Link Report for Thurs. 7/29 -- Rogers, Heckathorn Dazzle; Helena, Hopkins Walk Off in 15

[Mass Haas]

Final: @Helena 10, Great Falls (White Sox) 8, 15 innings

 

Brewers walk-off in the 15th inning By Brett Billings, Helena Brewers

Kindrick Legion Field was back to its old form Thursday night as the Helena Brewers won in what was the most dramatic ending since opening night. The Brewers (19-18) took an eight-run lead in the fourth inning and watched it disappear, but won in the 15th frame by way of a walk-off home run by Greg Hopkins.

 

Helena got on the board in the first inning, which has been the norm thus far at home this season. They then exploded for six in the second and one more in the fourth to take an eight-run advantage over the Great Falls Voyagers (22-15).

 

John Dishon, Brent Dean, Carlos George, Shea Vucinich and Hopkins each singled in the six-run second. Mike Walker tripled and Brandon Sizemore hit his second home run of the season.

 

Jose Oviedo started on the mound for the Brewers. He pitched 5.1 innings and allowed two earned runs in the sixth after a two-run home run.

 

The Voyagers continued their comeback scoring one in the eighth inning, and five in the ninth to send the game into extras. Four of the five runs came off a two-out grand slam.

 

The score stayed knotted at eight until the 15th inning. Vucinich singled with one out. After a ground out from Cody Hawn, Hopkins belted a bomb over the left field fence and the Brewers walked off with a 10-8 victory.

 

Six Brewers had multi-hit games: Robbie Garvey (3-8), Vucinich (5-8), Hopkins (3-8), Dishon (2-7), Tony Pechek (2-6), and George (2-7).

 

Pechek entered the game in the third inning after Dean left after rounding third awkwardly.

 

Eric Marzec (2-2, 0.00) pitched a scoreless 14th and 15th to receive the win. He struck out three and walked none.

 

Ryan Bernal kept the Brewers' hopes alive by pitching innings 11 and 12 without allowing a run or a hit. He struck out one and walked two.

 

Helena faces Great Falls again Friday night. RHP Thomas Royse (1-1, 3.73) is scheduled to start for the Voyagers. The Brewers will send LHP Evan Frederickson (2-1, 6.04) to the mound. First pitch is at 7:05 PM (8:05 Central)

 

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Hopkins’ homer ends game in 15th

By AMBER KUEHN, Helena Independent Record

The game might have meant nothing in the first-half Pioneer League North standings, but the way the Helena Brewers and Great Falls Voyagers battled Thursday night, you would have thought there was a title on the line.

 

Despite blowing an eight-run lead, the Brewers delivered the winning shot in the bottom of the 15th inning in front of the few fans who remained at Kindrick Legion Field, when Greg Hopkins’ two-run homer over the left-field wall gave Helena a 10-8 win.

 

Great Falls infielder Andy Wilkins hit a grand slam that just barely cleared the right field wall in the top of the ninth inning off Helena closer Brian Garman to send the game to extra frames, helping the Voyagers score eight unanswered runs in their biggest comeback of the year. But the visitors would have their four-game win streak snapped thanks to Hopkins’ home run, which came after 4 hours and 28 minutes of baseball.

 

Great Falls had already clinched the first-half title two nights earlier to ensure a spot in the playoffs. The Voyagers looked lackadaisical early in this one, as the Brewers jumped out to a big lead after a six-run second inning against reigning pitcher of the week David Holmberg. Helena had four straight hits in the second, with the biggest fireworks coming from Brandon Sizemore’s two-run homer and a two-run single by Hopkins, who would knock in five runs in the contest.

 

Hopkins’ final RBI came when he plated Shea Vucinich, who reached on a base hit off Nelson Currie. Vucinich finished with five hits in the marathon contest, the longest played by either team this season.

 

Brewers pitchers didn’t get any run support between the fourth and 14th innings despite 20 hits, and the Helena bullpen struggled with command.

The Helena hurlers — seven in all — walked nine batsmen on the evening, despite a strong start by right-hander Jose Oviedo, who made his first start at Kindrick Legion Field. Oviedo carried a one-hitter into the sixth inning, before giving up back-to-back hits and a two-run homer to end the shutout opportunity. That was enough to ignite the Voyagers, who tacked on five more in the ninth off three different Brewers’ relievers, including Garman, who entered with a save situation on the line.

 

Wilkins’ grand slam marked just the second time Garman gave up an earned run through 17 innings.

 

Eric Marzec got the win for Helena to improve to 2-2, while Jake Wilson was saddled with the loss.

 

The two squads are at it again tonight, as they wrap up a two-game set to close out the first half.

 

Helena Box Score

In case it got lost in all the details above, Shea Vucinich 5-for-8...

 

Helena Game Log

Devour it -- you know you want to...

[JohnBriggs12]

Farris is now 10 for 24 since his return to Nashville.

[DHonks]

Mass, what are Mark's 5 pitches? What wasn't he allowed to throw? I'm assuming 2 seamer, 4 seamer, curve, slider, changeup?

[DHonks]

Also interesting to note that in Rogers' Milb.com profile, his last 10 starts line is pretty nice. Yes, the average innings is under 5, but besides that the numbers are there

 

3.21 ERA 47.2 IP 28 H 28 BB (whip slightly over 1) 48 K's 2.14 GO/FO .166 avg against 0 HR

[Funketown]

Komatsu profiles more as a corner guy, but he has decent speed and probably a good enough arm to hack it in center. Like Gindl, it might just be a matter of getting him enough reps there to get comfortable with it. Gindl and Komatsu starting in center field for their respective teams is not something I would have predicted in March, but it's a small silver lining to the Schafer and Davis injuries.

Thanks And That. Not a half bad guy to have deeper down the depth chart.

[jvrocksaz]

Great outing by Mark Rogers tonight. Only 4 baserunners in 7 innings, 2 singles and a manageable 2 walks, with 5 K's. 1 of the singles was an infield hit. Only gave up 3 balls in the air all night, and was was a foulout. 12 groundouts. He was allowed to return for the 7th inning after throwing 81 pitches in the through 6. He needed a good outing after mediocre results lately, and he delivered.

The reins have been loosened! Last night marked the first time the ultra-cautious Brewers (and perhaps they should be congratulated depending on future results) allowed Mark to fully make use of all five pitches in his arsenal. How frustrating it must have been for Rogers to this point, but we can expect a healthy and now fully-armed Rogers to hopefully put together a string of outings like this going forward.

Wow, I had thought he was only on a pitch count restriction. I didn't realize that he wasn't allowed to throw all of his pitches.