Link Report for Sat. 6/27 -- Dennis and Braun Injured in Rattler Victory

[Mass Haas]

Final: Missoula (Diamondbacks) 16, Helena 7

Helena Box Score

Hiram Burgos with a Chien-Ming Wang-like ERA after one outing -- kid, when you're in the big leagues someday you'll sit back and laugh about your pro debut -- no worries, but can't you just picture the family listening to Steve Wendt's call from home? Puerto Rican native Joel Morales makes his mound debut in Helena after paying the hard dues of Maryvale; looks like Joey Paciorek is still capable of handling third base -- night off for Edgar Trejo; Cameron Garfield and his 1.414 OPS is a young 18 years old, having only had his birthday in May -- and the Brewers had him bypass Maryvale -- be excited about his start; one groundball out and done as the DH for Khris Davis -- planned or a tweak of some sort?

 

Helena Game Log

If you dare...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Arizona Brewers 10, Arizona Angels 5

Arizona Box Score

Second rehab stint for 40-man roster RHP Nick Green; 23-year-old non-drafted free agent signee RHP Mitch Miller finished up in his pro debut; in between those two, as noted above, RHP Maverick Lasker officially threw for the organization for the first time; 1B Sean Halton, a RH bat, with three hits including a double; you may not realize it, but 18-year-old Dominican LF Jose Garcia, he of the generic name but very projectible 6'3", 195-lb. build, was a major investment for the Brewers ($550,000, second-most ever internationally only to the previously-mentioned tonight Rolando Pascual) and folks will be smiling after his triple and single here -- we'll be following this young man for years, and yes, he posted a measly .515 OPS in 176 Maryvale AB's last season...

 

Arizona Game Log

[TheCrew07]

Chris Dennis left the Rattlers game after falling awkwardly on his right foot trying to avoid a tag at the plate in the 8th inning.

No!!!! I hope Dennis isn't seriously injured, like a an ACL or some such, we've had our fill of significant injuries and suspensions for the year already.

[DHonks]

Pascual with 9 K's in 3.1 IP! Best of all, no walks! Here's hoping he has a few more big outings to build on.

[TheCrew07]

I was wrong about Salome... I guessed he'd finish the season around .290 earlier this month, but he's already there. How does Wright have such a sparkling ERA with mediocre at best peripherals? He's not even getting DPs to bail himself out...

 

Nick Green isn't exactly tearing up R ball is he? That's somewhat disappointing, rehabbing or not.

 

Garfield is pretty exciting... He's doing what I thought Lawrie would do in WI from the start. Lawrie had a nice game with 2 doubles, I'd like to see him assert himself in the second half. If I didn't who he was I wouldn't know he's a top prospect from watching him play, he's obviously not head and shoulders above the competition at this point.

 

I really like BK's power potential, but he strikes out way too much, I was hoping he'd become a legit 1B prospect. 3 Ks on the night, it seems that he's always looking fastball and swinging over the top of breaking stuff.

 

I don't think I'll say Vitters isn't impressive again... that hasn't worked out so well since, well at least at the plate.

 

Scarpetta did not issue a BB in the game... fantastic! Keep that train rolling, with Jeffress out until May next season there's some opportunity for the younger pitchers to take advantage of.

[LouisEly]

Gillespie with his 8th triple on the season so far and it isn't even July yet. I wonder what the organization record is for triples in a season. Also 19 of his 42 hits have been for extra bases. If he can get his average up to .270 and maintain the walks, an OBP of .370 would come in handy at the top of the order.

 

Katin on base three of four plate appearances. .993 OPS with runners on, .982 OBP OPS w/RISP.

 

Now would be a great time for these two to get hot, so that another team might consider them to have trade value for some pitching. Add Iribarren and Heether to the "get hot so someone else thinks they have trade value list" so they don't have to completely mortgage the future to get a starting pitcher.

[Mass Haas]

Katin on base three of four plate appearances. .993 OPS with runners on, .982 OBP w/RISP.

I know it's just a typo, but can you imagine?

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Osprey blast five HRs in win over Brewers

By MICHAEL HEINBACH of the Missoulian

Missoula Osprey shortstop David Narodowski took some extra batting practice prior to Saturday night's Pioneer League baseball contest at Ogren-Allegiance Park against the Helena Brewers. When it was over, Narodowski proved a little extra work can go a long way.

 

Narodowski hit his first two home runs as a professional and finished 4-for-5 with three RBIs to lead the O's to a convincing 16-7 victory that gave the club its first two-game win streak and place it above .500 for the first time on the young season.

 

The Osprey (3-2) struck early and often, hitting a total of five home runs, including the second in as many days by right fielder Bobby Stone and the first of the season for both catcher Jae Yun Kim and left fielder Alan Santiago.

 

After the O's tortured three Helena pitchers for 16 hits - 10 for extra bases - Narodowski said that once the ball got rolling, it was hard to stop.

 

"You definitely feed off each other on a night like tonight," said the Arizona Diamondbacks' 15th-round pick in this year's draft out of Kansas. "The guy in front of you gets a hit and you start feeling good, thinking you can hit the pitcher they're throwing. Then it just runs through the whole lineup and goes on and on."

 

Santiago, getting his first start of the season for the O's in left field, not only hit his first homer as a pro, but doubled twice to end the night 3-for-5 with three driven in. Osprey second baseman David Nick added a double in his 2-for-4 evening.

 

Missoula went right to work when Stone blasted a three-run homer in the first, then scored twice more in the second before plating six in the third to take an early 11-3 lead.

 

That was enough to settle Osprey starting pitcher Eury De La Rosa, who was sometimes shaky in four innings. He allowed four runs on seven hits and a pair of walks, while fanning four.

 

Right-hander Keith Cantwell (2-0) took over and got the win in two innings of work. He allowed two runs on four hits without issuing a walk. Cantwell fanned two.

 

The Brewers (2-3) collected 12 hits, but aided several Osprey rallies by committing five errors. Their bats were paced by catcher Cameron Garfield, who was 3-for-3 with a homer, a double and four RBIs.

 

But the evening belonged to the Osprey offense and Santiago believes a win in that fashion shows what the 2009 Osprey are capable of.

 

"The one thing about this team is we've had great chemistry from Day One," he said. "Playing like we did tonight, I think we now know we can play like this the rest of the year."

 

Narodowski feels that now he and his teammates are adjusting to life in the Pioneer League, the sky's the limit.

 

"We're just starting to get comfortable," he said after raising his average from .250 to .583. "That first series in Helena, I know I was just kind of feeling my way, especially with the wood bat. It took a while to get used to, but we worked on some stuff before the game and it seemed like it worked pretty good."

 

Notes: The Osprey scored at least one run in each of the first six innings, yet held the Brewers to just two scoreless frames in that span... Prior to the game, the Osprey announced right-handed pitcher Eric Smith, Arizona's second-round draft choice from this year had signed a contract and will be sent to Missoula. This spring at the University of Rhode Island, Smith went 5-3 with a 4.08 ERA and struck out 56 batters in 70 2-3 innings.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

The 14-inning game probably prevented post-game quotes --

 

Timber Rattlers win in 14th inning

By Ryan Wilson

Post-Crescent staff writer

 

GRAND CHUTE - Patience and doctors were a requirement at Fox Cities Stadium on Saturday night.

 

Two separate rain delays - one four minutes and the other 18 - had fans running for cover and players hopping into the dugout. However, even more patience was needed for runs to cross the plate in a pitcher's duel that didn't end until an error on Peoria in the 14th inning gave the Timber Rattlers a 2-1 victory.

 

However, there was bad news to go with the good. Steve Braun, the younger brother of Milwaukee's Ryan, left the game in the bottom of the third after falling awkwardly to the field after being tagged out in a rundown between third and home.

 

Then in the bottom of the eighth, Chris Dennis tried to score the go-ahead run with two outs, but was thrown out on the play. As he tried to avoid the tag, he landed wrong on his foot. Both Braun and Dennis had to be helped from the field.

 

After five scoreless innings, Peoria's Josh Vitters hit a one-out solo home run to left field in the top of the sixth off Efrain Nieves.

 

But Wisconsin answered right back in the bottom half of the inning. Brett Lawrie doubled with one out, and moved to third on an error by Peoria pitcher Chris Siegfried.

 

The next batter, Brock Kjeldgaard, bounced into what appeared to be an inning-ending double play. While the throw to second got one out, the relay was wide enough to cause Chiefs second baseman Junior Lake to hesitate. Kjeldgaard hustled all the way down the line and beat the throw, allowing Lawrie to score and tie the game 1-1.

 

As the game went to extra innings, Peoria had the makings for a go-ahead score in the top of the 10th. With Ryan Flaherty at third with nobody out, the Chiefs attempted a squeeze bunt play that failed, and left Flaherty out to dry. A strikeout and groundout to second later, the Rattlers were out of the inning.

 

Wisconsin starter Cody Scarpetta went five innings and did not allow a run. Nieves came on in the sixth and gave up just one run over three innings to keep Wisconsin in the game.

[igor67]

With Gamel up, Salome is the one biggest potential difference maker in the line-up. I doubt even if he got super hot the Brewers would do more than give him a look-see this season, but it is nice to see him heating up.