PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #7

Tempe(30-9) is much better team then Selkirk(16-23) but for some reason I felt I had a chance to make the news and surprise them…  Well it was an interesting series and new was made, but alas the news wasn’t good for Selkirk fans.

It was a great game going back and forth as Collmenter was solid 3 in 7 only mistake was a Tulo homer. The Tempe pen saved Ikanawa as Tempe wins a 3-2 nailbiter. Molina was the hero 3 CS

Selkirk got 5 runs of Hector Sanchez and held on to a 5-4 win. Molina nailed the only runner again….

NO HITTER – Despaigne and his assortment of Cuban junk was too much for the Steelers. He K’s 10 Steelers and walked three as he faced 30 batters. McCarthy gets the hard luck loss 1 in 8 innings.

Tempe 2 Selkirk 0

Chen out duels Alvarez and wins 4-1. Holland got his 10th save for Tempe.

Selkirk pitching was great in this one and it was 1-1 in the 8th when the Tempe defence fell apart and Clippard takes the loss.

Selkirk 2 Tempe 1 Soria picks up his 5th save

Selkirk was ahead 1-0 in the 7th when the pen fell apart.

Tempe 4 Selkirk 1 Holland the win Clippard the save(1)

Selkirk was up 1-0 through 5 then Danny Salazar fell apart.

Tempe 6 Selkirk 1 Otero improves to 7-0!

Tempe takes the series 5-2 and even no hits Selkirk. But if it wasn’t for Molina shutting down the Selkirk baserunning they could have lost the series.

It’s a battle of 2 sub-500 teams who really aren’t going anywhere this year.

Howie Kendrick belts a 3-run homer in the 8th for the Nor’easters and they hold on to win 5-2. Joe Beimel wins it in relief of Wily Peralta.

Game of the year so far for Jersey, actually it’s more than 2 games as it goes 20 innings. Jersey came from behind 3 different times to tie the game including dramatic hits in the 9th and 17th inning to tie. Marcus Semien wins it for the Yinzers with a homer in the top of the 20th and the Yinzers win it 5-4.

Jersey bounces back despite a depleted bullpen and several tires and bushed players to win 3-0. Brad Hand goes all the way throwing a 6-hit shutout. Jay Bruce iced it with a 2-run homer late in the game. Lance Lynn took the tough luck loss.

Erik Johnson makes an emergency start for the Nor’easters and pitches well yielding only one unearned run in 9 innings. The game goes 11 innings when Jersey’s Bryan Pena hits a 2-run walkoff homer to win it 3-1. Joe Beimel gets his 2nd relief win of the series.

Jersey’s Jeff Samardzija throws a complete game shutout winning 3-0. Bryan Pena has 2 key RBI’s to aid in the win. Jordan Danks pitched
well for the Yinzers yielding only 1 earned run in 6 innings but does take the loss.

Iron City pushes a run across in the 8th and holds on to win the game 3-2. Jersey manages only 4 hits against Tom Koehler.

A walk-off win for the Nor’easters as they score 2 in the bottom of the 9th to win 8-7. Matt Dominguez with the walk off homer.

Although Jersey wins the series 5-2 it seemed a lot closer and could have easily been the other way around.

Pre-season trade partners Pittsburgh and Bethesda meet up in a battle for the middle of the pack in the NL East.

An incredibly sloppy game that saw Pittsburgh commit four errors and allow five unearned run, but still almost win as Bethesda emerged
with a 9-7 win. Mark Teixeira homered for #7 on the year. He drove in three while former Bandicoot CJ Cron had three hits. jonathan Lucroy had two hits and two RBIs as well for Pittsburgh. Jon Jay (2) and Matt Clark (1) homered for Bethesda.

With the 5-2 series win over Pittsburgh, Bethesda temporarily moves ahead of Pittsburgh (1/2 game) and Jersey into 3rd place in the NL
East behind Iron City and division leading New York.

Elyria takes the series 4-3 over Fremont.

Tijuana takes it 5 games to 2

New found rivals the Manhattan Project invite the Mobsters from Chicago to Landfill stadium for a search of Jimmy Hoffa & a six game series. Series was played Head to Head – in person.

Rookie Marcus Stroman (6-0 3.53) picked up the win, striking out 8, allowing only 3 Runs on a 3 Run Home Run by Josh Willingham. The
Mobsters pounded out 13 hits, and 10 runs.

Final Score: Chicago 10 – Manhattan 3

Adam Wainwright improved to (5-2 2.85) holding the Project hitters to 4 hits & 1 walk. Arolids Chapman picks up save #13.

Final Score: Chicago 3 – Manhattan 0

Chicago ace Chris Sale (5-2 1.48) looked dominant Striking out 12 Manhattan Batters, allowing 2 hits & 1 walk through 7 Innings. Andrew McCutchen was 2 for 5 with 3 RBI’s. Kyle Seager blows the Chicago shut out with a 2 Out solo shot in the 9th off Trevor
Rosenthal.

Final Score: Chicago 7 – Manhattan 1

Josh Beckett (3-2 4.63) pitched his best game of the year allowing only 2 Runs (1 Earned) in 5 Innings. Justin Morneau & Ender Inciarte
both had 2 hits for the Mobsters. Chapman picks up his 14th Save on the season.

Final Score: Chicago 7 – Manhattan 3

A rematch from game #1 pitching gem. Felix Hernandez & Masahiro Tanaka again both pitched very well. Felix Hernandez (9-1 1.24) went 7 Innings allowing only 1 Earned Run. Tanaka (5-2 1.75) went 8 solid allowing only 2 Earned Runs. Chapman picks up his 15th Save on the season.

Final Score: Chicago 2 – Manhattan 1

Some great pitching dominated the series.

Grand Haven (18-21) comes to Columbus (11-28) – both teams in 4th place in their divisions (for Columbus that is LAST). Both teams making plans for next year, but still looking for excitement this year. Lots of explosive action in this series??

Explorers knock 14 hits including a bases loaded triple from Nunez and roll with Greene’s 1 hit 7 inning shutout performance to take
the series opener 10-3.Moss (6) knocks a 3 run homer in the 8th for the Gators

WP Greene (1-3)

LP Bedard (0-1) – lasted 1.2 innings giving up 5 runs (but only 1 earned).

Explorers get another stellar pitching performance (what?) from Happ as he goes 7 innings giving up 7 hits, 6ks and NO runs. A trio of
relievers keep the Gators scoreless in a 3-0 Columbus win. Bautista smashes the wall and will miss the next game.

WP Happ (3-1)

LP Morton (4-3)

Explorers pitching staff needed a day off after game 3 – and got 2 as Scott Baker goes the distance giving up 6 hits and fanning 11 in a 5-1 Explorer victory. Zimmerman (2), Blackmon (3) and Desmond (10) tried to do the Gator explosion but only got 1 homer each, but it was enough.

WP S. Baker (3-2)

LP Burnett (1-3)

Good up and down game as Grand Haven takes early 1-0 lead only to fall behind 5-2 after 2 – but then a 4 run 3rd and 3 run 4th seal
the deal for them as they win 9-5. No more scoring after the 4th. Amarista knocks a 3 run HR (2) in the 4th and Aybar, Moss, Navarro
and Tolleson each get 2 hits and Jimenez picks up the win in relief (Wilson exited in the 2nd inning – and that worked well for the Gators). Jeter got his first HR of the season in the 1st.

WP Jimenez (1-0)

S Walden (1)

LP Tepesch (2-4)

This one had the most suspense. Gators up 4-0 after top of the 4th – 3 run 3rd (capitalizing on Explorer error). Explorers begin the chip
away with a 2 run homer in the 4th from Blackmon (4), and tie it with a 2 run shot from Desmond (11) in the 6th. Amarista then makes
it 5-4 Gators in the 7th – but Dunn comes back in the 8th for the 3rd 2 run homer by Columbus (Dunn’s 8th) and a 6-5 lead. Perez and
Varvaro make it stand in the 9th for the Columbus 6-5 win.

WP Perez (1-2)

S Varvaro (5)

LP Machi (1-2) (BS #1)

Explorers manage to parlay enough offense with some clutch pitching to take the series 4 games to 2. Fans are realistic about the future, but happy to see some wins nonetheless. Next week Sacramento comes to town while the Gators continue the road swing going to Jersey.

Wait ’til next year series

CCC bullpen coughs up 5 runs in the 8th and 9th to steal defeat from the jaws of victory. DAL wins 11-10.

Napoli hits a 3-run HR in the 1st and that propels CCC to a 5-3 win.

Back and forth battle goes extras. Mercer hits a 2-run walk-off HR in the 11th to give CCC an 8-6 win.

Keuchel takes a no hitter into the 7th and finishes with a 1-hit shutout. DAL wins 1-0.

Colon takes a shutout into the 9th and gives CCC a 5-1 win.

Williams K’s 10 in a complete 5-0 DAL shutout win.

Series split 3-3.

Long Beach hosts their division rivals the Triple Creek Patriots in a early 6 game series

Maldonado broke up a 1-1 tie with a PH HR in the 8th. Triple Creek added 3 insurance runs and won 5-2. Brantley led the Patriots offense with 3 hits and 2 RBI.

Ventura pitched 8 shutout innings improving to 6-0 in the 1-0 Long Beach win. The only run scored on a Dickerson ground out in the 4th.

Long Beach had a 2-1 lead into the 8th. Triple Creek tied the game when Villar stole home. They won it in the 10th when Brantley singled home Reyes. The Patriots bullpen pitched 4 innings of 1 hit ball.

Triple Creek jumped on Norris early with 5 runs including a Lobotan grand slam. Norris settled down and the Dirt Bag offense got going.
They tied the game on an Aviles homer in the 4th. Triple Creek retook the lead in the 5th on a Brantley RBI 1B. That was the end of the scoring as they won 6-5.

Long Beach jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st on a Victor Martinez HR. That was all Shoemaker needed as he threw a 2 hit shutout in the 3-0 Long Beach lead. Victor was 4-4 with 2 HRs and all 3 RBI.

Triple Creek broke open a close game with 3 runs in the 9th and won 6-1. Brantley and Lobotan each drove in 2 runs and Gonzalez evened his record at 3-3.

Triple Creek went on the road and won 4 of 6.

A surprising first-place team (Motor City) hosts a not-surprising first-place team (Hollywood) for 7 games.

HOL 4 – MCM 1

WP: Cueto

LP: Leake

SV: Cishek

HR: none

Motor City jumps out early but Cueto shuts them down after the 1st. Hollywood cruises after a 4-run 2nd inning.

HOL 5 – MCM 2

WP: Weaver

LP: Bassitt

SV: Cishek

HR: none

Weaver pitches around two Loney RBI doubles with 12 strikeouts.

HOL 8 – MCM 0

WP: D. Buchanan

LP: Volquez

HR: none

David Buchanan continues the domonant Hollywood starting pitching. Four-run 4th inning and two-run 5th innin fuel the Werewolves’ runaway.

HOL 3 – MCM 2 (11 inn.)

WP: McGee

LP: Grimm

SV: Cishek

HR: M. Cabrera (2), W. Castillo

Miguel Cabrera’s two solo home runs included the game-winner in the 11th inning.

HOL 17 – MCM 0

WP: Kershaw

LP: Straily

HR: Goldschmidt, M. Cabrera

Kershaw gets an easy one with 10 Ks in 6 innings. Goldschmidt had 4 RBI, Kinsler had 3 RBI, and Cabrera, Yelich, and Werth had 2 RBI each.

HOL 4 – MCM1

WP: Cueto

LP: J. Buchanan

SV: Cishek

HR: G. Sanchez

Cueto dominates again, allowing only a Sanchez solo HR in the 7th.

HOL 4 – MCM 3 (11 inn.)

WP: McGee

LP: Ramos

SV; Cishek

HR: S. Castro

Motor City actually had the lead for most of this one, but their defense let them down late. Single runs scored for Hollywood on Motor City errors in the 7th and 11th innings.

Hollywood sweeps the series, 7 games to 0. The Werewolves dominated in every facet, knocking out the Motor City starters early and feasting on the bullpen. Too many offensive stars to list for Hollywood.Hollywood starters dominated and turned the games over to an airtight bullpen. Cishek saved 5 of the 7 games.Motor City only scored 9 runs in the series and made 8 errors.

1st place New York visits Valdosta.

Valdosta 11-4. Carter and Parmelee hit 3-run HR’s and that was all the Snappers and Tim Hudson (2-3) needed for the win.

New York 1-0 (11 Innings). Cody Ross made a 4 base error which gave the Outlaws the win in extra innings. Rodney picked up his 4th save.

Valdosta 4-0. Phil Hughes (5-4) tossed a 3 hitter with 8K’s and no BB’s. He has now issued just 3 BB’s in 62.2 IP.

Valdosta 8-0. Colin McHugh improved to 7-1 with 5 shutout IP.

Valdosta 4-2. Julio Teheran improved to 3-4 and his battery mate, Kurt Suzuki, knocked in 3 runs as the Snappers win again.

New York 5-2. Aaron Harang improved to 6-3 as Huddy drops to 2-4 thanks to allowing 3 HR’s to the Outlaws.

Snappers take 4 of 6 from the Outlaws and hit the road next week. New York heads back home.

The surprising Lynx head north to face the struggling Stalkers. The home team is suffering from a severe lack of offensive activity so far in the young season.

Joe Kelly was strong. Homers from David Wright and Will Venable were enough offense. Matt Joyce’s solo shot accounted for the Lynx’ lone run.

YSS 3 – SBL 1

A heart-breaker. YSS tied it up with a run in the btm of the 9th, but SBL tallied in the 11th to eke it out.

SBL 7 – YSS 6 (11)

Another extra inning affair…this time there wasn’t much doubt. Ryan Webb (YSS) gave up 4 in the top of the 10th and SBL cruised from there.

SBL 5 – YSS 1 (10)

Big Game James Shields put a stop to the mini slide. The victory was costly for YSS, as Tejada (6 days) and Heyward (3 days) were lost to
injury.

YSS 4 – SBL 3

The home teamers were baffled by E. Stults. He went 8 strong and allowed just an unearned run.

SBL 4 – YSS 1

This time it was N. Martinez doing the baffling. He also went 8 strong, although his 1 run was earned.

SBL 6 – YSS 1

Southbend visits YSS and takes 4 of 6.

Clovis Wheat Kings take 5 of 7 from the Sacramento Capitals.

Traverse City Crusaders take 4 of 7 from the Virginia Sluggers..