Twins' Macri, Phoenix dominate Scottsdale

Phoenix 7 at Scottsdale 2

W: P. Bresnehan (1-0, 0.00); L: M. Scherzer (0-1, 18.00)
HR: PDD: M. Macri (1). SCO: E. Longoria (2).

It was Twins night for the Phoenix Desert Dogs, with former Miracle pitcher Ryan Mullins starting things off by pitching 2 innings of 1 hit baseball against the Scottsdale Scorpions. Mullins threw 26 pitches, 18 for strikes and struck 3 of the 7 batters he faced.

Mullins' first batter, Eugenio Velez (San Francisco), singled out to right and stole second. He made it to third on a Reid Brignac's (Tampa Bay) ground out, but Mullins then took Toronto's Travis Snider and Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria out on strikes to end the first inning.

Matt Macri lead the offense of the Dogs, going 3-for-5 at the plate with 2 runs and 3 RBIs. He went yard at the top of the fourth inning off Arizona's Max Scherzer after designated hitter Jason Delaney (Pittsburgh) had walked his way onto base. He then doubled in top of the 5th for Phoenix off Toronto's Jamie Vermilyea.

Macri joined the Twins organization from the Rockies in August in the deal for pitcher Ramon Ortiz.

Catcher Drew Butera was 1-for-4 at the plate with 2 RBIs while former Miracle Trevor Plouffe as 0-for-5 with 4 strike outs on the night.

The two teams rematch tonight at 7:05 PM MST, with Phoenix getting home field advantage.

Boxscore
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Recap

No score is currently available on the Tigre's de Araqua game in the Venezuelan Winter League. The Tigers face the Leones del Caracas today at 4:00 (Venezuelan local time).

It was my intention to try to make it to today's Instructional League game, however, I despite having an additional six months to work with, I've had three clients to felt the need to wait until the extreme last second to get their 2006 tax information into me. Monday is the deadline for individual extensions and I've got two slow pokes coming in today and one coming in Monday. However, if I don't see this info on my desk bright and early today I might leave and go to the game just be cruel.

Slowey named MILB AAA Pitcher of the Year: Former Miracle Kevin Slowey was named MILB's AAA Pitcher of the year Thursday. Slowey finished with a 10-5 record for the Rochester Red Wins and his 1.89 ERA was second only to Class A Augusta's Kevin Pucetas (1.86) in the Minors. The International League batted just .223 against the Winthrop product, who continued to post one of the most gaudy walk ratios this side of future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. The right-hander struck out 107 and walked only 18 in 133 2/3 innings. In 353 2/3 career Minor League frames, Slowey boasts a 1.93 ERA, walking 48 and striking out 342. Fantasy players certainly would appreciate the future of a pitcher who had an 0.86 WHIP in the Minors.

Tampa Yankee's Ian Kennedy was named the overall Starting Pitcher of the year for 2007. Kennedy finished the Minor League season with a 12-3 mark, posted a 1.91 ERA and dominated at three different levels before taking his act to New York.