| 28 April 2010
West Tenn 10, Mobile 3 (ARI - 4)
The greatest thing to happen in this game, surprisingly, was not RHP Steven Hensley (1.80, W) pitching. This is not to denigrate the performance: Hensley was awesome. He allowed one run to score on four hits, one of which left the park, and a walk against eight Ks. That is quality work, acknowledging that Mobile is not one of the better teams out there. RHP Aaron Jensen (2.19) had more difficulty, allowing two runs to score on three hits, a hit batter, and five Ks in two and a third innings. RHP Mumba Rivera (6.92) pitched the rest of the game, with one hit, a walk, and a K in that span. I can deal with him pitching with a five to seven run lead.
Of course, that’s all build-up to the real fireworks that were going on for the offense. Primarily, this was the doing of LF Carlos Peguero (3 HR, 4 RBI, CS, .378), who hit home runs in the first, eighth, and ninth. The weirdest thing about it? He was leading off the entire game. A guy who is now tied with MIKE STANTON for the minor league home run lead, was hitting leadoff. This is not the first time Peguero has hit nine home runs in a month either, as he did it in both May and June last year, but I think we can give him some extra credit for doing it in a more legitimate hitting environment. Regardless, consider my mind blown. DH Joe Dunigan (HR, 3 RBI, .213) was plainly overshadowed, but managed to have himself a nice game, collecting three hits and knocking out his second home run. RF Leury Bonilla (2B, 2 R, .167) and 1B Johan Limonta (PO, .263) both had a hit and a walk. Of course, my favorite inning was the eighth. Here, I’ll show you why:
West Tenn Top 8th
• Carlos Peguero homers (8) on a fly ball to right center field.
• Leury Bonilla walks.
• Johan Limonta walks. Leury Bonilla to 2nd.
• Pitcher Change: Kyler Newby replaces Jeff Dietz.
• Coaching visit to mound.
• Mike Wilson reaches on fielding error by shortstop Jake Wald. Leury Bonilla to 3rd. Johan Limonta to 2nd.
• Alex Liddi strikes out swinging.
• Dustin Ackley strikes out swinging. Wild pitch by pitcher Kyler Newby. Leury Bonilla scores. Johan Limonta to 3rd. Mike Wilson to 2nd.
• With Luis Oliveros batting, wild pitch by Kyler Newby, Johan Limonta scores. Mike Wilson to 3rd.
• Luis Oliveros strikes out swinging.
High Desert 6, Lancaster 0 (HOU - 7)
LHP Bobby LaFromboise (2.01, W) ran his record to 3-0, giving up four hits and two walks while striking out six in seven innings of work. He also got groundballs. Groundballs! Eight to six ground/fly helps one escape some of these park factors. So do four double plays. RHP Ryan Moorer (2.08) allowed three hits through the final two innings.
LF Jake Shaffer (2B, .291) had three hits in the game and is doing all right for himself, but I’ll admit to being more interested in how 1B Rich Poythress (HR, .289) hit out his fourth home run, or 2B Kyle Seager (2 R, RBI, .329) had a hit and two walks. I might discount Poythress a little here for it being in Lancaster, but park factors are not so easily applied to walks, so Seager’s pull into the team lead for walks at eleven might be a little more interesting. More walks than Ks now, too. DH Scott Savastano (2B, .261) and RF Johermyn Chavez (2B, RBI, .288) both had doubles.
Clinton 12, Cedar Rapids 2 (ANA - 4)
RHP Taylor Stanton (3.86, W) made some progress in this outing, going six frames and allowing just an unearned run to score on five hits, a walk, and four Ks. He’s one of the better arms on staff, but has had a dearth of Ks thus far, including the oddball outing last time when he had one strikeout through six and a third innings. LHP Jose Jimenez (1.86) let a run score on a hit batter and a hit (triple, in this case) in the next two innings, and then RHP Daniel Cooper (7.00) allowed a hit in the ninth.
At times when watching minor league baseball, you’ll be able to see something of an organization mandate, by which the philosophies and priorities of the major league club will trickle down and manifest in some A-ball team. The Lumberkings scored their twelve runs in the Mariners Way: with only four extra-base hits, ten singles, and seven walks. The big hit came from the big man, as LF Kalian Sams (HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, .227) hit a grand slam his first time up at the plate. In other appearances, he’d walk and K twice. That’s his eighth home run, for the record. Gotta love that .381 isolated slugging. There were a number of batters in the lineup who reached three times, including CF Daniel Carroll (3B, R, RBI, 2 SB, .236), DH Vinnie Catricala (3 R, .286), RF-1B James Jones (2B, 2 R, CS, .213), and 2B Gabriel Noriega (2B, R, 2 RBI, .192). Carroll did it with three hits and Catricala had one hit and two walks, while the rest did it with two hits and one walk. Two others reached twice, SS Nick Franklin (R, .333), who walked twice, and 3B Mario Martinez (3 RBI, .186), who had a couple of singles.
Thursday's Games:
Tacoma: TBA, in Tacoma, @ 7:00 pm PDT
West Tenn: RHP Dan Cortes, in Jackson, @ 5:05 pm PDT
High Desert: TBA?, in Adelanto, @ 7:05 pm PDT
Clinton: LHP James Gilheeney, at Cedar Rapids, @ 4:35 pm PDT
Organization Record:
Tacoma Rainiers: 7-10, .412, 3 GB in PCL Pacific Northern
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx: 10-10, .500, 5 GB in SL North
High Desert Mavericks: 12-8, .600, 1st in CAL South
Clinton Lumberkings: 10-10, .500, 4 GB in MWL Western
Overall Record: 39-38, .506
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