Monthly Archives: November 2020

Keeping Track

Mazatlan Recap: Game Twenty-seven

MAZATLAN 3, HERMOSILLO 0 IN MAZATLAN

Batting star:  Maxwell Leon was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Matt Gage struck out six in six shutout innings, giving up one hit and one walk.  Roberto Espinosa pitched a perfect inning.  Jesus Pirela pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jorge Castillo pitched 4.2 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and four walks and striking out none.  Alan Rangel pitched two perfect innings.

The game:  It was scoreless until the third.  Ricardo Valenzuela doubled and Jose Augusto Figueroa drew a one-out walk.  Leon singled home a run and Isaac Paredes doubled home another, making it 2-0 Mazatlan.  It stayed 2-0 until the eighth, when Leon homered.

That's pretty much it.  Hermosillo did not get a baserunner until the fourth, when a leadoff single and a one-out walk put men on first and second.  They also put men on first and second with one out in the seventh.

WP:  Gage (1-0).  LP:  Castillo (1-2).  S:  Pirela (5).

Notes:  Paredes was 1-for-4 and is batting .405.  Figueroa was 0-for-2 and is batting .373.  Carlos Munoz was 0-for-4 and is batting .327.  Anthony Giansanti was 0-for-1 and is batting .310.  Giansanti came out of the game after being hit by a pitch in the sixth inning.

Marco Antonio Rivas struck out the only man he faced and has an ERA of 2.70.  Espinosa's ERA is 2.25.  Pirela's ERA is 0.93.

Despite the fact that it was a 3-0 game and there were only eight hits, the game took 3 hours and 6 minutes to play.

Record:  Mazatlan is 13-14, in seventh place, eight games behind the Yaquis de Obregon.  They are a half game behind sixth-place Jalisco.

Next game:  Mazatlan again hosts Hermosillo tonight.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Fifty-six

MINNESOTA 6, SAN FRANCISCO 4 IN SAN FRANCISCO

Date:  Tuesday, June 3.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-5 with a home run (his sixth), two doubles, two runs, and three RBIs.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and two runs.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5 with two doubles, a stolen base (his third), and two runs.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched six innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and one walk.  He struck out none.  LaTroy Hawkins retired all five men he faced.

Opposition stars:  PItcher Damian Moss was 2-for-2.  Barry Bonds was 2-for-4 with a home run, his fourteenth.  Marquis Grissom was 2-for-5 with a home run, his eighth.  Chad Zerbe pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  Doubles by Guzman, Hunter, and Mientkiewicz plated two runs and gave the Twins a 2-0 lead in the first inning.  Guzman doubled again in the third, stole third base, and scored on Koskie's single to make it 3-0.

The Giants chipped away at the lead.  Bonds homered in the fourth to cut the margin to 3-1.  In the fifth Marvin Benard doubled and scored on Moss' single to trim the lead to 3-2.  The Twins got one back in the sixth when Mientkiewicz doubled and scored on Pierzynski's single, but San Francisco cut the lead back to one in the bottom of the sixth when Ray Durham singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a Benito Santiago single.

In the seventh, however, Hunter drew a two-out walk and Mientkiewicz followed with a two-run homer, putting the Twins up 6-3.  The Giants loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Hawkins came in and got a double play from Rich Aurelia to end the threat.  The only San Francisco hit after that came when Grissom hit a home run with two out in the ninth.

WP:  Mays (7-3).  LP:  Moss (6-4).  S:  Eddie Guardado (16).

Notes:  Mays was 1-for-1 with a walk, and so was batting 1.000.  Jacque Jones was 0-for-5 and was batting .319.  Dustan Mohr was 0-for-4 and was batting .307.

Mays was 7-3 despite an ERA of 5.40.

Johan Santana pitched a third of an inning and did not give up a run, dropping his ERA to 2.65.  Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.37.  Guardado gave up a run in an inning to make his ERA 1.82.

Moss started for the Giants.  He pitched seven innings, but allowed six runs on twelve hits and two walks, striking out three.  He saved the bullpen, anyway.  This was his only year with the Giants.  He'd had a good year with Atlanta in 2002, going 12-6, 3.42, 1.28 WHIP and finishing fifth in Rookie of the Year voting.  It turned out to be the only good year he had.  He only pitched in the big leagues through 2004 and had a career record of 22-19, 4.50, 1.48 WHIP.  He continued to play through 2010, though, mostly in independent and winter league ball.

The time of the game was 2:36, which is pretty good for a 6-4 game.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak.  Obviously, it was the Twins' first interleague game of the season.

Record:  The Twins were 32-24, in first place in the American League Central, 4.5 games ahead of Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 26

Hugh Duffy (1866)
Fred Tenney (1871)
Bob Johnson (1905)
Lefty Gomez (1908)
Howard Easterling (1911)
Bob Elliott (1916)
Eddie Miller (1916)
Jeff Torborg (1941)
Larry Gura (1947)
Richie Hebner (1947)
Jorge Orta (1950)
Jay Howell (1955)
Bob Walk (1956)
Mike Moore (1959)
Harold Reynolds (1960)
Chuck Finley (1962)
Brian Schneider (1976)
Matt Garza (1983)
Matt Carpenter (1985)

Infielder Howard Easterling was a star in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s and 1940s.

The staff of Happy Birthday would like to wish everyone a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 26 →

Keeping Track

Gigantes Recap

The Gigantes game against Estrellas was rained out.  Rain has played havoc with the Dominican League schedule.  There are teams who have played as many as eight games, and teams who have played as few as three.  The Gigantes remain 2-2.  They are in third place, a half game behind the Toros del Este and the Tigres del Licey.  They were scheduled to play Licey tonight, but it appears that game has already been postponed.  Their next game will be Friday, when they host the Toros.

Keeping Track

Mazatlan Recap: Game Twenty-six

MAZATLAN 7, HERMOSILLO 6 IN MAZATLAN

Batting stars:  Isaac Paredes was 3-for-4 with a double and three runs.  Anthony Giansanti was 2-for-4 with a double.  Hector Mora was 2-for-4.  Ricardo Valenzuela was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fifth.

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

Opposition stars:  Norberto Obeso was 3-for-5.  Yadiel Hernandez was 3-for-5.  Jasson Atondo was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.  Julian Leon was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk.

The game:  Mazatlan scored in the first when Paredes singled, Oscar Munoz walked, and Giansanti delivered an RBI double.  Hermosillo came back to take the lead in the second.  Singles by Fernando Perez and Luis Alfonso Cruz were followed by a fielder's choice, loading the bases with two out.  Atondo then hit a two-run single and Obeso had an RBI single, putting Hermosillo ahead 3-1.

Mazatlan had a three-run inning of their own in the third to get the lead back.  Jose Augusto Figueroa singled, Maxwell Leon was hit by a pitch, and Paredes doubled home the first run.  A sacrifice fly tied the score, a hit batsman put men on first and third, and an error brought home the go-ahead run.

In the fifth Paredes singled and scored on a Munoz double.  A single and a ground out brought Munoz home to make it 6-3.  Valenzuelan homered leading off the sixth and Mazatlan appeared to have a comfortable 7-3 advantage.

However, things are sometimes not as they appear to be.  Atondo walked leading off the seventh, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Hernandez' single to make it 7-4.  In the eighth, and error and Leon's two-run homer cut the lead to a single run at 7-6.  Hermosillo went on to get a pair of two-out singles, but a popup ended the inning.  They also got a leadoff single in the ninth but could not advance the runner past first base.

WP:  Francisco Rios (3-1).  LP:  Luis Mendoza (0-2).  S:  Pirela (4).

Notes:  Paredes is batting .424.  Figueroa was 1-for-5 and is batting .388.  Munoz was 1-for-1 and is batting .340.  Giansanti is batting .314.

Rivas' ERA is 2.77.  Roberto Espinosa gave up an earned run in two-thirds of an inning and has an ERA of 2.40.  Juan Ramon Noriega retired the only batter he faced and has an ERA of zero.

Rios started and pitched five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk and striking out four.

Record:  Mazatlan is 12-14, in seventh place, eight games behind Obregon.  They are a half-game behind sixth place Jalisco.

Next game:  Mazatlan again hosts Hermosillo tonight.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Fifty-five

SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 1.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 2-for-3 with a walk.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a double.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-5 with a home run, his sixth.  Lew Ford was 1-for-1 with a home run.

Pitching stars:  Tony Fiore pitched five innings of relief, giving up two runs on three hits and no walks and striking out three.  J. C. Romero pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Edgar Martinez was 4-for-5 with a home run (his fourteenth), a double, three runs, and two RBIs.  Greg Colbrunn was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs.  Bret Boone was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifteenth), two runs, and two RBIs.  Mike Cameron was 2-for-5.

The game:  The Mariners scored six runs in the first inning before anyone was out.  Oddly enough, Brad Radke was not the Twins' starting pitcher.  They started the game with five singles:  Randy Winn, Carlos Guillen, Boone, Martinez, and Cameron all singled.  Colbrunn then hit a two-run triple and Jeff Cirillo singled, bringing the score to 6-0.  Jones led off the bottom of the first with a home run, but Boone led off the second with a home run, making the score 7-1.

To the Twins' credit, they battled to try to make a game of it.  In the second Doug Mientkiewicz doubled and Pierzynski hit a two-run homer, making it 7-3.  In the third, singles by Cristian Guzman and Koskie and a walk to Torii Hunter brought the tying run to the plate with one out.  All the Twins could manage was a sacrifice fly, though, and it was 7-4.

That was as good as it got for the Twins.  Martinez homered it the fourth to make it 8-4.  In the eighth Martinez doubled, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 9-4.

The Twins got one more in the ninth.  With two out Ford pinch-hit for Luis Rivas and hit a home run, his first major league homer.  That brought the score to 9-5, and that's where it stayed.

WP:  Freddy Garcia (5-6).  LP:  Kenny Rogers (4-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  With the home run, Ford was batting .500.  Jones dropped his average to .327.  Dustan Mohr was 0-for-3 and was batting .315.

Ford was the only lineup substitute.

Rogers lasted just 1.1 innings, allowing seven runs on ten hits and no walks.  He struck out one.  He had a game score of seven, which was by far his worst game of the season.

Garcia pitched seven innings for the Mariners, giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out seven.  I remember him as being better than he was.  Not that he was bad or anything, but he was average to slightly above average for most of his career.  He started out really well, though, which may have skewed my memory.  He finished second to Carlos Beltran in Rookie of the Year voting in 1999, going 17-8, 4.07, although with a 1.47 WHIP.  He made the all-star team in 2001 and again in 2002.  2001 was his best year:  he was 18-6, 3.05, 1.12 WHIP.  He led the league in ERA, innings, and home runs per nine innings, the only times he ever led the league in anything except for 2005, when he led the league in wild pitches.  He finished third in Cy Young voting that year to Roger Clemens and Mark Mulder, and while I can't say that the voters were wrong it looks like his season was every bit as good as theirs.  For his career he was 156-108, 4.15, 1.30 WHIP and had a lifetime ERA+ of 107.  He appeared in 376 games, 357 of them starts, and pitched 2264 innings.  He was durable, pitching over 200 innings seven times.  Not a Hall of Famer or anything, but certainly a respectable career.

As mentioned above this was Lewwwwww's first home run.  He would hit 35 in his career, with a career high of 15 in 2004.

Ex-Twin Greg Colbrunn's triple was the last of his major league career.  He hit 12 of them, with a career high of three in 1999.

After playing so well for almost the entire month of May, the Twins had now lost four in a row.  They were swept at home, the first time that had happened since the Yankees series in April.  Luckily, second-place Kansas City was struggling, too, and had slipped to an even .500.

Record:  The Twins were 31-24, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Kansas City.