- The comeback continues for Austin Bibens-Dirkx. ABD set the tone in his 2 innings for the AZLMs pitching staff yesterday by striking out the side in the 1st and going groundout, groundout, strikeout in the 2nd. The AZLMs pitching staff countered by throwing up 7 more zeroes for a shutout, including an unlikely 4 shutout innings from the struggling Fray Martinez, though the game remained a scoreless tie into the bottom 9th, where Jarrett Burgess, who I just labeled a couple days ago as an overmatched teenager, hit a one out walkoff double to lock up a 1-0 victory.
Granted, the AZL Royals have a league low .624 team OPS, but let's not rain on the parade.
- Brett Lorin took a curiously early exit in the 4th inning of Wisconsin's game yesterday. He had given up a couple runs and 4 hits, but had struck out 6, only walked two, and his outing didn't strike me as a game from which he would get chased. Chris Mehring's been having issues posting at Rattler Radio, so there was no subsequent news on any specifics within the game... but the game log gives a clue: the last batter he faced, Jose Felix, singled on a ground ball to SS, and Jonathan Greene scored from 2nd. Runners don't generally score from 2nd on a groundball to short unless the batted ball is deflected. Could Lorin have possibly deflected an errant line drive off some part of his body? Hopefully, he is okay. EDIT: He's fine. See Chris Mehring's comments below (under RattlerRadio).
Meanwhile, the T-Rats had to run a serious bullpen relay out there, using 5 relievers, but they came back from 4-0 down with a 5 run frame late in the game to win 5-4.
- So the Mavs run Steve Uhlmansiek, their rehabilitated reliever, to start yesterday's game against Lake Elsinore, because that's how desperate things get in High Desert, and Uhlmansiek does the weirdest thing: he allows one run, a walk and four hits while pitching into the 6th inning. While he had a bit of help pitching in Lake Elsinore, one of the Cal League's pitching friendlier locales... he also helped himself by inducing 9 groundballs, walking next to no one and keeping the line drives to a minimum.
Groundballs: 9
Flyballs: 5
Line Drives: 2
Pop Ups: 1
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 3
- As to who Brandon Morrow replaced in Tacoma... surprise, surprise: Joe Woerman was demoted to AA West Tenn, which is for the best given the guy walked the world both as a starter and as a reliever in AAA and got tattooed when his pitches found the zone. He got the start in Jackson, TN last night and pitched six strong innings, walking only one. Curious. Could the walks have been a product of being a little gun-shy towards AAA hitters in launchpads?
Groundballs: 8
Flyballs: 7
Line Drives: 4
Walks: 1 (plus 2 hit batters)
Strikeouts: 5
Even more surprising was the pitcher who worked the 9th for the DIAMOND JAXX: Doug FISTER. THE FIST has had notorious struggles as a starter in AA over the last couple years. Could it be that the org decided it was time to move Dougie Fistball to the bullpen, given the org largely profiles him as a reliever anyway? Or could they be giving him a rest after a long season?
Either way, these two aren't the pitching story of the game, as even though they pitched well, the DIAMOND JAXX could not score enough runs off Nic Ungs (7 GS, 1.96 ERA, 46 IP, 4 HR, 10/24 BB/K), a typical 28 year old veteran retread, who is having a surprisingly good year as a hired gun for Huntsville, and threw a CG 5 hitter against West Tenn.
- There's nothing I can add about Brandon Morrow's 34 pitches yesterday for Tacoma that Jason Churchill and his sources can't say better, so head on over for finer details. But in a nutshell, he recorded 5 outs, struck out one, he was a bit off all the way, sat at 92-93 with the fastball while occasionally dialing up to 95-97, and while he was still up with the heat, he kept his offspeed stuff down in the zone.
And like ABD in Peoria, Morrow's hot outing sparked the pitching staff, as they threw a 4 hit shutout. Scott Shoemaker finished the 2nd for Morrow and pitched through the 4th, allowing only a walk and 3 hits. Denny Stark threw 3 hitless innings after that, and Hubertime worked a perfect 9th, as the Rainiers rolled to an 8-0 win over lowly Albuquerque, the Rainiers' 9th win a row!
- WLAD's departure didn't dramtically shift the Rainiers outfield. Jon Nelson started in left, Prentice Redman in center and Shawn Garrett in RF. Victor Diaz can still "play" the corners, and though he's at the Olympics right now, Michael Saunders will be back in a couple weeks. If anything happens to Redman, they can always go get Brent Johnson or somebody from West Tenn (no, it probably won't be Greg Halman).
- So what is the deal with Matt Tuiasosopo's power spike? I want to explore the question, but First Inning decided to be funny and post no splits whatsoever for Tui's 2008. Really funny, guys. I can tell you, however, that he hit 5 of his HRs in June, but 11 of his doubles in July, plus his K's went way up in July. He is walking more the last couple months, though that likely is a pitching byproduct of his hot streak.
Let's look at stats....
Dominican: DSL Cardinals 16, DSL Mariners 5
DSLMs: 35-20... DSL Cardoids: 21-31
(League: 237/339/321... 3.72 ERA)
Gregorio Aquino: 3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, walk, 4 K, balk (11 app, 1st start, 7.80 ERA, 15 IP, 1 HR, 9/11 BB/K)
Bruno Mercedes: 2 IP, 6 H, (7 R) 6 ER (HR), 3 walks, 2 K, wild pitch, hit batter (20 app, 3.56 ERA, 55.2 IP, 2 HR, 21.61 BB/K)
Julio Antigua: 3 IP, 7 H, (8 R) 3 ER (HR), 2 walks, 2 K, wild pitch (10 app, 4.80 ERA, 15 IP, 1 HR, 9/11 BB/K)
Axel Wel: 3-4, 2 doubles, R, 2 RBI (271/357/333)
Oliver Garcia: 1-4, 3 run HR, K (196/333/314)
rest of DSLMs lineup: 4-25, 4 walks, 9 K
Rk-AZL: Mariners 1, Royals 0
AZLMs: 6-3... AZL Royals: 2-7
(League: 265/349/379... 4.45 ERA)
Austin Bibens-Dirkx: 2 IP, 4 K
Fray Martinez: 4 IP, 2 H, 5 K (7 GS +3, 7.08 ERA, 40.2 IP, 4 HR, 18/39 BB/K)
Brandon Maurer: 3 IP, 2 H, walk, 4 K
Jarrett Burgess: 1-3, walkoff RBI double, walk, SBs #10 & 11 (211/290/260)
rest of AZLMs lineup: 4-26, 7 K
Rk+: Pulaski 5, Johnson City 2
PMs: 29-19... JC: 25-23
(League: 264/335/395... 4.26 ERA)
Nick Czyz: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 walks, 6 K, wild pitch (7 GS +4, 4.15 ERA, 43.1 IP, 2 HR, 15/43 BB/K)
Stephen Penney: 2.2 IP, 1 H, K, wild pitch (11 app, 6.23 ERA, 17.1 IP, 1/10 BB/K)
Blake Nation: 1 IP, walk, K (13 app, 3.00 ERA, 18 IP, 1 HR, 7/19 BB/K)
Dwight Britton: 2-3, double, triple, 3 R, K (258/297/422)
Deybis Benitez: 1-4, R, 2 RBI (309/380/519)
Mario Martinez: 3-3, R, sac fly RBI (322/347/486)
Juan Fuentes: 3-4, 2 RBI, K (369/439/496)
A-: Everett 6, Tri City 3
EVE: 20-29... 3C: 23-26
(League: 257/346/374... 4.24 ERA)
Aaron Brown: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 walks, 4 K, 2 wild pitches (7 GS +4, 5.45 ERA, 38 IP, 1 HR, 31/28 BB/K)
Bradley Reid: one out, 3 walks, K, wild pitch (8 app, 6.10 ERA, 10.1 IP, 1 HR, 7/6 BB/K)
Christian Staehely: 1 IP, 1 H, walk, K (13 app, 4.38 ERA, 24.2 IP, 1 HR, 19/17 BB/K)
Matt Renfree: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 2 K (17 app, 2.31 ERA, 35 IP, 1 HR, 14/36 BB/K)
Bennett Billingsley: 1-4, 3 RBI, K (250/324/411)
Fleming Baez: 1-3, double, RBI, walk (232/315/366)
rest of Aquasox lineup: 2-21, 4 walks, 5 K
A: Wisconsin 5, Clinton 4
WIS: 14-31... CLI: 23-22
(League: 252/323/374... 3.70 ERA)
Brett Lorin: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 walks, 6 K, wild pitch (5 GS, 3.63 ERA, 22.1 IP, 1 HR, 10/25 BB/K)
Ryan Moorer: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, K (36 app, 4.04 ERA, 49 IP, 2 HR, 19/35 BB/K)
Natividad Dilone: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 K, wild pitch (17 app, 4.70 ERA, 23 IP, 2 HR, 11/23 BB/K)
Jose Jimenez: two outs, walk, K
Robert Harmon: no outs recorded, 2 walks (29 app, 8.03 ERA, 37 IP, 3 HR, 32/40 BB/K)
Jeff Dunbar: 1.1 IP, walk
Ronald Garth: 1-5, double, 2 K (265/318/403)
Joe Dunigan: 2-4, R, RBI, walk, K, SB #22 (230/289/407)
Alex Liddi: 2-5, R, RBI, K, SB #16 (223/288/330)
Israel Nuñez: 2-4, double, 2 RBI (212/268/281)
Maximo Mendez: 2-3, RBI, walk, K, SBs #21 & 22 (248/341/346)
A+: Lake Elsinore 4, High Desert 2
Mavs: 20-25... Lake: 22-23
(League: 274/342/414... 4.57 ERA)
Steve Uhlmansiek: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, walk, 3 K (29 app, 3 GS, 4.34 ERA, 45.2 IP, 4 HR, 22/35 BB/K)
Alfredo Venegas: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, hit batter (11 GS +9, 5.19 ERA, 85 IP, 8 HR, 26/78 BB/K)
Nick Hill: 1.1 IP (26 app, 10 GS, 4.78 ERA, 81 IP, 7 HR, 39/67 BB/K)
Steven Richard: two outs, 1 H, (2 R) 1 ER (HR), K (22 app, 4.65 ERA, 31 IP, 2 HR, 19/31 BB/K)
Carlos Triunfel: 2-3, walk (288/337/413)
Travis Scott: 1-3, double, R, walk (280/348/475)
Joe Simokaitis: 0-4, 4 K: The Golden Sombrero (277/340/457)
Kevin Reynolds: 2-4, R
Ogui Diaz: 1-4, RBI, 3 K (248/273/330)
Geraldo Valentin: 1-4, RBI (238/273/349)
AA: Huntsville 3, West Tenn 1
WTN: 18-27... HUN: 22-24
(League: 263/341/400... 4.20 ERA)
Joe Woerman: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, walk, 5 K, 2 hit batters
Jason Kershner: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, K
Doug FISTER: 1 IP, K
Greg Halman: 2-4, RBI, K (289/329/503)
Jeff Dominguez: 1-3, double, K (214/278/284)
rest of DIAMOND JAXX lineup: 2-23, walk, 4 K
AAA: Tacoma 8, Albuquerque 0
TAC: 63-55... ALB: 50-68
(League: 276/347/442... 4.84 ERA)
Brandon Morrow: 1.2 IP, 1 H, K
Scott Shoemaker: 3.1 IP, 3 H, walk, 2 K (27 app, 6 GS, 6.28 ERA, 67.1 IP, 14 HR, 28/43 BB/K)
Denny Stark: 3 IP, 3 K
Jon Huber: 1 IP, 2 K (42 app, 7.08 ERA, 54.2 IP, 4 HR, 19/42 BB/K)
Prentice Redman: 3-4, double, 2 R, RBI (308/383/538)
Matt Tuiasosopo: 2-4, solo HR, 2 run HR, 3 R, walk, K (272/355/429)
Victor Diaz: 1-4, 3 run HR, walk, K (288/373/550)
Craig Wilson: 2-4, 2 doubles, RBI, walk, 2 K (300/429/563)
Shawn Garrett: 1-5, double, K (295/323/441)