Scoreboard for May 4, 2007

Rochester 2 at Columbus 7

Record 14-6

W: M. Bacsik (1-2, 3.16); L: D. Gassner (0-1, 5.49)
HR: None.

E: Moses (6, throw), Jones, G (1, pickoff).

From redwingsbaseball.com: Mike Bacsik struck out five over 5 2/3 innings and Darnell McDonald ripped an RBI triple to lead Columbus over Rochester 7-2 on Friday at Cooper Stadium. Alexi Casilla had two hits and stolen base for the Wings, who return home for a 5:05 pm doubleheader Saturday against Ottawa, to open a six-game homestand after a 5-3 road trip.

Bacsik (1-2) picked up the win, allowing two unearned runs on six hits and a walk. Chris Schroder, Billy Traber and Jermaine Van Buren combined for 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

McDonald lined a two-run triple to center field in the bottom of the third, then scored on Tony Batista's single to make it 7-2.

Bernie Castro had two doubles and Abraham Nunez drove in two runs with a pair of singles to lead the Clippers (12-15).

Jose Morales singled in the fourth with Chris Heintz scoring on the play for Rochester; Morales later scored on an errant pickoff attempt.

Starter Dave Gassner (0-1) took the loss, giving up seven runs on 10 hits, walking three and fanning four in 3 2/3 innings. Brian Bass and Bobby Korecky combined for 4 1/3 scoreless relief innings.

NOTES: Friday's loss marked the first time Rochester has lost two straight games this season...Infielder Glenn Williams was placed on the disabled list Friday, retroactive to May 2, with a sore left shoulder. Williams was injured in Toledo April 27, when he left the game in the third inning after falling on his shoulder while diving for a ground ball...LHP Ricky Barrett and infielder Ken Harvey will be activated from the disabled list on Saturday. Both players have been on the DL since the beginning of the season - Barrett with a sore left elbow, Harvey recovering from right knee surgery. The added players brings the Rochester roster up to the International League limit (24 players)...Matt Tolbert (25) and Kevin Slowey (23) celebrated birthdays Friday...Tolbert led the International League in slugging percentage (.684) entering play Friday, and was second (.386) to teammate Jose Morales (.390) in the IL batting race.

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Trenton 1 at New Britain 2

Record: 11-10

W: D. Powers (1-2, 7.59); L: J. Kennard (0-1, 2.57)
HR: None.

From rockcats.com: New Britain starter Brian Duensing crafted eight masterful innings and Felix Molina delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth as the Rock Cats downed first-place Trenton on Friday night.

Korey Feiner reached first base to start the ninth inning and was replaced by pinch runner Rashad Eldridge. Brandon Roberts delivered a sac bunt to move Eldridge to second before Molina laced a single to left field to score Eldridge and hand the Rock Cats another walk-off win.

Duensing allowed four hits and one run. He struck out six and walked none, but came away with the no-decision. Danny Powers (1-2) tossed a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts to pick up the win.

Korey Feiner reached first base to start the ninth inning and was replaced by pinch runner Rashad Eldridge. Brandon Roberts delivered a sac bunt to move Eldridge to second before Molina laced a single to left field to score Eldridge and hand the Rock Cats another walk-off win.

Rock Cats’ starter Brian Duensing allowed four hits and one run in eight masterful innings. He struck out six and walked none, but came away with the no-decision. Danny Powers (1-2) tossed a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts to pick up the win.

Duensing retired the first 13 Trenton batters until Justin Christian sent a single into left field that was nearly stopped by a diving Brian Buscher at third base. Duensing came back to strike out the next batter before Carlos Mendoza and Matt Carson delivered back-to-back singles. Carson’s hit scored Christian for a 1-0 Thunder lead.

The Rock Cats got on the board in the sixth inning. Trevor Plouffe and Garrett Guzman started the inning off with consecutive singles. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch by Michael Gardner with Brian Buscher at bat. Buscher then delivered a sac fly to left field that scored Plouffe and tied the game 1-1.

Trenton’s Scott Patterson, who started in place of Chase Wright after the top prospect was called up to Triple-A Scranton, struck out four and limited the Rock Cats to two hits in four innings. Michael Gardner allowed one run on five hits in 2 1/3 innings. Jeff Kennard (0-1) suffered the loss with two hits and one run in two innings.

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Frank Mata
Tampa 7 at Fort Myers 1 (13 Innings)

Record 10 - 18

W: Z. Kroenke (2-2, 0.00); L: A. Garcia (0-2, 5.02)
HR: None.

E: Tolleson (8, throw).

From miraclebaseball.com: Friday afternoon’s Florida State League ball game at Hammond Stadium needed 13 innings to decide a winner. The Tampa Yankees put a six-spot on the board in the top of the 13th to pick up a 7-1 win over the Fort Myers Miracle. Most of the 2,379 young fans on “Education Day II” were unable to stick around through the 3.5 hour marathon as the Miracle lost their seventh-straight game.

Tied 1-1 entering the 12th, Luis Nunez would lead off the inning with a single to left. Mario Holmann followed with a sacrifice attempt that he popped up to Miracle reliever Angel Garcia for the first out. After a Reegie Corona walk, Colin Curtis would slap a single to center, scoring Nunez, giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead. After Jose Tabata’s RBI-single also to center, Juan Miranda followed with a one-out walk to load the bases.

The next hitter, Edwar Gonzalez, blew the game open a few pitches later with a bases-clearing triple to right-center field giving the Yanks a 5-1 lead. On the play, Gonzalez would be awarded home as Steve Tolleson’s throwing error to third sailed into the Miracle dugout.

Way back in the third inning is when the Miracle grabbed a 1-0 lead. Tolleson led off the inning being drilled by Tampa starter Dan McCutchen and would later cross the plate on a Juan Portes RBI-single to left.

With two outs in the Yankee fifth, catcher Joe Muich chopped a two-hopper to Portes at third that would have ended the inning. The ground ball ricocheted off of the third-base bag allowing Muich to reach safely. Holmann would pick up the run-scoring single to left two batters later.

The Miracle will now head out on a season-long eight-game road trip beginning with the first of four games at St. Lucie tomorrow night. Game time at Tradition Field is 5 p.m. with LHP Alexander Smit (0-1, 5.40) battling the Mets RHP Eric Brown (2-1, 6.55).

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ECHL Hockey: The Florida Everblades defeated the Texas Wildcatters, 4-3 in overtime to progress to the American Conference finals where they will face the Dayton (Ohio) Bombers. The Bombers, the Columbus Blue Jackets ECHL affilate, defeated Cincinnati four games to three in the North Division Finals. The first two games of the series will be played Tuesday and Thursday night at Germain Arena before switching to Dayton for game three on Saturday May 12th.

Beloit 6 at Great Lakes 3

Record 14-10

W: A. Hawes (1-2, 3.71); L: J. Wall (1-4, 5.04); SV: A. Craig (1)
HR: None.

From loons.com: An impressive offensive showing early on was the key Friday night as the Loons fell to the Beloit Snappers by a score of 6-3.

The Snappers scored early on in this one when the first four snapper hitters reached base to lead off the game. A pair of RBI singles by Johnny Woodward and Chris Parmelee made the score 2-0. Then a two-run single by Allan De San Miguel doubled the lead to make it 4-0 before the Loons even had a chance to bat. Beloit would add a pair of runs in the top half of the seventh inning thanks to two Loons errors by Preston Mattingly and Elian Herrera.

The Loons would get the first of their 3 runs in the first as Eduardo Perez grounded into a double play with the bases loaded scoring Trayvon Robinson to make it 4-1. In the seventh, catcher Carlos Santana doubled into the right-field gap scoring Josh Bell and David Sutherland to make it 6-3.

For the Loons, right-hander Josh Wall started and pitched five innings as the youngster settled down nicely after the four run first inning. He allowed five hits and four runs while walking three and striking out two. Joe Jones made his first appearance of the season after coming off the disabled list. Coming on in relief, Jones pitched three innings, allowing three hits, two unearned runs and struck out five.

Adam Hawes started for the Snappers and went six innings allowing seven hits and three runs while walking three and striking out five. The right hander also hit three Loon batters during the game. Aaron Craig came on in relief and went three solid innings, allowing three hits and a walk and struck out six.

The Loons record falls to 11-16 while the Snappers improve to 14-10.

The Loons will take on these same Beloit Snappers on Saturday night here at Dow Diamond where two great pitchers will try to outduel each other in a matchup that will see left hander Clayton Kershaw take the mound for the Loons going up against Jeff Manship for Beloit. Kershaw comes into the game with a record of 2-0 with a 1.08 earned run average, while Manship is also 2-0 but with a 0.84 ERA.

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Scoreboard for May 3, 2007

Rochester 4 at Columbus 5

Record 14-5

W: A. Munoz (1-0, 3.86); L: S. Baker (2-1, 2.40); SV: C. Booker (8)
HR: ROC: D. Deeds (1). COL: T. Batista (5).

E: Cali (1, pickoff).

From redwingsbaseball.com: Columbus put together a four-run sixth inning rally to beat the Red Wings 5-4 Thursday night, snapping Rochester's five-game winning streak. Matt Tolbert and Jose Morales each had two hits for the Wings, who led 3-0 going into the sixth inning behind the pitching of Scott Baker.

Garrett Jones clubbed a first inning triple off Emiliano Fruto to knock in Lew Ford, who had walked with two outs. Chris Heintz followed with an RBI single for a 2-0 Rochester lead.

Tolbert hit a triple for the third straight game leading off the fifth inning, and scored when Denard Span put down a sacrifice bunt to make it 3-0 Wings.

Baker was nearly unhittable, allowing one hit through five innings Thursday. At one point in the game, Baker had retired 60 out of 67 batters faced over his last three starts. But Columbus made the most of their one shot at getting to Baker in the sixth.

Darnell McDonald hit a run-scoring double with two out, the first hitter to get ball out of the infield and getting the Clippers on the board. Tony Batista followed with a three-run blast to right field off Baker, putting Columbus ahead 4-3. Baker (2-1) finished with the one bad inning out of seven total pitched, allowing five hits while walking none and fanning seven.

The Clippers added a run in the eighth off Carmen Cali, then Doug Deeds slugged his first Triple-A homer in the ninth off Chris Booker to complete the scoring.

NOTES: Morales had a pair of singles and is now hitting .390... Minnesota Twins GM Terry Ryan will be Josh Whetzel's guest on Friday night's pregame show, 7:10 pm on WHTK 1280-AM and http://www.whtk.com ...Red Wings Manager Stan Cliburn is the guest for a new weekly segment on Hot Talk 1280 WHTK's John DiTullio Show, beginning Friday May 4 at 11:20 am.....INF Alexi Casilla returned to lineup after coming down from Minnesota, hitting second and playing shortstop.

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Binghamton 3 at New Britain 4

Record: 9-10

W: T. Crawford (2-1, 6.75); L: M. Devaney (0-2, 4.50); SV: J. Martinez (1)
HR: None.

E: Plouffe (5, throw).

From rockcats.com: The Rock Cats received quality pitching and timely offense to sweep the double header against Binghamton on Thursday.

In the first game, Tristan Crawford tossed five strong innings and the offense struck early as the Rock Cats downed Binghamton 4-3. Crawford (2-1) allowed nine hits, but limited the B-Mets to three runs and walked just one. J.P. Martinez added two shutout innings in relief to pick up his first save of the year.

The Rock Cats jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Felix Molina (2-for-3) doubled and advanced to third on Trevor Plouffe's sac bunt. Garrett Guzman's groundout to second base scored Molina for the first run of the game. Binghamton starter Michael Devaney then walked the next three batters before Gil Velazquez delivered a bases clearing triple for the 4-0 lead.

In the third inning, Mark Kiger tripled and scored on Miguel Negron's single. Negron came around to score on a force out by Brett Harper. Kiger added a sac fly RBI in the fourth.

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Binghamton 2 at New Britain 7

Record: 10-10

W: N. Blackburn (2-0, 3.80); L: R. Morales (2-2, 5.14)
HR: NBR: M. Allegra (2).

From rockcats.com: In the second game, the Rock Cats topped the B-Mets 7-2. The 'Cats sent Brian Forystek to the mound in his first start of the season. Forystek threw his best game of the year, limiting the B-Mets to four hits in four shutout innings. He struck out five, but came away with the no-decision.

The Rock Cats got on the board again in the first, this time on a two-run double by David Winfree for a 2-0 advantage. In the fourth inning, Luke Hughes delivered an RBI single that scored Rashad Eldridge. The B-Mets' left fielder Caleb Stewart threw the ball away to allow Matthew Allegra to score for the 'Cats. Feiner added an RBI double.

Allegra rounded out the game with a two-run homer to left field in the sixth inning that put the Rock Cats ahead 7-1.

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Tampa 5 at Fort Myers 4

Record 10 - 17

W: W. Arias (1-0, 2.70); L: Z. Ward (0-3, 3.86); SV: E. Wordekemper (7)
HR: None.

E: Tolleson 2 (7, fielding, fielding), Tintor (3, throw).

EriK Lis hit into a double play to end the Miracle's rally hopes in the ninth, as the Yankees took game two in the three game series, 5-4.

The Miracle did however manage to avoid another shut out with Steve Tolleson going 4-5, while Whit Robbins drove in 2.

Juan Portes came home on a sac-fly by Robbins in the first, ending the most recent bout of scorelessness at a modest 10 innings.

Portes' line drive in the 3rd moved Tolleson to scoring position in the bottom of the third, where Lis' grounder was able to bring him in. Robbins drove in Portes on a single to left field, making the score 3-0 Miracle.

However, Ryan Mullins, who'd pitched brilliantly up until that point, got into trouble in the fifth. With two outs, Colin Curtis reached on a throwing error by Tolleson allowing Kevin Russo to score. Juan Miranda's single to Eli Tintor in left was enough to drive in Francisco Cervelli and Luis Nunez. Edwar Gonzalez singled out to Lis in left which drove in Curtis and put the Yankees on top.

Jose Valdez walked in Tolleson in the bottom of the inning to tie the score up again.

Tintor's overthrow in the 8th allowed Juan Miranda to advance to second. Gonzalez ground out to move him to third, and Francisco Cervelli drove him in with a single to center fielder Edward Ovalle. Tintor brought the inning to a close, catching a foul ball just short of the berm with two more yankees threating, but the Miracle offense just couldn't get the job done.

None of the Yankees runs were earned.

Justin noted that Tolley is "terrible" but all things considered, he did a pretty good job offensively. His defense (and yes, his baserunning) need work. He was better defensively at second, but the problem is, this team just doesn't have a shortstop with PK and Drew both on the DL.

One of the old timers, on the way out, said "I've been coming to these games for 15 years and this is the worst team I every saw." I'm not doubting it. While some of the guys...Gardenhire, White, Tolleson...are definately not blue chip prospects for the Twins, they group as a whole is underperforming.

The two teams finish off the series with a 10:35 AM start this morning. RHP Oswaldo Sosa (0-2, 5.59) will go to the mound for the Miracle while RHP Dan McCutchen (1-0, 3.00) steps up for the Yankees. This will be followed by the mini-golf tournament at Castle Golf at 6:30, before the team heads out on the road for 8 games.

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Fort Wayne 0 at Beloit 1

Record 14-9

W: C. Devries (2-1, 1.21); L: A. Underwood (3-2, 2.81); SV: R. Delaney (6)
HR: None.

E: Yersich (3, fielding).

From snappersbaseball.com: The Snappers gave their best pitching performance of the week on the last day of the homestand. With numerous local schools in attendance, the Snappers put on a clinic and defeated the Fort Wayne Wizards, 1-0.

The Snappers got their lone run in the bottom of the sixth inning off the bat of Danny Berg. Berg hit and RBI single to left and scored newcomer, Steve Singleton. Berg’s seventh RBI of the season proved to be all that Beloit would need.

Starter, Cole Devries, pitched a strong six innings while only allowing three hits. Devries also struck out six Wizards on the day.

Reliever, Rob Delaney, pitched around a bases loaded, no out jam in the top of the ninth inning to pick up his sixth save of the season. Delaney lowered his ERA to 0.57.

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Scoreboard for May 2, 2007

Rochester 7 at Columbus 2

Record 14-4

W: M. Garza (1-1, 2.88); L: J. Simontacchi (0-1, 5.91); SV: J. DePaula (2)
HR: None.

E: Garza (2, pickoff).

From redwingsbaseball.com: Matt Tolbert had three hits, including a key triple to help the Red Wings beat Columbus 7-2 Wednesday afternoon. Rochester starter Matt Garza struck out nine in six innings, as the Wings improved to 5-1 on the current road trip.

Garza (1-1) earned his first win in five starts this season, allowing two runs on six hits over six innings while striking out a season-high nine batters. The 23-year-old right-hander breezed through five shutout frames before allowing Darnell McDonald's two-run double with one out in the sixth. Julio DePaula scattered four hits and a walk over three scoreless innings to notch his second save.

Tolbert's two-run triple in the fourth inning highlighted his 3-for-3 ballgame. The 24-year-old has hit safely in seven straight games and is now batting .370. Denard Span doubled twice and drove in three runs, while Jose Morales and Doug Deeds each scored twice.

Jason Simontacchi (0-1) took the loss after surrendering six runs on nine hits over 5 2/3 innings. Edward Valdez gave up a run in 2 1/3 innings to get to Jermaine Van Buren, who hurled a scoreless ninth.

Rochester, winners of five straight, improved to 14-4 on the season. The Clippers dropped to 10-15.

NOTES: Rochester moved to 14-4 on the young season. It's the best 18-game start to a season since manager Cot Deal’s 1958 squad started with a 15-4 record. This is only the third time since 1958 that Rochester has started a season with a 13-4 record (2006 and 1958)....Rochester finished the month of April with a 12-4 record - the fewest number of losses the Red Wings have had in a month (excluding September) since April, 1958 when Rochester had an 11-4 record. It’s also only the ninth time Rochester has reached the 12-win mark in April since 1980...

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Binghamton 6 at New Britain 3

Record: 8-10

W: T. McNab (1-0, 2.25); L: J. Sawatski (0-1, 6.55); SV: C. Muniz (3)
HR: BIN: B. Harper (2).

E: Roberts, B (1, fielding), Powers (1, throw), Molina, F (2, fielding).

From rockcats.com: In a game filled with six errors, 17 combined walks and 23 runners left on base, Binghamton used a late-inning offensive attack to walk away with a 6-3 win over New Britain.

Binghamton’s Enrique Cruz doubled to center field, moved to third on Fernando Martinez’ single, and scored on a sac fly by Mark Kiger to give the Mets the lead in the eighth inning. Brett Harper added a two-run homer off reliever Jose Mijares in the ninth to put the game away. Harper finished 2-for-3 with four RBI and one run scored.

The 18-year-old Martinez, ranked as the Mets’ second-best prospect, went 3-for-5 with a run scored. Martinez led off the game with a double to right field. Floyd then hit Mark Kiger with a pitch and walked Mike Carp. With two outs, Brett Harper singled to center field to knock in Martinez and Kiger. Carp (2-for-3) moved up to third when center fielder Brandon Roberts bobbled the ball. Floyd then walked the next batter to load the bases and walked Jose Coronado to score Carp from third.

The Rock Cats struck back in the second inning with some help by the B-Mets. Rashad Eldridge reached first on a walk, but was thrown out at second for the second out of the inning. With Brock Peterson at bat, the B-Mets’ second baseman Enrique Cruz attempted to complete the double play but misfired, allowing Peterson to reach second base. Another throwing error, this time by third baseman Mark Kiger, allowed Korey Feiner to reach first and scored Peterson. Felix Molina delivered an RBI single to center field to close the gap, 3-2.

In the fourth, Molina reached base on a walk and scored on a fielder’s choice by Trevor Plouffe, who reached second base safely on Coronado’s throwing error, to tie the game.

Both starters struggled with control all night. The Rock Cats’ Jesse Floyd walked eight batters in four innings. He allowed three hits and three runs. Marcos Carvajal didn’t fare much better for Binghamton, as he walked seven batters. Carvajal allowed two hits and three runs – all unearned – in four innings.

Danny Powers tossed three scoreless innings in relief for the Rock Cats, limiting the B-Mets to three hits and one walk. He struck out four. Jay Sawatski (0-1) suffered the loss.

The B-Mets ended the night with 12 hits, including multi-hit games from five players. Tim McNab (1-0) fired three shutout innings with two hits allowed and Carlos Muniz added two scoreless innings for the B-Mets. Muniz notched his second save of the season.

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Tampa 4 at Fort Myers 0

Record 10 - 16

W: I. Kennedy (2-1, 1.67); L: K. Waldrop (3-1, 3.45)
HR: None.

E: Waldrop (1, pickoff), Shinskie (1, pickoff).

The question of the night was "What is the FSL record for the most shut out games?" The answer is, I don't know. I wrote to Sean Fox, but he hasn't bothered to answer me. I'm sure he will plead that his e-mail isn't working again.

Kyle Waldrop walked the first batter he faced which set the tone for the rest of the night.

I also want to say that I've never been a fan of "closer by committee", so Bolesy's notion of "fielder by committee" is not making me really fond of him this season. I believe that this is a large part of the team's defensive problem. It does not however, explain the bats.

The team collected only three hits. Eli Tintor came out with those wretched blue gloves on his hands. I made him go back in and change. It was a good thing too, as he had one of the hits.

Juan Portes and Caleb Moore both reached on back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, but Ian Kennedy then proceeded to send 19 of the next 20 batters he faced back to the bench, including 12 straight at one point.

Waldrop's failed pick off attempt cost the team a run, and Colin Curtis and Juan Miranda hit back-to-back doubles that looked like mirror images of each other.

The highlight of the night was David Shinski's two innings of relief ball, no strike outs, but he allowed only one hit in 2 innings.

The teams rematch tomorrow with Ryan Mullins going to the mound for the Miracle. An extended blog entry on the night is forthcoming.

Justin gave me a set of last year's RiverDog cards so I can collect Yankee autographs, which I believe I will do at tomorrow's game. Perhaps it will shake them up a bit find me at the other side of the stadium.

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Staff photo by Rob Lucas
Beloit’s Allan de San Miguel, left, swipes a late tag on Fort Wayne’s Jodam Rivera during the Snappers’ 3-2 win Wednesday.

Fort Wayne 2 at Beloit 3

Record 13-9

W: D. Leatherman (2-1, 4.38); L: S. Faris (0-1, 0.00); SV: R. Delaney (5)
HR: None.

E: Woodard (3, pickoff).

From snappersbaseball.com: Six hits proved to be enough for the Snappers as they won game three of the four game series with the Wizards on Wednesday night, 3-2.

After Fort Wayne jumped out to a 2-0 lead, the Snappers bounced back to tie the game at 2 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Back to back singles by Steve Singleton and Brian Dinkelman made it a 2-2 game after five.

The Snappers played small ball in the bottom of the sixth inning and took a 3-2 lead. Johnny Woodard led off with a walk, was moved over to second on an error, and reached third on a sacrifice bunt. Allan de San Miguel then drove in his fourth RBI of the season on a sacrifice fly to center. Allan’s RBI gave the Snappers all that they would need.

The Snappers’ pitching staff had another eleven strikeouts on the night. Reliever, Dan Leatherman, pitched two and two third’s innings of two-hit baseball to pick up his second win of the season. Leatherman also compiled another five strikeouts on the night.

Way to go, Dirty!

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Home not so sweet for the Miracle

Ed Pelegrino had written in his Miracle blog on Tuesday about the wonders of home cooking.

"Being on the road in empty ball parks instead of in front of loving home crowds can throw your game. The Miracle are playing very good baseball this season. As a team, they are taking form. The road games are getting the better of the Miracle however."

I had to go over late in the game and point out the home cooking' wasn't. The Miracle played a game that can only be described as sloppy, including the performance by pitcher Kyle Waldrop, who has, up until this point, been the stud in the starting rotation.

I attribute some of the this to Kevin Boles "fielding by committee" approach, in which players are moved around from position to position, almost it seems, by chance. In an article in the Fort Myers News-Press, Boles is quoted as saying "We're going to increase their versatility."

Enough with the versatility already. It only seems to be increasing their confusion. Even EriK Lis, who is primarily a first baseman looked sloppy at first base. The other problem there is that Lis probably has a better chance to move through the organiztion in the outfield, and in fact, the move to the outfield was talked about in an Naples Daily News article, so one would believe this is move sanctioned by the Twins.

And there's more to outfielding than just chasing down fly balls. "You’re talking about angles from a left or righthanded hitter, first-step quickness, initial reads," Boles is quoted as saying the article. "All that, plus backing up bases when the ball’s not hit to you. Those ins-and-outs, if you haven't played there, it takes a while to feel that out."

Well, if he's playing at first base, how is he "feeling out" this position change? And is he taking outfielding drills during practice?

This was a position change that just suddenly happened. You have the man through Fall Instructional League and the entire time, he plays first base. All through spring training, with the exception of the last two games, he plays first base. And now suddenly, out of no where, he's an outfielder?

I know, as a FAN of developmental baseball, I have no right to complain about the wins or losses. It shouldn't matter to me if the team wins or loses, as long as they play the game and get the players ready for the next level. I hear this all the time. "We're not here to win games, we're here to develop the players."

So why am I putting down money to watch a team lose all the time? Do I not, as a consumer, have a right to watching a good game, irregardless of the level of play? And doesn't it benefit the organization to develop their players in a winning atmosphere?

However, Bolesy's experiment into versatility should not be effecting the batting, and the lack of hits has been a big problem. You can't tell me we've run into really HOT pitching five times in our last 11 games, which is the number of shut outs we've seen recently. And this is also a period, where the Miracle have only won twice.

So what seems to be the problem here? In the past, when Jose Marzan was the coach, he talked about working the players harder on drills in the first half while the weather is cooler. This is understandable and yes, could account for 31-36 records, such as the Miracle posted in 2004. However, the team posted winning records in the first half in 2005 and 2006, just missing a first half championship last year.

Perhaps the extra work during this cooler time of the year is the case, that Boles is blowing off the first half of the year, and is looking to have a more productive second half, but it's still painful for the consumers in the seats who paid to get in to watch a bunch of slopiness on the field.

Then again...one might argue at at least 900 of the announced 973 people at the game were there for the "Bing on the Berm" promotion, free T-shirts, the Spiderman appearance and other assorted "fun" that Goldklang feels is necessary to turning a profit on minor league baseball. (You really didn't think they were doing this because they wanted us to have FUN did you?) So the execution of the game really shouldn't matter...the vast majority of the fans "got their moneys worth".

Ah well. Call me disgruntled. I was really hoping to see a good game. (I saw one last Thursday out of the rookie team, that will have to last me a while, I suppose.)

I'd gone down the Miracle dugout prior the game, and Eli Tintor had come out to warm up and was wearing the navy blue batting gloves he'd been wearing during the game he struck out four times. I had not actually gone down to the dugout to see him, but one must take the opportunities available.

"Take those off your hands," I tell him. "Go back in there and put the white ones on."

"You know," he says, "I was thinking about that..."

"You struck out four times in one game wearing those things, they've got bad karma. You need to take them out and burn them."

"But they're $50 a pair!" (Ed quickly divides this down into $12.50 a strike out.)

"I'll buy you a new pair, just get rid of those things." Geez. Maybe a nice white pair with red inserts. Those would look nice on him.

In any case...I like to believe making him go back in and change his gloves got us at least one hit. We only had three, we really can't sacrafice any opportunity here.

Beyond that, I did not accomplish what I was hoping to down there, however, I can pursue the matter at the Mini-golf tournament on Friday. Justin has given me a set of Charleston Riverdog cards to collect Yankees autographs on, so that's what I'll be doing tonight.

I also need to re-shoot Ryan Mullins tonight, because the last shots I took I was not happy with. He however, had a different opinion of them, and seemed just touched as heck to get them. "You mean these are for me?" Oh, that's right. He skipped GCL. Maybe they don't have a photog in E-Town. Maybe the boys are not crazy for wanting to take me with.

I did a re-shoot of Waldrop last night, even though well...the preformance wasn't all that.

Maybe it's just me, but I think the new roof has messed with the lighting in the stadium. However I think the stills from yesterday will look much better than the previous set, and well, I really need to redo the sets for Ryan and Ozzie. Neither were up to my standards.

I was also trying to get the batters some yesterday and as Ryan is a lefty, that will give me a chance to get the righty batters tonight as I'll be camping out on the first base side of the stadium.

Giving Ryan his shots though was an invitaion for Alex Smit to crain his neck around to see them. "I have Loek (Van Mil)'s pictures," I tell him. "Would you like to see Loek's pictures." He does, so I fetch them. He's flipping through and suddenly starts laughing...



Well, it IS a fun-nee picture. (He'd gone down to get out of the way of catcher on a stealing attempt, and just sort of stayed there for a second or two....)

Let's see...odds and ends...Henry Sanchez is still on the DL with a hammate bone injury in his hand. Tyler Robertson said he was not taking batting practice, but really didn't know anything more than that.

"I heard he can hit."

I've heard that too, but he didn't exactly wail for the GCL Twins in 2005 (16H, 70AB, .229 Avg) nor with Elizabethton (9H, 41AB, .220 Avg) in 2006. Plus Jim Rantz's quip "There's this thing called a curveball that he's never seen before," in the Strib is a little bit disturbing.

A first round supplemental pick in 2005, Sanchez underwent surgery in July of 2006 to remove scar tissue associated with hammate bone surgery that he had prior to joining the Twins organization. It will be interested to see if he ever does get healthy, and if so, if he really can hit.

Catcher Javi Sanchez had Tommy John surgery last year. He missed the 2006 season because of it, and while he is playing this year for the Fort Myers Miracle, reports that he is still not 100%. While Tommy John sugergy can improve the throwing ability of the player who recieved it, it is still a hard operation to come back from.

The Twins released outfielder Mark Robinson and pitcher Adam Revelette and placed pitcher Sean Land on the 7-day Disabled List with a left elbow injury. All three were playing with the Beloit squad. In turn, the Twins activated shortstop Steve Singleton, RHP Aaron Craig, and LHP Jesus Carnevales from extended spring training. The moves regarding Robo and Rev are not really a surprise. Craig has still been struggling with his fastball and Carnevales was a free agent signee in November with the team, so as replacments, they are kind of unexpected.

RHP Michael Allen is expected to join the Beloit squad, but that may not happen until the All-star game break.

I think that's about it for now. I do have some other tidbits, but the Miralce are on the road on Saturday, the rookies are off and well...I will needs something to rattle on about.

Here's hoping for a better effort tonight out of the Fort Myers squad, otherwise I might have to end up cheering for the Yankees.

Scoreboard for May 1, 2007

Rochester 9 at Columbus 4

Record 13-4

W: J. Cummings (2-0, 2.65); L: F. Diaz (1-2, 5.16)
HR: ROC: M. Moses 2 (2), L. Ford (1). COL: A. Nunez (5), T. Batista (4)

E: Watkins (3, fielding).

From Milb.com: Matt Moses ripped a pair of homers and Tommy Watkins collected three hits and two RBIs as visiting Rochester defeated Columbus, 9-4, on Tuesday.

Moses led off the third inning with a solo shot to tie the game, 1-1. The 22-year-old shortstop added a two-run blast in the fourth, lifting his batting average to .203.

Watkins smacked a pair of run-scoring doubles to snap an 0-for-15 slump.

Red Wings starter Jeremy Cummings (2-0) got the win after surrendering three runs on five hits while striking out three without a walk in five frames. Reliever Jason Miller allowed a run on two hits and a walk, fanning two in three innings, and Carmen Cali tossed a perfect ninth. Rochester (13-4) has won nine of its last 10 games.

Clippers starter Felix Diaz (1-2) allowed eight runs on eight hits, fanning one and walking one in four innings.

Tony Batista belted a run-scoring single in the first and launched a two-run homer in the fourth for Columbus (10-14). Abraham Nunez cranked a solo homer in the seventh, and Darnell McDonald added three hits and scored two runs.

Clippers manager John Stearns was ejected in the third for arguing with umpire Kevin Causey.

redwingsbaseball.com appears to be down at the current time.

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Binghamton 4 at New Britain 12

Record: 8-9

W: N. Blackburn (1-0, 3.97); L: J. Sanchez (0-1, 6.46)
HR: NBR: R. Eldridge (1).

E: Geiger (2, missed catch), Plouffe (4, fielding), Buscher (4, throw).

From MiLb.com: Rashad Eldridge smashed a grand slam as New Britain pounded out 17 hits en route to a 12-4 victory over visiting Binghamton on Tuesday.

Brian Buscher lined an RBI single in the third inning and scored when Eldridge hit his first home run of the season to give the Rock Cats (8-9) a 5-3 lead. Eldridge, who went 4-for-5, doubled twice, singled and fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

Buscher also had run-scoring singles in the sixth and seventh, finishing with four hits and three RBIs. Trevor Plouffe was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs, and Felix Molina chipped in two hits, two runs scored and an RBI.

Every Rock Cat had at least one hit and scored at least one run, except Luke Hughes, who was 0-for-5 with a strikeout.

New Britain starter Nick Blackburn (1-0) picked up the win, allowing four runs -- one earned -- on six hits while striking out five and walking one in six frames.

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The New Britain Rock Cats and Binghamton Mets will play a rare daytime doubleheader on Thursday to make up a game that was lost to weather in Binghamton April 16-18, the Rock Cats announced Monday. Herald


Jay Rainville

Fort Myers 4 at Clearwater 6

Record 10 - 15

W: Z. Stott (1-1, 1.42); L: E. Morlan (1-1, 3.75); SV: B. Harker (4)
HR: None.

E: White (3, fielding).

From miraclebaseball.com: The Fort Myers Miracle were in control for most of Tuesday night at Bright House Networks Field but a four-run eighth inning by the Clearwater Threshers would seal the deal as the Threshers went on to sweep the three-game series from the Miracle with a 6-4 victory on Tuesday night.

Clearwater struck first as a sacrifice fly from Greg Golson scored Lou Marson on a close play at the plate giving the Threshers a 1-0 lead in the third. After 27 scoreless innings, the Miracle would tack on three in the fifth to grab a 3-1 lead.

Toby Gardenhire would deliver a RBI-single scoring Juan Portes from third before Erik Lis would connect on a two-run double to center scoring Steve Tolleson and Caleb Moore. Tolleson drew a two-out walk and Moore kept the inning alive with a single to right.

Clearwater would cut it to a one-run game in the seventh as Welinson Baez and Marson would smash doubles to center shrinking the Miracle lead to 3-2. After a RBI-single from Portes in the Miracle eighth that scored Whit Robbins, the Threshers would strike for their four runs a half inning later.

With one out and runners at first and second, Jeremy Slayden would slap a single to right scoring Golson from second. On the Slayden base hit, Dwayne White had problems fielding the ball in right, allowing Matt Thayer to third and Slayden to reach second.

Clay Harris would promptly follow sending a 2-2 pitch from Miracle reliever Eddie Morlan to the wall in centerfield, scoring Thayer and Slayden, giving the Threshers a 5-4 lead. Harris would later come around on Brad Harman’s run-scoring single to center for the sixth and final Clearwater run.

After finishing 1-6 on the road trip, the Miracle will return home beginning Wednesday night for a three-game series against the Tampa Yankees. Home cooking will be short lived as the Miracle will start a season-long eight-game road trip beginning Saturday. First pitch Wednesday night is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Hammond Stadium. It will be RHP Kyle Waldrop (3-0, 3.08) for the Miracle against the Yankees’ RHP Ian Kennedy (1-1, 2.22).

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BDN Staff photo by Jim Franz
Beloit’s Danny Santiesteban

Fort Wayne 9 at Beloit 1

Record 12-9

W: N. Culp (3-1, 1.42); L: A. Burnett (1-2, 3.41)
HR: FTW: J. Rivera (1).

E: Santiesteban (2, fielding), Benson (3, fielding), Vais (1, throw).

From snappersbaseball.com: One bad inning from the Snappers proved to be a costly one. Fort Wayne scored seven runs in the top of the eighth inning to put the game out of reach on Tuesday night.

The Snappers took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning off the bat of Danny Santiesteban. Santiesteban had an RBI triple to center, scoring Johnny Woodard from second. Woodard singled earlier to lead off the inning.

That would be all the damage that the Snappers would do, however. After Fort Wayne scored one run in both the sixth and seventh innings, they erupted for seven runs in the top of the eighth. The Wizards scored their seven runs off of five hits and two errors. Fort Wayne took a 9-1 lead after the outburst and went on to win by that score.

Beloit’s Alex Burnett pitched seven strong innings, allowing only two runs off six hits. He had five strikeouts but picked up his second loss of the season.

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From a Beloit Snappers Press Release:

The Beloit Snappers and the Minnesota Twins announced today that they have released outfielder Mark Robinson and pitcher Adam Revelette. The Twins have also placed Snappers' pitcher Sean Land, on the 7-day Disabled List with a left elbow injury.

With the three empty spots on the roster the Twins have called up three players from Extended Spring Training:

- Right Handed Pitcher Aaron Craig
- Left Handed Pitcher Jesus Carnevales
- Shortstop Steven Singleton

Both Singleton and Craig spent 2006 in Elizabethton, while 2007 will be Carnevales' first season in professional baseball.

Singleton batted .340 with 24 RBI’s and 26 runs scored in 41 games for Elizabethton. Steven also led the Appalachian League in Triples with 5.

Craig was 2-1 with a 5.11 ERA in 20 games last season. Aaron had 17 strikeouts in 24 and 2/3's innings pitched.

Carnevales signed with the Twins as a non-drafted free agent on November 6, 2006.

All three players will be joining the Snappers in time for Tuesday night's game. The Snappers will play game two of four with the Fort Wayne Wizards on Tuesday, at 6:30 pm.

Scoreboard for April 30, 2007

Jose Morales

Rochester 4 at Toledo 1

Record 12-4

W: J. DePaula (2-2, 2.84); L: Y. Bazardo (1-2, 4.10); SV: B. Korecky (5)
HR: None.

E: Slowey (1, missed catch).

(Thanks Kevin. You've now completely blown my mental image of you as a baseball god. Gods to not miss catchs. Ever. Work on that for me, would you please.)

From redwingsbaseball.com: Matthew LeCroy's two-out, pinch-hit double plated the go-ahead runs, and the Wings used a ninth inning rally for the second straight day to defeat Toledo 4- Monday night. LeCroy's hit, on a 1-1 pitch from Jason Karnuth, was crushed to left-center, landing on the warning track and bouncing up off the fence. Wings starter Kevin Slowey struck out eight in seven innings, allowing five hits, a run and a walk to lower his ERA to 1.05.

The score was tied at one in the top of the ninth with runners on first and second for Rochester. Toledo went to the Hen pen and brought in LHP Tim Byrdak. Byrdak got the job done and struck out Matt Moses to give the Red Wings two outs. The Hens went back to the pen to bring in RHP Jason Karnuth, but he gave up a two-run double to LeCroy who came in to pinch hit for Trent Oeltjen to put Rochester up 3-1. The Red Wings added one more run on Matt Tolbert's RBI single.

Bazardo recorded three strikeouts and retired the first six batters he faced to shut the Red Wings down 1-2-3 in the first two innings.

Rochester struck first though in the bottom of the third. Moses cracked a lead-off double down the left field line for the first Red Wing hit of the night. With runners on the corners, Tolbert hit into a fielder’s choice to score Moses from third base to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead.

The Hens answered quickly in the bottom of the third. With Dane Sardinha on second base, Hannahan crushed a double into the gap in left center field to drive in Sardinha and even the score, 1-1.

Both teams had chances to take the lead over the next five innings but neither team could push a run across the plate.

Lew Ford, Chris Heintz and Jose Morales all singled to load the bases with one out in the top of the fourth frame, but Toledo’s pitching coach Britt Burns made a trip to the mound to calm Bazardo down, and he got Moses and Oeltjen to both pop out to end the Rochester threat.

In the top of the sixth the Red Wings threatened again. Garrett Jones and Heintz connected on back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with one out, but Bazardo got Morales to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to get the Hens out of another jam and keep the game tied, 1-1.

The Mud Hens had their chance to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Mike Hessman and Ramon Santiago were on the corners but Slowey stuck out two and Morales threw out Santiago attempting to steal second base to end the Toledo scoring chance.

Julio DePaula (2-2) got the winning decision, and Bobby Korecky struck out the side in the ninth to record his fifth save.

Twins outfielder Ford was 1-for-4 in the second game of his minor league rehab assignment with the Wings.

NOTES: The game started late after an 40-minute rain delay, game played in an occasional light misting rain...

On Monday Morales was named the International League Batter of the Week, becoming the first member of the Wings to receive the award since Heintz (June 27-July 3, 2005). Morales more than doubled his hit total (from 9 to 19) and increased his batting average from .276 to .413. Morales hit at an amazing .647 clip in five games this week, more than 50 points better than anyone else in the International League...

Sunday afternoon’s ninth inning rally was the largest ninth inning rally by Rochester since August 22, 1997 - when the Red Wings scored six times in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Toledo 11-10 at Frontier Field. In the 1997 game Toledo scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning. First baseman Tommy Davis singled home catcher Tim Laker (who pulled a hamstring while running out his two-run, game-tying triple) with the winning run with two outs. The start of the game was delayed 2 hours and 56 minutes due to rain (10:11 p.m. start) and didn’t finish until 1:17a.m. in the morning....

Sunday was only the fourth time since at least 1975 that Rochester has rallied for five or more runs in their final at-bat to win a game: the 1997 game, July 19, 1992 (Rochester rallied from an 8-0 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat Scranton 10-9 at Silver Stadium), and May 9, 1978 (Rochester scored seven runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Columbus 11-10 at Silver Stadium). The 1978 game was the managerial debut for Frank Robinson, who took over in-season for Ken Boyer.

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New Britain

No Games Scheduled

Record: 7-9


Alex Smit

Fort Myers 0 at Clearwater 5

Record 10 - 14

W: D. Brauer (3-1, 2.16); L: A. Smit (0-1, 5.40)
HR: None.

E: Portes (3, fielding), Tintor (2, fielding).

From miraclebaseball.com: Different night, same result for the Fort Myers Miracle as the Clearwater Threshers limited the Miracle offense to just three hits and one base runner reaching third on their way to a 5-0 shutout victory over the Miracle on Monday night at Bright House Networks Field.

Clearwater would put their first two runs on the board in the third as Fidel Hernandez reached on a fielder error by Juan Portes at second base. After a bunt single from Victor Hall, Greg Golson would follow with a RBI-double to left scoring Hernandez and giving the Threshers a 1-0 lead. Michael Spidale would immediately follow with a groundout to first scoring Hall from third.

The final three runs would come across in the sixth as another Miracle error, this one by Eli Tintor in center, would allow the first two runners to reach. Jeremy Slayden would score on Brad Harman’s RBI-single down the left-field line after leading the inning with a walk.

After a second-straight single from Lou Marson, Fidel Hernandez would deliver a two-run single to left scoring Harris, who reached on Tintor’s dropped fly, and Harman from second.

The first hit of the night for the Miracle came off the bat of Caleb Moore with a lead-off double in the fifth. The final two hits came in the ninth as Steve Tolleson and Erik Lis each had singles in the frame. Jeff Cirillo on a rehab assignment from the Minnesota Twins finished the night 0-for-3 testing out his left knee.

The Miracle have not scored a run in the last 23 innings dating back to Saturday night at Dunedin. The Miracle will wrap up the seven-game in six-day road trip on Tuesday night at Bright House Networks Field. RHP Jay Rainville (2-3, 2.84) will get the start for the Miracle at 7 p.m.

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ECHL Hockey: The Florida Everblades took a 4-2 win over the Texas Wildcatters in Game 5 of their best-of-7 series Monday night at Ford Arena. The series now returns to Germain Arena in Southwest Florida for game six on Friday night and if necissary, game 7 on Saturday.

Fort Wayne 0 at Beloit 3

Record 11-9

W: J. Manship (2-0, 0.84); L: A. Miller (1-2, 3.66); SV: R. Delaney (4)
HR: None.

From snappersbaseball.com: Jeff Manship continued his domination and helped the Snappers to a 3-0 win over the Fort Wayne Wizards on Monday. Manship dazzled again, going seven innings while only allowing one hit. Jeff also picked up another eight strikeouts on the night.

Beloit got things going in the bottom of the first inning. Johnny Woodard doubled home Brian Dinkelman from third base. Brian singled earlier to lead off the inning. Woodard's RBI double made it a 1-0 Snappers lead after one.

The Snappers scored two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Garrett Olson doubled to lead off, followed by a triple by Danny Berg, and a single by Alan de San Miguel. Alan's RBI single made it a 3-0 Snappers lead.

That was all that Manship would need. The right hander from Notre Dame improved his record to 2-0 and regained the Midwest League strikeout lead.

Reliever, Rob Delaney, pitched two innings of scoreless relief to pick up his fourth save of the season. Beloit improved their record to 11-9.

Upcoming schedule: The Snappers are in the middle of an eight game homestand. They will play game two of four with the Fort Wayne Wizards on Tuesday at 6:30 pm.

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Scoreboard for April 29, 2007

Rochester 9 at Toledo 6

Record 11-4

W: C. Cali (1-0, 2.25); L: J. Karnuth (0-2, 3.68); SV: B. Korecky (4)
HR: None.

E: Watkins (2, fielding), DePaula (2, throw), Tolbert (5, fielding).

From redwingsbaseball.com: Rochester combined five hits and two Toledo errors for a six-run ninth inning, coming back to beat the Mud Hens 9-6 Sunday afternoon after trailing 6-1 after seven innings. Jose Morales and Trent Oeltjen each had three doubles; Morales raised his season average to .413.

RHP Dennis Tankersley was on the hill for the homestanding Hens, while lefty Dave Gassner got the call for Rochester. It wouldn’t take Toledo long to get to Gassner. Kevin Hooper led the inning with a single, and a Brent Clevlen fielder’s choice preceded a one out walk by Chris Shelton. Mike Hessman then stroked an RBI single right up the middle, scoring Clevlen from second to make it 1-0 Hens.

Rochester quickly tied it in the top of the second, after a two out double by Morales and an RBI single by Chris Heintz evened the score at 1.

The Mud Hens took back the lead 2-1 in the bottom half when Hooper doubled home Dane Sardinha, who began the inning with a base hit. Shelton tacked on another run with a double off his own, in the same spot as Hooper’s, off the top of the left field wall. The score was 3-1 Mud Hens after two. It was a rare bump in the road for the Wings pitching staff, as it was the first time this season a Rochester starter gave up more than two earned runs in a start. Gassner would not surrender another run through six complete and was replaced by righty Brian Bass for the seventh. In all, Gassner allowed seven hits, striking out three and walking one.

Bass quickly got in a jam, surrendering two base hits before intentionally walking Clevlen to load the bases for Shelton. Shelton stroked a bases clearing double deep to center scoring three runs. Heading to the late innings, it was 6-1 Hens.

The Red Wings got one back in the eighth, on back to back doubles by Oeltjen and Matt Tolbert. Tolbert scored as well after a pair of groundouts to make it 6-3. After giving up a hit Tankersley was pulled in favor of lefty Ian Ostlund, who successfully closed out the inning. Tankersley pitched 7 2/3 innings, scattering seven hits to go with three earned runs. He struck out four and walked two, but was left with a tough-luck no decision in the end.

Jason Karnuth came in for Toledo in the ninth, his IL leading 12th appearance. Karnuth blew the save, giving up a double, single, and a double. It was still 6-4 at that point, but an error by Chris Maples at first base off the bat of Tolbert- a ground ball right through the legs- tied the game at 6. Just when it looked like Tommy Watkins had grounded into an inning-ending double play back to Karnuth, SS Ramon Santiago and 2B David Espinosa each tried to take the throw at second for the force play, and it banged off both of their gloves for the second Hen error of the inning-on Santiago, loading the bases. A Lew Ford ground out completed the comeback for Rochester, scoring Tolbert and giving the Red Wings a 7-6 lead. That was the end of a brief afternoon for Karnuth. The Wings, who sent all nine batters to the plate in the ninth, added some insurance with a Garrett Jones two-RBI single off Preston Larrison to take a 9-6 lead. Of the six Rochester runs in the last frame, just two were earned, both off Karnuth. Carmen Cali (1-0), who pitched the eighth for Rochester, got the win while Karnuth (0-2) took the loss. Bobby Korecky fanned two in the ninth after allowing a leadoff double, to notch save number four on the season. .

NOTES: Wings INF Glenn Williams (shoulder) will be out of action for the next few games...Twins OF Ford (DL, knee) joined the Red Wings on a minor league rehab assignment and went 1-for-5 with a single, an RBI and a strikeout Sunday, playing left field the entire game...Double-A New Britain shortstop Trevor Plouffe is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for April 20-27...Plouffe, 20, played in five games and hit .476 (10-for-21) with two doubles, two home runs, five rbi and scored six runs...Plouffe was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of
Crespi Carmelite High School in California.

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New Britain 3 at Connecticut 1

Record: 7-9

W: B. Duensing (2-0, 2.75); L: G. Broshuis (0-3, 3.86); SV: J. Mijares (3)
HR: NBR: F. Molina (1).

From ctdefenders.com: The Connecticut Defenders took on their cross state rivals the New Britain Rock Cats in the finale of a three game series on Sunday afternoon at Dodd Stadium. The Defenders had their number two starter going on the mound in RHP Garrett Broshuis. Opposing him on the mound for the Rock Cats would be LHP Brian Duensing making the start instead of originally scheduled pitcher Brett Smith. The switch would work in favor of the Rock Cats as Duensing was excellent in leading New Britain to a 3-1 victory.

Both pitchers would throw a scoreless first inning, but the action would get going in the second as Broshuis would run into his first and only patch of trouble in the ball game. Former Defender 3B Brian Buscher would lead it off with a double that one hopped the left field wall. On the very next batter with a 1-1 count, Broshuis would hang a breaking ball to 2B Felix Molina, a pitch that would be sent over the right field wall for a 2-run home run. It would be followed by a DH Luke Hughes double to put another runner in scoring position. After a strikeout by OF Matt Allegra, 1B Brock Peterson would deliver an RBI single to score Hughes from second base and complete the three run inning. The Rock Cats led 3-0 after two full innings.

The Defenders would get 1 run back in the bottom of the third inning. C Todd Jennings led off the inning with a double to left-center field. Two batters later, OF Pat Dobson would break a mini slump at the plate with an RBI single to score Jennings from second base. That would cut the Rock Cats lead to 2 runs, 3-1 after three innings.

There would be nothing but zeros across the board thereafter. Broshuis would settle down to retire 12 of the next 14 batters he faced. Neither runner that reached would advance beyond second base. Duensing would work impressively on the mound as well, limiting the Defenders to just three hits over the next four innings. In the seventh inning the Defenders did get runners on second and third in the form of 1B Travis Ishikawa and C Todd Jennings, both of whom singled. Duensing however, would retire pinch hitting Carlos Sosa on a fly out to right field to end the threat. The Defenders would find themselves in the midst of an even better opportunity in the bottom of the ninth inning against closer Jose Mijares. OF Brian Horwitz and DH Eddy Martinez-Esteve led it off with back-to-back singles and a batter later, 3B Simon Klink would walk to load the bases with just one out. But Mijares would prove to be too much as he’d pick up back-to-back strikeouts against Jennings and Sosa to seal the victory for the Rock Cats, 3-1.

Brian Duensing (W, 2-0) would pick up his second win on the season pitching a season high 7 innings, giving up just 1 run, scattering 5 hits and striking out 5 batters. Jose Mijares (S, 3) notched a 2 inning save in a scoreless effort while striking out 4. Garrett Broshuis (L, 0-3) would be a hard luck loser, collecting his third straight loss to start the year. He pitched 6 innings, gave up 3 runs, 6 hits, no walks, while striking out 4 batters.

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Jeff Christy

Fort Myers 0 at Clearwater 1

Record 10 - 13

W: C. Carrasco (2-1, 4.00); L: O. Sosa (0-2, 5.59); SV: A. Davis (1)
HR: None.

E: Portes (2, fielding), Aselton (1, throw).

From miraclebaseball.com: Despite 15 combined strikeouts from Oswaldo Sosa and Kyle Aselton, it was a RBI-single off the bat of Orlando Guevara that tallied the only run of the afternoon giving the Clearwater Threshers a 1-0 victory over the Fort Myers Miracle at Bright House Networks Field on Sunday afternoon.

Pitching would be the story on Sunday afternoon as all four hurlers looked impressive throughout the day. Thresher starter Carlos Carrasco tossed seven innings of shutout ball allowing just three hits picking up his second win of the season. Reliever Allen Davis tossed a perfect two innings in relief of Carrasco grabbing his first save of the year

Miracle starter Oswaldo Sosa would allow the one run on two hits in his 4.1 innings of work. Sosa would also strike out eight Threshers on the afternoon. Aselton finished the day tossing 3.2 innings allowing just two hits while fanning seven. Sosa and Aselton set the new season-high with 15 of the 24 outs being recorded on strikeouts.

Clearwater’s run in the fifth would come via small ball as Kevin Howard led off with a walk and later advanced to second on a Fidel Hernandez sacrifice bunt. Guevara would follow with his single to right scoring Howard for the lone run of the afternoon.

Twin killings hurt the Miracle on two separate occasions on Sunday afternoon. With runners at first and second, Erik Lis would ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the third. In the Miracle fifth, it was a 4-3 double play hit into by Jeff Christy to end the threat. No Miracle base runner would reach third on the afternoon while only Juan Portes and Caleb Moore would reach second base.

Game two of the series will take place on Monday night as the Miracle send LHP Alexander Smit (0-0, 5.89) to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Bright House Networks Field.

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Dayton 9 at Beloit 5

Record 10-9

W: R. Gonzalez (4-0, 1.54); L: A. Hawes (0-2, 3.48); SV: J. Rojas (5)
HR: BEL: D. Valencia (5), J. Woodard (1).

E: Ortiz (4, fielding), Woodard (2, fielding), de San Miguel (1, throw), Robinson (1, fielding).

Four more errors by the Snappers resulted in their second straight loss. The Dayton Dragons scored nine runs off eleven hits and won the final game of the series 9 to 5.

The Snappers got on the board first in the bottom of the fourth inning with a home run off the bat of Danny Valencia. Valencia’s homer was his fifth of the season.

Dayton struck back with six of their own in the top of the sixth inning, and took a 6-1 lead. Chris Valaika highlighted the inning with a two-run double.

Beloit scored one run in the bottom of the sixth off a Johnny Woodard homer to right-center. Woodard's home run was his first of the season.

After the Dragons plated three more in the top half of the ninth inning, the Snappers started their comeback. Mark Robinson had a two-run double and Danny Berg had an RBI groundout to make it a 9-5 game. Brian Dinkelman and Johnny Woodard followed Berg with back to back strikeouts to end the game.

Adam Hawes picked up the loss for the Snappers, going five and one third's innings, allowing six runs (four unearned) off five hits.

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Extended Spring Training

I haven't done a write up for today, in part because I found out I was failing the boys by not having some thing available and had to fix it so that they were available and in part because, as Tyler put it "You look tired."

I have added video of the German guy, Rodney Gessman today. He had a really nice first inning, striking out two and only faced three batters, and then fell apart in the second, giving up three runs on five walks, a double, a single and a home run. Ricky Barrett had to come in and get the third out. Barrett pitched 2.1 innings, his longest outting since his injury. Gessman was mid-80's through most of the outting and hit 90 once, flirting a bit with 87 and 88 through his performance.

Rodney Gessmann - Game of April 29, 2007 (Part I)
Rodney Gessmann - Game of April 29, 2007 (Part II)

I've also added Aussie lefty Matt Ryan, Dominican righty Santos Arias and RHP Thomas Wright. The look on Ryan's face, when he found out he was getting youtubed was priceless.

Ryan was the guy that Howie wanted to sign as a pitcher when he was sixteen, but then he hurt his shoulder and had to have surgery. In the mean time, he deveolped a bat, so the Angels signed him as a fielder. That hasn't worked out, so he's "turned himself back into a pitcher again" as he put it. Ryan was pitching 87-88 MPH. He gave up a single to start the inning, got the next guy to ground out, and then walked the third batter. The first runner came home on a sac-fly. They took the guy Ryan had walked out at second after the fifth batter hit to mid-infield, ending the inning. I started out shooting still photos of him, and so the whole inning is not on the video clip.

Scoreboard for April 28, 2007

Rochester 3 at Toledo 1

Record 10-4

W: S. Baker (2-0, 1.57); L: R. Chiavacci (1-1, 4.44); SV: B. Korecky (3)
HR: ROC: M. Tolbert (2).

E: Watkins (2, fielding), DePaula (2, throw), Tolbert (5, fielding).

From mudhens.com: Mother Nature has been unkind to the Rochester Red Wings, having caused them to postpone eight games thus far in 2007 and Saturday night her merciless ways continued, in Toledo.

Rochester escaped the weather and the Hens, holding on for the 3-1 victory.

Red Wings righty Scott Baker, continued to stifle hitters, he struck out seven Hens, in seven innings, and allowed just one run, on four hits. RHP Ron Chiavacci pitched well in defeat for the Hens, going six and a third innings, allowing seven hits, and three runs. It was the second consecutive quality start for Chiavacci.

The Red Wings broke a scoreless tie in the fourth, as Tommy Watkins scored from third base on an infield single by Jose Morales. Watkins walked to lead off the inning and reached third on a groundout by Chris Heintz.

The Hens and CF Brent Clevlen answered in the home half of the fourth. Cleven laced a one out triple off the wall in right centerfield and scored on a sac fly by DH Jack Hannahan.

Matt Tolbert’s second home run of the season put Rochester back in front in the fifth, a solo shot that just cleared the wall in left field.

The sixth inning brought another Rochester run and another RBI for Morales, driving in Garrett Jones this time around, on a liner to the left field gap. Jones one out double earlier in the inning allowed him to score easily on the Morales single.

Toledo threatened in the seventh, when Hannahan extended his hitting streak to a team best five games and moved to third base on a 1B Chris Shelton single. However, RF David Espinosa was called out on strikes, ending the Hens opportunity.

Toledo pitchers allowed 10 hits in the game, compared to Rochester allowing only four. Bobby Korecky closed out the Hens in the ninth in route to picking up his third save of the year.

Toledo and Rochester will continue their four game set tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 PM.

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From the Strib: Lew Ford, who had arthroscopic knee surgery March 12, will join Class AAA Rochester for an expected 10-day rehabilitation assignment, beginning today or Monday. Ford played nine innings in an extended spring training game Saturday and was cleared to take the next step.

New Britain 1 at New Britain 6

Record: 6-9

W: C. Begg (2-0, 2.10); L: T. Crawford (1-1, 9.00)
HR: None.

E: Velazquez (1, fielding), Geiger (1, throw).

From ctdefenders.com: The Connecticut Defenders, coming off a win in the opener of the series, took on the New Britain Rock Cats in game 2 of the three game set on Saturday. The Defenders would send their ace to the mound in RHP Chris Begg and he’d be opposed by recently acquired Rock Cats RHP Tristan Crawford. Begg would win the battle from the get go as the Defenders cruised to their second consecutive victory 6-1.

The Defenders got the hits flowing early in the game. They’d strike in the bottom of the first inning against Crawford. SS Jake Wald would bat in the leadoff spot and walk to start the action. OF John Bowker and OF Brian Horwitz would follow with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Eddy Martinez-Esteve would step to the plate with the bases juiced and be hit on the shoulder by a Crawford pitch, pushing the first run across for the Defenders. 1B Travis Ishikawa would reach base on an error by 1B Gil Velazquez, allowing Bowker and Horwitz to come around and score. Ishikawa would pick up 1 RBI on the play. The very next batter, red-hot hitting 3B Simon Klink would single in the hole between first and second, driving in Eddy Martinez-Esteve to complete the 4 run inning.

Chris Begg would retire 8 out of the first 10 batters he faced and the Defenders would lead it 4-0 after 2 1/2 innings. After Crawford labored through the first two innings throwing a lot of pitches, scheduled starter for game 3, Brad Baker would come on in relief for the third. In the bottom of the third inning the Defenders would tack on another run courtesy of an RBI groundout by Ishikawa to drive in Horwitz who led off the inning with a double. After a scoreless top of the fourth inning, they’d get right back at it in the bottom half. C Stephen Holm would lead off with a single and two batters later, SS Jake Wald would drive him in with an RBI single of his own. It would be 6-0 in favor of the Defenders after 4 full innings.

The score would remain that way until the top of the ninth inning. With Jeff Peterson on in relief for his second inning of work, he’d surrender a leadoff single to OF Garrett Guzman. Guzman would be erased on a fielders choice by next batter 3B Brian Buscher. Buscher would reach second on a groundout by 2B Felix Molina and OF Rashad Eldridge would drive him in on a single to right field for the Rock Cats first run of the game. It would be the only run as Peterson would retire OF Matt Allegra on a strikeout swinging to end the game with a final score of 6-1.

Starter Chris Begg (W, 2-0) has now tossed 21 consecutive scoreless innings and picked up the win on the day. He tossed 7 innings of scoreless, 6 hit ball, without surrendering a single walk and striking out a game high 6 batters. Tristan Crawford (L, 1-1) absorbed the loss pitching just 2 innings, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 3 hits, with 1 walk and no strikeouts. Jeff Peterson pitched 2 innings, surrendering 1 run on 3 hits, while striking out 1 batter. He did not factor in the decision. The finale of the series will take place on Sunday April 29th with a 2:05 start time. Following the game will be Edy’s Sundae Fun Day Run Day, as youngsters 12 and under will be invited on the field after the game to run the bases and receive a free ice cream sundae.

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Zack Ward

Fort Myers 4 at Dunedin 6

Record 10 - 12

W: J. Thomson (1-0, 4.09); L: Z. Ward (0-2, 4.50); SV: C. Falkenbach (7)
HR: FTM: E. Ovalle (2). DUN: J. Kreuzer (1).

John Thomson threw seven solid innings to lead host Dunedin over Fort Myers, 6-4, on Saturday.

Thomson (1-0) gave up four runs -- one earned -- on five hits while striking out five in his second rehab start for the Blue Jays (8-13). The veteran right-hander, who spent the last three seasons with the Atlanta Braves, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore pitching shoulder on March 31.

Dunedin trailed, 4-2, when Brian Jeroloman drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth. David Shinskie replaced reliever Zachary Ward (0-2) and hit Anthony Garibaldi to force home Eric Nielsen with the tying run before Adam Calderone lifted a sacrifice fly to left field.

Edward Ovalle cranked a two-run homer in the fourth to give the Miracle (10-11) a 4-2 lead.

Fort Myers starter Ryan Mullins went four innings, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out five. Ward (0-2) was charged with three runs on four hits and a walk while recording only four outs.

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ECHL Hockey: This may well be a series that goes down to the seventh game. Texas defeated Florida 3-1 to even the series at two games each. Minnesota native and All-time Everblades goal leader Reggie Berg had the lone tally for Florida.

Dayton 11 at Beloit 1

Record 10-8

W: D. Thompson (4-0, 0.39); L: C. Devries (1-1, 1.65)
HR: DAY: J. Francisco 2 (4). BEL: B. Dinkelman (2).

E: Santiesteban (2, fielding), Dinkelman 2 (4, fielding, throw).

From snappersbaseball.com: The Dayton Dragons had fourteen hits and eleven runs on their way to an 11-1 victory of the Snappers on Saturday. Beloit was only able to muster four hits during the game while compiling three errors.

Dayton scored in five of the nine innings and was powered behind the bat of Juan Francisco. Juan went 3 for 5 with two home runs and four RBI’s.

The Snappers lone run came in the bottom of the ninth inning off the bat of Brian Dinkelman. Dinkelman hit his second home run of the season with one out and nobody on. Dinkelman improved his record to .268 on the season.

Starter, Cole Devries picked up the loss going four innings while giving up seven hits and six runs (four unearned). The Snappers dropped to 10-8 on the season.

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