Sunday, April 8, 2012

Thriller in the Ninth

Game 3, Saturday, April 7, DBAP
Durham Bulls 6, Gwinnett Braves 5
Box, Wrap, Herald-Sun
Season: 2-1; Games left in home stand: 4

Talk about ups and downs. The Bulls weren't exactly cruising, but at the top of the 9th we felt comfortable enough to start heading for the gate. New guy Romulo Sanchez had a good rep, so even if the Bulls were only up by one run, it seemed as if the game was in hand.

A walk, a hit batter, a sacrifice, and a single later, Mr. Sanchez was being helped off the field and the Bulls were down by one run with Braves on the corners. Cesar Ramos came in and gave up a walk, but got out of the inning on a double play. But with the score now 5-4 it sure looked like the Bulls were, at best, heading for another extra inning game.

Not so fast. Tim Beckham draws his second walk of the night to lead off the 9th. Brandon Guyer moves him to second. Matt Mangini singles Beckham in and is replaced by pinch runner Jesus Feliciano. Leslie Anderson's second double of the evening brings Feliciano around for the win.

This was the second come from behind win in the first three games.

There's nothing in Bryan Augenstein's recent history to show him to be a starting pitcher. In 2011, for example, he was in 26 AAA games, all but one as a reliever. And yet, after a tricky first inning when his own fielding error set up a run, he had a very impressive six innings. He finished out the 6th by striking out the side — 8 Ks, 0 walks, 1 ER. Of his 80 pitches, he threw 61 for strikes.

Recent arrival John Gaub didn't look all that great, but Brandon Gomes kept things on track until Sanchez' troubles in the 9th.

In the meantime, the Bulls collected their first extra base hits of the year. Brandon Guyer and Jeff Salazar hit home runs, Chris Gimenez had a double and, as mentioned, Leslie Anderson had two.

We saw Will Rhymes at third base last night and Shawn O'Malley at second base. O'Malley did just fine. Notable was a couple of heads up moments covering first base.

Anderson showed some flash with the glove and at bat. Trying to work his way back to the 40-man?

At the time of this writing, no news regarding Sanchez's injury.

The Braves Julio Teheran looked nothing like the pitcher we saw last year. The Bulls got to him by the 2nd inning, forcing the Braves once again deep into their bullpen.

Beautiful late afternoon game at the DBAP. Chris Archer tomorrow.

Outside the game:
  • The DBAP comes in as #2 in AAA according to a new rating.
  • The Biscuits lost to the Wahoos 4-5.
  • After all the demolition, big changes underneath the stands. And changes coming on the outside.
  • Josh Leuke, who sort of started the years with the Bulls, did not have an auspicious beginning as a Tampa Bay Ray reliever: 1 1/3 inning, gave up 3 runs on 3 hits with 2 walks.


4 comments:

  1. Well, if nothing else, we are off to an exciting start, though I am more nervous about the bullpen then I probably should be.

    In good news, though, according to his twitter feed, Craig Albernaz is coming to town. Not sure if he will actually be joining the roster or doing the Hudson Valley thing....

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  2. Update: He will be on the actual roster. Not sure who he would be replacing. If Sanchez is heading to the DL, not sure if there are other moves coming or if they would just replace a RP with a catcher.

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  3. That's terrific news! I'm very impressed with the defensive skills of Gimenez and Ashley both (and Gimenez sure gave a good interview on WRAL the other day). Still, very handy to have a third catcher. On the other hand, if Chirinos comes off the DL and Vogt comes back you'd think Albernaz would be more needed in Montgomery.
    But he is on the roster and there are 26 on it (not counting Orta, so somebody's gonna have to go).
    http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ros&cid=234&sid=l117

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  4. I have a rumor out of St. Pete (of all places), that Chris Gimenez is hurt and may be out a couple of days.

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