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Tacoma Rainiers
Vasquez dismantles Grizzlies for win
On Saturday the unsuspecting Grizzlies went up against the buzzsaw we all know as Anthony Vasquez... Vasquez, in his second start of the year, twirled his magic wand, and six innings later walked away from the mound with a 9-0 lead.
Now, we all saw Vasquez attempt to do his magic last year up with the Mariners, and we saw the carnage left in his wake of Mariner loses. So, how is it that he is able to be so damn dominant at the AAA level? Don't give me that quad-a crap, that does apply in some circumstances, and maybe in the end it will apply here, but until we get a firm idea of what exactly a quad-a player is and what makes him so we need to back off on the label (IMHO).
Quite obviously, more things happened in the game, like no less than seven batters collected two hits, but no one had more than two. Weird, eh? Mike Carp participated and garnered his first two hits in a game that actually had some meaning to it beyond "training". Yay!
Lots of guys hit the ball really hard, and it would be nice to say that the reason was because each of these boys is highly talented and are just waiting for their opportunity to display their wares at the MLB level... Actually, I guess I *can* say that, but that is besides the point. On Saturday the Rainiers went up against a soup can named Yusmeiro Petit and it was just one of those nights.
Oh, am I the only one who remembers Yusmeiro Petit being a Rainier a few years back? Why do I remember that??? Dear, God! The Horror!!!
Rainiers Fox Skinned in Loss, Pelt Deemed Worthless
Sunday's game wasn't quite a reversal in beat-down town, but it was close. Where as Fresno allowed a soup can to start their game on Saturday, the Tacoma braintrust sent a freakin' artichoke out to pitch on Sunday and allowed a dead salmon to relieve him when things got really ugly. Folks, Matt Fox and Oliver Perez, who I imagine are great guys off the field, need to consider their options because of their play ON the field.
Holy Crap! I just relized something! On Saturday the Rainiers faced an alum, and on Sunday they faced a guy who pitched for the Rainiers back in 2006! Hey Travis Blackley, how ya been? From what you did to the Rainiers I'd have to say that you still have some pretty good "stuff". Too bad you're like 34 years old now. Wha? No way! Really? You're just 29? Daaaaamn!
Anyway, It was an ugly game for Rainier fans and I really don't see any compelling reason to spend another second rehashing it.
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Jackson Generals
General's Walker misses start, season declared lost
On Saturday the Generals went up against those hated Braves of Mississippi and sent Yoervis "Funky Cold" Medina out to the mound to do battle with them. This was in and of itself odd because a) Medina had been working out of the bullpen, and
This was supposed to have been Taijuan Walker's start, but Walker woke up Saturday morning with a stiffy... Neck, that is.Anyway, much like the Rainier's Sunday game, this game for Jackson was just another uneventful loss that really doesn't demand much ink, or bits.
Jackson Lose 14 Inning Affair
On Sunday the Generals sent out Andrew Carraway to see if he could pick up his third win in as many tries. It didn't happen. We have seen several examples of "meltdowns", and even more than our fair share of steaming piles all ready this year, and in a manner of speaking this is what happened to brave Andy on Sunday. He went five innings giving up 3 runs on 10 hits, walked 2 and struckout 3. Ok, that wasn't exactly a steaming pile, but it was at the very least a small poopy...
The game ended up tied at 3-3 in the sixth and stayed that way until the top of the fourteenth when the Braves pushed a run across and the Generals couldn't respond. During the interim there was some really incredible pitching going on by the Generals relief corps. First, Brian Moran came into the game with two runners on in the sixth and shut down the Braves for two solid innings. Then it was Stephen Pryor who had a full tank of gas and was not afraid to use it (he touched 99 on the radar gun during the game) as he mowed down 5 Braves in two innings. Bobby LaFromboise brought his own special kind of magic to the game for a two-inning stint where he struckout out and walked a pair. Carter Capps, fresh off of his 9-pitch, 3-strikeout performance the night before, came in for one inning and struckout a pair.
I'm said to report that along with those two strikeouts, Carter Capps walked his first batter of the year.
How do you follow up a performance like that? Simple, you send in a position player because your bullpen is wiped out! Eric Campbell took the mound in the twelth inning, and amazingly dealt his 80 MPH fastball for three innings! He did give up the losing run in the fourteenth, but when you consider what he had to work with, this can only be seen as a victory. Kinda...
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High Desert Mavericks
The Empire Strikes Back: Early and Often
After a very, VERY odd rainout of Friday the Mavericks returned to action on Saturday and sent George "El Toro" Mieses to the mound to do battle with those hated 66ers of the Inland Empire. If there is anyone in the organization who fits the discription of "a work in progress", it's El Toro. He's not quite 21 yet and he is in the Cal League, so someone thinks that he has the right stuff, and actually he kind of showed it on Saturday. Kinda.
Needless to say, due to the "kinda's", the Mavs went down in defeat on Saturday. El Toro pitched just well enough to barely lose, and the relief corps pitched just bad enough to salt it away.
The offense on Saturday was kind of in a funk. Nobody had more than 1 hit, which is really odd from this group. The only bright spot of the game for the offense was a Kevin Rivers pinch hit two-run homerun in the ninth inning to make it close loss, but a loss none the less.
Mavericks gob-smack The Empire
I hate guys like Roenis Elias, who started for the Mavericks on Sunday. Guys like him pitch just well enough to get your attention and get you interested, but not well enough to get your hopes up. On Sunday, Elias was brilliant as he went seven very strong innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits, walked no one, struckout 4, and committed 2 balks to pick up his first win in the Cal League.
Jose Jimenez pitched well in relief, but Taylor Stanton didn't so the game appeared to be closer than it was.
The Maverick offense that showed up on Sunday was more like what I've grown accustomed to seeing. Jack Marder (2B, R, RBI, CS), Brad Miller (2B, 2 R, BB), Stefen Romero (R, RBI), Kevin Rivers (R, BB), Steven Proscia (R, RBI) all collected two hits in the game. The funny thing is, that list of kids was batters 1 through 5 in the order. That is what I call mayhem!
The only area of concern for me is that Brad Miller committed his 9th error of the year.
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Clinton LumberKings
LumberKings Sting Snappers in 11 Innings
Yay! Clinton won a game! The pisser of it though is that they had a 3-1 lead late in the game. Brett Shankin pitched a damn fine five innings to start things off, and although Trevor Miller did give up the two runs that tied up the game, he did go four strong and wasn't give much help from the defense. Kyle Hunter pitched ok in relief, and John Taylor, who entered the game with two runners on base and only one out came up stiff and was awarded the win as the offense broke through.
Speaking of offense, I wonder how long it's going to take for articles to start appearing about the sudden offensive prowess of catcher Steven Baron. This is Baron' third swing through Clinton, having spent parts of 2010 and 2011 there. Each time prior he was sent down to Everett when the short season started up because he was floundering in the Midwest League. This year, he seems up for the challenge.
Baron is perhaps the M's all-around best defensive catcher in the sytem. His arm is good, he calls a good game, and he blocks very well. What had been lacking in his game was anything that resembled offensive ability. Maybe now he has it. It's not like he's getting old or anything, Hell, he's only 21, and that is still kind of young for the Midwest League.
Clinton Winning Streak Snappered at 1
Cameron Hobson started for the LumberKings and just couldn't get out of his own way. The Snappers weren't good enough to beat Hobson, so he had to take care of business himself by issuing badly timed walks. Hobson went five innings giving up 5 runs (3 earned, but who cares?) on just 3 hits (HR), walked 4, struckout 2, and committed a balk.
Stephen Kohlscheen, who is either a reliever or a piggyback starter pitched the final four innings like his life depended on it. Kohlscheen gave up nothing on 2 hits, walked no one, and struckout 8.... EIGHT! I don't know if that is a career high for Kohlscheen, but it might be.
The LumberKing offense pretty much took the day off as no one had more than one hit, and no one got on base more than once. The only thing really of note from the game for the offense was that Jamal Austin stole his fourth base.
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Ok, this is supposed to be a quick roundup of the weekend's minor league games, so now is a good a time as any to....
Piss on the fire and call in the dogs. I'm outta here!
Lonnie
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