Friday, October 10, 2008

Dogs fall before hot Javilina offense

Jeff Manship


W: J. Jeffress (1-0, 3.00); L: J. Manship (0-1, 6.00)
HR: None.

Former Miracle hurler Jeff Manship (Minnesota) gave up 3 runs on four hits over three innings while fanning 3, putting the Desert Dogs in an early hole that they never recovered from. He'd take the loss, his first of the season for the defending Arizona Fall League champions.

The Dogs actually got on the board first, with Evan Frey (Arizona) taking a lead off walk. Eric Young (Colorado) would bunt into a force out, then stole 2nd. Following a ground out to J.P. Arencibia (Toronto), Sean Doolittle (Oakland) doubled to drive in Young.

Manship with drill former Sarasota Reds Drew Stubbs with a pitch to lead off, but got Carlos Triunfel (Seattle) to ground into a double play and Austin Jackson (NY Yankees) to fly out to get out of the inning. Juan Miranda (NY Yankees) singled to lead off the bottom of the second. Greg Halman (Seattle) singled, moving Miranda to 3rd. He'd then try to steal 2nd, and would have been caught, but an error Adrian Cardenas (Oakland) gave Halman the base. Manship would would get J.T. Hall (Tampa Bay) out on strikes, but then unleashed a wild pitch at scored Miranda, and put Halman on 3rd and Hall on first. Justin Turner (Cincinnati) would ground into a double play that served to plate Halman before Rob Johnson (Seattle) would go down on a foul tipped strike to end the inning.

Taylor Green (Milwaukee) doubled in the bottom of the 3rd before Manship could take Stubbs down on strikes. Triunfel then doubled as well, knocking in Green. Jackson would hit into a fielder's choice double play to end the inning.

Tony Barnette (Arizona) replaced Manship for the fourth, then gave way to Jeff Gray (Oakland) in the fifth.

Peoria struck again in the sixth with Zach Dials (Toronto) on the mound. Miranda tripled and was singled in by Halman. Hall singled as well before Turner and Johnson could be taken out on strikes. Mike McDonald (Oakland) would be summoned from the bullpen. Green would reach on a Josh Donaldson (Oakland) fielding error, which scored Halman as well, before Stubbs would be induced to hit into a ground out to end the inning.

McDonald returned to the mound for the bottom of the 7th, allowing a double to Truinfel to open things up. Jackson's ground out put Truinfel on 3rd, and Miranda would double him in, to make the score 6-1 in favor of the Javalinas.

The Dogs would finally get back onto the board in the 9th, with Doolittle singling off reliever Rob Manuel (Cincinnati), then moving to second on a wild pitch. Danny Valencia (Minnesota) singled to move Doolittle to 3rd, and a sac fly by Rusty Ryal (Arizona) would bring the South Dakota native home.

Chris Mason (Tampa Bay) would take over the pitching chores for Peoria in the ninth, getting Chris Nelson (Colorado) to ground out before giving up a walk to Ryan Patterson (Toronto). A fielding error by Stubbs allowed Scott Campbell (Toroto) to reach and Patterson to score. Eric Young's ground out would plate Campbell, but that was the all the Dogs would get despite a single to Young and walk to Doolittle.

Milwaukee's Jeremy Jeffress took the win for the Javelinas who remain unbeaten after three games.

Phoenix continues their string of night games, facing the Scottsdale Scorpions for a 7:05 PM MST contest Friday at Scottsdale Stadium.

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Beloit Snappers' centerfielder Ben Revere was honored by Baseball America once again in their most recent issue after his impressive 2008 campaign. The speedy outfielder from Kentucky was rated as the 4th best prospect in the Midwest League, trailing Mike Moustakas (Burlington Bees), Neftali Feliz (Clinton LumberKings) and Jarrod Parker (South Bend Silver Hawks).

Revere had what may turn out to be the most successful season in Snappers’ history. The Twins’ 2007 first round draft pick ended up hitting .375 with 129 hits and 44 stolen bases while picking up the following awards:

- Midwest League MVP
- Midwest League Prospect of the Year
- Midwest League All-Star
- Midwest League Post-Season All-Star
- Best Batting Prospect (Baseball America)
- Best Strike Zone Judgment (Baseball America)
- Fastest Baserunner (Baseball America)
- Most Exciting Player (Baseball America)
- Topps Co-Midwest League Player of the Month (May)
- Minnesota Twins Minor League Player of the Month (May)
- Brodie Trophy Player of the Year

Miracle catcher Wilson Ramos as also honored by the magazine as the 8th best prospect in the Florida State League. Ramos batted .288 with 13 home runs and 23 doubles during the 2008 season for the FSL West Division Champions. Wilson also collected an impressive 130 hits in 452 at-bats.

Ramos was signed by the Twins as a non-drafted free agent on July 7th, 2004. In 73 games for the Snappers in 2007, Wilson hit .291 with eight homers, 17 doubles and 42 RBIs.

The honor often times leads to good things for the players chosen by the prestigious magazine. Five of the ten players listed in 2003 by Baseball America as the top prospects in the Midwest League are now playing at the major league level. Prince Fielder #1 (Beloit Snappers), Manny Parra #4 (Beloit Snappers), Joe Blanton #5 (Kane County Cougars), Joel Zumaya #6 (West Michigan Whitecaps) and Felix Pie #8 (Lansing Lugnuts) all called the Midwest League home at one time in their playing career.

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