Mariner Minors
Game Recaps (4/30/05)
Tacoma 3, Salt Lake City 5 (ANA) (seven innings)LHP Damian Moss (3.72, E, L) got his first start with the Rainiers this season, but didn’t fare too well, going five innings and allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits, a wild pitch, and four walks against three strikeouts. Two of those walks came in the sixth, and both would score under the watch of RHP Chris Buglovsky (2.84), who went an inning, giving up a hit and striking out a batter. SS Michael Morse (R, .278) and CF Dustin Delucchi (R, .264) both had two hits for the Rainiers, while 2B Ramon Santiago (2B, 3 RBI, .250) doubled in all three runs.
Tacoma 9, Salt Lake City 4 (ANA) (seven innings)RHP Felix Hernandez (3.00, W) went the distance in the second game, and those waiting to see how he handles adversity are in luck, as he allowed four runs on ten hits (HR) and three walks against five Ks. On offense, C Wiki Gonzalez (HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, .333) led the team with three hits, while LF Chris Snelling (2B, R, .500), 1B Aaron Rifkin (2 HR, 4 RBI, .307), and SS Michael Morse (HR, .306) had two each. Snelling also picked up his first outfield assist of the season.
San Antonio 4, Arkansas 2 (ANA)LHP Bobby Livingston (3.07, PO, E, W) got through “only” six innings tonight, but was solid enough and gave up just an earned run on five hits and three walks with two batters punched out. RHP Renee Cortez (8.31, PO), LHP Cesar Jimenez (3.38), and RHP Sean Green (4.66) split the last three innings with near identical results, each striking out a batter, but Cortez and Jimenez both gave up hits and Jimenez cranked out a wild pitch. DH Jon Nelson (RBI, CS, .238) had two hits on the night, RF T.J. Bohn (R, .351) was 1-2 with a couple of walks, and 2B Ismael Castro (HR 2 RBI, .235) and 3B Jesus Guzman (2B, CS, .190) both had extra-base hits and walks.
Inland Empire 4, Rancho Cucamonga 5 (ANA)RHP Brandon Moorhead (4.66) had a rough start, going five innings and allowing five runs on ten hits, though he struck out seven. Moorhead is now 0-3 in the California League this season. LHP Miguel Martinez (6.39) went two innings after that, striking out a couple of batters, while LHP Chris Key (2.25) had similar results in just one inning. 3B Erick Monzon (R, .243) and 1B Bryan Lahair (HR, 3 RBI, .227) both had two hits and a couple of walks for the Sixers. LF Casey Craig (.250), in his season debut, as 1-4 with a strikeout.
Wisconsin 3, South Bend 0 (ARI)RHP Aaron Jensen (2.33, PO, W) destroyed the Silverhawks tonight, going the distance for nine innings that saw them reach base only six times on four hits and two walks and strike out twice. The offense of the T-Rats had a lot of production tonight, but did surprisingly little with it. 3B Yung Chi Chen (2B, R, RBI, .326), 1B Brandon Green (RBI, .265), and DH Marshall Hubbard (R, .224) each had two hits, RF Mike Wilson (2B, RBI, .253) and LF Jack Arroyo (2B, .267) both doubled, and C Omar Falcon (.500) had a single and two walks in his season debut.
Tomorrow’s Schedule:
Tacoma: LHP Andrew Lorraine, at Salt Lake City, @ 1:00 pm PT
San Antonio: RHP Juan Sandoval, at Arkansas, @ 11:00 am PT
Second Game: LHP Thom Oldham
Inland Empire: LHP Shawn Nottingham, at Rancho Cucamonga, @ 2:15 pm PT
Wisconsin: RHP Jason Snyder, at South Bend, @ 11:30 am PT
Tacoma Rainiers: 11-11, .500, 2.5 GB in PCL Pacific North
San Antonio Missions: 12-9, .571, 1.5 GB in TL West
Inland Empire 66ers: 8-14, .364, 6 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 15-7, .682, 2 GB in MWL West
Organizational Record: 46-41, .523
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Game Recaps (4/29/05)
Tacoma 6, Salt Lake City 3 (ANA)RHP Rich Dorman (8.59, W) still isn’t quite back to what he was doing last season, but this will do for his first win. Dorman went five innings and allowed three runs on three hits (2 HR!) and three walks with three strikeouts, while inducing three times as many ground outs as flyouts (sensing a pattern here…) RHP Masao Kida (7.27) managed to shake off his bad juju for one outing, going two and two-thirds innings and allowing just one hit while he punched out two. LHP George Sherrill (2.79, S) took it the rest of the way and struck out a batter as well. Get this guy in the Mariners bullpen. The two-hit club had four members tonight in RF Abraham Nunez (HR, 3 RBI, SB, .294), 1B Aaron Rifkin (HR, 3 RBI, .299), SS Michael Morse (.263), and 2B Ramon Santiago (2B, R, CS, .263). For reference, those were three-run bombs for both Nunez and Rifkin, coming in the third and sixth innings, respectively. 3B Justin Leone (2B, .275) and C Wiki Gonzalez (2B, R, .261) both doubled, and DH Dave Hansen (R, .333) was 1-3 with a walk in his season debut.
San Antonio’s game was postponed tonight due to bad weather and poor playing conditions. There will be a doubleheader on Sunday.
Inland Empire 1, Rancho Cucamonga 5 (ANA)It was another high-K start for LHP Ryan Feierabend (4.15, PO, L) where he got torn apart towards the end. Though he struck out six in the same amount of innings, he allowed five runs on seven hits (HR), a wild pitch, and a walk. Three of those runs came in the fifth, though, to Ryan’s credit, he came back with a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth. RHP Nibaldo Acosta (8.25) pitched the seventh and gave up a couple of hits, though he struck out the side, then RHP Bryan Stitt (6.57) had an uneventful ninth. The Sixers collected three doubles on the night, one each from SS Adam Jones (2B, .253), 1B Bryan Lahair (2B, .205), and 3B Erick Monzon (2B, .225), but that was about it for the offense.
Wisconsin 2, South Bend 11 (ARI)RHP Mark Lowe (6.48, L), after dominating in his first few starts, got absolutely picked apart in this one, going just two and two-thirds innings and allowing nine runs (eight earned) on ten hits and a walk with a couple of strikeouts. If not for the efforts of RHP Stephen Grasley (3.45), it might have been a little uglier, as he stranded two runners and pitched four innings after that, giving up a run on two hits and two walks against three Ks. I am a little concerned about Grasley’s control though, granted, you can’t expect a guy to run up a K:BB of 37:1 every season, but right now it’s 11:9, which is way off of everything he’s done professionally and in college to this point. LHP Eric O’Flaherty (0.90) allowed an unearned run in the ninth on a hit and a wild pitch. 1B Marshall Hubbard (3B, RBI, E, .200) had a pretty good night for the T-Rats, going 2-2 with a walk, and the trio of CF Josh Womack (HR, .342), C Rob Johnson (2B, CS, .306), and DH Sebastian Boucher (2B, .333) had some extra-base knocks, but there wasn’t much offense in this game either.
Tomorrow’s Schedule:
Tacoma: LHP Damian Moss, at Salt Lake City, @ 3:00 pm PT
Second Game: RHP Felix Hernandez
San Antonio: LHP Bobby Livingston, at Arkansas, @ 5:10 pm PT
Inland Empire: RHP Brandon Moorhead, at Rancho Cucamonga, @ 7:15 pm PT
Wisconsin: RHP Aaron Jensen, at South Bend, @ 4:30 pm PT
Tacoma Rainiers: 10-10, .500, 2.5 GB in PCL Pacific North
San Antonio Missions: 11-9, .550, 1.5 GB in TL West
Inland Empire 66ers: 8-13, .381, 5 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 14-7, .667, 2 GB in MWL West
Organizational Record: 43-39, .524
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Game Recaps (4/28/05)
Tacoma’s game was rained out today, and will be made up as part of double-header this Saturday.
San Antonio 5, Arkansas 3 (ANA)RHP Jon Huber (4.95, W) took the hill today and went five and two-thirds innings, giving up a run (surprisingly, just a run) on six hits (HR) and five walks against two strikeouts. Two of the hits and one of the walks came in the sixth when he was pulled in favor of RHP Jeff Harris (1.93). Harris stranded all three of those runners, but would allow two of his own in two and third innings on four hits and a walk overall. RHP Sean Green (5.19, S) closed the deal, allowing a hit and a walk in the ninth. RF T.J. Bohn (R, CS, .347) and CF Jaime Bubela (2B, R, 2 RBI, SB, .239) both had two hits. Bubela and LF Jon Nelson (R, .224) both had outfield assists as well. Is it just me, or does it seem like we’ve been getting an awful lot of assists from our outfielders this year? The Missions also got doubles from DH Jesse Hoorelbeke (2B, 2 R, RBI, .299) and C Rene Rivera (2B, RBI, .296).
I’ve got some good news for you avid prospect watchers out there. I was checking out Inland Empire’s roster earlier today and I noticed that OF Casey Craig was listed as having been called up. I haven’t heard anything on why he didn’t break camp with them, or if there was some move made that corresponds and I just missed it, but this is definitely good news for the Sixers offense, which is second to last in average and dead last in OBP. It could be that OF Michael Nesbit is on the DL again, seeing as how he’s only played in a handful of games so far.
Wisconsin 12, South Bend 6 (ARI)Edit: 8:35 amRHP Mumba Rivera (3.27, E, W) is the second T-Rat to hit three wins as he shut down the Silverhawks today, going seven innings and allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits, a walk, and a strikeout. RHP Roman Martinez (3.97) went the next inning, allowing a couple of runs on two hits and two walks, then LHP Kendall Bergdall (1.74) allowed a solo shot, but struck out the side in the ninth. Three weeks of bench time has done nothing to slow down 2B/SS Asdrubal Cabrera (2B, 2 R, RBI, .538), who had another three hits in this game. Asdrubal switched over to SS Matt Tuiasosopo (2B, 2 R, .371), who was 1-3 with a couple of walks, late in the game, though I don’t know why exactly. In the two-hit club tonight were CF Josh Womack (RBI, .347), C Rob Johnson (R, RBI, .305), RF Mike Wilson (3B, 2 R, 2 RBI, .254), who had yet another outfield assist, 1B Brandon Green (R, 2 RBI, .250), and newcomer LF Sebastian Boucher (2 R, .400). Boucher, you might remember, was the Canadian prospect we picked in the 7th round last year who didn’t debut due to work visa issues.
I read in the paper that Boucher will be replacing OF David Hall, who was called up to Tacoma to replace OF Jamal Strong, who is currently suspended.Tomorrow’s Schedule:
Tacoma: RHP Rich Dorman, at Salt Lake City, @ 5:30 pm PT
San Antonio: LHP Bobby Livingston, at Arkansas, @ 5:10 pm PT
Inland Empire: LHP Ryan Feierabend, at Rancho Cucamonga, @ 7:10 pm PT
Wisconsin: RHP Mark Lowe, at South Bend, @ 4:30 pm PT
Tacoma Rainiers: 9-10, .474, 3.5 GB in PCL Pacific
San Antonio Missions: 11-9, .550, 2 GB in TL West
Inland Empire 66ers: 8-12, .400, 4 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 14-6, .700, 2 GB in MWL West
Organizational Record: 42-37, .532
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Game Recap (4/27/05)
Inland Empire 5, Visalia 3 (TB)This might qualify as one of those games they shouldn’t have won, but did anyway. RHP Aaron Trolia (3.57, W) is just the second Sixers starter to pick up a win, and he went five innings allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with two strikeouts. Trolia’s been getting some solid praise from pitching coach Scott Budner, even though Trolia has only gone more than four innings once and that was tonight. I’d tend to agree; he’s definitely been one of the better surprises in the young season. It was the good twin on the mound today, as LHP Miguel Martinez (7.59) went the next three innings, allowed two hits and a walk, and punched out four. LHP Nick Bourgeois (2.45) was one the mound to start the ninth and got into a little bit of trouble as two hits and a walk turned into a run, and while he did record two outs, RHP Greg Wear (0.87, S) capped the game with a K. Wear’s been solid this year, and if the Missions need a pitcher any time soon, he’ll be one of the guys that will get a look. On offense, who else would be hitting but 2B Matt Rogelstad (2B, 2 R, RBI, .421), CF Wladimir Balentien (2 2B, E, .309), and C Chris Collins (2B, 2 R, .311)? Rogie had three hits on the night, though he was picked off at first one of those times, while Balentien and Collins had two. Balentien also misplayed a ball in the outfield, running forward on it at first only to have it go over his head. Don’t get any ideas about him playing in CF, he’s not a terrible fielder by any means, but it’s probably more to get him used to playing a corner position in a larger park, like Safeco. 1B Matt Hagen (2B, 2 RBI, .067) was involved in the most controversial play in the game back in the fourth when he got his “double”. The opposing manager argued that the ball was actually six inches on the wrong side of the foul line, but to no avail. That seemed to be a turning point in the game. He was ejected later in the game, though the circumstances were a little odd. The Visalia third basemen showed the home plate ump his middle finger after a strikeout, but wasn’t thrown out, and instead the manager was after he had a few words on the matter. Unsurprisingly, the manager was still ticked by the double call and stood there jawing at the ump for quite a while afterwards. That’s pretty much why I said earlier, the Sixers may not have deserved the win in this case, but they pulled it out anyway.
Tomorrow’s Schedule:
Tacoma: RHP Rich Dorman, at Salt Lake City, @ 5:30 pm PT
San Antonio: RHP Jon Huber, at Arkansas, @ 5:10 pm PT
Inland Empire: Off day
Wisconsin: RHP Mumba Rivera, at South Bend, @ 5:30 pm PT
Tacoma Rainiers: 9-10, .474, 3.5 GB in PCL Pacific
San Antonio Missions: 10-9, .526, 3 GB in TL West
Inland Empire 66ers: 8-12, .400, 4 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 13-6, .684, 1.5 GB in MWL West
Organizational Record: 40-37, .519
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Game Recaps (4/26/05)
Tacoma 13, Colorado Springs 9 (COL)LHP Andrew Lorraine (4.30, W) was actually pretty solid, going six innings and allowing a couple of runs on six hits and a walk with one K. RHP Chris Buglovsky (3.09) took the next two innings and gave up a run after three hits and a walk with another K. Just like last night, RHP Jeff Heaverlo (12.66) got himself into some serious trouble again, allowing six runs on five runs and a walk without recording an out. LHP George Sherrill (3.24) allowed one of those runs to score, after an inning that saw one more hit and a strikeout, but the other five came under Heaverlo’s watch. In more positive news, LF Chris Snelling (2B, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, .514) continues to tear it up, with another five hits in six appearances. 1B Aaron Rifkin (2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, .288), who’s also been tearing it up recently, had four hits. Also jumping on the multi-hit bandwagon (all the cool kids were doing it) were RF Abraham Nunez (2B, R, RBI, CS, .271), SS Michael Morse (RBI, .250), and 2B Ramon Santiago (2B, 2 R, RBI, .228). C Ryan Christianson (2 PB, .643) wasn't too solid behind the plate in his first game back, but he still went 1-6.
In case you missed it, another Mariners was suspended for steroid use today. This time it was
Rainiers CF Jamal Strong, who tested postivie while he was with the club in spring training and will now serve out a ten-game suspension. Strong may have been using something to help him recover more quickly from injuries, seeing as how he's missed parts of the two seasons. Whatever the reasons, it's another black mark on the Mariners organization's record.
Midland 13 (OAK), San Antonio 3LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith (4.80, L) only got through two and two-thirds innings today, allowing five runs, four of them earned, on five hits and four walks with another five strikeouts. RHP Emiliano Fruto (2.63), who has otherwise been pitching up to his original potential, gave up two of those runs after he came in and two more of his own after five hits, a walk, and a strikeout over two and two-thirds innings. Returning to last year’s form, LHP Cesar Jimenez (3.65) was perfect through the next two frames and struck out a batter, and RHP Sean Green (5.87) had a good inning after that, allowing a hit and striking out a batter. RHP Juan Done (27.00) then got absolutely hammered in the next inning, allowing six runs on six hits and a hit batter, while punching out just one. I could make some kind of bad pun right about now, but I’ll hold off and maintain some dignity. On offense, well, you had RF T.J. Bohn (2 RBI, .338), who drove in two, continued his hit streak, had a nice outfield assist, and is still posting and OPS around .900, and you had DH Jon Nelson (2B, RBI, .233), who had a double and an RBI in that strange bit of middle ground as he ping-pongs back and forth between being a hero or a goat in any given day.
Inland Empire 3, Visalia 2 (TB) (twelve innings)LHP Jason Mackintosh (3.58, E) came out of another fantastic start getting the no decision, going eight innings and allowing just an unearned run on four hits, a hit batter, and a walk against three strikeouts. RHP Mike Steele (3.00) went next, with three walks and a strikeout spread over four outs, then LHP Chris Key (2.40) took it the rest of the way, allowing a run on four hits (HR) and a wild pitch. For the first five innings, the Sixers were running into the buzzsaw that is RHP Jeff Niemann, who had Ks for two-thirds of the outs he recorded, but after that things cleared up a bit. 2B Eric Blakeley (HR, 2 R, E, .214) and SS Adam Jones (.270) had two hits each, but it was C Justin Ruchti (R, .148) who scored the game-winning run and DH Matt Rogelstad (2B, RBI, .408) who drove him in on a double, though he was picked off trying to stretch it out at third.
Beloit 5 (MIN), Wisconsin 3 (eleven innings)LHP Casey Abrams (6.75) kept things close somehow over five and two-thirds innings that saw him allow three runs on five hits and six walks against five strikeouts. RHP Roman Martinez (2.61) allowed one of those runs to score after a hit and two walks, but managed to get himself out of the jam with no further damage. RHP Cibney Bello (0.64) no-hit the Snappers (Red Snapper! Very tasty... ooops, sorry) over the next three innings, though he did allow three walks and hit a batter, but hey, he struck out four too. LHP Eric O’Flaherty (1.00, L) picked up his first loss in extra innings, giving up his first two runs of the season (only one earned) after two innings that saw three hits, a plunked batter, and two Ks. CF Josh Womack (2B, RBI, SB, .348) got another day tacked onto his hit streak with another three tonight, while SS Asdrubal Cabrera (HR, 2 R, RBI, .571) and LF Jack Arroyo (3B, RBI, .262) had two hits each. Asdrubal is returning from a sprained ankle that he got on opening day. The original timetable had him out for four weeks, but he’s now returned in less than three. Quite impressive, but I just hope he’s not rushing anything.
Tomorrow’s Schedule:
Tacoma: Off day
San Antonio: Off day
Inland Empire: RHP Aaron Trolia, at Visalia, @ 6:35 pm PT
Wisconsin: Off day
Tacoma Rainiers: 9-10, .474, 3.5 GB in PCL Pacific
San Antonio Missions: 10-9, .526, 3 GB in TL West
Inland Empire 66ers: 7-12, .368, 4.5 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 13-6, .684, 1.5 GB in MWL West
Organizational Record: 39-37, .513
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Game Recaps (4/25/05)
Tacoma 21, Colorado Springs 7 (COL)Well, it
had been a while since we’d seen a solid rout. RHP Felix Hernandez (1.64, W) got his second win of the night after five innings that saw just a lone run score on four hits, a wild pitch, and four walks against six strikeouts. I’ve heard that he had his curveball going all night, which was impressive in the altitude, but his fastball was a little sporadic in location. RHP Jeff Heaverlo (7.59) went the next two-thirds of an inning, giving up three hits, cranking out a wild pitch, and giving out two free passes, which led to three runs scoring. I’ve been pulling for him to get his head and his arm working together for the past few years now, taking over a Jeff Nelson-type role, but he just hasn’t been able to get his arm going again early on the season. Anyway, one of those runs came off LHP Jared Thomas (4.76), who went an inning and a third and allowed two runs on three hits (HR), a wild pitch, and two walks against two strikeouts. RHP Brett Evert (4.50) took the eighth inning, allowing a run on two hits, then LHP George Sherrill (3.68) pitched the ninth, gave up a hit, and struck out two. If you haven’t figured it out already, everyone was hitting tonight (except one guy) and seven of the guys in the starting lineup had multi-hit games. Leading them was DH Ryan Christianson (2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1.000), who is still perfect in eight plate appearances. The Rainiers also had three-hit nights from LF Chris Snelling (2B, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, .448), 1B Aaron Rifkin (2B, HR, 4 R, 5 RBI, .250), and C Wiki Gonzalez (R, RBI, .256), and two hits apiece from CF Jamal Strong (2B, 3 B, 3 R, RBI, .235), RF Abraham Nunez (2B, 3 R, RBI, .271), and 3B Justin Leone (2B, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, .279/.426/.558).
Midland 7 (OAK), San Antonio 2Two wins were nice, but it’s hard to imagine the Missions coming back and beating Midland three times in a row after being swept in the last five game series. LHP Thom Oldham (3.24, L) pitched decently enough, going six innings and allowing four runs on eight hits with a walk, a hit batter, and three strikeouts. RHP Renee Cortez (10.80), still shaking the rust off, came in next and allowed three runs on four hits (HR) and two walks. LHP Tim Rall (5.87) pitched an uneventful ninth. On offense, RF T.J. Bohn (2 2B, .344) had two doubles, but really, at least one of them should have been a home run. The first one, which bounced on the yellow line and didn’t come back into the park, was originally called a home run, but after some lengthy debate by the umpires, it was turned into a double. That pretty much took the wind out of the Missions’ sails and they didn’t come close to doing anything after that, aside from a solo shot by CF Jaime Bubela (HR, .213). Whoever takes tomorrow’s early game takes the series.
I was listening to the Missions broadcast tonight and they said that Pokey's shoulder is still sore and that's why he was held out from the second consecutive rehab game. The broadcasters wondered aloud if this might affect Pokey's joining the team in Arlington tomorrow, so I shook up the official M's Medical Magic 8-Ball and got a reading that said "Signs Point to Yes". It was the same thing in the previous Missions game, as noted in their
team notebook, which also mentions that Pokey was helping out in a kids baseball clinic earlier in the day (I know I'm opening this up to easy puns on how Pokey's shoulder might have gotten sore again), which is great, but I'd still rather see him out on the field with the M's.
Inland Empire 3, Visalia 0 (TB)We already caught a good glimpse of how some serious hitting can thoroughly embarrass an opposing team, but how about pitching? That’s just what the Sixty-Sixers did, as they only allowed four base runners to reach against Visalia tonight. LHP Shawn Nottingham (2.25, W) gave up all four of those hits and struck out five over the course of seven innings. Even though Nottingham was penciled in for Wisconsin this season, he’s been great in the Cal League so far, with a WHIP of exactly 1.00 and a K rate of about six per nine innings. RHP Greg Wear (0.90) pitched the last two innings, didn’t even allow a runner to reach, and struck out three. The Sixers got two-hit performances tonight from 2B Juan Gonzalez (R, CS, .157), CF Wladimir Balentien (2B, RBI, .310), 3B Erick Monzon (2B, R, .237), and LF B.J. Garbe (3B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, .206). That’s Hammer’s second double of the season after seven home runs, and his OPS right now is sitting at .989.
Beloit 6 (MIN), Wisconsin 0RHP Jason Snyder (2.55, L) didn’t have much backup on offense tonight, so he got his first loss of the season after six innings that saw two earned runs on nine hits, a wild pitch, and a walk against three strikeouts. After a rain delay, RHP Chad Fillinger (2.19) took over and went three innings, giving up a couple of runs on four hits with a wild pitch and three Ks. The T-Rats had two hits each from CF Josh Womack (.328), 3B Yung Chi Chen (.338), and RF Mike Wilson (.237). Both Wilson and Womack had assists from the outfield, the fifth for Wilson, I hear. Womack’s hitting streak is up to fourteen games now, but SS Matt Tuiasosopo (E, .400), who had a costly two-run error, saw his streak end at thirteen. Tui did pull off a DP with Wilson though on that OF assist, and walked too, so not all is lost.
Tomorrow’s Schedule:
Tacoma: LHP Andrew Lorraine, at Colorado Springs, @ 6:05 pm PT
San Antonio: LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith, in San Antonio, @ 9:05 am PT
Inland Empire: LHP Jason Mackintosh, at Visalia, @ 6:35 pm PT
Wisconsin: LHP Casey Abrams, in Appleton, @ 4:35 pm PT
Tacoma Rainiers: 8-10, .444, 3.5 GB in PCL Pacific
San Antonio Missions: 10-8, .556, 2 GB in TL West
Inland Empire 66ers: 6-12, .333, 5 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 13-5, .722, T-1st in MWL West
Organizational Record: 37-35, .514
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Aaron Thorne Out For the Season
As most of you know, I'm generally a big fan of international signings and player development of any sort, so it saddens me to report that one of the more promising players from last year’s signing group will be
out for the season.
Aaron Thorne, a right-hander whose brother David pitched in the Expos system, was shut down early on in spring training after he started feeling some soreness in his shoulder. They opened it up and found that he had broken his humerus bone years ago and it had never fully healed due to Thorne pitching throughout most of the year. The muscles remained attached, so aside from some discomfort, Thorne could still pitch and had been ignoring the pain.
They performed surgery to remove the bone chips and reattach the bone, which will put him in a cast for the remainder of the season. Luckily for him, there was no detectable damage to the muscles or ligaments in the surrounding area, so despite missing the season, the injury shouldn’t be any sort of threat to his career.
I had Thorne pegged for a starting role in Everett this season, as he was considered one of the better prospects out of the four Aussie signings we had last year, but this puts the kibosh on that idea. It’s still possible that he’ll be with the Aquasox to start the 2006 season.
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Game Recaps (4/24/05)
It says Tacoma’s game in Colorado was rained out, but really, that was sleet, coming down in temperatures just above freezing with 15 mph wind on top of that. In light of that, it’s a good thing Felix didn’t get out there because chilly weather and muscles aren’t always the best of friends. They’ll try again tomorrow, but I won’t complain if it’s postponed until the next road trip there when conditions could be more favorable. No make-up date’s been scheduled yet.
Midland 6 (OAK), San Antonio 7 (eleven innings)Another walk-off victory for the Missions. RHP Juan Sandoval (2.08), was solid, though a little wild, and went five innings, allowing three hits and four walks while striking out three. RHP Juan Done (15.43) went an inning+ after that and he was perfect in his first inning, but gave up four runs on three hits (HR) and a walk at the beginning of the second and was pulled. LHP Tim Rall (6.75) allowed three of those runs and one of his own to score in the eighth, after three hits, a wild pitch, and two strikeouts. RHP Emiano Fruto (1.64) pitched the ninth and tenth, allowing a hit and a walk, then RHP Jeff Harris (0.77, E, W) took the final two innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and a walk while striking out two. I would say that the two heroes of the game were 2B Ismael Castro (R, 2 RBI, .264), who had three hits and drove in the winning run in the eleventh, and 3B Jesus Guzman (3B, 3 RBI, E, .250), who had a two-run triple in the fourth and hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game again at sixth and keep the Missions alive in the tenth. There were also fine multi-hit performances from SS Yuniesky Betancourt (2 CS, .260), who somehow managed to get picked off or thrown out every time he reached, CF Jaime Bubela (HR, 2 R, SB, .211), who scored the winning run, 1B Nate Espy (R, .305), and C Rene Rivera (2B, R, .298).
Inland Empire 1, Bakersfield 2 (TEX)RHP Brandon Moorhead (3.75, L) had another tough loss, going five and two-thirds innings and allowing two runs on six hits, a wild pitch, two hit batters, and two walks against a couple of Ks. LHP Chris Key (2.19) shut them down the rest of the way, allowing just a hit and a walk while striking out one, but by that time the damage was done. The Sixers offense was up against the Rangers top pick from last year’s draft in RHP Thomas Diamond, so there wasn’t much to work with. C Justin Ruchti (HR, .125) managed a solo home run, but that was long after Diamond left.
Beloit 4 (MIN), Wisconsin 5RHP Aaron Jensen (3.50) went six innings today, giving up four runs on eight hits and a walk against two strikeouts. RHP Stephen Grasley (3.97, W) took the final three innings and gave up a hit and two walks with a strikeout. The Missions weren’t the only team with a walk-off win today, except the T-Rats literally walked off, as 3B Yung Chi Chen (2B, RBI, SB, .328) drew the free pass with the bases juiced. Chen also had two hits in the game. LF Jack Arroyo (2B, 2 RBI, SB, .257), who seems to be settling into a starting role, had a double and an assist from the outfield.
Tomorrow’s Schedule:
Tacoma: RHP Felix Hernandez, at Colorado Springs, @ 6:05 pm PT
San Antonio: LHP Thom Oldham, in San Antonio, @ 5:05 pm PT
Inland Empire: LHP Shawn Nottingham, at Visalia, @ 6:35 pm PT
Wisconsin: RHP Jason Snyder, in Appleton, @ 4:35 pm PT
Tacoma Rainiers: 7-10, .412, 4 GB in PCL Pacific
San Antonio Missions: 10-7, .588, 1 GB in TL West
Inland Empire 66ers: 5-12, .298, 6 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 13-4, .765, 1st in MWL West
Organizational Record: 35-33, .515
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