Wednesday 8/24/11 Updates

Second-place AZL Reds taking on the division-leading AZL Dodgers today. Five games left and they trail by two games. AZL Reds are in position to make the playoffs as the wildcard entry. They play the Dodgers three times in the last five games so they could take the crown. They are also only two games ahead of the AZL Indians in the wildcard race. So they could fall out of the playoffs as well.

Justice French on the mound today. He has 50 Ks and only 5 BBs on the season. :eek:
Matthew Laney takes the mound for the opposition. In 21.1IP he has given up just 8 hits and 6 walks, walking striking out 22. His ERA for the season is 0.00. :eek:

French gives up a run in the top of the first. AZL Reds come back to load the bases in the bottom but can't push across a run. After an inning and a half they trail 1 zip. Reds come back with two in the bottom of the second. Rosa triples, Morillo walks, Dailey grounds into a force which scores Rosa, Dailey advances to third on a wild pickoff attempt and scores on a single by Humberto Valor.

French sets them down 1-2-3 in the top of the third. 2-1 AZL Reds. French has settled down after yielding singles to the first two batters he faced. He now has 5 Ks in 3IP.

Two more in the third put the Reds up 4-1.

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Originally Posted by mace

Two more in the third put the Reds up 4-1.

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Play-by-play for the AZL Reds two runs suggest a wild play.

With two out and nobody on Matthews singles and then steals second.
With a runner at second Matt Lentz singles and somehow they both end up scoring. A throwing error by the third baseman was mixed in there.

Dodgers come back with two runs in the top of the fifth to make it 4-3. You must see some strange plays in rookie ball.
Dodger runner on third with one out when a ball is hit to the second baseman. They retire the runner 4-2-5-1. Bryant Hernandez, the batter, makes it all the way around to third on the rundown. Bryant Hernandez must be really, really fast or that was the slowest rundown (bordering on a walkdown) in history.

The sixth was an inning too many for French. Now 6-5 Dodgers.

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Originally Posted by mace

The sixth was an inning too many for French. Now 6-5 Dodgers.

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Reds score a run in the bottom of the fifth on three walks, a stolen base, a wild pitch and a throwing error.

Dodgers come back with 3 in the top of the 6th with a walk, two HBPs and a bases-clearing double.

Brennan May homered in the home half of the 7th, following an error, to give the AZL Reds a 7-6 advantage.

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Originally Posted by texasdave

Brennan May homered in the home half of the 7th, following an error, to give the AZL Reds a 7-6 advantage.

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Undrafted free agent is having a nice debut season.

Sorry for throwing French under the bus. The box score has been changed to show Carlos Ramos having pitched the sixth.

Theoretically, the Reds should be able to slam this one shut with Chris Joyce and Alejandro Chacin. We shall see.

7-6 Final. AZL Reds now just a game out of first in the division with four games left to play.

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Originally Posted by texasdave

7-6 Final. AZL Reds now just a game out of first in the division with four games left to play.

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Chacin went the final 1.2, with 3 K. Young stud.

Rosa: 3-4. Young stud?

At the Dayton game...my observations:

Hamilton already with a single and SB on a pitchout...it doesn't look like he is even running hard because he is so smooth.

Mitch Clarke has a big frame and a really easy delivery to the plate....consistently 89-91 with the FB.

Really like Tucker Barnhart. Seems to have a good feel for catching and seems to have a compact stroke from the left side. Hit a foul ball to the opposite field with some power.

Theo Bowe just looks like an athlete.

Donald Lutz looks like a man among boys....big frame.

Dayton trails 2-0 in the second.

Villarreal starting for Carolina tonight. Two starts ago this guy pitched a 106 pitch complete game. Through three innings tonight he has 3 Ks and has given up one hit.

Duran singles in a run to make it a 2-1 deficit. Can't imagine how much power he will have when he fills out.

Bats over the Pigs 2-0 in the 5th.

Hermida 2 for 2 w/ a 2B and HR
Valaika 2 for 3
Dorn 1 for 2 w/ a 2B

Thompson pitching

Bats need a 4 game sweep of the Pigs for any realistic hope of a wildcard playoff spot.

Hamilton singles again and then tags up and gets to second on a fly ball to left field. Unreal.

Duran just made Yonder look like a gold glover out there...broke back about three steps on a routine fly ball. Hamilton almost bailed him out by going waaaaaay out into left field for a catch. Instead it falls for an rbi single.

Bats down 6-2 in the bottom of the 6th.

Filthy Pigs.

Bats fall 6-3. Three more hits for Phipps, with a 2B.

Rhinehart walks. Grandal singles. Fellhauer singles in the winner for Carolina, 2-1.

Terrific start for Villarreal: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K.

With three hits (two doubles), Rodriguez reaches .300.

Bats score 3 in the bottom of the 8th but come up short by a 6-5 count. Negron 2 hits, Valaika 3 hits, Hermida 3 hits, Phipps 3 hits. But right in the middle was a big 0 for 5 by Francisco.

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Originally Posted by mace

Bats fall 6-3. Three more hits for Phipps, with a 2B.

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That line score was wrong. In the box score it shows 6-5. Piglets scored all six of their runs in the sixth.

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Originally Posted by texasdave

That line score was wrong. In the box score it shows 6-5. Piglets scored all six of their runs in the sixth.

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Thanks. There's been a lot of that going around.

Valaika was also updated to three hits.

Dayton line score is wrong. It shows Dayton down 9-1 but the game is over. Dragons lost 9-3.

McMyne would like a mulligan, please. Billings trails 5-0 after half an inning.

Kyle McMyne had a rough outing. He retired the first two batters and then everything was downhill after that. Double, single, walk, walk, walk, single to the pitcher, single to the first baseman, walk. Night over.

Geez, now the Billings box has it 6-3 in the third, although the line score still has 5-0. Something screwy with the site tonight.

Ryan Wright has homered.

Ryan Wright with a solo shot and Yovan Gonzalez with a two-run blast.

Yovan Gonzalez, the catcher, is now 3-3 with 5 RBIs. After giving up 5 in the first, Billings leads 11-6 after five. Junior Arias is 2-2.

Great W tonight for the Mud Kitties

Junior Arias finished 3-4 with a HR and double. Nice to see. Somebody (James Allen) finally put up a zero and Billings won 13-9.

I hadn't realized how many bases Bakersfield is stealing. Tonight, Greene has #31, Means #34, and LaMarre #47.

It's 7-7 in the 7th.