Game 136: Bulls 4, Braves 0
Season: 78-58
Games Left in Season: 8; Home Games: 5
Wrap, Box
What an extraordinary two nights this has been. First, last night’s 14th inning come-from-behind victory and then a simply masterful pitching performance tonight by Jeremy Hellickson.
As a fan sitting near me said tonight, “This kid’s the real thing.” And he is. The numbers for tonight are truly exceptional. He faced only 26 batters over 8 innings, gave up only one hit (in the 6th) and two walks. He struck out 12 and let me tell you, the Braves were just flailing at the ball when they weren’t just watching it go by. He never seemed to lose his composure. Heck, in the 7th he struck out the side. In the 8th he got 2 strikeouts. And he did it on 107 pitches. Someone on the radio said that this was as fine a pitching performance as you will see in the DBAP, and he’s pretty close to being right (although I’ve seen a tag-team no-hitter here, and Wade Davis’ 1-0 shutout back in May was a pretty darn good game too).
Hellickson’s first game for the Bulls was just July 24th and he’s put up some impressive numbers. He’s started 8 games and won five of them. His Opponent’s On Base Percentage is a stellar .240, the best among our starters, and his ERA is 2.86 the second best after Jason Cromer.
He got some fans back in Montgomery, too. As the game was going on, Stacy Long was keeping track.
As important was the help that he gave the team. Last night when the Rays pulled our starter from the lineup and the game went 14 innings, we went through six of our relievers (and a 3rd baseman). Tonight Dale Thayer came on in the 9th (he pitched two innings last night) and gave up a hit, but still finished it out very nicely. So everyone else got a bit of rest.
Timely hitting got us our four runs. A sac fly by Joe Dillon, Jon Weber’s 46th double, a timely single by Elliott Johnson drove in three of the runs; and Matt Joyce drew a base-loaded walk for the fourth one.
The one mildly sour note was Reid Brignac getting ejected in the 6th for arguing a third strike call. Didn’t need to happen. Shouldn’t have happened.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Transaction Tidbit — Joey Gathright
The Red Sox have acquired former Durham Bull Joey Gathright from Baltimore (Norfolk Tides) and assigned him to Pawtucket. I’m guessing the Sox want some speed for September.
For us it means that we won’t have to worry about Gathright when the Tides show up next week.
For us it means that we won’t have to worry about Gathright when the Tides show up next week.
Pitchers Coming From the Biscuits
Stacy Long is reporting that Montgomery Biscuits starter Rayner Oliveros and reliever Heath Rollins are being sent to Durham.
Raynor Oliveros is a fairly young (23) right hander from Venezuela. He’s been with the Biscuits for much of the year, accumulating a 5-3 record and an ERA of 3.25. Not sure from the stats, but looks like he’s been both a starter and reliever in his time in Montgomery. Two of his wins are as a reliever, he’s 3-3 as a starter.
Heath Rollins apparently began the year as a starter and has been switched to relief duties in recent weeks. Decent ERA as a reliever (2.53). Could be some very welcome help.
Raynor Oliveros is a fairly young (23) right hander from Venezuela. He’s been with the Biscuits for much of the year, accumulating a 5-3 record and an ERA of 3.25. Not sure from the stats, but looks like he’s been both a starter and reliever in his time in Montgomery. Two of his wins are as a reliever, he’s 3-3 as a starter.
Heath Rollins apparently began the year as a starter and has been switched to relief duties in recent weeks. Decent ERA as a reliever (2.53). Could be some very welcome help.
Fourteen Innings, Five Hours, Seven Pitchers, First Place
Game 135: Bulls 10, Braves 9
Season: 77-58
Games Left in Season: 9; Home Games: 6
Wrap, Box, Indy Week
A baseball player’s (and fan’s) dream moment: Two runs down, two outs, bases-loaded, bottom of the last inning, three balls, two strikes. Young guy on the mound, experienced guy at the plate. About midnight last night that’s what happened in the bottom of the 14th. Jon Weber hit a double to deep right-center field, cleared the bases, and three runs scored. The Durham Bulls won their sixth straight game and took over first place in the South Division of the International League.
To be honest, except for two moments, it really was a very tedious game. So tedious that the first 6 innings took well over two hours to play. At the end of the 6th Gwinnett was up 6-2 and we were into our third pitcher of the night. I was writing a rant in my head about how Tampa Bay had really done a number on us by pulling Andy Sonnanstine out of his rotation here to have him ready for a game in their jukebox in St Pete next week. We’ve only got four starters as it is, and they just pulled one of those so we’re going to eat up the bullpen, again. Halama, the Braves starter, is not only old (37) he’s slow, and crafty to boot. The game was just creeping along.
So we left and listened to the game on the radio on the way home. Got home, turned on the TV just to watch the 9th and refine my rant against the Tampa Bay Rays. But then one of the two actual exciting moments of the game occurred (the first being the Weber double already recounted): Reid Brignac homered off of the Braves fifth pitcher and closer Luis Valdez to tie the game at 7-all. By this time we’ve gone through four pitchers: Joe Bateman, Julio DePaula, Joe Nelson, and Dale Thayer. Winston Abreu pitched the 10th and 11th. Jason Childers pitched the 12th. Shutout ball, but we’re out of pitchers.
Third baseman Ray Olmedo takes the mound for the 13th inning. What an odd sight to see a guy with a dirty uniform and a glove that looked like it had actually been used out there on the mound. Imagine that, a baseball player pitching! Not only that, he gets a ground out, walks a guy (X. comes out to talk, I think maybe to tell Ray how to pitch from a stretch.), and the next guy gets handled by a nifty double play initiated by Chris Richard at first. The 14th inning doesn’t go as well for Ray with a homer, double, and a combination sac fly and error, scoring two runs.
But Ray gets to be part of the drama in the 14th by following Reid Brignac’s single with a single of his own, followed by a walk to Michel Hernandez. An earlier out by Fernando Perez and a strikeout by Elliot Johnson set the stage for Jon Weber’s heroics.
Click on the video box on the Bulls website to see the key plays (and listen to Neil Solondz go nuts).
By the way, the big deal announced through the Bulls tweet was something of a big deal, but it had to do with 2010 and beyond. I was expecting something about players and roster changes, so it took me a while to adjust. The press release is here, and Adam Sobsey gives a good account here. To summarize, the 2010 schedule is out; the Bulls will play the Rays in an exhibition game in early April in the DBAP (that should be cool, and we’ll get a Bulls roster early); the Bulls will play the Mud Hens in the refurbished DAP for one game; and the Bulls extended their affiliation with the Rays for a bunch more years.
Regarding roster changes: other than gutting our starting rotation as mentioned above, no news on that front.
I’m hoping our guys can recover from last night and that Hellickson can go a lot of innings this evening. In the meantime, we’re in first place, all is right with the world.
Season: 77-58
Games Left in Season: 9; Home Games: 6
Wrap, Box, Indy Week
A baseball player’s (and fan’s) dream moment: Two runs down, two outs, bases-loaded, bottom of the last inning, three balls, two strikes. Young guy on the mound, experienced guy at the plate. About midnight last night that’s what happened in the bottom of the 14th. Jon Weber hit a double to deep right-center field, cleared the bases, and three runs scored. The Durham Bulls won their sixth straight game and took over first place in the South Division of the International League.
To be honest, except for two moments, it really was a very tedious game. So tedious that the first 6 innings took well over two hours to play. At the end of the 6th Gwinnett was up 6-2 and we were into our third pitcher of the night. I was writing a rant in my head about how Tampa Bay had really done a number on us by pulling Andy Sonnanstine out of his rotation here to have him ready for a game in their jukebox in St Pete next week. We’ve only got four starters as it is, and they just pulled one of those so we’re going to eat up the bullpen, again. Halama, the Braves starter, is not only old (37) he’s slow, and crafty to boot. The game was just creeping along.
So we left and listened to the game on the radio on the way home. Got home, turned on the TV just to watch the 9th and refine my rant against the Tampa Bay Rays. But then one of the two actual exciting moments of the game occurred (the first being the Weber double already recounted): Reid Brignac homered off of the Braves fifth pitcher and closer Luis Valdez to tie the game at 7-all. By this time we’ve gone through four pitchers: Joe Bateman, Julio DePaula, Joe Nelson, and Dale Thayer. Winston Abreu pitched the 10th and 11th. Jason Childers pitched the 12th. Shutout ball, but we’re out of pitchers.
Third baseman Ray Olmedo takes the mound for the 13th inning. What an odd sight to see a guy with a dirty uniform and a glove that looked like it had actually been used out there on the mound. Imagine that, a baseball player pitching! Not only that, he gets a ground out, walks a guy (X. comes out to talk, I think maybe to tell Ray how to pitch from a stretch.), and the next guy gets handled by a nifty double play initiated by Chris Richard at first. The 14th inning doesn’t go as well for Ray with a homer, double, and a combination sac fly and error, scoring two runs.
But Ray gets to be part of the drama in the 14th by following Reid Brignac’s single with a single of his own, followed by a walk to Michel Hernandez. An earlier out by Fernando Perez and a strikeout by Elliot Johnson set the stage for Jon Weber’s heroics.
Click on the video box on the Bulls website to see the key plays (and listen to Neil Solondz go nuts).
By the way, the big deal announced through the Bulls tweet was something of a big deal, but it had to do with 2010 and beyond. I was expecting something about players and roster changes, so it took me a while to adjust. The press release is here, and Adam Sobsey gives a good account here. To summarize, the 2010 schedule is out; the Bulls will play the Rays in an exhibition game in early April in the DBAP (that should be cool, and we’ll get a Bulls roster early); the Bulls will play the Mud Hens in the refurbished DAP for one game; and the Bulls extended their affiliation with the Rays for a bunch more years.
Regarding roster changes: other than gutting our starting rotation as mentioned above, no news on that front.
I’m hoping our guys can recover from last night and that Hellickson can go a lot of innings this evening. In the meantime, we’re in first place, all is right with the world.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The Durham Bulls Are Home! Bring On the Braves!
Game 134: Bulls 11, Tides 2
Season: 76-58
Games Left in Season: 10; Home Games: 7
Wrap, Box, Indy Week
What a road trip the Durham Bulls have had. Seven games, six wins, who could ask for more? And they closed it out with possibly the finest hitting/pitching performance of the season. Bulls pitching only gave up 5 hits and 0 (!) walks. Bulls hitters got 16 hits and collected 8 walks. I missed most of the game, so check out the links for more details.
Chris Richard appears to be back in form. More than that, last night he set the AAA Bulls record for home runs with his 63rd home run as a Durham Bull.
I’m no Bulls historian, but I’m betting this was one of the best road trips in their history. Going in we were 3 games behind Gwinnett in the South Division race and had a tenuous lead in the wild card of 1½ games over Syracuse and 3 over Norfolk. Look where we are now. (Actually, don’t look at the standings on the website, they’re wrong. Click the “expanded standings” link for the right numbers.) [Fixed now, 1315] We’re tied for first in the Division. In the wild card we’ve got a 5 game lead over Syracuse and an 8 game lead over Norfolk. That’s simply an incredible performance over the seven games. Of course, it helps that Charlotte beat up on Gwinnett for several games.
The Rays webworld lit up like a Christmas tree starting at about 4 o’clock yesterday. Now the deal is done and Scott Kazmir is going to the LA Angels. According to the Bulls twitter feed (Thanks, Sue) the Bulls are to have a major press conference at 2:00 pm today for “multiple exciting announcements.” Obviously at least one Bull is off to Tampa Bay, but I’m guessing that since the September call-ups are upon us, they might just announce a couple of them now.
In the next few days the 2009 Durham Bulls will be a shadow of their former selves. They will be a new team going into these last few games. In all probability there will be a core of position players on hand, but my guess is that the pitching staff will be a really motley crew. I haven’t watched Montgomery much this year, so I don’t know what may be down there, or even further down the Rays chain. We’ll see a few come up, I’m sure. If it’s any consolation, Gwinnett, Charlotte, and Norfolk are likely to be in the same condition.
So let’s go (weather permitting, forecast for the weekend isn’t good) to the DBAP and take a last look at the team we’ve watched all year. They’ve been great. And Gwinnett is the team we have to figure out how to beat now, and in the near future.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Richard Drives Bulls Into Tie For First
Game 133: Bulls 3, Tides 1
Season: 75-58
Games Left in Season: 11; Home Games: 7
Wrap, Box
The game went on and on and on with a thirty-minute rain delay in the middle of it. Could have been worse. If the game had been called when the rains came, and it could have been, we would have lost 0-1.
One way to put it the rest of the game in perspective: They bet Joey Gathright, we saw that bet with Fernando Perez and raised them Justin Ruggiano and Chris Richard.
In the bottom of the 8th, Joe Nelson came on in relief of Jason Cromer. He promptly walked Joey Gathright. Not a good way to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt sent Gathright to second base. Intentional walk to Norfolk’s Jeff Fiorentino. Then a double steal, so men on second and third, one out. But Brandon Snyder hit the ball to Joe Dillon at third, and Dillon threw to Riggans at home who put the tag on Gathright (the second time Gathright had been put out heading for home in the game). The next batter popped out to Chris Richard.
In the ninth, with one out, Fernando Perez pinch ran for Jon Weber. Justin Ruggiano got a hit, but Perez didn’t get past second. With Chris Richard at the plate, Perez and Ruggiano pulled off a double steal. Richard had a masterful at-bat, working his way back from 0-2 to 2-2 fouling off 3 more pitches along the way. Then he cracked one over the right field wall, scoring Perez and Ruggiano. So the double steal didn’t really matter except that it may have rattled Norfolk pitcher Bob McCrory. At least he seemed rattled since he brushed back Shawn Riggans after the Richard homer.
Who you gonna call for the bottom of the 9th? Winston Abreu, of course. He started the 9th with three K’s. Unfortunately, the ball got away from Riggans on the third strike of the third K and the runner made it to first. No matter. The next batter flied out to right.
Four days ago we were 13 games above .500 and Gwinnett was 21 above .500. Since that time Gwinnett has lost 4 games (Thank You Charlotte!) and the Bulls have won 4 games. We’re 17 games above .500 for the first time this year and tied for first.
About Jon Weber and Jason Childers:
They will be with the Bulls until August 31st. That means we’ll get to see them Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Team USA trains over in Cary and they start training there the 2nd of September. Not much of a drive from the DBAP. As soon as I’m able to learn more about how that works, I’ll put something up here. Don’t know if practice is open to the public, but I think they've got a tune-up game early on. I’ve never seen the facility, but hope to take a look soon.
Season: 75-58
Games Left in Season: 11; Home Games: 7
Wrap, Box
The game went on and on and on with a thirty-minute rain delay in the middle of it. Could have been worse. If the game had been called when the rains came, and it could have been, we would have lost 0-1.
One way to put it the rest of the game in perspective: They bet Joey Gathright, we saw that bet with Fernando Perez and raised them Justin Ruggiano and Chris Richard.
In the bottom of the 8th, Joe Nelson came on in relief of Jason Cromer. He promptly walked Joey Gathright. Not a good way to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt sent Gathright to second base. Intentional walk to Norfolk’s Jeff Fiorentino. Then a double steal, so men on second and third, one out. But Brandon Snyder hit the ball to Joe Dillon at third, and Dillon threw to Riggans at home who put the tag on Gathright (the second time Gathright had been put out heading for home in the game). The next batter popped out to Chris Richard.
In the ninth, with one out, Fernando Perez pinch ran for Jon Weber. Justin Ruggiano got a hit, but Perez didn’t get past second. With Chris Richard at the plate, Perez and Ruggiano pulled off a double steal. Richard had a masterful at-bat, working his way back from 0-2 to 2-2 fouling off 3 more pitches along the way. Then he cracked one over the right field wall, scoring Perez and Ruggiano. So the double steal didn’t really matter except that it may have rattled Norfolk pitcher Bob McCrory. At least he seemed rattled since he brushed back Shawn Riggans after the Richard homer.
Who you gonna call for the bottom of the 9th? Winston Abreu, of course. He started the 9th with three K’s. Unfortunately, the ball got away from Riggans on the third strike of the third K and the runner made it to first. No matter. The next batter flied out to right.
Four days ago we were 13 games above .500 and Gwinnett was 21 above .500. Since that time Gwinnett has lost 4 games (Thank You Charlotte!) and the Bulls have won 4 games. We’re 17 games above .500 for the first time this year and tied for first.
About Jon Weber and Jason Childers:
They will be with the Bulls until August 31st. That means we’ll get to see them Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Team USA trains over in Cary and they start training there the 2nd of September. Not much of a drive from the DBAP. As soon as I’m able to learn more about how that works, I’ll put something up here. Don’t know if practice is open to the public, but I think they've got a tune-up game early on. I’ve never seen the facility, but hope to take a look soon.
Weber and Childers to Team USA
I heard a rumor about this a couple of days ago, but no one would answer my emails. Well, here it is.
The Bulls press release, the Team USA article, and the roster.
What I know about the World Cup could be put into a teaspoon, so if anyone out there has some good links that gives some background, please send them on.
In the meantime, the roster looks like there’s some solid AAA talent on it. Players from LeHigh Valley, Memphis, Charlotte, Fresno, Omaha, Indianapolis, Rochester, Gwinnett, and Oklahoma City. Assuming that this is Olympic-caliber play, the Cup should be quite a challenge to Jon and Jason. And a feather in their caps if the team does well.
Guess I’m going to have to learn a lot more about the World Cup before I can comment on the Cup itself. Also no hint on when they would be leaving the Bulls, but practice starts on September 2nd.
Boy I sure hate to see Jon and Jason go. It has been so much fun watching them this year. Maybe we’ll see them this weekend. I hope so.
The Bulls press release, the Team USA article, and the roster.
What I know about the World Cup could be put into a teaspoon, so if anyone out there has some good links that gives some background, please send them on.
In the meantime, the roster looks like there’s some solid AAA talent on it. Players from LeHigh Valley, Memphis, Charlotte, Fresno, Omaha, Indianapolis, Rochester, Gwinnett, and Oklahoma City. Assuming that this is Olympic-caliber play, the Cup should be quite a challenge to Jon and Jason. And a feather in their caps if the team does well.
Guess I’m going to have to learn a lot more about the World Cup before I can comment on the Cup itself. Also no hint on when they would be leaving the Bulls, but practice starts on September 2nd.
Boy I sure hate to see Jon and Jason go. It has been so much fun watching them this year. Maybe we’ll see them this weekend. I hope so.
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