- Those of you wondering with bated breath... Jessie Nava got pounded for 4 runs in the first 2 frames and the VSLMs dropped the VSL Championship to the VSL Pirates 7-3. The VSLMs did get within 4-3, but the Pirates added insurance runs against the bullpen late to pull away.
- Over 14 innings of a doubleheader sweep, the DSLMs pitching staff allowed 6 hits and 1 run total. Granted, their offense gave them a total of 5 runs in those two games and only one XBH, so it's possible they played in offense-stifling conditions, but you can't complain about the starters in both games, Miguel Celestino and Anthony Fernandez, getting the team through 6 and handing the 7th and final frames to the bullpen for an easy lockdown.
- While he's really struggled since his recent arrival in the States, Brazilian prospect Jean Tome had his best outing in the States yesterday, relieving AZLMs starter Ariel Alcantara to start the 5th inning with a 7-0 lead and worked through the 7th without allowing a run, striking out 3 and recording 5 of the 6 other outs via groundball, while allowing only 2 hits. It's a start.
- The M's 6th round pick was a fortuitous sign (he had considered skipping out and going to college), but early struggles in the AZL may seed doubt in Jarrett Burgess' mind (not that he can change his mind now). In 131 plate appearances going into yesterday, he's striking out nearly a quarter of the time (24.4%) and while he's drawing walks (7.6), this means 32% of his PAs end without a ball in play, and in those that do, he only has a 12% LD rate, which makes his meh .282 BABIP seem a bit fortuitous. He'll grow into pro ball with maturity and practice, but don't expect more than the 208/284/250 we're seeing from him in Peoria for now. He's not screwed or anything: he's just currently a bit overmatched at the plate. For what it's worth, he reached base three times and stole 2 bags for the AZLMs in yesterday's 11-1 blowout win.
- Also, Robert Rodriguez may be hitting a lot better if he'd try to draw some walks. The 7+% walk rate he posted in the DSL has dropped to around 2-ish since coming to the mainland. He has enough speed and power to be worth the price the M's paid to get the talented youngster, but he needs to rediscover his DSL roots and force those Rookie-ball hurlers to make their pitches if they want to get him out.
- Ryan Rowland-Smith made his 3rd Rainiers start, and like Ryan Feierabend, the Isotopes put a lot of balls in the air against him, though RRS did get more grounders than Feierabend. RRS might have gone 7, but the Isotopes loaded the bases on him in the 6th and it took a pep talk from Dwight Bernard and some guile to get out of that jam intact. He called it a night after that escape, 101 pitches later (66 strikes).
Groundballs: 8 (plus 1 bunt)
Flyballs: 7
Line Drives: 3
Pop Ups: 1
Walks: 3
Strikeouts: 4
Like Feierabend, RRS got a big inning from the bats to put this game out of reach. The Rainiers loaded the bases with two outs in the 4th. Prentice Redman then drew one of his FOUR walks to force in a run, before Tui yanked a Chris Seddon suck pitch over the LF wall for a GRAND SLAM, which WLAD followed with a pulled solo bomb of his own! That turned a 1-1 tie into a comfortable 7-1 lead, and RRS never looked back.
Stats sit below the jump.
VENEZUELA~! CHAMPIONSHIP: VSL Pirates 7, VSL Mariners 3
VSLMs: 42-26... VSL Pirates: 46-22
(League: 254/335/341... 3.44 ERA)
Jessie Nava: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER (2 HR), walk, 2 K
Rhonny Acosta: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, hit batter
Erasmo Ramirez: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 K, hit batter
Rafael Torrealba: 1-4, RBI, K
Carlos Ramirez: 2-4
Jetsy Extrano: 2-4, solo HR
Rigoberto Rangel: 1-4, solo HR, K
They played two in the Dominican!
Game 1: DSL Mariners 4, DSL AthleticsUno 1, 7 innings
Miguel Celestino: 6 IP, 3 H, (1 R) 0 ER, 2 walks, 5 K (11 GS +1, 2.16 ERA, 50 IP, 12/40 BB/K)
Ambioris Hidalgo: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K (13 app, 7 GS, 4.72 ERA, 34.1 IP, 4 HR, 14/30 BB/K)
Mario Flores: 2-3, 2 run HR (306/449/479)
rest of DSLMs lineup: 4-16, 2 walks, 7 K
Game 2: DSL Mariners 1, DSL AthleticsUno 0, 7 innings
DSLMs: 34-19... DSLA1s: 21-24
(League: 237/339/321... 3.71 ERA)
Anthony Fernandez: 6 IP, 2 H, 6 K (14 app, 6 GS, 4.20 ERA, 45 IP, 22/40 BB/K)
Bruno Mercedes: 1 IP (19 app, 6 GS, 2.68 ERA, 53.2 IP, 18/59 BB/K)
Rey Lebron: 2-2, R (190/284/214)
Angel Zapata: 1-2, RBI (230/298/244)
Rk-AZL: Mariners 11, Brewers 1
AZLMs: 5-3... AZL Brewers: 1-6
(League: 266/350/382... 4.49 ERA)
Ariel Alcantara: 4 IP, 3 H, walk, 3 K (5 GS +2, 5.93 ERA, 27.1 IP, 3 HR, 18/30 BB/K)
Jean Tome: 3 IP, 2 H, 3 K
Nick Love: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, K (9 app, 10.70 ERA, 17.2 IP, 5/11 BB/K)
Scott Savastano: 2-5, R, RBI, K
Randy Molina: 2-5, double, R, RBI (233/310/329)
Jarrett Burgess: 2-4, 2 R, walk, 2 SB (208/284/250)
Joel Mendez: 2-4, R, sac fly RBI, K, SB #12 (305/328/359)
Emmanuel Familia: 1-2, R, RBI, walk (243/280/300)
Robert Rodriguez: 2-2, triple, RBI (273/285/379)
Rk+: Pulaski 8, Danville 2
PMs: 28-18... DAN: 25-22
(League: 263/335/393... 4.24 ERA)
Fabian Williamson: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 walks, 6 K (10 GS, 4.18 ERA, 47.1 IP, 6 HR, 23/57 BB/K)
Andres Esquibel: 2 IP, 2 H, (1 R) 0 ER (11 app, 2.05 ERA, 22 IP, 2 HR, 3/10 BB/K)
Kris Sanchez: 2-3, solo HR, 2 R, walk (330/430/615)
Mario Martinez: 2-4, triple, 2 R, RBI, K (318/348/488)
Juan Fuentes: 2-4, double, R, 2 RBI (361/436/474)
Blake Trinkler: 2-4, solo HR, 2 RBI, K (214/340/357)
A-: Everett 6, Vancouver 4
EVE: 18-29... VAN: 19-28
(League: 256/345/370... 4.16 ERA)
Nolan Gallagher: 4.2 IP, 2 H, (2 R) 1 ER, 2 walks, 4 K, wild pitch, balk
Philip Hann: 1.1 IP, 3 H, (1 R) 0 ER, wild pitch (14 app, 5.59 ERA, 19.1 IP, 1 HR, 8/15 BB/K)
Javier Martinez: 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 K (14 app, 5.52 ERA, 14.2 IP, 1 HR, 14/12 BB/K)
Eddy Fernandez: 1 IP, 2 K (18 app, 4.88 ERA, 24 IP, 2 HR, 8/28 BB/K)
Anthony Phillips: 1-5, R, RBI (239/316/358)
Luis Nuñez: 2-4, double, R, RBI, K (313/324/382)
Manny Pimentel: 2-4, double, 2 RBI (233/340/308)
Brandon Fromm: 1-3, double, RBI, walk, K (254/301/373)
A: The T-Rats had Monday off.
A+: The Mavs had Monday off.
AA: West Tenn 9, Montgomery 5
WTN: 18-25... MON: 25-18
(League: 262/340/398... 4.17 ERA)
Travis Chick: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 walks, 9 K (27 app, 11 GS, 4.28 ERA, 96.2 IP, 7 HR, 44/80 BB/K)
Roman Martinez: 1.1 IP, 1 H (30 app, 5.60 ERA, 35.1 IP, 4 HR, 16/27 BB/K)
Justin Thomas: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 walks, 2 K, wild pitch (17 GS +5, 4.24 ERA, 114.2 IP, 11 HR, 53/104 BB/K)
Noah Old Sox Hall: 2-3, R, RBI, 2 walks, SB (253/388/326)
Marshall Hubbard: 2-5, double, 2 R, RBI, K (312/428/541)
Mike Wilson: 1-3, R, RBI, 2 walks, K (290/388/576)
Johan Limonta: 2-5, double, triple, 2 RBI, K (303/381/533)
Gabe Johnson: 2-5, double, R, K
Jeff Dominguez: 1-3, double, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 walks, K (209/274/266)
AAA: Tacoma 12, Albuquerque 6
TAC: 61-55... ALB: 50-66
(League: 276/347/443... 4.84 ERA)
Ryan Rowland-Smith: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 walks, 4 K
Mumba Rivera: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 4 ER (HR), 2 walks (11 app, 8.10 ERA, 13.1 IP, 3 HR, 9/13 BB/K)
Jorge Sosa: 1.2 IP, 4 walks, 2 K, hit batter (21 app, 3.42 ERA, 26.1 IP, 5 HR, 13/30 BB/K)
Prentice Redman: 0-1, 2 R, 4 walks, SB (305/381/540)
Matt Tuiasosopo: 2-5, GRAND SLAM, 2 R, 2 K (264/349/408)
WLAD: 1-3, solo HR, K (266/354/584)
Craig Wilson: 1-3, 3 R, RBI, 2 walks, K (292/427/556)
Jon Nelson: 2-4, solo HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, K
Rob Johnson: 3-4, 2 doubles, 3 RBI (309/374/463)