Dogs fall before hot Javilina offense

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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Manny's Blog

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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.

Dogs top Sox, 7-5

W: S. Lindsay (1-0, 0.00); L: T. Brummett (0-1, 6.75); SV: A. Carignan (1)
HR: PDD: J. Arencibia (1). MSS: L. Morrison (1).

Wednesday night the Phoenix Desert Dogs overcame the Mesa Solar Sox, 7-5. Both teams pounded out 10 hits each, but the Dogs made their hits count.

A throwing error in the first inning put lead off man Evan Frey (Arizona) on second base to start the game for the Dogs. Steve Tolleson (Minnesota) took a single off Mesa starter Jesse Estrada (Chi Cubs), driving in Frey. Following a J.P. Arencibia (Toronto) fly out to right, Sean Doolittle (Oakland) ground into a force out that nabbed Tolleson at second. Danny Valencia (Minnesota) smacked a ground rule which put Doolittle on 3rd, and Dustin Martin (Minnesota) doubled in the pair to make it 3-0 Dogs, before Josh Donaldson (Oakland) was taken out on strikes.

Mesa bounced back in the bottom of the inning. Matt Young would lead off with ground out, but Scott Cousins (Florida) drew a walk off Chad Roe (Colorado). Tyler Colvin (Chi Cubs) flew out but a wild pitch by Roe moved Cousins to second. Struggling with his control, Roe would then walk Jeff Larish (Detroit) and give up a home run to Logan Morrison (Florida) that tied up the game.

Nate Spears (Chi Cubs) singled in the bottom of the second with Young drawing a walk off Roe to move him to second. Cousins would go down on strikes before Colvin singled to score Spears putting the Solar Sox on top.

The Dogs responded in the top of the fourth, with Martin singling, then stealing 2nd. After Ryan Patterson (Toronto) was taken out on strikes, Tyson Brummett (Philadelphia) would be called out to the mound for the Sox. He'd give up a single to Adrian Cardenas (Oakland) which scored Martin to tie the game.

Colorado's Shane Lindsay would replace Roe for the third inning working 2. The top of the fifth would see Arencibia knock a Brummett pitch over the right field wall to make it 5-4 Dogs.

Andrew Bailey (Oakland) took over for Lindsay in the fifth allowing singled to Colvin and Morrison, but the Sox could not convert.

Donaldson would take a walk off reliever Donald Veal (Chi Cubs) in the top of the sixth. Following a fly out to Patterson, Cardenas would also walk. Frey's line drive to center plated Donaldson, making it 6-4 for the Dogs. A wild pitch and a walk to Tolleson would load the bags, but Sergio Escalona (Philadelphia) entered the contest for the Sox, getting Arencibia out on strikes to strand the Pheonix runners.

Reid Mahon (Arizona) worked the bottom of the sixth allowing a double to Darwin Barney (Chi Cubs), who would be taken out at 3rd when he tried to stretch the grounder to left for a triple.

with two outs on the board, Martin walked in the top of seventh. He'd be replaced by pinch runner Eric Young Jr. (Colorado), who then stole 2nd. Donaldson's line drive to left brought in Young, making it 7-4 Dogs.

Jaren Lansford (Oakland) worked the bottom of the 7th and was replace in the bottom of the 8th by Minnesota's Rob Delaney. The former Miracle closer would give up back-to-back doubles to Morrison and Slayer, which gave the Sox their fifth run, but would then settle down taking the next three batters he face out.

Martin, working as the designated hitter, finished up 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk, a run and 2 RBIs. Valencia would work 1-for-4 in the contest with a run, while Tolleson was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and a RBI.

Phoenix takes on the Javelinas for a 7:05 PM MST time game at the Peoria Sports Complex.

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The Peoria Javelinas defeated the Sunrise Surprise 8-7, while the Peoria Saguaros topped the Scottsdale Scorpions 10-7.

Solar Sox take AzFL opener

It took 10 innings, but the Mesa Solar Sox overcame the Phoenix Desert Dogs, 3-2 on the opening day of the 2008 Arizona Fall League Season.

Mesa got on the board first, taking two runs from Phoenix starter Max Scherzer (Arizona), who went on to work 7 innings. A fielding error by Desert Dog Rusty Ryal (Arizona) allowed John Raynor (Florida) to reach. He was awarded second when the ball went into the first base dugout. William Rhymes' (Detroit) ground out moved Raynor to 3rd. Casper Wells (Detroit) then went yard over the left field wall to put the Sox up two runs.

The Solar Sox hung onto the lead until the bottom of the sixth. With two outs on the board, Evan Frey (Arizona) singled out to left, and advanced to second on a passed ball by Mesa catcher Steve Clevenger (Chi Cubs). Eric Young (Colorado) would get plunked by a Kris Median (Atlanta) pitch, before Ryal redeemed himself for his earlier error by tripling out to right field, bringing in two.

Aussie Shane Lindsay (Colorado) worked the 8th for the Dogs before giving way to Daryl Harang (Toronto).

Arizona's Hector Ambriz would give up the game winning run in the 10th, walking Clevenger, who advanced to 2nd on a Darwin Barney (Chi Cubs) sac bunt. A wild pitch by Ambriz put Clevenger on 3rd, and Raynor singled him in.

Despite singles by Twins prospects Danny Valencia and Dustin Martin in the bottom of the 10th, the Dogs could not pull out the game, with Josh Donaldson (Oakland) popping out and pinch hitters Ryan Patterson (Toronto) and Michael McKenry (Colorado) going down on strikes.

Valencia would go 2-for-4 in the contest, Martin was 1-for-4. Former Miracle Steve Tolleson, who spelled Ryal at short, finished up 0-for-1 on the night.

The two teams rematch tonight at Mesa HoHoKam Park for a 7:05 PM (Mountain Time) game.

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In other AzFL action, the Peoria Javelinas downed the Sunrise Surprise 10-3, while the Peoria Saguaros topped the Scottsdale Scorpions, 9-3.