Link Report for Sun. 8/7 -- Inman with a big game; AZ Now Up

[Mass Haas]

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Ponies silenced again: Billings gets just 1 hit and suffers 5th straight loss

By GREG RACHAC

Of The Billings Gazette Staff

 

Sunday afternoon at Cobb Field, the Helena Brewers were a mere four outs from their second no-hit performance over the Billings Mustangs in the last three days.

 

But a Brandon Roberts single into right field in the bottom of the eighth inning broke up what would have been the continuation of an impressive Brewers pitching display.

 

Still, Roberts' single - Billings' lone hit in the game - provided no consolation to the Mustangs, who fell 5-1 to the Brewers for their fifth straight loss. Helena, meanwhile, won for the eighth straight time to remain unbeaten in the second half of the Pioneer League season.

 

"We've been shut down," said Mustangs manager Rick Burleson afterward, reflecting on his team's season-high losing streak. "Players go through offensive slumps, and we're in one right now. It's a matter of staying focused and playing the game pitch-by-pitch."

 

Helena starter Will Inman was a vision of consistency through seven innings of work. Inman baffled the Mustangs' lineup to the tune of 10 strikeouts and just one walk. In the eighth, Inman gave way to relief pitcher Ryan Marion, who quickly got the first two hitters out before yielding the line drive hit to Roberts.

 

The hit drove in Chris Denove, who reached on a walk, from second base for the Mustangs' only run.

 

In the ninth, closer Josh Louis earned his third save of the year by closing out Billings in 1-2-3 fashion.

 

The one-hit performance came on the heels of Friday's no-hitter in Helena, which Brewers pitchers Simon Beresford, Richard Breshears, David Welch and Wilfrido Laureano combined for.

 

"We're just in a funk right now, and we can't seem to figure it out," said Roberts. "We're chasing a lot of balls out of the zone with two strikes and we're striking out a lot. We need to pick it up and get back to where we were earlier in the season."

 

Roberts said Inman was having success versus the Mustangs' lineup with a split-finger fastball that was diving out of the zone. The hitters, however, couldn't seem to lay off the pitch and found themselves in trouble behind in the count on numerous occasions.

 

"That's what happens when you swing at balls in the dirt," Roberts added.

 

Inman threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 23 hitters he faced.

 

Offensively for Helena, there wasn't a lot to speak of until the top of the eighth, when pinch hitter Adam Mannon tattooed a Jose Rojas offering well over the leftfield wall for a two-run homer that extended the Brewers' lead to 4-0. After that, cleanup hitter Mat Gamel drove in a run with a single. Gamel finished 3-for-4 at the plate and scored a run.

 

Billings starter Sam LeCure gave up a run in the second inning on the first of two Freddy Parejo RBI singles, but otherwise was strong in the five innings he threw, striking out four and walking two while rendering three hits.

 

But with the way they were pitching, the five runs the Brewers eventually scored were more than enough.

 

"Our bullpen basically didn't get it done today," Burleson said. "And in the last three games we've had zero, five and one hits. So offensively we need to keep battling to get out of it. Things can turn around as fast as it has gone sour on us, but players are going to have to stay focused.

 

"No amount of moping around or pointing fingers or trying to blame somebody else is going to make it change. That's the message I had for (the team) today."

 

After splitting the first-half series with Helena, the Mustangs fell to 0-4 against the Brewers in the second half.

 

Tonight's game between the teams at Cobb Field will pit Billings starter Carlos Fisher (4-1) against Helena's Robbie Wooley (4-3). The first pitch is slated for 7 p.m (8:00 Central).

 

NOTES: Mustangs shortstop Eric Eymann returned to the lineup for the first time since July 5. Eymann was out with a broken hand. ? Helena's Agustin Septimo entered the game as a Mustang killer, having hit .333 with four homers against Billings this season. Septimo, however, was held in check Sunday and went 0-3 with three groundouts.

 

Mustangs second baseman Mayker Sandoval turns the double play as Brewers baserunner Mat Gamel slides into second base.

Photos by Stephen Brashear/ Billings Gazette Staff

 

http://www.billingsgazette.com/rednews/2005/08/08/stories/sports/images/30-ponies-silenced2.jpg

 

Billings Mustangs first baseman J.D. Roberts gets a pick off throw from from pitcher Jeff Stevens while Helena Brewers baserunner Darren Ford dives back to first base during their game at Cobb Field Saturday.

 

http://www.billingsgazette.com/rednews/2005/08/07/build//sports/images/30-ponies-drop.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Final: Arizona Mariners 15, Arizona Brewers 10

No line score or game log, but box score is intact...

 

Weather: 105 degrees, cloudy.

Wind: 0 mph, None.

T: 3:23.

Att: 16.

 

Arizona Box Score:

Sorry Toby, RHP Roque Mercedes with perhaps the ugliest pitching line by a Brewer farmhand this season -- 14 of 21 batters reached, and throw in a balk on top of that; big 4-for-5 day for RF Lorenzo Cain, who probably should be in Helena...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_brrrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...;fext=.jsp

 

Brewers nearly throw another no-hitter

By Daren Smith / MLB.com

 

It took the Helena Brewers 27 years to throw their first no-hitter. It took two days for them to nearly throw their second.

The Brewers came within four outs of another gem on Sunday before settling for a one-hitter and a 5-1 victory over the Billings Mustangs.

 

On Friday night, Simon Beresford, Richard Breshears, David Welch and Wilfrido Laureano combined on a no-hitter in Helena's 11-0 home rout of the Mustangs. With the scene shifting to Billings, Will Inman held the Mustangs without a hit for seven innings.

 

"Really, the only time I thought about (the no-hitter) was when (pitching coach Mark Littell) told me I was done," said Inman, an 18-year-old right-hander who was selected in the third round of the 2005 draft.

 

Inman was working on an 80-pitch count and exited after throwing 82. He said he also developed a blister on a finger on his pitching hand.

 

"I was pretty sure I wasn't going to pitch the whole game," Inman added. "(A no-hitter) would have been great, yes, but the 'W' is the main thing."

 

Ryan Marion replaced Inman to start the bottom of the eighth and got two quick outs before issuing consecutive four-pitch walks to Christopher Denove and Kenny Lewis. Brandon Roberts worked the count to 2-2 before singling in front of center fielder Darren Ford.

 

Josh Louis relieved Marion and retired all four batters he faced to finish off the Brewers' eighth straight win to start the second half of the Pioneer League season. Helena, which won the first-half North Division title, has held Billings to six hits in the last three games.

 

Inman gives all the credit to Littell, who spent nine seasons in the Major Leagues with the Royals and Cardinals.

 

"He tells us what we're doing wrong and what we're doing right," Inman said. "Everybody he sends out there seems to do the job really well."

[Mass Haas]

Greensboro News-Record:

 

Grasshoppers manager Brandon Hyde said he was concerned about the offense for Sunday?s game when he saw the Power was starting Yovani Gallardo. He said they struggled against Gallardo earlier in the season and Sunday night was no different.

 

?We had trouble with his cutter,? Hyde said. ?We knew we were in for a tough game. He is a quality starter.?

 

Gallardo frustrated the Hoppers for six innings, allowing only one run and striking out eight batters. During those innings, Brad McCann?s solo home run, his team-leading 22nd, was the only offense the Hoppers could manage.

 

?He was hitting his spots,? McCann said of Gallardo. ?It (the home run) felt good. It would have felt a lot better if we would have won the game.?

[huntsvillefan]

Sadly I wasn't there, but I turned on the radio in time to hear the commentators raving about a diving catch TGJ made going forward. As I often criticize his D and his abilities going forward in particular, I wanted to make sure this one was documented.

I'm still not a convert to him as a defensive wiz, but,of late, he has been coming back to last years standards after a flaky start.