I was out night, will be out today playing softball (or throwing/hitting the ball around) and you may not see a wrap-up until this afternoon Sunday. EDIT: Man, I did not feel well out in that heat today, and those throwing and hitting today may have noticed. I've been laid out and recovering fluids since I got home. I do need to go to that birthday thing later tonight, but I need to get some rest. This recap may be past the point once it goes up, but it'll go up sometime tomorrow.
Sunday 5:47 pm EDIT: Here it is, finally. It took a long while to catch up on this, as I elected to write both concurrently to reduce page-load logistics. Any stats you see are current as of TODAY, rather than as of Saturday, as they would have been had I written this wrap-up on time. Don't be alarmed when you read the Wrap-Up for Saturday and see the same lines for players. They are simply there for benchmark reference.
Compounding matters were some close games. The Kane County Cougars staged a Friday night rally on the T-Rats, and the DIAMOND JAXX had to go to extra innings with the Mobile BayBears. But the High Desert Mavs got their rout on, while the Rainiers built enough of a lead to withstand a competitive rally from Tucson.
On to the wrap-up!
VENEZUELA~!: VSL Phillies 7, VSL Mariners 5
Yorjans Chourio: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 walks, wild pitch, hit batter
Reynaldo Sabala: 2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, K, 2 wild pitches, 2 hit batters
Manuel Campos: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 K, wild pitch, hit batter
Roberto Velasquez: 1-4, triple, RBI, walk, K
Yidid Batista: 2-5, R, SB
Mario Yepez: 2-4, triple, R, 2 RBI
Rigoberto Rangel: 1-4, RBI
Jetsy Extrano: 2-4, double
The VSLM's squeezed home a run in the 1st. Yidid Batista smoked a grounder up the middle and took 2nd on a fielding error, stole 3rd and scored later on a Mario Yepez sac fly. But Yourjans Chourio struggled in the 1st, at one point gave 3 consecutive free passes, and left with 2 runs on the board.
The VSLM's did tie the ballgame in the 3rd by taking advantage of wildness from Ricciard Rodriguez and some fielding issues to bring Reginald Lampe home on a Mario Yepez single.
However, the VSL Phils led off with a triple, and a sac fly immediately brought that run home to make it 3-2 Phils.
The VSLM's did tie the game in the 5th. Kenny Hart led off with a single, then took 3rd on a pickoff throw YIKES AND AWAY, before scoring on a groundout.
But the Phils blew up Reynaldo Sabala in the 6th. The first five batters in the inning all reached base, plus Sabala threw two wild pitches and Rigoberto Rangel helped out with a fielding error in LF, and four runs later, Manuel Campos finished off the disaster inning, the VSLM's trailing 7-3.
Mario Yepez hit a one out triple in the 8th and later scored on a Rangel single to make it 7-4. In the 9th, Rafael Torrealba walked and Roberto Velasquez hit a one out triple to cash him in and make it 7-5... but the next two batters, including Mario Yepez, went quietly to end the ballgame.
A: Wisconsin 8, Kane County 6
Edward Paredes: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER (HR), 2 walks, 5 K (7 GS, 5.12 ERA, 4 HR, 14/26 BB/K)
Travis Mortimore: 1.2 IP, walk, 2 K (12 app, 0.68 ERA, 13.1 IP, 6/10 BB/K)
Ryan Moorer: 1 IP, walk (13 app, 2.51 ERA, 14.1 IP, 1 HR, 7/11 BB/K)
Walter Suriel: one out, 4 H, 3 ER (HR), K
Jose Escalona: one out, walk
Justin Souza: one out (13 app, 4.24 ERA, 17 IP, 1 HR, 5/16 BB/K)
Maximo Mendez: 2-5, double, RBI, K (214/313/298)
Edilio Colina: 2-4, double, 2 R, RBI, walk (311/373/415)
Gavin Dickey: 1-4, double, 2 R, RBI, walk, K, 2 SB (333/373/462)
Alex Liddi: 2-5, double, R, 3 RBI, K, SB (223/303/323)
Calvin Beamon: 2-4, triple, R, RBI, K, SB (227/295/328)
Israel Nuñez: 1-4, double, R
All the runs in this game came in big, isolated rallies. The T-Rats had the first in the
bottom 3rd, after Edward Paredes had withstood one out XBHs in the 1st and 2nd to escape without damage.
With one out, Edilio Colina beat out a grounder to 2nd before Gavin Dickey* doubled down the LF line, allowing the speedy Colina to score easily and make it 1-0 T-Rats. Dickey then stole 3rd base, allowing him to score easily once Alex Liddi singled up the middle, 2-0 T-Rats. Liddi then stole 2nd for his 7th steal of the year, though it didn't matter after Calvin Beamon tripled to center to cash him in easily, 3-0 T-Rats... still one out. Ronald Garth got plunked, and that was it for Scott Moore (10 app, 3.98 ERA, 20.1 IP, 0 HR, 7/29 BB/K), whose 1st start after 9 previous relief apps went right off the rails in this big T-Rats inning. Brad Hertzler (7 app, 1.08 ERA, 16.2 IP, 1 HR, 5/13 BB/K) came in and struck out Denny Almonte, but Ronald Garth tok off for 2nd and drew a throw for what was ultimately a double steal, as Beamon came home on the throw to score and make it 4-0. I LOVE THE 2ND/HOME DOUBLE STEAL. I've used that play to death in every baseball video game I've ever played, because most CPUs are completely oblivious to it. The only game that it didn't routinely work against was Baseball for Windows, because every time you tried it, the shortstop or pitcher would cut off the throw to 2nd, throw home and get the other runner at the plate... which I surmise is why teams don't routinely try it. Nuñez grounded out to end the inning but whatever.
Paredes held down the fort without trouble until the 6th. Dangerous Michael Lissman (231/314/306) led off with a single and Larry Cobb (354/385/542) smoked a grounder into left to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Another dangerous hitter, Greg Dowling (302/367/463), struck out, but a tiring Paredes fed A ball slugger Corey Brown (288/377/518) a meatball that Corey dropped over the 400 foot CF wall for a 3 run bomb to cut the lead to 4-3 with some good old 90's-era 'sit back and wait for the 3 run bomb' offense. Jake Smith (290/400/387) walked and that was it for Paredes.
Groundballs: 8
Flyballs: 7 (1 HR)
Line Drives: 1
Walks: 2
Strikeouts: 5
Travis Mortimore, seeing more action as of late, came in and walked Todd Johnson
(270/340/438), but got the next two batters to escape without further damage.
The T-Rats had a salvo of their own waiting for new Cougars reliever Lance Sewell (4 app, 5.40 ERA, 8.1 IP, 2 HR, 6/6 BB/K) in the bottom 6th. Denny Almonte led off with a walk and Israel Nuñez lined a double into left to move Almonte to 3rd. Almonte scored on Maximo Mendez's groundout to extend the lead to 5-3. Juan Diaz grounded out as well for two outs, but Edilio Colina doubled to center (Corey Brown's crappy range probably helped) to score Nuñez and make it 6-3. Gavin Dickey grounded to short, but SS Matt Ray candyarsed it to put him on and give Colina 3rd. Dickey stole 2nd base for his 7th swipe of the year to put runners at 2nd and 3rd, and Alex Liddi came through with a 2 run double to left to make it 8-3 T-Rats, and the rout was on.
RIGHT?
Well, for the most part it was, but Walter Suriel came on to mop up the 9th, and pinch hitter Jonathan Johnston (213/322/255) promptly doubled to left (Gavin Dickey has shown good range in LF too) before Carlos Arrieche, in only his 5th game of the year, lined a single to center (Maximo Mendez in CF has not) to move him to 3rd.
And them Matt Ray (238/306/354), he whose error helped produce a run, crapped all over a Suriel pitch himself, sending it over the CF wall for his 1st home run of the season and making it 8-6. 90'S BALL STRIKES AGAIN.
Lissman did strike out, but Larry Cobb got a grounder into left, and Suriel got the hook for lefty Jose Escalona. He got Greg Dowling on a pop out, but walked Corey Brown, and he got the situational hook for Justin Souza, who got a flyout from Jake Smith to end the ballgame.
* - I'm sure a few curious readers out there are wondering if T-Rats outfielder Gavin Dickey and Tacoma knuckleballer R.A. Dickey are related. Let's compare pictures of the two to see if we can notice a resemblance.
... I would surmise not.
A+: High Desert 13, Rancho Cucamonga 5
Ricky Orta: 5 IP, 6 H, (3 R) 1 ER (HR), 2 K (7 GS, 3.90 ERA, 30 IP, 4 HR, 8/24 BB/K)
Alfredo Venegas: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 K (6 app, 2 GS, 3.86 ERA, 23.1 IP, 1/22 BB/K)
Jamie McOwen: 2-4, triple, 3 R, 2 RBI, K (275/341/369)
Leury Bonilla: 3-5, 2 doubles, R, 2 RBI, K (302/381/430)
Matt Mangini: 1-4, double, 2 R, walk, K (257/373/414)
Carlos Peguero: 3-5, 2 doubles, R, 3 RBI, K (304/320/458)
Chris Minaker: 2-4, 2 doubles, 2 R, RBI (273/301/442)
Greg Halman: 2-4, triple, 2 run HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, walk, SB #17 (264/316/522)
Travis Scott: 0-3, sac fly RBI (317/377/485)
Wake up, bats!
Matt Mangini doubled with two outs in the 1st, and Carlos Peguero got a grounder into left to score him, 1-0... but go thrown out at 2nd to end the rally.
Ricky Orta came out and ran into trouble, because trouble stalks Ricky Orta and ignores the restraining order. Abel Nieves (250/322/317) singled up the middle with one out. Speedy Peter Bourjos (335/367/471) lined a good shot... but right at Carlos Peguero at RF for two outs. Mark Trumbo (277/326/506) grounded to 3rd for what should have been the 3rd out but Mangini muffed it to put runners at 1st and 2nd, two outs. And Orta got punished for it, giving up a two out two run double to Brian Walker (286/344/473) to make it 2-1 Quakes.
The Mavs struck right back. Chris Minaker led off with his 14th double of the season, and Greg Halman promptly tripled him in to tie the ballgame. Travis Scott flew out to right, but Halman tagged up and scored to give the Mavs a 3-2 lead.
But Orta ran into trouble again in the 2nd. Larry Infante (262/322/308) singled up the
middle to lead off the 2nd... but he got caught stealing by Travis Scott. Too bad, because PJ Phillips (236/263/373) took Orta deep to re-knot the game at 3. Anderson Rosario, playing only his 6th game with the Quakes, lined a single after this, but Orta got the next two batters to get out of the jam.
The Mavs had a good chance to score in the 4th as Peguero led off with a double. Chris Minaker's groundout for the 1st out even got Peguero to 3rd, but Greg Halman (1-3 groundout) and Travis Scott (popout 6) couldn't get the run in.
But after Marco Albano (13 app, 6.10 ERA, 20.2 IP, 2 HR, 10/20 BB/K) relieved starter David Herndon (8 GS, 5.32 ERA, 44 IP, 6 HR, 5/35 BB/K), Kuo Hui Lo walked, stole 2nd, took 3rd on an Anthony Phillips sac bunt for one out, and scored easily on a Jamie McOwen triple to make it 4-3 Mavs. Leury "Latin Campaneris" Bonilla Watch: starting at 1st base, Leury came up with McOwen on 3rd, one out, and doubled to left to cash McOwen in and make it 5-3 Mavs.
Orta withstood a two out double from Nieves in the 5th to finish the minimum without further damage, and took a seat therafter.
Groundballs: 9
Flyballs: 5 (1 HR)
Line Drives: 5
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 2
Greg Halman baffled us all with one out in the 6th and... drew a walk. He then stole his 17th bag of the season, but he likely baffled his own teammates into submission, because Travis Scott watched himself draw a walk, and Kuo Hui Lo killed the rally by grounding into the inning ending 6-4-3 double play.
Alfredo Venegas came in for the 6th and ran into trouble himself. However, Venegas has no restraining order and lets trouble in regularly. After two outs, Wilberto Ortiz (265/317/344) grounded into RF for a single, and Infante grounded a single up the middle to put runners at the corners. PJ Phillips came up and lined his 3rd triple of the right to RF to cash both runners in and TIE THE BALLGAME at 5 before Rosario grounded out.
Sammy Leon, making his 5th appearance, relieved Albano and his night went straight to hell. With one out, Jamie McOwen received 1st base on catcher's interference from Brian Walker. Leury Bonilla smoked a grounder into LF, Mangini watched Leon uncork a wild pitch to move the runners into scoring position, then drew a walk to load the bases.
Carlos Peguero smoked a double down the RF line to score McOwen, score Leury and give Mangini 3rd as the Mavs took a 7-5. Chris Minaker came up, and Leon uncorked ANOTHER wild pitch to bing in Mangini, 8-5, as Peguero took 3rd. Minaker flew out to left, but Peguero tagged up and scored to make it 9-5 Mavs.
The Quakes had no answer, and the Mavs poured it on against new pitcher Barret Browning (16 app, 3.48 ERA, 20.2 IP, 1 HR, 6/23 BB/K). Kuo Hui Lo smoked a grounder into LF with one out for a single, then stole 2nd with two outs. This allowed him to score on Jamie McOwen's eventual single, making it 10-5. Leury Bonilla lined a double to right, allowing McOwen to score and make it 11-5.
More damage came in the 9th off Felipe Arredondo (13 app, 8.35 ERA, 18.1 IP, 4 HR, 3/17 BB/K). Chris Minaker doubled with one out, and Greg Halman crapped all over a suck pitch to make it 13-5. No lead is safe in the Cal League... except, I suppose, for this one.
AA: West Tenn 6, Mobile 5, 10 innings
Doug FISTER: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 walks, 6 K, wild pitch, hit batter (9 GS, 3.14 ERA, 51.2 IP, 4 HR, 19/38 BB/K)
Jason Mackintosh: 1.2 IP, 2 H, (2 R) 1 ER, walk, K (13 ap, 4.24 ERA, 17 IP, 5/12 BB/K)
Roman Martinez: 1 IP, 1 H, K (11 app, 7.62 ERA, 13 IP, 1 HR, 7/14 BB/K)
Mumba Rivera: 1 IP, K (14 app, 1.65 ERA, 16.1 IP, 1 HR, 5/19 BB/K)
Luis Valbuena: 2-5 (325/404/488)
Michael Saunders: 2-5, double, 2 R (291/351/468)
Marshall Hubbard: 2-3, triple, R, RBI, 2 walks (360/464/596)
Jon Nelson: 2-5, double, R, 2 K (307/373/404)
Mark Kiger: 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 walks, K (201/355/288)
This wasn't a bad day for Doug FISTER at all, and he even FISTED Brandon Burgess (213/339/348) right out of the ballgame, KO'ing him with a beanball in the 2nd. He just leaked offense on a day where he got no run support. Two walks eventually produced a run when Cyle Hankerd (299/340/403) smoked a grounder up the middle with two outs in the 4th.
In the 5th, Greg Thomson (215/311/285) led off by bunting himself aboard, took 2nd on a FISTER wild pitch with two outs, and eventually scored on a double from Bryan Byrne (285/372/394).
The 3rd run chased him in the 7th. Greg Thomson led off with a double to get aboard again, and took 3rd on a groundout. Chris Rahl (183/230/305) singled him in, and that was it for the FIST.
Groundballs: 9 (plus 2 bunts)
Flyballs: 3
Line Drives: 4
Pop Ups: 1
Walks: 2 (plus 1 hit batter)
Strikeouts: 6
Jason Mackintosh picked off Rahl after he drifted from the bag for two outs, and struck out Bryan Byrne to end the frame.
Down 3-0, Mackintosh ran into trouble in the 8th. Rusty Ryal (333/405/522) walked with one out, and Frank Curreri (246/371/407) doubled to right to cash him in, 4-0, but he got a little greedy and RF Prentice Redman caught him well ahead of 3B, leading to a rundown for the 2nd out. Good thing, because Cy Hankerd's 1st triple of the season would've scored him. Hankerd soon scored himself, as Adam Moore passed a ball to let him in, 5-0.
Fortunately for the DIAMOND JAXX, Jose Marte, in only his 5th appearance with Mobile, lost the strike zone, and after a leadoff single from Luis Valbuena, with one out he walked three straight batters (Redman, Hubbard and Moore) to force in a run, 5-1. Vince Bongiovanni (14 app, 4.29 ERA, 21 IP, 2 HR, 10/17 BB/K) came on and walked in a run himself (Limonta), 5-2.
Jon Nelson wisely sat on Bongiovanni's pitches, but Vince found the zone and got Nelson on strikes for two outs. Mark Kiger waited for nothing but his pitch, and smoked a grounder up the middle to cash in Hubbard and Moore, 5-4.
Roman Martinez came in for the 8th and once again Greg Thomson got on, this time with a single... but Roman did not allow another baserunner after that, and the DIAMOND JAXX had three outs to come back.
Michael Saunders singled with one out. Prentice Redman struck out for two outs, but Marshall Hubbard blasted a triple to center to cash in Saunders and TIE THE BALLGAME. Adam Moore could not get him in, grounding to 3rd to end the frame and send this to extras.
Forrest Cory came on in relief for the bottom 10th, and pinch hitter Mike Wilson did what he does best: strike out. Jon Nelson, however, doubled to right, leading Cory to intentionally walk Mark Kiger to create a force at any bag. Jeff Dominguez came up and screwed it up by grounding to short. ss Guillermo Reyes threw to 2b Rusty Ryal for one, and Ryal threw- YIKES AND AWAY! NELSON SCORES!! DIAMOND JAXX WIN!!!
AAA: Tacoma 8, Tucson 4
Chris Jakubauskas: 6 IP, 4 H, (4 R) 3 ER (HR), 2 walks, 3 K
Cesar Jimenez: 2 IP, 2 K (15 app, 5.14 ERA, 21 IP, 2 HR, 6/23 BB/K)
Jon Huber: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 K (15 app, 4.26 ERA, 19 IP, 8/15 BB/K)
Tug Hulett: 3-3, double, R, 2 RBI, walk (225/307/348)
Yung Chi Chen: 1-5, 2 run HR (233/311/278)
Jeremy Reed: 2-4, R, walk (349/413/557)
Victor Diaz: 1-4, double, R, RBI, walk, 3 K, SB (304/403/480)
Bryan LaHair: 2-4, double, R, RBI, K (276/349/493)
Shawn Garrett: 1-4, R, RBI (254/290/441)
The Rainiers jumped on Juan Gutierrez quickly, as Yung Chi Chen of all people took him deep in the 1st for a 2 run shot, and the Rainiers built a 5-0 lead through 3. Even after Chris Jakubauskas wore down in his 3rd AAA start and allowed 4 runs, the Rainiers added damage off the Sidewinders bullpen to rebuild a comfortable lead before the 8th inning.
Groundballs: 7 (plus 1 bunt)
Flyballs: 8 (1 HR)
Line Drives: 2
Walks: 2
Strikeouts: 3