Monthly Archives: February 2021

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of February 4

MELBOURNE

MELBOURNE 9, SYDNEY 2 AT SYDNEY

Blake Gailen hit a three-run homer in the first and Melbourne led all the way.  Sydney cut it to 3-2 after two, but Melbourne scored one in the fourth, two in the fifth, and three in the sixth.  Damek Tomscha was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Colin Willis was 3-for-6 with a triple.  Gailen was 1-for-2 with two walks and the home run was his eighth.  Tyler Beardsley pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and no walks and striking out four.

Stats:  Ex-Twin Delmon Young was 1-for-3 and is batting .402.  Willis is batting .333.  Darryl George was 1-for-4 and is batting .325.  Tomscha is batting .313.  Josh Tols pitched a scoreless inning and has an ERA of 1.98.

Record:  Melbourne is 18-8, in first place in the Australian League, three games ahead of Perth.

Next game:  Melbourne is at Sydney this afternoon.

CARIBBEAN SERIES

PUERTO RICO 9, PANAMA 8

Panama scored five in the first, but after three it was 5-5.  Puerto Rico led 9-6 after five and it stayed there until the ninth, when Panama scored two.  They had the bases loaded with one out but could not push any more runs across.  For Puerto Rico, Jarren Duran was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, and three runs.  Henry Ramos was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.  Jonathan Morales was 2-for-3.  Jason Garcia started put pitched just two-thirds of an inning, allowing five runs on five hits and two walks.  For Panama, David Rodriguez was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Allen Cordoba was 2-for-4.  Hector Gomez was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Jesus Lopez was 2-for-5.  Harold Arauz lasted just two innings, allowing five runs on six hits and a walk.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 3, COLOMBIA 2

Rangel Ravelo had a walkoff single in the ninth to win it for the Dominican.  Ramon Torres was 2-for-3.  Melky Cabrera was 2-for-5 with a double.  Ravelo was 2-for-5.  Yunesky Maya pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out four.  For Colombia, Evan Mendoza was 2-for-4.  Harold Ramirez was 2-for-4.  Edison Frias pitched five shutout innings, giving up four hits and two walks and striking out four.

MEXICO 4, VENEZUELA 3 (10 INNINGS)

Venezuela led 3-0 through seven.  Mexico scored three in the eighth to tie it and Juan Carlos Gamboa delivered an RBI single in the tenth to win it.  Sebastian Elizalde was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Jose Guadalupe Chavez was 2-for-5.  Efren Navarro was 2-for-5.  Edgar Arredondo pitched 4.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk and striking out three.  For Venezuela, D. Vazquez was 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and two runs.  Ali Castillo was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Ex-Twin Logan Darnell pitched seven shutout innings, giving up seven hits and no walks and striking out six.

STANDINGS

Dominican Republic, 5-0
Puerto Rico, 4-1
Mexico, 3-2
Panama, 2-3
Venezuela, 1-4
Colombia, 0-5

NEXT GAMES

We move to the semi-finals.

Panama v. Dominican Republic
Mexico v Puerto Rico

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-seven

MINNESOTA 4, KANSAS CITY 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, August 21.

Batting star:  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth) and four RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Kenny Rogers pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and three walks and striking out three.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Joe Randa was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Brent Mayne was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth).

The game:  It did not look good early.  Aaron Guiel led off with a single and scored from first on Randa's double.  Mayne homered leading off the third to make it 2-0 Royals.  In the third Carlos Beltran singled, Raul Ibanez walked, and Ken Harvey singled to increase the lead to 3-0.

Kansas City left the bases loaded, however, and it cost them.  The Twins did not get a hit for the first five innings.  In the sixth, however, Dustan Mohr got an infield single, Cristian Guzman walked, and Stewart hit a three-run homer.  That quickly, it was tied 3-3.  The Twins went into the lead in the seventh.  A. J. Pierzynski led off with a double and Mohr walked.  A bunt moved the runners up and Stewart again came through, delivering an RBI single to put the Twins up 4-3.  The Royals did not get a baserunner in the last two innings, and the game went to the Twins.

WP:  Rogers (11-6).  LP:  Al Levine (3-6).  S:  Guardado (29).

Notes:  Matthew LeCroy was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Mientkiewicz came in for defense in the ninth inning.

It was again Stewart in left, Mohr in right, and Jacque Jones at DH.

Stewart raised his average to .310.  Jones was 0-for-3 and went down to .305.  Pierzynski was 1-for-3 and got back up to .300.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 2.17.

Ex-Twin Paul Abbott started for Kansas City.  He did very well for five innings, but his line ended up 5.2 innings, three runs, three hits, four walks, and four strikeouts.

Since his awful outing of July 13 (four runs in a third of an inning), Hawkins had appeared in 17 games and pitched 16.2 innings.  He had allowed just two runs on sixteen hits and three walks and had struck out twelve.

As mentioned above Stewart hit his thirteenth home run in this game.  He would set his career high in home runs in 2003.

With the win, the Twins finally climbed out of third place and into second.  Could they stay there?  Could they move up to first?

Record:  The Twins were 66-61, in second place in the American League Central, a half game behind Chicago.  They were a half game ahead of third place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 5

Bill Rariden (1888)
Max Flack (1890)
Roger Peckinpaugh (1891)
Joan Payson (1903)
Jack Murphy (1923)
Don Hoak (1928)
Al Worthington (1929)
Hank Aaron (1934)
Norm Miller (1946)
Mike Heath (1955)
Roberto Alomar (1968)
Eric O'Flaherty (1985)
Mark Hamburger (1987)

Joan Payson was the original owner of the New York Mets.

Jack Murphy was a longtime sportswriter in San Diego who helped bring the Padres to the city.  The baseball stadium was named in his honor for many years until the naming rights were sold.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 5 →

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of February 3

Sorry, I had a bunch of stuff to do this morning, and then I just pretty much forgot about it.

MELBOURNE

SYDNEY 5, MELBOURNE 0 AT SYDNEY

Sydney scored two in the second and three in the eighth.  Blake Gailen led Melbourne, going 2-for-4.  Brian Flynn struck out eleven in seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks.

Stats:  Ex-Twin Delmon Young was 1-for-4 and is batting .404.  Darryl George was 0-for-4 and is batting .327.  Colin Willis was 0-for-4 and is batting .311.  Flynn has an ERA of 1.62.

Record:  Melbourne is 17-8, in first place in the Australian League, three games ahead of Perth.

Next game:  Melbourne is again at Sydney this afternoon.

CARIBBEAN SERIES

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2, VENEZUELA 0

Robel Garcia's two-run double in the seventh provided the only runs of the game.  Garcia was 2-for-3.  Andy Otero pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and a walk and striking out three.  For Venezuela, Jesus Sucre was 2-for-3.  Williams Perez struck out six in six shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks.

PUERTO RICO 2, COLOMBIA 1

Jonathan Morales' walkoff walk won the game for Puerto Rico.  Johneshwy Fargas led off the ninth with a double and scored the deciding run.  Tommy Romero struck out six in 5.1 innings, giving up one run on three hits and two walks.  Reiver Sanmartin struck out eight in five innings for Colombia, giving up one run on three hits and no walks.

MEXICO 6, PANAMA 3

J. Leon's grand slam in the fourth gave Mexico all the runs they needed.  A. Vazquez pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and no walks and striking out three.  David Rodriguez was 2-for-4 for Panama.  Luis Machuca pitched 3.2 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and two walks and striking out one.

STANDINGS

Dominican Republic, 4-0
Puerto Rico, 3-1
Mexico, 2-2
Panama, 2-2
Venezuela, 1-3
Colombia, 0-4

NEXT GAMES

Panama v. Puerto Rico
Colombia v. Dominican Republic
Venezuela v. Mexico

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-six

MINNESOTA 4, CLEVELAND 3 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Wednesday, August 20.

Batting star:  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and no walks and striking out four.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jody Gerut was 3-for-4 with a double.  Ryan Ludwick was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his sixth) and a double.  Brian Anderson pitched seven innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks and striking out five.

The game:  With one out in the first, Matt Lawton and Gerut singled and Ludwick hit a three-run homer, giving the Indians a 3-0 lead.  The Twins went down in order in the first two innings, but in the third, Pierzynski walked and Dustan Mohr reached on an error.  With one out Shannon Stewart reached on an error to bring home a run.  Luis Rivas had an infield single to drive home a second run, and with two out Matthew LeCroy delivered an RBi single to it 3-3.

Cleveland put men on second and third with one out in the third, but did not score.  That was the only threat until the seventh, when Hunter and Pierzynski led off the inning with singles.  Mohr' sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third.  Guzman then popped up to shallow center field.  It was caught by the second baseman, but Hunter tagged up and scored, giving the Twins a 4-3 lead.

The Indians got a two-out double in the seventh and again in the eighth but could do nothing with them.  They went down in order in the ninth and the victory was preserved for the Twins.

WP:  Radke (9-10).  LP:  Anderson (9-10).  S:  Guardado (28).

Notes:  LeCroy remained at first base in the absence of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Stewart remained in left, Mohr in right, and Jacque Jones at DH.  Denny Hocking replaced LeCroy at first base in the eighth inning.

Stewart and Jones were each 0-for-4 and each was batting .308.

Radke's ERA went to 5.04.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a third of an inning without giving up a run and lowered his ERA to 2.20.

Ludwick was quite the Twins killer in 2003.  In 42 at-bats he batted .310/.356/.667 with four home runs and three doubles.  His total numbers that year were .247/.299/.438 with seven homers and eight doubles, meaning that more than half his home runs and nearly half his doubles came against the Twins.  For his career against the Twins he batted .264/.316/.560 with seven homers and six doubles in 91 at-bats.

On Guzman's sacrifice popup, the play-by-play simply says "Popfly: 2B/Sacrifice Fly (Short CF); Hunter Scores; Pierzynski to 3B"  I don't really know what happened.  It could be that Hunter simply made a heads-up baserunning play and caught Cleveland by surprise, and that Pierzynski alertly went to third when the Indians threw home.  Or, it could be that second baseman John McDonald made some sort of spectacular diving catch and could not get up in time to make a throw.  Or, it could be that he collided with center fielder Coco Crisp and couldn't make a throw.  I don't have time to look into it, and I certainly don't remember, but it would be interesting to know.

The Twins had a two-game sweep in Cleveland, giving them some "momentum" as they went into a big four-game series at home against first-place Kansas City.

Record:  The Twins were 65-61, in third place in the American League Central, a half game behind Chicago and Kansas City, who were tied for first.