman: 4 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 5 walks, 2 K
Jake Woods: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 K
Cesar Jimenez: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, wild pitch
Bronson Sardinha: 3-4, double, 2 R, 2 RBI, walk, K
Jeremy Reed: 3-4, double, R, RBI
WLAD: 1-3, R, 2 RBI
Jeff Clement: 2-5, double, 2 RBI, K
Bryan LaHair: 2-3, solo HR, 2 run HR, walk
Rob Johnson (DH?!): 1-4, double, R
Matt Tuiasosopo: 2-3, double, 3 R, RBI, walk
The Sky Sox got a 3-1 lead in the 3rd off a Seth Smith triple and a Sean Barker double. But Bryan LaHair hit a solo shot in the top 4th, and after designated out Rob Johnson reached on a fielding error, Tui cashed him in with a double. Bronson Sardinha lined a two out single later in the frame to cash in Tui and it was 4-3 Rainiers.
Then Joe Woerman continued his implosion. Chris Frey led off with a single up the middle. Woerman walked Jonathan Herrera, then got the lead runner on a sac bunt attempt. Then he walked Omar Quintanilla to load the bases, so so much for that. Seth Smith came up and lined a single to left to cash in Herrera, tie the ballgame and keep them loaded. Ian Stewart hit a sac fly to take a 5-4 lead, and WLAD horked the throw to put runners at 2nd and 3rd... but Sean Barker grounded out to end the threat.
WLAD atoned by leading off the top 5th with a single, followed by Clement lining a single himself. Mike Kinkaide did his part to kill the rally with a GIDP, but Bryan LaHair crapped all over prospect Greg Reynolds' best suck pitch and sent it over the CF wall to give the Rainiers a 6-5 lead.
Jake Woods came in and gave the side some Vitamin D in the bottom 5th, then the Rainiers struck again in the top 6th. A Bronson Sardinha lined double cashed in a run off reliever Chris George, and Jeremy Reed blooped a ball over 3B Ian Stewart before Mark Daley relieved George. WLAD got plunked to load the bases... for Jeff Clement. Clement then lifted a flyball over and past Chris Frey in RF to cash in Sardinha and Reed to make it 9-5.
Woods put the side down in order again in the bottom 6th, then Juan Morillo came in to pitch and immediately walked the first 3 batters. Jeremy Reed flew out to left but that cashed in Tui to make it 10-5 as all the runners tagged up and moved over. WLAD flew out to right, but Oswaldo Navarro tagged up and scored to make it 11-5, which would be more than enough to seal the deal, even after Cesar Jimenez got lit up for two runs in the final frame.
Game 2: Colorado Springs 6, Tacoma 1, 7 innings
Ryan Feierabend: 5 IP, 7 H, (4 R) 3 ER, 2 walks, 4 K
Scott Shoemaker: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER (HR), 2 K
WLAD: 0-3
Jeff Clement (DH): 1-2, solo HR, walk
Matt Tuiasosopo: 1-3
rest of Rainiers lineup: 1-15, 2 walks, 2 K
Somebody forgot to tell the Rainiers that there was a 2nd game today.
Meanwhile, remember what I said about guys like Ryan Feierabend pitching in hitters' climates. He did get more grounders than usual, plus a couple of pop ups, but a diastrous 4 run 2nd inning, sparked by four straight hits, three on line drives and one of a flyball, plus a Mike Kinkaide fielding error did Feier and the Rainiers in. To his credit, he picked off two baserunners today, but he had plenty of opportunities given there were so many of them over his 5 innings. And he had little to no offensive support, the only Rainiers run coming on a Jeff Clement solo shot in the 7th and final inning with the game in the bag for the Sky Sox.
Groundballs: 6 (plus 1 bunt)
Flyballs: 4
Line Drives: 4
Pop Ups: 2
Walks: 2
Strikeouts: 4