Category Archives: Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of April 10

The quick version.

ST. PAUL SAINTS 13, OMAHA STORM CHASERS 4 IN ST. PAUL

St. Paul scored six in the second to take a 7-1 lead.  They were aided by three walks, a hit batsman, and an error.  Yunior Severino was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Austin Martin was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.

WICHITA WIND SURGE 3, MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS 2 IN WICHITA

Midland scored two in the first, but Wichita came back with two in the fifth and Kyler Fedco doubled home the go-ahead run in the sixth.  Fedco was 3-for-4 with a double, a run, and an RBI.  John Klein struck out five and walked one, giving up no hits in three shutout innings of relief.

BELOIT SKY CARP 8, CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 7 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

Beloit led 8-2 after four and a half innings.  Cedar Rapids came back and had men on first and second with two out, but a force out ended the game.  Billy Amick was 3-for-4 with two walks, a run, and two RBIs.  Gabriel Gonzalez was 3-for-5 with two doubles, a run, and an RBIs.  Nate Baez was 1-for-2 with a home run, three walks, three runs, and two RBIs.

TAMPA TARPONS 4, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 1 IN FORT MYERS

Parks Harber hit a two-run homer in the eighth to break a 1-1 tie.  Miguel Briceno was 2-for-4.  Christian MacLeod struck out four and walked one, allowing no hits in two shutout innings.  Pierson Ohl struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Hunter Hoopes allowed only a hit batsman in 2.1 scoreless innings, striking out two.

Happy Birthday–April 11

Pop Corkhill (1858)
Ossee Schrecongost (1875)
Matsutaro Shoriki (1885)
Sam Chapman (1916)
Barney McCosky (1917)
Jim Hearn (1921)
Bob Casey (1925)
Sid Monge (1951)
Bret Saberhagen (1964)
Turner Ward (1965)
Sean Bergman (1970)
Robin Jennings (1972)
Jason Varitek (1972)
Trot Nixon (1974)
Todd Dunwoody (1975)
Kelvim Escobar (1976)
Mark Teixeira (1980)
Andres Blanco (1984)
Alejandro De Aza (1984)
Kenta Maeda (1988)

Matustaro Shoriki is known as the father of Japanese baseball.

Bob Casey was the Twins' public address announcer from 1961 until his death in March of 2005.

Jason Varitek was drafted by the Twins in the first round in 1993, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 11

Minor Details: Games of April 9

ST. PAUL SAINTS 3, OMAHA STORM CHASERS 2 IN ST. PAUL

Jair Camargo started the scoring with a two-run homer in the fourth.  Andrew Morris held Omaha scoreless for five innings, but then left the game, and reliever Cory Lewis allowed two runs in the sixth to tie it.  Not to worry, as Carson McCusker homered in the bottom of the sixth to give the Saints the lead back.  Lewis settled down to pitch two scoreless innings, and Anthony Misiewicz pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.

Batters:  Austin Martin was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Carson McCusker was 2-for-4 with a home run.  Emmanuel Rodriguez was 2-for-4.  Jair Camargo was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk.

Pitchers:  Andrew Morris pitched five shutout innings, giving up four hits and two walks and striking out three.  Anthony Misiewicz pitched a scoreless inning, striking out one and walking one.

Opposition:  Luca Tresh was 2-for-3.

Record:  St. Paul is 3-5, tied for eighth with Indianapolis, 4.5 games behind Columbus.

MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS 8, WICHITA WIND SURGE 4 IN WICHITA

Midland scored three in the top of the first, but Wichita bounced back with a Rubel Cespedes grand slam in the bottom of the first to take a 4-3 lead.  Luke Mann hit a two-run homer in the second, however, and Midland added another in the third to go up 6-4.  Wichita got two on with one out in the eighth with Cespedes again up, but he could not come through again, striking out, and a fly out ended the threat.  Midland added two in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

Batters:  Rubel Cespedes was 2-for-4 with a home run and a double.

Pitchers:  Starter Ricky Castro had a rough go, allowing six runs on five hits and three walks in 2.2 innings.  He struck out two.  Mike Paredes pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and one walk and striking out three.  Jaylin Nowlin struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition:  Euribiel Angeles was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Luke Mann was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and two runs.  Colby Halter was 1-for-5 with two RBIs.  Micah Dallas struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Colin Peluse pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Record:  Wichita is 2-3, tied for third with Arkansas, 2.5 games behind Northwest Arkansas.

BELOIT SKY CARP 10, CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 0 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

It was actually close most of the way.  Beloit scored two in the third and one in the eighth before exploding for seven in the ninth.  The Kernels managed only three hits.

Batters:  None.

Pitchers:  Starter Ross Dunn pitched 3.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and striking out one.  Wilker Reyes struck out four in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Jack Noble struck out one in a perfect inning.

Opposition:  Jay Beshears was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Yiddi Cappe was 2-for-4 with a walk, three runs, and three RBIs.  Fenwick Trimble was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Brock Vradenburg was 2-for-5 with a triple, a double, and two RBIs.  Noble Meyer pitched 4.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and two walks and striking out two.  Justin Storm pitched three shutout innings, giving up only a walk.  I don't know how good this team is, but they have some guys with great names.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 3-2, in third place, one game behind Beloit and Quad Cities.

FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 5, TAMPA TARPONS 1 IN FORT MYERS

A sacrifice fly brought home a run in the first to give Fort Myers the lead.  Tampa tied it in the fourth on a bases-loaded hit by pitch.  Jose Rodriguez singled in the bottom of the fourth to put Fort Myers back up 2-1, and there things stood until the seventh, when Dameury Pena delivered a two-run single.  A wild pitch plated one more in the seventh, and that brought us to the final score of 5-1.

Batters:  Byron Chourio was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Yasser Mercedes was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Dameury Pena was 1-for-3 with three RBIs.

Pitchers:  Starter Michael Carpenter pitched just one inning, but it was a scoreless inning, as he struck out three, walked two, and gave up one hit.  He threw thirty-six pitches in the inning, which we assume is why he was replaced.  Kade Bragg pitched two shutout innings, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out one.  Jacob Kisting struck out six in 2.1 scoreless innings.  Ivran Romero pitched two shutout innings, walking two and striking out one.  Tyler Stasiowski pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition:  Brian Sanchez was 2-for-4.  Danny Flatt pitched four innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks and striking out two.

Record:  Fort Myers is 2-3, tied for fourth, one game out of first.  Half the division is 3-2, the other half is 2-3.

TODAY'S TILTS

6:05  Tampa (TBD) at Fort Myers (Jakob Hall, 0-0, 12.00)
6:35  Beloit (Thomas White, 0-0, 0.00) at Cedar Rapids (Ty Langenberg, no record)
6:35  Midland (James Gonzalez, 1-0, 7.20) at Wichita (Chase Chaney, 0-0, 9.00)
6:37  Omaha (Tyson Guerrero, 1-1, 4.00) at St. Paul (Marco Raya, 0-0, 0.00)

Happy Birthday–April 10

Ross Youngs (1897)
Bubba Hyde (1908)
Chuck Connors (1921)
Frank Lary (1930)
Robert Nederlander (1933)
Wes Stock (1934)
Joe Gibbon (1935)
Bob Watson (1946)
Lee Lacy (1948)
Tom Lundstedt (1949)
Ken Griffey (1950)
Mike Devereaux (1963)
Starvin’ Marvin Freeman (1963)
Alberto Reyes (1971)
Mike Lincoln (1975)
Andre Ethier (1982)
Corey Kluber (1986)
Charlie Culberson (1989)
Scott Blewett (1996)

Bubba Hyde was an outfielder in the Negro Leagues for twenty-six years.

Better known as an actor, Chuck Connors was a first baseman for the Chicago Cubs in 1951.  He also played professional basketball, and was the first player to break the glass backboard with a slam dunk in a professional basketball game.

Robert Nederlander is a part-owner of the New York Yankees and was managing partner in from 1990-1991, when George Steinbrenner was suspended.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 10

Minor Details: Games of April 8

The quick version.

OMAHA STORM CHASERS 3, ST. PAUL SAINTS 0 IN ST. PAUL

St. Paul had only two hits, both singles.  Zebby Matthews struck out nine in five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.  Both runs came in the fifth.

WICHITA WIND SURGE 3, MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS 1 IN WICHITA

Ricardo Olivar was 2-for-4.  Tanner Schobel hit a home run.  Darren Bowen struck out five in five innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 3, BELOIT SKY CARP 2 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

Billy Amick was 1-for-3 with a double and drove in all three runs.  Jose Olivares struck out six in 4.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and three walks.

TAMPA TARPONS 5, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 3 IN FORT MYERS

Dameury Pena hit a two-run double in the second, and the 2-0 lead stood up until the ninth, when Tampa scored five runs.  They were aided by four walks and an error.  Pena was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Poncho Ruiz was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Dylan Questad struck out eight in five shutout innings, giving up one hit and one walk.

Happy Birthday–April 9

Doc White (1879)
Hippo Vaughn (1888)
Wade Johnston (1898)
Vic Sorrell (1901)
Fred Frankhouse (1904)
Claude Passeau (1909)
Zip Payne (1909)
Joe Brinkman (1944)
Peter Gammons (1945)
Nate Colbert (1946)
Kirk McCaskill (1961)
Hal Morris (1965)
Graeme Lloyd (1967)
Rudy Hernandez (1968)
A. J. Ellis (1981)
David Robertson (1985)
Luis Arraez (1997)

Cecil "Zip" Payne was a long-time minor-league player and manager, collecting 2,179 hits.

Joe Brinkman and Derryl Cousins hold the record for most games umpired together, 2,123.

Rudy Hernandez was an infielder in the Mets organization from 1987-1991, reaching AA.  With the exception of 2004, he was a manager or coach in the Twins' organization from 2001-2024.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Mama MagUidhir.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 9

Happy Birthday–April 8

John Peters (1850)
Kirby Higbe (1915)
Stan Wasiak (1920)
Charlie Maxwell (1927)
Turk Farrell (1934)
Takao Kajimoto (1935)
John Hiller (1943)
Catfish Hunter (1946)
Randy Marsh (1949)
Mac Scarce (1949)
Gary Carter (1954)
Alex Gonzalez (1973)
Timo Perez (1975)
Jeremy Guthrie (1979)
Matt Ford (1981)
Chris Iannetta (1983)
Bobby Wilson (1983)
Felix Hernandez (1986)
Carlos Santana (1986)
Yonder Alonso (1987)
Jeremy Hellickson (1987)
Zach Eflin (1994)
Jo Adell (1999)

Stan Wasiak holds the record for most wins as a minor league manager, 2,530.  He managed from 1950-1986, managing at levels from Class D to AAA.

Pitcher Takao Kajimoto won 254 games in Japan and was a twelve-time all-star.

Randy Marsh was a major league umpire from 1981-2009 and is currently a director of umpiring.

Yonder Alonso was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2005, but did not sign.

We would like to wish a happy birthday to the brother of Daneeka's Ghost.

Dad A passed away on this date six years ago.  I'm not asking for sympathy--he lived a long, full life, he was ready to go, and I'm confident about where he is.  Still, I felt that I should at least acknowledge the anniversary somehow.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 8

Minor Details: Games of April 6

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS 3, ST. PAUL SAINTS 2 IN COLUMBUS (10 INNINGS)

Once again the Saints scored two early, and once again it was enough until it wasn't.  In the third, Emmanuel Rodriguez singled home a run and a bases-loaded walk brought home another.  The Clippers got one back in the sixth, but it was still 2-1 going to the bottom of the ninth.  Angel Martinez led off the inning with a double and scored on a Petey Halpin single to tie it.  The Saints failed to score the Manfred Man in the tenth, and it cost them as Will Brennan, who apparently kills the Twins even when he's in the minors, singled home the deciding run.  The Saints stranded twelve men and were 1-for-10 with men in scoring position.  They drew ten walks, but could manage only five hits.

BattersRyan Fitzgerald was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitchers:  Randy Dobnak pitched five shutout innings, giving up one hit and four walks and striking out three.  Travis Adams struck out three in three innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk.

Opposition:  Will Brennan was 2-for-5 with an RBI.  Ryan Webb struck out five in 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, giving up two hits and walking three.

St. Paul is 2-4, tied for eighth with Indianapolis, three games behind Columbus.

SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS 5, WICHITA WIND SURGE 0 IN SPRINGFIELD (GAME 1)

Springfield scored three in the second on a double and three singles.  Wichita managed only one hit, a two-out single by Rubel Cespedes in the second inning.

Batters:  None.

Pitchers:  Starter Aaron Rozek struck out five in four innings, but allowed four runs on six hits and a walk.  Jaylin Nowlin pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition:  Jacob Buchberger was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.  Max Rajcic pitched five shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out four.

WICHITA WIND SURGE 10, SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS 2 IN SPRINGFIELD (GAME 2)

Apparently the Wind Surge saved all its offense for the second game.  They scored six runs in the second inning on a walk. three singles, a double, and a two-run homer by Kala'i Rosario.  They added two more in the third, aided by three walks, and were never threatened.

Batters:  Tanner Schobel was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, a run, and four RBIs.  Ricardo Olivar was 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI.  Kala'i Rosario was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.  Ben Ross was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk.

Pitchers:  Trent Baker struck out three in three shutout innings, also walking three but allowing no hits.  Joel Cesar pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.  John Stankiewicz pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition:  Chase Davis was 2-for-3 with a walk.

Record:  Wichita is 1-2, tied for third with Arkansas, two games behind Northwest Arkansas.

WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 7, CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6 IN WISCONSIN

It was another see-saw game, as the Kernels led 2-0, trailed 3-2, led 4-3, and trailed 5-4.  They tied it 5-5 in the seventh on doubles by Billy Amick and Gabriel Gonzalez, but Blake Burke's RBI double in the bottom of the seventh gave the lead back to Wisconsin and Hedbert Perez' RBI triple gave them an insurance run.  They needed it, because Gonzalez led off the ninth with a homer, but Cedar Rapids could not get the tying run on base.

Batters:  Billy Amick was 3-for-4 with a triple, two doubles, a walk, three runs, and an RBI.  Gabriel Gonzalez was 3-for-5 with a home run, two doubles, and three RBIs.  Kaelen Culpepper was 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and a run.  Kyle DeBarge was 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Pitchers:  Starter Tanner Hall struck out six in five innings, but allowed five runs on five hits and a walk.  Juan Mendez struck out two and walked one in a scoreless inning.

Opposition:  Blake Burke was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, two runs, and three RBIs.  Yophery Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a triple, a double, a walk, and three runs.  Jadher Areinamo was 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.  Jeferson Figueroa pitched two shutout innings, walking three and striking out one.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 2-1, in third place, one game behind Beloit and Quad Cities.

PALM BEACH CARDINALS 11, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 10 IN PALM BEACH

The Mussels led 2-1 through five, but Josh Kross hit a two-run triple in a four-run sixth to give Palm Beach the lead.  Won-Bin Cho hit a two-run homer in the seventh to make it 7-2, and it looked like Fort Myers was done.  But no, they came back to score six runs in the eighth to take an 8-7 lead.  They had only two hits in the inning, but took advantage of five walks and three errors.  In the ninth, Poncho Ruiz followed three walks with a two-run single, and the Mussels were looking good with a 10-7 lead.  But an error and two walks loaded the bases with none out in the ninth.  A wild pitch scored one and a ground out plated another.  With two out, Cade McGee hit a walk-off two run homer to end the game in favor of the Cardinals.

Batters:  Poncho Ruiz was 2-for-4 with a walk, a run, and an RBI.  Daniel Pena was 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk.  Dameury Pena was 1-for-2 with a home run.

Pitchers:  Michael Ross struck out five in five innings, giving up one run on four hits.

Opposition:  Won-Bin Cho was 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and three RBIs.  Christian Martin was 2-for-4 with an RBI.  Jose Cordoba was 1-for-4 with a home run and two runs.  Cade McGee was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer.

Record:  Fort Myers is 1-2, tied for third, one game behind Clearwater and Tampa.

TUESDAY'S TILTS

6:05  Tampa at Fort Myers
6:35  Beloit at Cedar Rapids
6:35  Midland at Wichita
6:37  Omaha at St. Paul

milb.com did not list probable starters at press time.

Happy Birthday–April 7

John McGraw (1873)
Oral Hildebrand (1907)
Bobby Doerr (1918)
Jerry Hoffberger (1919)
Tom Phoebus (1942)
Bill Stoneman (1944)
Pete Van Wieren (1944)
Bobby Mitchell (1955)
Ricky Bones (1969)
Brett Tomko (1973)
Ronnie Belliard (1975)
Adrian Beltre (1979)

Jerry Hoffberger was the principal owner of the Baltimore Orioles from 1965-1979.

Pete Van Wieren was a broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves from 1976-2008.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to the Philosofer's wife.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 7

Minor Details: Games of April 5

ST. PAUL SAINTS AT COLUMBS CLIPPERS

Rained out.  Will be made up April 29.

SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS 6, WICHITA WIND SURGE 2 IN SPRINGFIELD

Springfield scored one in the first, three in the third, and two in the fifth to build a 6-0 lead.  Wichita got both of their runs in the ninth.

Batters:  Tanner Schobel was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.

Pitchers:  Starter Connor Prielipp pitched just two innings, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk, striking out three.  He threw 47 pitches.  Mike Paredes pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition:  Dakota Harris was 2-for-4 with a double, a run, and two RBIs.  Leonardo Bernal was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Jeremy Rivas was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer.  Tekoah Roby struck out five in four shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Edwin Nunez struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and two walks.

Record:  Wichita is 0-1, tied for third with Arkansas, 1.5 games behind Northwest Arkansas.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6, WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 4 IN WISCONSIN

Cedar Rapids trailed 1-0, led 3-1, and trailed 4-3.  It was a three-run homer by Rayne Doncon that game them the short-lived lead.  An RBI ground out tied it in the seventh.  In the eighth, the Kernels scored twice without a hit. two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases with none out.  A wild pitch brought home the go-ahead run and a ground out scored an insurance run.

Batters:  Jaime Ferrer was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Danny De Andrade was 2-for-4.  Rayne Doncon was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer, two walks, and two runs.

Pitchers:  Starter Alejandro Hidalgo struck out six in four innings, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk.  Gabriel Yanez struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Paulshawn Pasqualotto struck out two and walked one in two shutout innings.

Opposition:  Eduardo Garcia was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run, and an RBI.  Yophery Rodriguez was 2-for-5.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 2-0, tied for first with Beloit.

FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 6, PALM BEACH CARDINALS 4 IN PALM BEACH

Angel Del Rosario hit a two-run double in a three-run second that gave Fort Myers a 3-0 lead.  They would never trail, but Palm Beach cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth.  Jose Rodriguez homered in the sixth to make it 4-2.  Fort Myers scored two more in the eighth on just one hit, benefiting from a walk, a hit batsman, and three wild pitches.  Palm Beach came back to score two in the bottom of the eighth and had men on second and third, but a lineout to first ended the inning and they went down in order in the ninth.

BattersByron Chourio was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Jose Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a home run.

Pitchers:  Dasan Hill struck out seven and walked none in four innings, giving up one run on one hit.  Ivran Romero struck out three in two shutout innings, allowing only a hit batsman.

Opposition:  Cade McGee was 1-for-2 with a home run, two walks, and two runs.  Jason Savacool pitched four innings, giving up three unearned runs on three hits and one walk and striking out two.

Record:  Fort Myers is 1-1, tied for second, one game behind Tampa.

TODAY'S TILTS

11:30  Fort Myers (Michael Ross) at Palm Beach (TBD)
12:05  St. Paul (Randy Dobnak, 0-0) at Columbus (TBD)
1:05  Wichita (Trent Baker and Aaron Rozek) at Springfield (Max Rajcic and TBD)
1:10  Cedar Rapids (Tanner Hall) at Wisconsin (Chandler Welch)