Monthly Archives: December 2020

Keeping Track

Gigantes Recaps: Game Sixteen

ESTRELLAS 5, GIGANTES 0 AT GIGANTES

Batting stars:  None.

Pitching stars:  Montana DuRapau struck out two in two perfect innings.  Randy Rosario pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.  Fernando Romero pitched a perfect inning and struck out all three batters he faced.

Opposition stars:  Rainel Rosario was 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs.  Socrates Brito was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Jeremy Pena was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Domingo Acevedo struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up a hit and two walks.  Joey Payamps struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  Estrellas scored single runs in the second and third and three in the eighth to put it away.  Rosario hit a two-run homer and Pena a solo shot in the eighth.

WP:  Payamps (2-1).  LP:  Scott Harkin (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Logan Moore was 0-for-1 and is batting .375.  Kelvin Gutierrez was 1-for-3 and is batting .364.  Ronald Guzman was 0-for-3 and is batting .323.

DuRapau and Romero each has an ERA of zero.  Rosario has an ERA of 1.29.

The Gigantes used three pinch-hitters and a pinch-runner.

The Gigantes were 0-for-8 with men in scoring position.

There was a 1:14 minute rain dealy.  There was supposed to be a second game, making it a doubleheader, but it was postponed.

Record:  The Gigantes are 8-9, but are only a game and a half behind first-place Estrellas.  They are a half game behind fifth-place Licey.

Next game:  The Gigantes host the Toros del Este today.

Keeping Track

Mazatlan Recaps: Game Forty-one

MAZATLAN 6, MONTERREY 3 IN MONTERREY

Batting stars:  Ricardo Valenzuela was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Isaac Paredes was 3-for-5.  Ricky Alvarez was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Francisco Rios pitched six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk and striking out one.  Marco Antonio Rivas pitched a perfect inning.  Roberto Espinosa pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.  Jesus Pirela pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Jose Aguilar was 2-for-4.  Ricardo Serrano was 2-for-4.

The game:  Monterrey scored all three of their runs in the first inning.  Mazatlan scored two in the fourth, tied it on a single and two errors in the fifth, and took the lead with two in the sixth.  Edson Garcia hit an RBI triple to bring home the go-ahead run and scored on a sacrifice fly to provide an insurance run.  Mazatlan added one more in the eighth.

WP:  Rios (5-2).  LP:  Jesse Estrada (0-4).  S:  Pirela (9).

Notes:  Paredes is batting .365.  Rivas has an ERA of 1.69.  Espinosa has an ERA of 1.88.  Pirela has an ERA of 1.08.

Monterrey used eight pitchers, five of them for less than an inning.

Record:  Mazatlan is 20-21, in seventh place, seven games behind Obregon.  They are one game behind sixth-place Culiacan.

Next game:  Mazatlan is again at Monterrey late this afternoon.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 12

Phenomenal Smith (1864)
Tully Sparks (1874)
Buzzie Bavasi (1915)
Clyde Kluttz (1917)
Ralph Garr (1945)
Gorman Thomas (1950)
Steve Farr (1956)
Alonzo Powell (1964)
Orlando Hudson (1977)
Ervin Santana (1982)

Emil "Buzzie" Bavasi was the general manager of the Dodgers from 1951-1968, San Diego from 1969-1972, and the Angels from 1977-1984.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 12 →

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Seventy-two

MILWAUKEE 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Friday, June 20.

Batting star:  Luis Rivas was 1-for-3 with a triple and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out five.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.  Johan Santana struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Ben Sheets struck out eight in eight innings, giving up two unearned runs on three hits and one walk.  Geoff Jenkins was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Royce Clayton was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Neither team got much going on offense until the fourth, when the Twins got on the board.  Corey Koskie drew a one-out walk, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch-plus-error to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.

The Brewers went ahead in the sixth.  Eric Young and Scott Podsednik each singled with one out.  Podsednik then stole second, putting men on second and third, and Jenkins delivered a two-run single to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.  The lead only lasted for a half-inning, however, as Torii Hunter led of the seventh by reaching on an error, went to third on a Doug Mientkiewicz single, and scored on a sacrifice fly to tie it 2-2.  Each team got a man to second in the ninth, but neither scored, so we went to free baseball.

The Twins put men on first and third with one out in the tenth, but a strikeout and a ground out thwarted them.  In the bottom of the tenth Clayton led off with a double, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on a wild pitch to end the game in Milwaukee's favor.

WP:  Curtis Leskanic (4-0).  LP:  Juan Rincon (1-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  There was no DH.  Bobby Kielty and Denny Hocking were used as pinch-hitters for pitchers.  Justin Morneau pinch-hit for Dustan Mohr in the ninth.  Lew Ford entered the game in right field in the bottom of the ninth.

Morneau was 0-for-1 and was batting .344.  Mientkiewicz was 1-for-4 and was batting .307.  Jacque Jones was 0-for-5 and was batting .305.  Koskie was 0-for-3 and was batting .301.

Radke's ERA was 5.64, coming down from a high of 6.00.  It would continue to go down, slowly but steadily, for the rest of the season.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 2.10.  Santana's ERA went down to 2.19.

When I have more time I'll have to do a profile of Royce Clayton, because he was one of my favorite players for reasons I don't remember.  He was certainly never a star--he never led the league in anything and made just one all-star team, in 1997.  But he was a steady ballplayer who played in over 100 games every year from 1993-2006, and played in 98 games in 1992.  Most of those years he was a starting shortstop.  His career numbers are nothing to shout about:  .258/.312/.367.  But major league mangers thought enough of him to keep writing his name in the lineup for the better part of fifteen consecutive seasons, so they clearly thought he had value.

Record:  The Twins were 39-33, in first place in the American League Central, one game ahead of Kansas City.

Friday Music Day

FMD 12/11/2020 – Best First Songs On An Album

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I'm 100% stealing this from Algonad's recent FB post, but today's topic is "Best First Songs On An Album". Or however he phrased it.

Personally, I'd nominate "Birdhouse In Your Soul" except for the little problem of the opener on that album. Openers disqualify songs, I think.

So I'm going to go with "Born In The U.S.A." from Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A.. What you got? Also, list 10 random songs from your playlist if people still do that.

Keeping Track

Mayaguez Recaps: Games Two and Three

MAYAGUEZ 12, MANATI 2 IN MAYAGUEZ

Wednesday

Leading 3-2, Mayaguez scored four in the sixth and put it away for good with five in the eighth.  Xavier Fernandez hit a three-run homer in the sixth and Christian Sojo hit a pinch-hit three-run homer in the eighth.  Fernandez was 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs.  Kenny Hernandez started and pitched 4.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk and striking out two.

Record:  Mayaguez was 2-0 and was tied for first with Caguas.

MAYAGUEZ 14, MANATI 5 IN MAYAGUEZ

Thursday

Manati led 3-1 after two, but Mayaguez scored five in the fourth, two in the fifth, and four in the sixth.  Jesmuel Valentin hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning.  Henry Ramos was 4-for-5 with a home run and a double.  Danny Ortiz was 3-for-5 with a home run and a double.  Brian Navaretto was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Kennys Vargas was 2-for-4 with a walk.  The last three are all ex-Twins.  Antonio Velez started for Mayaguez and pitched four innings, giving up five runs on ten hits and a walk and striking out two.  Five relievers pitched five shutout innings, giving up two hits and two walks.

Record:  Mayaguez is 3-0, tied for first place with Caguas.

Next game:  Mayaguez is at RA12 tonight.

Keeping Track

Lara Recaps: Game Twelve

LARA 9, ZULIA 3 IN ZULIA

Wednesday

Lara scored six in the third and led the rest of the way.  Ildemaro Vargas had a two-run double in the inning.  Yordanys Linares was 4-for-5 with a home run (his third), two runs, and two RBIs.  Raul Rivero got the win, pitching five innings and giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out three.

Thursday

No game.

Record:  Lara is 8-4, in third place in the West Division, two games ahead of Magallanes and Margarita.

Next game:  Lara hosts Margarita tonight.

Keeping Track

Gigantes Recaps: Games Twelve and Thirteen

LICEY 4, GIGANTES 0 AT LICEY

Wednesday

Licey scored single runs in the first and second and two in the sixth.  The Gigantes had seven hits, three of them doubles, but went 1-for-12 with men in scoring position.  Luis Marte was 2-for-3 with two doubles.  Tiago Del Silva started and pitched 1.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and no walks and striking out one,

Record:  The Gigantes are 7-5, in second place, a half-game behind the Toros del Este.

LICEY 3, GIGANTES 2 AT LICEY

Thursday

Dawel Lugo's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth brought home the tying and deciding runs for Licey.  Kelvin Gutierrez was 2-for-4 with a double to lead the Gigantes offense.  Seuly Matias hit a pinch-hit home run.  Raynel Espinal started, pitching two innings and giving up one run on two hits and two walks and striking out one.  Gabriel Ynoa pitched four shutout innings of relief.

Record:  The Gigantes are  7-6, in second place, a half-game behind the Toros del Este.

Next game:  The Gigantes host Estrellas for a doubleheader today.

Keeping Track

Mazatlan Recaps: Games Thirty-nine and Forty

MONTERREY 11, MAZATLAN 0 IN MONTERREY

Wednesday

Monterrey scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back.  Ricardo Valenzuela was 2-for-2 to lead Mazatlan.  Irvin Delgado started for Mazatlan but lasted just two innings, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks and striking out none.

Record:  Mazatlan is 18-21, in eighth place, eight games behind Obregon.  They are one game behind seventh-place Monterrey.

MAZATLAN 7, MONTERREY 3 IN MONTERREY (11 INNINGS)

Thursday

Mazatlan trailed 3-0 after two, but scored single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh to tie it.  Maxwell Leon hit a three-run homer in the four-run eleventh.  Leon was 2-for-5 and the home run was his third.  Isaac Paredes (his third) and Carlos Munoz (his fifth) also homered.  Edgar Torres started and pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out two.  Six relievers combined to give up no hits and one walk over the final 5.1 innings.

Record:  Mazatlan is 19-21, in seventh place, seven games behind Obregon.  They are two games behind sixth-place Culiacan.

Next game:  Mazatlan is again at Monterrey today.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Seventy-one

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MINNESOTA 16, KANSAS CITY 2 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Thursday, June 19.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 4-for-5 with two home runs (his eighth and ninth), a walk, three runs, and six RBIs.  Cristian Guzman was 4-for-6 with a stolen base (his fourth) and four runs.  Torii Hunter was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with a home run (his ninth), three runs, and three RBIs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-6 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks and striking out two.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Raul Ibanez was 2-for-4.  Kris Wilson pitched 3.1 innings of relief, giving up one run on five hits and striking out one.

The game:  The Twins opened the game with three singles to score one run and a ground out plated another, making it 2-0 Twins in the first.  In the third, back-to-back RBI doubles by Justin Morneau and Hunter made it 4-0.  In the fourth Jones hit a two-run homer and Koskie had an RBI single to put the Twins up 7-0.

If it wasn't out of reach already, it was after the fifth inning.  The Twins scored seven runs.  Hunter doubled and Dustan Mohr walked, but they were on first and second with two out.  The next seven batters reached base.  Rivas doubled home a run.  Jones singled one in.  Guzman singled in another.  Koskie hit a three-run homer.  It didn't kill the rally.  Morneau walked and Hunter singled.  Mientkiewicz had an RBI double.  The score was 14-0 after five innings.

Koskie homered in the seventh to make it 15-0.  The Royals got on the board in the bottom of the seventh when Carlos Beltran doubled and Ibanez singled.  In the eighth Brent Mayne walked and Desi Relaford doubled to cut the margin to 15-2.  Mientkiewicz singled home a run in the ninth to end it at 16-2.

WP:  Mays (8-4).  LP:  Kyle Snyder (1-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Morneau was the DH.

With a blowout game, the Twins made numerous substitutions.  Lew Ford replaced Hunter in center field in the sixth.  Bobby Kielty replaced Jones in the sixth but went to right, with Mohr moving from right to left.  Matthew LeCroy pinch-hit for Morneau in the ninth.  Tom Prince pinch-hit for A. J. Pierzynski in the ninth and stayed in the game at catcher.

Ford was 1-for-2 and was batting .429.   Morneau was 1-for-4 and was batting .355.  Jones raised his average to .311.  Mientkiewicz raised his average to .308.  Koskie raised his average to .305.  LeCroy was 1-for-1 and was batting .303.  Pierzynski was 1-for-5 and was batting .300.

Mays had his best game since April by game scores.  It was his first game score over fifty in a month.  His ERA was still at 5.48.

Snyder started for Kansas City.  He pitched four innings, allowing seven runs on ten hits and no walks and striking out two.

The Twins certainly broke their losing streak in a big way.  Offense, however, hadn't been a problem in the streak: they had scored 2, 8, 8, 7, and 6 runs in the losses, an average of over six runs.  The trouble was that they had given up an average of over ten runs in those five losses.

Record:  The Twins were 39-32, in first place in the American League Central, two games ahead of Kansas City.