Monthly Archives: October 2020

Keeping Track

Mazatlan Recap: Game Thirteen

OBREGON 6, MAZATLAN 1 IN MAZATLAN

Batting stars:  None.

Pitching star:  Edgar Torres pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and three walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Arturo Lopez pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks and striking out three.  Carlos Sepulveda was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Juan Carlos Gamboa was 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs.  Roberto Lopez was 1-for-2 with two walks.

The game:  It was a pitchers' duel for eight innings.  Obregon scored first, in the second inning, on singles by Gamboa and Lopez and a sacrifice fly.  Mazatlan tied it in the fourth on singles by Ramon Rios and Carlos Munoz and a double play grounder.

It stayed 1-1 until the ninth, when the roof fell in.  With one out, consecutive walks to Paulo Orlando, Gamboa, and Lopez loaded the bases.  Moises Gutierrez singled home a run, Tirso Ornelas hit a two-run double, and Alonso Gaitan hit a two-run single, making the score 6-1.  Mazatlan went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

WP:  Tomas Solis (1-0).  LP:  Ryan Newell (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Munoz was 1-for-4 and is batting .326.

Torres lowered his ERA to 2.75.  Roberto Espinosa struck out both men he faced to drop his ERA to 1.59.

Mazatlan left only two men on base and was 0-for-2 with men in scoring position.

Mazatlan turned four double plays.

Record:  Mazatlan is 5-8, in seventh place, six games behind Obregon.

Next game:  Mazatlan hosts Obregon again tonight.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Twenty-eight

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MINNESOTA 11, BOSTON 7 IN BOSTON

Date:  Friday, May 2.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 3-for-5.  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), a walk, two runs, and four RBIs.  Chris Gomez was 2-for-4 with a double.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-5 with two home runs (his second and third) and three RBIs.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and five walks and striking out two.  Juan Rincon pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Manny Ramirez was 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, and two runs.  Bill Mueller was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Trot Nixon was 2-for-5.  Nomar Garciaparra was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  It was a pitchers' duel early on, with neither team even getting a hit until the third inning.  The Red Sox got a pair of walks in the second, but nothing came of it.  They loaded the bases in the third, but again came up empty.  They loaded the bases again in the fourth, but again the game remained scoreless.

It was the Twins who started the scoring, in the fifth.  A single and a forceout put Bobby Kielty on first with one out.  A wild pitch moved him to second, Todd Sears singled to put men on first and third, and a ground out gave the Twins a 1-0 lead.  With two out in the sixth Corey Koskie walked and LeCroy hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0.  In the seventh Kielty singled and Mohr hit a two-run homer to put the Twins up 5-0.

It was looking good, but Boston broke through in the seventh, and they did it in a big way.  Johnny Damon led off with a walk.  With one out Garciaparra singled, Ramirez hit an RBI double, consecutive run-scoring singles by Kevin Millar, Nixon, and Mueller made it 5-4, and Shea Hillenbrand had an RBI double to tie the score.  A walk loaded the bases and Damon hit a sacrifice fly (presumably tying a record for most plate appearances in an inning without an official at-bat) to put the Red Sox up 6-5.  Another walk loaded the bases again, but Boston did no more damage that inning.

The Twins were apparently not worried about their "loss of momentum", as they got all six runs back in the eighth.  LeCroy homered with one out to tie the score.  Hunter singled and Kielty walked.  Michael Cuddyer and Mohr followed with RBI singles, Chris Gomez had a run-scoring double, and Jones and Guzman had RBI singles.  It was 11-6 Twins.

The Red Sox got one more run in the eighth.  Ramirez led off with a single and scored on a two-out double by Mueller.  But that was the last hit Boston got, and the Twins had their fourth consecutive victory.

WP:  Johan Santana (1-0).  LP:  Ramiro Mendoza (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was behind the plate, one of twenty-two games he caught that season.  Sears was at first base, one of fourteen games he played at first that season.  Gomez was at second.  Kielty was the DH.

Cuddyer pinch-hit for Sears in the eighth.  Tom Prince replaced LeCroy behind the plate in the eighth.

Gomez raised his average to .333.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-5 and was batting  .318.  Kielty was 1-for-4 and was batting .316.

Mohr raised his average to .178.

Romero gave up two runs and retired no one, raising his ERA to 5.11.  LaTroy Hawkins gave up two runs and retired no one, raising his ERA to 1.80.  Santana gave up a run in 1.2 innings, making his ERA 1.30.  Juan Rincon lowered his ERA to 1.80.

The Twins used four pitchers in the seventh--Lohse started the inning, Hawkins faced two batters and gave up two hits, Romero faced four batters and gave up three hits and a walk, and Santana finally retired the side.  But the Red Sox also used four pitchers in the eighth.  Kevin Tolar retired the first batter, Mendoza faced three batters and gave up two hits and a walk, Alan Embree faced four batters and gave up four hits, and Jason Shiell finally came in to retire the side.

Boston was 6-for-19 with men in scoring position, which is a) a good batting average and b) a heck of a lot of at-bats with men in scoring position.  Still, they stranded thirteen, and it had to be frustrating for them to leave the bases loaded three times.  The Twins were an amazing 7-for-11 with men in scoring position, stranding just five.

Record:  The Twins were 14-14, third in the American League Central, five games behind Kansas City.  They were just a half game behind second place Chicago.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 29

Charlie Ebbets (1859)
Solly Hofman (1882)
Pete Richert (1939)
Jim Bibby (1944)
Darrell Brown (1955)
Terry Felton (1957)
Jesse Barfield (1959)
R. A. Dickey (1974)
Karim Garcia (1975)
Scott Randall (1975)
Dana Eveland (1983)
Jose Mijares (1984)

Charlie Ebbets was the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1898-1925.  Ebbets Field was named after him.

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Keeping Track

Mazatlan Recap: Game Twelve

OBREGON 4, MAZATLAN 3 IN MAZATLAN

Batting star:  Francisco Hernandez was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk.

Pitching star:  Roberto Espinosa pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Alonzo Harris was 3-for-3.  Sebastian Valle was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Paulo Orlando was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Jesus Camargo pitched 4.2 innings, giving up one run on two hits and four walks and striking out two.  Fabian Anguamea pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Mario Meza pitched a perfect inning and had one strikeout.  Miguel Aguilar pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

The game:  Harris led off the game with a single, went to third on a stolen base-plus-error, and scored on a ground out to give Obregon a 1-0 lead.  It stayed 1-0 until the fifth, when Italo Mota drew a two-out walk and scored from first on Hernandez' double, tying the score at 1-1.

It only stayed tied until the next half-inning.  In the top of the sixth, Valle drew a one-out walk.  Singles by Orlando and Juan Carlos Gamboa loaded the bases.  Roberto Lopez then unloaded them with a three-run double, putting Obregon up 4-1.  Obregon got back into the game in the seventh.  With two out, Mota singled, Hernandez doubled, and Chris Roberson delivered a two-run single, cutting the margin to 4-3.

But that was as good as it got for Mazatlan.  They did not get another baserunner after Roberson's hit, and 4-3 is where the score stayed.

WP:  Fernando Sanchez (2-0).  LP:  Francisco Rios (2-1).  S:  Aguilar (5).

Notes:  Jose Luna was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and is batting .385.  Mota was 1-for-1 with two walks and is batting .364.  Carlos Munoz was 1-for-4 and is batting .333.  Hernandez is batting .300.

Rios started for Mazatlan and pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out four.

Gabino Avalos retired both men he faced and has an ERA of zero.  Espinosa's ERA is 1.80.

Obregon's name is "Yaquis de Obregon".  Whether it's Yankees or Yaquis, my teams can't seem to beat them.

Record:  Mazatlan is 5-7, tied for sixth place, five games behind Obregon.

Next game:  Mazatlan hosts Obregon again tonight.

 

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Twenty-seven

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MINNESOTA 6, TAMPA BAY 5 IN MINNESOTA (13 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, May 1.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 3-for-6 with a triple and a double.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fourth), a walk, and two runs.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-5 with a walk.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-7 with two doubles.

Pitching stars:  J. C. Romero pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up only a walk.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in 1.1 perfect innings.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in two scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Tony Fiore struck out two in two scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Javier Valentin was 2-for-4 with two walks.  Aubrey Huff was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifth), a walk, and two runs.  Lance Carter pitched three innings, giving up one run despite allowing three hits and three walks.

The game:  The Devil Rays jumped on starter Joe Mays for four runs in the first inning.  With one out, Rocco Baldelli doubled and scored on a Travis Lee single.  Huff walked.  Mays then had Lee picked off but threw the ball away, putting men on second and third.  Marlon Anderson doubled but only one run scored--Huff apparently thought the ball might be caught and only advanced to third.  He scored on a ground out, however, and Valentin singled in the fourth run.

Mays settled down after that, and the Twins worked on cutting that lead.  In the second Bobby Kielty singled, went all the way to third on a passed ball, and scored on a ground out to make it 4-1.  Koskie led off the fourth with a home run to cut it to 4-2.  Matthew LeCroy followed with a single, but the next two men flied out.  Todd Sears walked, however, and A. J. Pierzynski singled home a run, making it a one-run game at 4-3.

Huff hit a two-out homer in the fifth, increasing Tampa Bay's lead back to two at 5-3.  In the sixth, the Twins loaded the bases with none out.  Torii Hunter doubled, Kielty walked, and Sears was hit by a pitch.  Pierzynski brought home one run on a ground out, but that was all the Twins could do, and they remained behind 5-4.  They again loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but Kielty lined into a double play.

It was still 5-4 going to the bottom of the ninth.  With one out Koskie singled, Dustan Mohr doubled, and Hunter was intentionally walked, once again loading the bases.  Kielty hit a sacrifice fly to tie the score, but Mohr apparently tried to score from second on the fly ball and was thrown out at the plate, sending the game to extra innings.

This was back when men were men:  none of this weak "start with a runner on second" garbage.  Guzman hit a one-out triple in the eleventh, but the Twins couldn't score him.  The Devil Rays got a man to third with one out in the thirteenth, but also couldn't score him.  With one out in the bottom of the thirteenth, Jones hit a ground-rule double and Guzman followed with another double, winning the game for the Twins.

WP:  Fiore (1-0).  LP:  Travis Harper (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Kielty was in right field.

Jones was batting .324.  Kielty was 1-for-4 and was batting .319.

Mohr was 1-for-2, raising his average to .143.

Mays did well after the first inning, but of course the first inning counts, too.  He pitched six innings and gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks, striking out five.  His ERA was 5.30.  Fiore lowered his ERA to 5.74.

Hawkins kept his ERA at zero.  Guardado's ERA was 0.77.

I assume there must by more to the story of Mohr trying to score from second on a sacrifice fly.  I'm guessing that either the outfielder crashed into the fence and fell down, or the throw in from the outfield got away, or something like that.  Or, as I look at it, he may have overrun third base or fallen down between third and home.  What the play-by-play on b-r.com tells me is that he was thrown out at home and that the play went 8-3-5.

Fiore seems like an odd choice to pitch in the extra innings.  He had pitched an inning the day before, was having a poor year, and there appear to have been better relievers available.  Maybe Ron Gardenhire just didn't want to blow out the bullpen and decided Fiore was expendable to pitch as long as he could.  We have to say, he got away with it.

The Twins had now won three in a row and once again were involved in a series sweep.

Record:  The Twins were 13-14, in third place in the American League Central, five games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 28

Tommy Tucker (1863)
Frank Smith (1879)
Doc Lavan (1890)
Johnny Neun (1900)
Joe Page (1917)
Bob Veale (1935)
Sammy Stewart (1954)
Bob Melvin (1961)
Lenny Harris (1964)
Larry Casian (1965)
Juan Guzman (1966)
Braden Looper (1974)
Nate McLouth (1981)
Jeremy Bonderman (1983)
Daniel Palka (1991)

This is my thirty-first wedding anniversary.  Coincidentally, it's Mrs. A's thirty-first wedding anniversary, too.  She has announced that she is picking up my option for another year, for which I am most grateful.

Johnny Neun managed two major league teams, the Yankees in 1946 and Cincinnati from 1947-1948. Each time, he was replaced by someone who was nicknamed “Bucky”.

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