2020 World Series Game 6

Game 6 and the Dodgers are on the doorstep.

Gonslin on the mound for the Dodgers and he's been fairly pedestrian during the playoffs so I think he may have a short leash, especially with Buehler slated for tomorrow they can probably dig deep into the bullpen if need be. Snell pitching for the Rays.

Been an entertaining series thus far so here's hoping for at least one more good game. First pitch at 7:08p. Apparently the roof will be closed. Not sure if they is an advantage for one team or not.

2003 Rewind: Game Twenty-six

MINNESOTA 8, TAMPA BAY 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, April 30.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his third) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Johan Santana struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Carl Crawford was 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, a walk, and three runs.  Rey Ordonez was 2-for-4.  Rocco Baldelli was 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, and five RBIs.  Travis Harper pitched two perfect innings of relief.

The Devil Rays opened the game with back-to-back doubles by Crawford and Baldelli to take a 1-0 lead.  The Twins responded with four in the bottom of the first.  Jones led off with a single, Corey Koskie hit a one-out single, Todd Sears contributed an RBI double, and Hunter hit a three-run homer, making the score 4-1 Minnesota.

The Twins added two more in the second.  Tom Prince was hit by a pitch.  Luis Rivas had an RBI triple and scored on a Jones single, increasing the Twins' lead to 6-1.  Tampa Bay got back into the game in the third.  Ordonez singled, Crawford walked, and Baldelli hit a three-run homer to cut the margin to 6-4.

The Twins got some insurance in the fourth.  Rivas walked and Jones doubled, putting men on second and third with none out.  Koskie's fielder's choice plated one run and a ground out brought home another, making the score 8-4.

The Devil Rays threatened in the sixth, as with two out they loaded the bases on two hit batsmen and a walk, but Ordonez flied to right to end the inning.  They got a run in the ninth when Crawford tripled and scored on a ground out, but never got the tying run as far as the on-deck circle again.

WP:  Brad Radke (2-3).  LP:  Seth McClung (2-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Prince was behind the plate, replacing A. J. Pierzynski.  Bobby Kielty was in right field.  Sears was the DH.  There were no in-game lineup substitutions.

Jones raised his average to .326.  Kielty was 0-for-3 and fell to .324.

Radke pitched well other than the three-run homer, but his line was 5.2 innings, four runs, seven hits, one walk, and three strikeouts.  His season ERA was 6.29.  It would not be that high again the rest of the season, but it would be a long time before he got it below five.

Santana lowered his ERA to 0.95.  Tony Fiore gave up one run in one inning to make his ERA 6.59.

McClung started for Tampa Bay, but lasted just 1.1 innings.  He allowed six runs on six hits and no walks and struck out one.

Sears had hit very well in AAA Edmonton for two seasons, but had the misfortune to be a first baseman who was ready for the majors when the Twins already had Doug Mientkiewicz and had Justin Morneau coming up.  As a result, he only got seventy-seven at-bats with the Twins, fourteen of them as a pinch-hitter.  He batted .260/.326/.390 in that time.  The Twins traded him to San Diego in September.  He bounced around for several years before his playing career ended after the 2007 season.

Record:  The Twins were 12-14, in third place in the American League Central, six games behind Kansas City.

Happy Birthday–October 27

Joe Mulvey (1858)
Patsy Dougherty (1867)
Shad Berry (1878)
Ralph Kiner (1922)
Del Rice (1922)
Pumpsie Green (1933)
Lee Stange (1936)
Mike Lum (1945)
Pete Vuckovich (1952)
U. L. Washington (1953)
Barry Bonnell (1953)
Tom Nieto (1960)
Bill Swift (1961)
Bip Roberts (1963)
Brad Radke (1972)
Jason Johnson (1973)
Martin Prado (1983)
Kyle Waldrop (1985)
Jason Wheeler (1990)

Bill Swift was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 1983, but he did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 27

At The Movies: Spooky

I'd heard several people talking about Hereditary recently. I'm not really much of a horror guy, but I decided to give it a shot for some reason. I didn't know anything about it except that was more psychological than slasher, which would be my strong preference between the two.

Spoiler SelectShow

As we're in the seasons, how do you like your horror movies, if at all? Favorite subgenres or movies in general?

Mazatlan Recap: Games Ten and Eleven

CULIACAN 6, MAZATLAN 4 IN CULIACAN

Batting stars:  Anthony Giansanti was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and a walk.  Carlos Munoz was 2-for-3 with two walks.  Diego Madero was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Marco Antonio Duarte pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Edgar Arredondo struck out eight in six innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks.  Hans Wilson was 3-for-3.  Sebastian Elizelde was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.  Michael Wing was 2-for-4 with a double.  Joey Meneses was 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs.  Sasagi Sanchez pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.  Alberto Baldonado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

The game:  Mazatlan left the bases loaded in the first.  It cost them, as Culiacan got on the board in the bottom of the first with two runs.  Jesus Fabela, Ramiro Pena, and Elizalde all singled to start the inning, plating one run, and a sacrifice fly made it 2-0 Culiacan.  Mazatlan tallied in the top of the second when Jose Luna was hit by a pitch and scored on a Francisco Hernandez triple, but Culiacan got the run right back in the bottom of the second on singles by Alan Sanchez and Wilson and an infield out.  It was 3-1 Culiacan through two.

It went to 4-1 in the fourth when Michael Wing doubled and scored on Wilson's single.  But Mazatlan came back in the seventh.  With one out, Munoz walked, Ricky Alvarez singled, and Giansanti hit a three-run homer to tie it 4-4.

That was as good as it got for Mazatlan, though.  Elizalde and Meneses opened the eighth with back-to-back home runs, putting Culiacan up 6-4, and that's how it ended.  Mazatlan got a two-out single in the ninth, but nothing more.

WP:  Sagasi Sanchez (1-0).  LP:  Roman Pena (0-1).  S:  Baldonado (1).

Notes:  Munoz was batting .333.  Ricardo Valenzuela was 1-for-5 and was batting .321.  Giansanti was batting .306.

Carlos Felix started for Mazatlan but lasted just 3.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and no walks and striking out one.

Duarte has an ERA of zero.  Roberto Espinoza retired both men he faced and has an ERA of 2.45.

"Hans Wilson" seems like an odd name for a Mexican ballplayer to have, but he apparently was born in Obregon.  I don't know anything else about him, so I don't know if there's an interesting story there or not.

Record:  Mazatlan was 4-6.

MAZATLAN 12, CULIACAN 6 IN CULIACAN

Batting stars:  Jose Luna was 3-for-5 with a double.  Chris Roberson was 2-for-4 with a double.  Ricardo Valenzuela was 2-for-5 with a home run, two runs, and three RBIs.  Carlos Munoz was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Ricky Alvarez was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Italo Mota was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer.

Pitching stars:  Marco Antonio Rivas pitched a perfect inning.  Adolfo Ramirez pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Joey Meneses was 3-for-3 with a two-run homer (his second) and two walks.  Jesus Fabela was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Alfredo Hurtado was 2-for-2 with a double.  Antonio Lamas was 2-for-4.  Gonzalo Sanudo pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.  Omar Sainz retired all four men he faced, striking out one.  Daniel Rodriguez pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  Randy Romero opened the game with a walk, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on Munoz' double.  Anthony Giansanti later contributed an RBI single to put Mazatlan up 2-0.  Culiacan came right back in the bottom of the first, though.  Fabela and Ramiro Pena singled, an error scored a run, a walk loaded the bases, a sacrifice fly tied the score, and a wild pitch put Culiacan up 3-2 after one.

The second was scoreless, but Mazatlan took control in the third.  Romero, Roberson, and Munoz all singled, tying the score.  The next two batters went out, but Valenzuela singled to put Mazatlan ahead.  A wild pitch scored a run, Luna had an RBI single, and Mota hit a three-run homer, making the score 9-3 Mazatlan.

Culiacan did not get back into the game.  They scored once in the fifth on an RBI single by Sebastian Elizalde, but Mazatlan got two in the seventh on Valenzuela's two-run homer, making the score 11-4.  Culiacan got those two back on Meneses' two-run homer, but that was as close as they would come.  Mazatlan added a run in the ninth on two singles and two ground outs.

WP:  Carlos Morales (1-0).  LP:  Jose Carlos Medina (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jose Augusto Figueroa is 1-for-1 and is batting .500.  Luna is batting .417.  Munoz is batting .342.  Valenzuela is batting .333.  Giansanti is batting .308.  Mota is batting .300.

Morales was the starter for Mazatlan.  He pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk and striking out four.

Gabino Avalos retired both men he faced and has an ERA of zero.

Medina started for Culiacan and pitched just two innings.  He allowed five runs on six hits and a walk and struck out two.

There were two wild pitches and two passed balls in the game.

Gonzalo Sanudo is an ex-Twin.  He was with them in the Gulf Coast League in 2011 and 2012, then was traded to Houston.  He was in the Astros organization through 2016, reaching AAA for two games in 2015.

Record:  Mazatlan is 5-6, in sixth place, four games behind Obregon.

Next game:  Mazatlan hosts Obregon Tuesday.

2003 Rewind: Game Twenty-five

MINNESOTA 5, TAMPA BAY 3 IN MINNESOTA

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third), a walk, and three RBIs.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Pitching stars:  Kenny Rogers pitched seven innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and no walks and striking out four.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Aubrey Huff was 3-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.  Chris Truby was 2-for-3.

The game:  Jones and Guzman started the bottom of the first with singles, and an infield out produced a run.  Huff homered opening the second to tie it 1-1.  The Twins had men on first and second with none out in the second, but three fly balls ended the inning.

The Twins took the lead in the third.  Guzman again singled, but this time Koskie followed with a two-run homer.  Hunter homered later in the inning to give the Twins a 4-1 lead.

The Devil Rays didn't give up.  In the seventh Damion Easley reached on an error with one out.  Singles by Truby and Toby Hall loaded the bases, and a ground out cut the lead to 4-2.  In the eighth, Terry Shumpert doubled and Travis Lee singled to make it 4-3.  Huff singled to put the go-ahead run on with one out, but LaTroy Hawkins came on to retire the next two batters and preserve the lead.

The Twins got an insurance run in the ninth.  Todd Sears led off with a double, an error put men on first and third, and a ground out made it 5-3.  Rey Ordonez hit a one-out double in the ninth, but that was all Tampa Bay could do.

WP:  Rogers (3-1).  LP:  Jorge Sosa (1-3).  S:  Guardado (7).

Notes:  Bobby Kielty was in right field.  Sears was the DH.

Dustan Mohr pinch-ran for Sears in the ninth.

Kielty was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .338.  Jones raised his average to .311.

Luis Rivas was 0-for-3 and was batting .194.

Hawkins' ERA remained at zero.  Guardado's ERA was 0.93.

This was the first game of the season for Sears.  He had appeared in seven games in 2002 as a September call-up.

The Devil Rays' center fielder was some guy named Rocco Baldelli.  I wonder what ever happened to him.

Huff was a better player than I remembered.  He played in thirteen seasons and batted .278/.342/.464.  He hit 242 career home runs.  2003 was his career high in homers, with 34.  He batted .311 in 2003, second only to his .313 average in 2002.  His OBP was .367, second only to his .385 mark in 2010.  His slugging average of .555 was his career high, as was his .922 OPS.  He never made an all-star team, but he received MVP votes three times (seventh was his highest finish, in 2010) and won a Silver Slugger award in 2008.  A very respectable career.

This was only the Twins' second win in their last ten games.

Record:  The Twins were 11-14, in third place in the American League Central, seven games behind Kansas City.