Link Report for Games of Thursday, April 15th

[MassBrew]

Final: Rancho Cucamonga (Angels) 8, High Desert 4

Nice job out of the pen by RHP David Bradley and LHP Craig Breslow; OF Dan Boyd has hit safely in all eight games...

 

High Desert Site Game Summary:

 

JOE MILLIONAIRE

An early seven-run deficit proved to be too much for the High Desert Mavericks to dig out of, as the Mavs were unable to mount a serious rally against Rancho Cucamonga Quakes pitcher and former Anaheim Angels first-round pick Joe Saunders in the Mavericks? 8-4 loss to the Quakes before 1,136 at Mavericks Stadium on Thursday night.

 

Saunders (2-0), who signed a colossal $1.825 million contract with the Angels around the 2002 draft day, kept the Mavericks at bay by allowing only two runs on four hits along with two strikeouts in six innings of work.

 

Rancho Cucamonga (5-2) tallied seven runs in the first two innings off High Desert (2-6) starter Bo Hall (0-1), beginning with three in the first inning on an Erick Aybar RBI triple, a Michael Napoli RBI sacrifice-fly, and Zach Cates reaching safely on a fielding error by Hall, allowing Greg Porter to score.

 

The Mavs surrendered four more runs in the second inning, two coming off the bat of Ransel Melgarejo?s two-run homer, one from Greg Porter?s RBI single, and one from Ryan Budde reaching safely on an error by Callix Crabbe.

 

High Desert got on the board with two runs in the fourth off Saunders, when a red-hot Dan Boyd continued his torrid hitting pace by cashing in Jeff Eure and Travis Hinton on a one-out, two-run double to right to cut the Quakes lead to 7-2.

 

After Rancho Cucamonga added a run in the seventh, the Mavs struck back with two more runs in the bottom of the inning off reliever David Austen, when Ozzie Chavez showed signs of breaking out of his recent hitting slump by knocking down a two-run single to right, cutting the deficit to 8-4.

 

The Mavericks were unable to mount a serious threat afterwards, as Austen and Matt Wilhite combined retire the last eight batters of the game following Chavez? single.

 

Boyd led the Mavericks hitting attack with an impressive 2-for-4 evening at the plate, collecting two RBI?s. Ransel Melgarejo led the Quakes with a 2-for-5 effort, tallying two RBI?s and two runs. Rancho Cucamonga, whom the Mavericks will face in seven consecutive games next week, takes the four-game series at Mavericks Stadium 3-1.

 

The Mavs look to get back on the winning track Friday night against the Bakersfield Blaze, commencing a three-game series with the Blaze and marking the only regular-season trip Bakersfield will make out to Mavericks Stadium. Khalid Ballouli (1-1) will take the hill for High Desert against Bakersfield?s Nick DeBarr (0-1).

 

High Desert Box Score:

At some point they'll get Jeremy Frost's first name right in the box scores...

 GAME DATE: 4/15/04 RC at HD RANCHO CUCAMONGA 8 AT HIGH DESERT 4 YTD YTD RANCHO CUCAMONGA AB R H BI AVG HIGH DESERT AB R H BI AVG R.Willits CF 3 0 1 0 .200 C.Morris DH 3 0 0 0 .222 R.Melgarejo RF 5 2 2 2 .367 C.Crabbe 2B 4 0 0 0 .333 E.Aybar SS 5 2 2 1 .429 J.Eure 3B 4 1 1 0 .258 M.Napoli DH 4 1 2 1 .444 T.Frost 1B 3 1 1 0 .273 G.Porter 3B 5 1 3 1 .375 D.Boyd LF 4 0 2 2 .433 R.Budde CAT 4 0 2 0 .227 S.Candelaria RF 4 1 0 0 .208 D.Gates LF 4 0 1 0 .320 K.Bibbs CF 4 1 1 0 .227 Z.Cates 1B 5 1 1 0 .250 F.Villanueva CAT 4 0 0 0 .125 A.Pavkovich 2B 3 1 2 0 .389 O.Chavez SS 3 0 1 2 .200 J.Saunders PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Hall PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 D.Austen PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 D.Bradley PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Wilhite PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 C.Breslow PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 38 8 16 5 TOTALS 33 4 6 4 RANCHO CUCAMONGA 3 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0- 8 16 1 HIGH DESERT 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0- 4 6 2 E--G.Porter, C.Crabbe, B.Hall. DP--RANCHO CUCAMONGA 1, HIGH DESERT 2. LOB--RANCHO CUCAMONGA 9, HIGH DESERT 4. 2B--R.Melgarejo (2), A.Pavkovich (5), T.Frost (2), D.Boyd (3), K.Bibbs (1). 3B--E.Aybar (3). HR--R.Melgarejo (2). SB--E.Aybar (4), A.Pavkovich (1). CS--G.Porter. HBP--R.Budde, T.Frost. SF--M.Napoli. SH--R.Willits. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA RANCHO CUCAMONGA J.Saunders (W,2-0) 6.0 4 2 2 1 4 0 1.64 D.Austen 2.0 2 2 1 0 1 0 1.59 M.Wilhite 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.84 HIGH DESERT B.Hall (L,0-1) 3.0 9 7 5 2 2 1 7.71 D.Bradley 4.0 7 1 1 1 3 0 3.00 C.Breslow 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 10.38 HB--J.Saunders, B.Hall. WP--J.Saunders. SO--R.Melgarejo, M.Napoli, G.Porter, Z.Cates 3, C.Morris 2, J.Eure, S.Candelaria 2, F.Villanueva. BB--R.Willits, D.Gates, A.Pavkovich, C.Morris. T--2:28. A--1136

High Desert Game Log:

 

www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...MEID=17889

[MassBrew]

Indianapolis Star Game Story:

 

Day's weakest hit beats Tribe

Broken-bat double in 9th inning gives Tides win in a game that features 28 hits

By Phillip B. Wilson

phillip.wilson@indystar.com

 

A splendid, warm afternoon for hitting baseballs came down to one lucky liner off the end of a broken bat, the last knock in a 28-hit Thursday at Victory Field.

 

Norfolk's Craig Brazell was fooled on a Chris Michalak curve and connected just enough to shoot a flare down the right-field line for a double that scored Mike Jacobs with the deciding ninth-inning run in a 7-6 International League victory over the Indianapolis Indians.

 

The late heroics on a picture-perfect day -- with temperatures climbing into the 70s -- ended the Indians' unblemished run in home openers at 10 in a row. It was also the first time the Indians have lost a home opener after seven consecutive wins at Victory Field.

 

"What can you do about it?" Michalak (1-1) said of the two-out hit. "It wasn't like he was hitting it 419 feet off the wall."

 

The teams combined for 20 hits in the first five innings, trading prodigious drives and leads.

 

The Indians (3-2) actually had the loudest ninth-inning drives as Scott Sheldon and Dave Krynzel sent Jose Parra's pitches to the warning track in center. The Tides' Esix Snead caught up to both, slamming into the wall padding to grab Krynzel's shot.

 

"All we needed was five more feet on those last two," Indians hitting coach Bobby Randall said later to manager Cecil Cooper.

 

Krynzel, one of the Indians' prized Triple-A prospects, was pumped up to play in his first Victory Field game. He doubled and scored in the first inning and gave the hosts a brief lead with a two-run homer to right in the third.

 

"That's baseball," Krynzel said of the deciding hit. "It was a damn good game to play in and watch."

 

Most of the nine pitchers used by the two teams probably disagreed. Typically, this early in the season, cold temperatures will give pitchers the edge over hitters.

 

"When it's cold," said Cooper, a former Milwaukee Brewers slugger, "you don't want to hit."

 

But when Krynzel arrived at Victory Field, he was ready. The warm conditions and the major league-like smorgasbord for the team's pregame meal helped set the mood.

 

"It just made everything real fun," he said. "I wish we won.

 

"When I got here, it was like, 'I feel good.' That's the first thing that I was thinking. It definitely put a different perspective on at-bats."

 

The Tides (3-3) had the biggest early hit on Brazell's two-run homer in the fifth. Jacobs had three hits and three runs scored. Eighth-hitting shortstop Wilson Delgado enjoyed a four-hit game.

 

Krynzel, Sheldon, Jeff Liefer and Luis Figueroa each had two-hit games for the Indians.

 

The hitting assault -- Norfolk had 15 -- was in contrast to the Indians' trend in their first four games when they hit .205 as a team but had a sparkling 2.20 ERA.

 

Tides right-handed reliever P.J. Bevis (1-0) survived a shaky eighth to get the victory. He allowed two hits and walked a batter but was rescued by right fielder Victor Diaz, who threw out Liefer at the plate to end the inning. Parra shook off the long drives for a 1-2-3 ninth and his first save.

 

"It was a great day for playing baseball," Cooper said. "The strength of this team will be pitching, so I'm not concerned."

 

The upbeat Krynzel, so enthused afterward that he lifted weights, clung to the day's positives.

 

"The field was awesome and the grass even smelled like grass," he said. "It was a fun day."

 

Call Star reporter Phillip B. Wilson at (317) 444-6642.

 

Indians shortstop J.J. Hardy tags out Victor Diaz, who was trying to steal second base in the fifth inning. -- Matt Kryger / The Star

 

http://www.indystar.com/images/pics2/image-138548-1161.jpg

[RealityCheck]

It's been awhile since I posted here. I left for Spring Break and came back to a huge list of projects I had to start. I will not have much free time at all this year.

 

Here is my game report for the Indians vs. the Tides. Those not included didn't really make an impact on me.

 

Norfolk Tides

 

C. Mike Jacobs - good defense, good offense

 

RF. Victor Diaz - very good powerful/accurate arm

 

CF. Esix Snead - poor plate discipline, suprisingly good defense, not as quick as I expected but still fast enough to steal plently of bases, smart yet aggressive on the base paths

 

SP. Aaron Heilman - control problems, good stuff, B+ breaking ball

 

RP. Pedro Feliciano - solid lefty reliever

 

Doug Melvin should keep an eye on - Mike Jacobs

 

Indianapolis Indians

 

Coaches - poor job of advancing runners

 

C. Mark Johnson - good defense

 

RF. Corey Hart - suprisingly good arm

 

CF. David Krynzel - excellent speed, faster than Esix Snead, aggressive hitter, not an ideal leadoff man, good but overhyped arm strength/accuracy, had trouble going backwords in centerfield

 

SP. Victor Santos - best two pitches are a knee-high fastball and a high inside breaking ball, everything else was either hit, or missed the strikezone (several pitches in the dirt). Reminds me of Kyle Peterson, projection - generic AAAA relief pitcher.

 

RP. Travis Phelps - better control than Santos, worse stuff

 

RP. Matt Wise - good stuff, good pitch placement

 

Keep an eye on David Krynzel. He is currently at the Alex Sanchez level but he has "Brady Anderson with half the power" potential.

 

Indy Indians - free swingers, open runners

 

Attendance report - 2/3rds empty despite perfect weather

Autograph report - none

[madbad2000]

Don't know what to say about Thursdays game as that was a heartbreaker. Heether was called out at the plate bottom of the eleventh. Sure looked in there to me as the throw was high, catcher caught it over his head. I heard he missed the plate which is unexcusable if true. A lot of wasted opportunities though. Truffles getting thrown out at third on a passed ball which didn't really go past the catcher. Deevers picked off at second (same inning I believe) when he obviously wasn't going to run. Hate to see Montalbo go out like that as he was rolling. Taubenheim came in and was dealing too except for a double that scored the tying run. Nice play by Deevers in the top of the eleventh with a bullet throw from right to nail a guy at the plate. to no avail as the next runner scored on a bloop hit.

 

Not much going on in this game as the offense was not to be seen. Not sure I agree with trying to bunt on all the time Don. Especially with your hottest hitter in Rodriguez and the defense looking for it. I mean every time Truffles or Guilder came up it seemed like he was looking to bunt with them.

 

Frustrating but still a nice night aside from the bit of rain midway through.

 

Wind was blowing to Left very strong and if our righty heavy lineup can't pull one out on a night like tonight I have an eerie feeling we'll hit like 5 jacks all year....and two will be inside the park jobs.

[MassBrew]

Daily Press High Desert Game Story:

 

www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...183,15531,

[MassBrew]

Our very own Brewerfan poster, jaybird2001wi, with a nice debut Snapper game story for the Beloit Daily News. Fine work, Jason -- congratulations!

 

www.beloitdailynews.com/404/snap16.htm

[jaybird2001wi]

Thanks MassBrew. Much appreicated. It was weird last night because I was right outside the Snappers locker room and then went in and I saw a pro baseball clubhouse for the first time. It was cool being in there. Since my hometown is in Racine, I had a chance to chat it up with Vinnie Rottino after the game. Turns out he knows some people I know.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Ahem . . ..

 

 

FREE BRIAN MONTALBO

[batman]

Nice job, JayBird! Very well written article... congratulations!

 

~Bill