2016 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #7

Fremont kicks ass in SW Detroit

Long Beach hosts division rival Triple Creek in a 6 game series.

Martinez hit a 2 run HR in the 1st and Long Beach held on for a 3-2 win. The bullpen pitched 3 perfect innings with Melancon picking up his 9th save.

Triple Creek pounded Long Beach pitching with 14 hits in the 8-0 romp. Pence opened the scoring with a 2 run 2B in the 6th and the Patriots added 3 runs each in the 7th and 9th.

Wood threw a 4 hit shutout in the 3-0 Triple Creek win. Goins supplied all the offense with 3 hits and 3 RBI.

This was a good pitcher’s duel between Buchholz & Ventura. Scoreless through 6 and 1-1 when Ruggiano homered in the 8th to give Long Beach the 2-1 win.

Triple Creek built a 4-2 lead in the 8th behind HRs from Piscotty and Headley. In the bottom of the inning Gennett hit a 2 run 2B and Donaldson followed with a HR to give Long Beach a 6-4 lead. Melancon had a 1-2-3 9th to close out the win.

Long Beach broke open a close game with 3 runs in the 8th and went on to win 6-2. Span, Donaldson and Ruggiano had the key hits in the inning. Fiers picked up the win and improved to 6-3.

Long Beach wins 4 of the 6 games.

Tempe takes 6 of 7 games.

Grand Haven (11-28) – sitting in a tie for the NL West cellar, comes to Columbus to face the red hot Explorers – sitting in rarefied air a top the NL Central – although last week they had a taste of reality at Clovis. But this week they get Brock Holt back from injury and Ryan Zimmerman will come off the DL by game 3. As the Explorers look over things, this appear like a call to come to dinner – and they hope they can feast. Grand Haven is in a rebuilding mode and their pitching is rather shallow.

Farmer and Oberholtzer hooked up and it was a pitching duel. Farmer goes 7 innings and gives up only 3 hits – a home run to Carpenter (15) and one to Holt (1). Oberholtzer goes the distance and gives up 4 hits – NO RUNS. Mathis had 2 of the hits.
GHG 0-4-0 LP Farmer (1-1)
COL 2-4-0 WP Oberholtzer (1-0)

Ike Davis takes Santana over the wall (2) in the 2nd. But the 2nd inning excitement continues with Columbus scoring 3 on a homerun from Oscar Hernandez (1). 4th inning excitement as Gators score twice to tie the game but then Columbus erupts for 5 to blow it open to an 8-3 lead. Santana gets all the bullpen help he needs (3 innings worth) as Columbus takes game 2. Saladino and Perez get 2 hits each.
GHG 3-7-1 LP Lohse (1-6)
COL 8-8-1 WP Santana (2-2)

Explorers light up the place starting with 2 in the 1st and ending with 12 runs by game end. Perez (3) gets 1 run on a solo for Grand Haven and Ozuna doubles in another – both too little and too late. Rusin making a start for Columbus goes 8 strong for the win.
GHG 2-5-3 LP House (1-6)
COL 12-18-1 WP Rusin (1-0)

R.A. Dickey owned this one – 3 hitter for 6 innings. He left with a 4-0 lead that included a Carpenter HR (15). 3 relievers kept it that way. Hale wasn’t too bad, and he did get one of the 3 hits.
GHG 0-3-2 LP Hale (1-5)
COL 4-10-0 WP Dickey (4-4)

Well Columbus did what they had to do – sweep the series – but it wasn’t a cake walk. The Gators stay on the road for their next series against the Jersey Nor’Easters. Columbus will play host to the tough Capitals from Sacramento. Perhaps the CA and OH governors will want to place a friendly challenge on the series outcome.

NL West division leaders face off as the Clovis Wheat Kings heads north on SR-99 to visit the Sacramento Capitals for a 7-game series. Both teams are tied at 28-11 as they kick off what promises to be a YUGE series.

M. Harvey v. D. Salazar

CWK – 1 SAC – 2

W: W. Harris (1-0)
L: K Uehara (2-1)

HR: D. Valencia, N. Cruz, G. Stanton
SB: N. Cruz
CS: C. Granderson

With only seven combined hits, three solo HRs decided this one.

T. Jungmann v. L. Lynn

CWK – 4 SAC – 1

W: T. Jungmann (4-1)
L: L. Lynn (4-4)

HR: N. Arenado
SB: B. Phillips, D. DeShields

This game was all Jungmann, who pitched a complete game while giving up only 4 hits and 1 unearned run.

F. Liriano v. J. Nelson

CWK – 2 SAC – 4

W: J. Nelson (3-5)
L: F. Liriano (6-2)
S: W. Harris (16)

HR: N. Cruz, F. Lindor, A. Pujols
SB: B. Phillips

Albert Pujols hits what would be the game-winning HR in the bottom of the 6th, only his 3rd HR of the season. Sacramento needs his bat to heat up.

J. Samardzija v. M. Scherzer

CWK – 2 SAC – 7

W: M. Scherzer (7-1)
L: J. Samardzija (2-3)

HR: C. Dickerson, T. Hunter
SB: N. Aoki

Sacramento pummels Samardzija with 6 ER in 1.1 innings. The Wheat Kings couldn’t recover.

G. Gonzalez v. J. Garcia

CWK – 4 SAC – 0

W: G. Gonzalez (4-1)
L: J. Garcia (5-1)

HR: N. Arenado, N. Cruz
SB: F. Lindor
CS: D. DeShields, A. Pujols

N. Cruz hits his 3rd HR of the series as the Wheat Kings’ bats begin
to heat up.

G. Richards v. D. Salazar

CWK – 5 SAC – 7

W: D. Salazar (6-1)
L: G. Richards (6-2)
S: W. Harris (17)

HR: B. Crawford, C. Dickerson, G. Stanton (2)
SB: N. Aoki, D. Norris

G. Stanton hits two HRs in 2 ABs, bringing his season total to 14 in 99 Abs. Maybe he can teach Pujols a little somethin’.

M. Harvey v. L. Lynn

CWK – 2 SAC – 1

W: M. Harvey (4-3)
L: L. Lynn (4-5)
S: B. Ziegler (12)

HR: D. Murphy

The close series begins and ends with a 2-1 game. This time, Harvey gets the win while handing Lynn his second loss of the series. Also, Kolten Wong is injured and will miss 4 games against a very tough matchup against Columbus.

Sacramento takes the series 4-3 and enters Week 8 with a 1-game lead over the Wheat Kings. The tough match-up saw the Capitals’ team ERA to rise all the way up to 2.00, a trend that will likely continue as we head east to visit a dominating Columbus team. The Wheat Kings continue their road trip with a 6-game set against the New York Outlaws.

Bethesda hosts Pittsburgh hoping to take advantage of a few pitching matchups to put some distance between themselves and the Lumber Company.

Bethesda did what it had to and scored off starter Drew Hutchison early and often as they cruised to a 6-1 win in the opener.
WIN-J.Odorizzi (5-0)
LOSS-Hutchison (4-4)
HR-PIT: M.Teixeira (11)

Bethesda managed to squeeze out a 3-2 win against Pittsburgh’s ace, Michael Wacha, and stake Erasmo Ramirez to his 6th win of the season which put the home team in the driver’s seat in the series.
WIN-E.Ramirez (6-1)
LOSS-M.Wacha (5-2)
SAVE-R.Hill (7)
HR-none

Brian Matusz’s meltdown in the 11th inning wasted a pair of homers by Alex Rodriguez as the Bandicoots fell to the Steelers 5-3 in extra frames.
WIN-S.Kelley (4-3)
LOSS-B.Matusz (0-1)
HR-PIT: M.Teixeira (12); BET: A.Rodriguez 2 (7)

You’re not going to win too many games when you screw up badly in the field and commit four errors and even Jake Arrieta couldn’t save the Bandicoots from themselves as they crapped the bed losing 7-1 to Pittsburgh and sent Lorenzo Cain to the DL for the second time this season in the process. How a guy like Arrieta can be 5-3 with a 1.00 ERA is baffling … we suck when he pitches apparently.
WIN-E.Rodriguez (4-1)
LOSS-J.Arrieta (5-3)
HR-BET: A.Gonzalez (8)

Pittsburgh scrub starter Wade Miley baffles the witless Bandicoots’ hitters for seven innings, but fortunately departs for a pinch hitter and Bethesda manages to score once against Sammy Solis to edge the visitors 2-1 to take the series lead amid mounting frustration.
WIN-S.Gray (5-3)
LOSS-S.Solis (0-1)
SAVE-R.Hill (8)
HR-PIT: B.Gardner (7); A.Rendon (1)

Jose Iglesias’s first error in 30 games and catcher AJ Pierzynski’s second error of the game added up to three unearned runs for Pittsburgh with a two-out homer by Mark Teixera in the top of the 9th lifting them to a 6-3 win. Alex Rodriguez was injured in the game and Jake Odorizzi was tossed.
WIN-D.Hutchison (5-4)
LOSS-R.Madson (0-3)
SAVE-S.Kelley (8)
HR-PIT: B.Gardner (8), M.Teixeira (13)

The baseball gods deemed Bethesda extremely unworthy with ever blooper turning into a double play ball and ever hard hit liner going right at a fielder while Pittsburgh could do no wrong and coasted to a humiliating 13-0 pounding of the clueless Bandicoots.WIN-M.Wacha (6-2)
LOSS-E.Ramirez (6-2)
HR-PIT: J.Smoak (3), E.Suarez (3)

Grade 3 Pittsburgh starter Drew Hutchison emerged from the series with as many wins (5) as Sonny Gray and Jake Arrieta … disgusting … and Pittsburgh rightfully takes the series 4-3 and edges closer to the division lead.

Crushers temporarily break out of their offensive slump. We bang out 5 HR’s in a 7-4 CCC win. Grichuk and Muncy eah hit two.

DAL sends out Keuchel to put an end to the madness and he does just that. He goes 6 scoreless allowing only one hit. The bullpen mops up in a laugher. DAL wins 10-0.

Lackey and Shoemaker duel with Lackey doing slightly better.

DAL wins 3-2.

Karns is pretty sharp and he gets some support as well.
CCC wins 7-4.

Heaney pitches great for CCC but the bullpen coughs up the lead and
DAL wins 6-4.

DAL pounds out 20 hits in route to a 12-1 whipping.

Dallas wins the series 4-2.

Hollywood @ Motor City in a 7 game battle of second place teams.

HOL 5 – MCM 1

WP: Mcgee
LP: Volquez

HR: MCM–Trout

Hammel left the game with an injury after two batters. McGee came in and dominated, striking out 10 in 5.1 IP. His only blemish was a Trout solo HR. Venable and Kinsler had 2 RBI apiece for Hollywood.

MCM 4 – HOL 3

WP: Ramos
LP: Dyson

HR: HOL–Yelich

Hollywood’s bullpen could not hold a 3-1 lead, as MCM scored three in the 8th. Castellanos’s two-run triple was the big blow.

HOL 8 – MCM 0

WP: Kershaw
LP: Leake

HR: HOL–Goldschmidt, Gordon

Total domination by Kershaw, who goes 7.1 innings of 3-hit ball.
Goldschmidt, Gordon, and Plouffe had two RBI each.

HOL 5 – MCM 1

WP: Price
LP: Godley

HR: HOL–Yelich, Iannetta

Price was too much for the Muscle, scattering 5 hits over 7.2 IP.

MCM 5 – HOL 3

WP: deGrom
LP: Cueto
SV: Grimm

HR: HOL–Morrison

Motor City jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the 1st inning, but had to hold on for the win as Hollywood made it interesting late.

HOL 3 – MCM 0

WP: Dyson
LP: Verlander
SV: Soria

HR: none

Hollywood scored two quick rins in the 1st, and that was all that emergency starter Dyson needed.

MCM 9 – HOL 5

WP: Volquez
LP: Conley

HR: MCM–Moss

Hollywood jumped out to a quick lead again, but Motor City answered back three runs in the 2nd and five more in the 4th. Trout and Moss had 2 RBI each.

Hollywood takes the series 4 games to 3

Shoddy defense and a festival of strikeouts doomed the MCM in this series.

Outlaws visit Valdosta.

Valdosta 2-0. Teheran and Kimbrel combine on a 1-hit shutout.

New York 2-1 (10 Innings). Outlaws slip past the Snappers in extra innings.

New York 3-0. Brian McCann knocks in all three runs with a HR as the Outlaws shut down the Snappers on 4 hits.

Valdosta 3-2. Snappers win in part thanks to 4 Outlaws errors.

New York 11-4. Phil Hughes got pounded for 10 runs as the Outlaws cruise.

Valdosta 4-2. Teheran (6-3) wins his 2nd game of the series. Kimbrel with his 8th save.

Split. Teheran wins 2 games for the Snappers.

Detroit takes series over Tijuana 6 games -1

Corktown come to Jersey in a battle of the two cellar dwellers in the NL East.

Corktown 9 Jersey 6. Adam Morgan allows just one run and Cody Asche has 4 RBI.

Corktown 3 Jersey 2. Alex Rios hits a 2-run homer in the 8th and Corktown hangs on to win the game.

Jersey 4 Corktown 3. Lucas Duda and Jay Bruce hit back to back homers in the 1st and Jersey goes on to win the game 4-3.

Jersey 4 Corktown 1. Howie Kendrick and Domingo Santana go deep for Jersey.

Corktown 5 Jersey 2. Cody Asche has another homer, 3 hits and 2 RBI in the Corktown win.

Jersey 5 Corktown 4 10 innings. Jay Bruce hits #9 for the Nor’easters and Miguel Montero also hits one in the Jersey win. That man again, Cody Ashe hits his 8th of the year and 3rd of the series for Corkrown.

Jersey 2 Corktown 0. It’s all Mike Montgomery and he throws a complete game 5-hit shutout for the Nor’easters.

Jersey hangs on to 4th place in the NL East winning the series 4-3.

Chicago Mobsters make a weekend visit to Manhattan the day after their plea agreements are approved by the Court.

MOBSTERS 3-2
Pitchers’ duel–just 3 walks in the entire game.
WP=Sale
SV=Davis
LP=Smyly

MOBSTERS 12-5
Game tied 5-5 at the end of the 9th, the Chicago scores 7 runs in the 10th!
Starter Sanchez gives up 5 ERs in only 1.2 innings–
Caminero relieves him and pitches most of the way.
Camiero and the bullpen stop Manhattan.

MOBSTERS 8-2
Syndergaard Complete Game with 10 Ks, 3BBs and 2 ERs.

MOBSTERS 3-1
1-1 tie most of the game.
WP=Martinez
LP=Duffy

MOBSTERS 2-1
Chicago scores 2 runs against Porcello in the 1st, then they ride those runs for the rest of the game.

MANHATTAN 7-2
Manhattan scores 6 runs against Chris Sale– neither science nor religion provides a satisfactory explanation.

Chicago fails to sweep Manhattan!!  They win 5 out of 6, but leave Manhattan in same state as they arrived– on suspended sentence.

Southbend visits Yonge Street.

The Travis D’Arnaud Show. (2HR/7RBI) YSS 15 – SBL 6

James Shields CGSO. YSS 3 – SBL 0

Foltynewicz was baffling. He went the distance for the visitors. SBL 3 – YSS 1

YSS scored 3 in the first and added 1 in the second. SBL chipped away, but came up 1 shy. YSS 4 – SBL 3

Geritt Cole CGSO. Justin Bour 3RHR…Kris Bryant inj. 5 days, Ruben Tejada inj. 5 days. YSS 6 – 0

Joe Kelly picked up his 2nd win of the series. Blanco hit 2 HR and plated 3 to lead the way. YSS 11 – SBL 7

YSS took 5 of 6 and will visit Mesa next week. SBL returns home to host FRE.

Figured to be a lot of scoring in this one, at it didn’t disappoint.

Aramis Ramirez hammered out 2 two run homers to offset solo blasts by Howard, Frazier, and Herrera. Virginia 9-7.

Jackie Bradley Jr. and George Springer homer consecutively off supposed Solar Sox closer Carson Smith (0-4, 5.40) in the 10th for a 4-2 win.

Eddie Rosario blasts a three run homer, Todd Frazier and Brian Dozier add homers, too in a 9-4 Mesa win. David Phekps goes all the way for his 4th win.

Rookie Raisel Iglesias Ks 10 in 8 innings and gets support from Ryan Hoawrd (4-4), Drew Stubbs (a homer away from the cycle, and Yonder Alonzo’s three run triple in a 9-2 Solar Sox win.

Eddie Butler (???) goes the distance for Mesa and is backed by blasts from Rosario, Yan Gomes, and Pedro Ciriaco. Mesa wins 7-3.

Mesa wins their 4th in a row behind Trevor Bauer’s complete game, 7-1. The homers keep coming – Rosario, Frazier, and Dozier (with 2).

Chris Tillman win his 5th for Virginia. Brandon Guyer with the big blast, a three run homer and the Sluggers win 9-3.

Mesa outslugs the Sluggers by out homering them 11-5 in a 4-3 series win.