Durham Bulls 4, Louisville Bats 3
Wrap, Box, Indy Week, N&O, Louisville Courier-Journal
The Jason Cromer Fan Club is pleased, mighty pleased, to report to you that our man has come through for the Bulls again. Six innings, and except for those unfortunate two home runs, yet another solid game for our guy. Of course, he was helped quite a bit by his colleagues Joe Bateman, Julio DePaula, and Winston Abreu. Not to mention the infield and outfield. The Bats left 12 men on base and that is an indicator not only of timely strikeouts, but good defense.
As much as we love Jason, we also have to mention Winston Abreu. He just seems to get better and better. In the 9th inning last night he struck out the first batter on three pitches, the second batter on three pitches, and was 0-2 on the third batter before an infield hit got dribbled past him. He was 0-2 on the fourth batter before he threw his first ball of the game. And then that batter dribbled another slow roller no one could handle. Abreu was hitting 96-97 mph all along. By this time Winston was ticked. The next batter had no chance. He was 0-2 before he fouled one off, took a ball, and then struck out. Dominating is the only word to use.
The Bulls got all their runs in the 4th inning off starter Sam LaCure. A Joe Dillon single, Matt Joyce walk, and a walk to Sean Rodriguez loaded the bases with none out. Justin Ruggiano singled in a run (Justin was 3-4 on the night), Elliot Johnson singled in a run, Michel Hernandez grounded into a double play, but that scored a run. And Henry Mateo (first appearance in series) singled in the fourth run.
According to reports, Montoyo is going to go with Raynor Oliveros tonight. He did OK against Norfolk on September 5th, and one of these days our bats are going to wake up (seems like it has been quite a while since that happened). Things are looking up.
We are now 2-1 in the best of five and need just one more to come back to Durham for the next round. By the way, Gwinnett won at Scranton/WB last night. In that series SWB leads 2-1.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
USA Defeats Germany
USA Loses to Venezuela
USA 9, Venezuela 13
Wrap, Box, Mister Baseball
Maybe it was the jet lag, maybe it was a bad wienerschnitzel, maybe it was a fascination with flip-top beer bottles or gasthaus songs, but Durham Bull Jason Childers probably never wants to see Regensburg, Germany again. He came on in the 7th inning and got his first batter on a fly out, but walked the second and third batters. He struck out the fourth batter, but walked the fifth, loading the bases. He hit the sixth batter and served up a grand slam to the seventh one. Five runs. Got pulled from the game.
Nevertheless, the game was not decided until the 11th inning by another grand slam and that after the game shifted to the “extra inning rule” in the 10th. Don’t ask me what that is. I’m working on it. Some sort of tie-breaking, shorten the game kind of thing.
Jon Weber went 2 for 5 with 1 RBI.
Finding info on the World Cup isn’t particularly easy. The best start place that I’ve found is a page in Wikipedia. The Cup’s website is really annoying. Team USA has a site. And Mister Baseball (apparently a German site) seems to be writing particularly good stories. For general background, this article helps.
Wrap, Box, Mister Baseball
Maybe it was the jet lag, maybe it was a bad wienerschnitzel, maybe it was a fascination with flip-top beer bottles or gasthaus songs, but Durham Bull Jason Childers probably never wants to see Regensburg, Germany again. He came on in the 7th inning and got his first batter on a fly out, but walked the second and third batters. He struck out the fourth batter, but walked the fifth, loading the bases. He hit the sixth batter and served up a grand slam to the seventh one. Five runs. Got pulled from the game.
Nevertheless, the game was not decided until the 11th inning by another grand slam and that after the game shifted to the “extra inning rule” in the 10th. Don’t ask me what that is. I’m working on it. Some sort of tie-breaking, shorten the game kind of thing.
Jon Weber went 2 for 5 with 1 RBI.
Finding info on the World Cup isn’t particularly easy. The best start place that I’ve found is a page in Wikipedia. The Cup’s website is really annoying. Team USA has a site. And Mister Baseball (apparently a German site) seems to be writing particularly good stories. For general background, this article helps.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Pitching!
Durham Bulls 2, Louisville Bats 5
Box
The Bulls got outpitched tonight. Simple as that. Ben Jukich, Enerio Del Rosario, and Logan Ondrusek of the Louisville Bats did what they are paid to do. The Bulls did jump on Ben Jukich in the 1st inning with three quick singles that scored one run. Then Matt Joyce hit into a double play with runners on first and third that scored another run. And that was it, folks. That was our last run.
In the 6th the Bulls got the bases loaded with no outs, but Del Rosario came and got three outs, then set down the next six Bulls. Closer Logan Ondrusek came on in the 9th to set down three more. Twelve in a row.
On the other hand, when you’re facing good pitching, someone has to step up. Four Bulls position players are on the Tampa Bay 40-man roster. Back in the 6th when the bases were loaded with no outs, three of those four came to bat: Ruggiano - fly out; Johnson - fielder’s choice ground out; John Jaso - ground out. That’s not how you get to the Rays, guys.
But I don’t want to sound too down. The Bulls were flat tonight and, as I said, they got outpitched. But the series is far from over. We are 1-1 for a five-game series. Tomorrow they’re in Louisville, Jason Cromer is on the mound, and all will be well.
As a side note, Mitch Talbot pitched three pretty good innings. Nice to see him back at the DBAP. It’s been a long time. Things came unraveled for him in the 4th. Too bad, because he had a decent game going up until then.
Cool at the DBAP tonight. Actually a bit chilly if in a t-shirt. Still, I’ll be happy to go back there next Wednesday. After all, I’ve already paid for the tickets.
Box
The Bulls got outpitched tonight. Simple as that. Ben Jukich, Enerio Del Rosario, and Logan Ondrusek of the Louisville Bats did what they are paid to do. The Bulls did jump on Ben Jukich in the 1st inning with three quick singles that scored one run. Then Matt Joyce hit into a double play with runners on first and third that scored another run. And that was it, folks. That was our last run.
In the 6th the Bulls got the bases loaded with no outs, but Del Rosario came and got three outs, then set down the next six Bulls. Closer Logan Ondrusek came on in the 9th to set down three more. Twelve in a row.
On the other hand, when you’re facing good pitching, someone has to step up. Four Bulls position players are on the Tampa Bay 40-man roster. Back in the 6th when the bases were loaded with no outs, three of those four came to bat: Ruggiano - fly out; Johnson - fielder’s choice ground out; John Jaso - ground out. That’s not how you get to the Rays, guys.
But I don’t want to sound too down. The Bulls were flat tonight and, as I said, they got outpitched. But the series is far from over. We are 1-1 for a five-game series. Tomorrow they’re in Louisville, Jason Cromer is on the mound, and all will be well.
As a side note, Mitch Talbot pitched three pretty good innings. Nice to see him back at the DBAP. It’s been a long time. Things came unraveled for him in the 4th. Too bad, because he had a decent game going up until then.
Cool at the DBAP tonight. Actually a bit chilly if in a t-shirt. Still, I’ll be happy to go back there next Wednesday. After all, I’ve already paid for the tickets.
Durham Bulls Win Game One of Playoffs
Durham Bulls 8, Louisville Bats 4
Wrap, Box
The leadoff batter for first game of the AAA International League Playoffs last night was the AA Southern League MVP (Desmond Jennings). The starting pitcher for the Louisville Bats was the Southern League Pitcher of the Year (Travis Wood).
Checking out the lineups I realized the Governor’s Cup teams are the best of our respective prospects who played in AA this year and our AAA veterans. Not that we don’t have a few left who could go up this year or even today (e.g., Matt Joyce). These are the lineups we’re both very likely to see next year in the regular season. Welcome to 2010!
The official attendance was 1,809, quite possibly the smallest of the year. That seems to be typical for a playoff game, certainly for the last three years. Not quite sure why, since the crowd was smaller that even the usual mid-week game. My guess is that it has something to do with marketing, or lack thereof, and the dismal state of affairs of sports coverage in the Triangle in general. But at least those who were there were definitely into the game. Even heard a few Louisville fans cheering over by their dugout.
But, what about the game? Pretty good. Jeremy Hellickson only gave up three hits, unfortunately two of them were home runs. He was throwing a lot of pitches and really working hard. By the 6th inning he was near 100 pitches and when the leadoff batter reached on Sean Rodriguez’s third error, he walked the next batter. He then made a play to disrupt a sacrifice attempt, struck out a batter, and left the game at 109 pitches with two outs, men on first and second and the score tied at 3-3. Twelve strikeouts and three walks showed that he’s is very much the real thing. He’ll be the Wade Davis of 2010 for sure.
Travis Wood, the Bats starting pitcher, pretty much gave his own game away with two throwing errors in the 5th that led to three runs and a tie. The next inning the Bulls' aggressiveness paid off with five runs being scored after two outs were on the board.
New Bull Sean Rodriguez was at second base last night and truly snake-bit. Although none of his errors led to runs, they had a lot to do with Hellickson’s pitch count being driven up so high so early.
Ray Olmedo was a star with three hits, as was Matt Joyce with three singles and two RBIs. Sean Rodriguez’s two RBIs somewhat made up for his mistakes. Joe Dillon had two RBIs on a double and Wood's error.
The third time was the charm for Justin Ruggiano. In the 4th he came up with Matt Joyce on second and Rodriguez on first, and struck out. In the 5th he came up with Joyce and Rodriguez on base, and struck out. In the 6th he came up with Rodriguez on first. Rodriguez stole second and Ruggiano hit an RBI single.
Bateman, DePaula, and Abreu looked just fine in closing things out.
Wrap, Box
The leadoff batter for first game of the AAA International League Playoffs last night was the AA Southern League MVP (Desmond Jennings). The starting pitcher for the Louisville Bats was the Southern League Pitcher of the Year (Travis Wood).
Checking out the lineups I realized the Governor’s Cup teams are the best of our respective prospects who played in AA this year and our AAA veterans. Not that we don’t have a few left who could go up this year or even today (e.g., Matt Joyce). These are the lineups we’re both very likely to see next year in the regular season. Welcome to 2010!
The official attendance was 1,809, quite possibly the smallest of the year. That seems to be typical for a playoff game, certainly for the last three years. Not quite sure why, since the crowd was smaller that even the usual mid-week game. My guess is that it has something to do with marketing, or lack thereof, and the dismal state of affairs of sports coverage in the Triangle in general. But at least those who were there were definitely into the game. Even heard a few Louisville fans cheering over by their dugout.
But, what about the game? Pretty good. Jeremy Hellickson only gave up three hits, unfortunately two of them were home runs. He was throwing a lot of pitches and really working hard. By the 6th inning he was near 100 pitches and when the leadoff batter reached on Sean Rodriguez’s third error, he walked the next batter. He then made a play to disrupt a sacrifice attempt, struck out a batter, and left the game at 109 pitches with two outs, men on first and second and the score tied at 3-3. Twelve strikeouts and three walks showed that he’s is very much the real thing. He’ll be the Wade Davis of 2010 for sure.
Travis Wood, the Bats starting pitcher, pretty much gave his own game away with two throwing errors in the 5th that led to three runs and a tie. The next inning the Bulls' aggressiveness paid off with five runs being scored after two outs were on the board.
New Bull Sean Rodriguez was at second base last night and truly snake-bit. Although none of his errors led to runs, they had a lot to do with Hellickson’s pitch count being driven up so high so early.
Ray Olmedo was a star with three hits, as was Matt Joyce with three singles and two RBIs. Sean Rodriguez’s two RBIs somewhat made up for his mistakes. Joe Dillon had two RBIs on a double and Wood's error.
The third time was the charm for Justin Ruggiano. In the 4th he came up with Matt Joyce on second and Rodriguez on first, and struck out. In the 5th he came up with Joyce and Rodriguez on base, and struck out. In the 6th he came up with Rodriguez on first. Rodriguez stole second and Ruggiano hit an RBI single.
Bateman, DePaula, and Abreu looked just fine in closing things out.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Durham Bulls 3.0
It seems like only yesterday that I was writing about the Bulls lineup (wait, it was yesterday, wasn’t it? And a couple of times today). But my last big update, the 2.0 edition of the Bulls, lasted precisely one week. since then we’ve had four pitching changes and four position player changes.
Here’s an updated list based on the 2.0 version. Changes are marked with an xxx for departure and bold for arrival. Players on the 40-man roster are marked with an asterisk. Pretty soon it will be the Tampa Bay Bulls and the Durham Biscuits.
Pitchers
Catchers:
Infielders:
Outfielders:
Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, over at Indy Week Adam Sobsey has made a valiant effort to lay out the Bulls - Bats match up. Great effort. Now to see if the Reds leave the Bats alone as much as the Rays have left us alone.
[Update: I left out Mitch Talbot. Ooops!]
Here’s an updated list based on the 2.0 version. Changes are marked with an xxx for departure and bold for arrival. Players on the 40-man roster are marked with an asterisk. Pretty soon it will be the Tampa Bay Bulls and the Durham Biscuits.
Pitchers
- Jason Cromer
- Jeremy Hellickson
- Rayner Oliveros
- Heath Rollins
- Paul Phillips
- xxx Dale Thayer * xxx
- Joe Bateman
- Julio DePaula
- Winston Abreu
- Calvin Medlock
- Joe Nelson
- Mike Wlodarczyk
- Mitch Talbot *
Catchers:
- John Jaso *
- Craig Albernaz
- Michel Hernandez
Infielders:
- xxx Reid Brignac * xxx
- Joe Dillon
- Elliot Johnson *
- Henry Mateo
- Ray Olmedo
- xxx Chris Richard xxx
- Sean Rodriguez *
- Chris Nowak
Outfielders:
- Justin Ruggiano *
- Desmond Jennings
- Matt Joyce *
- Rashad Eldridge
Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, over at Indy Week Adam Sobsey has made a valiant effort to lay out the Bulls - Bats match up. Great effort. Now to see if the Reds leave the Bats alone as much as the Rays have left us alone.
[Update: I left out Mitch Talbot. Ooops!]
Ouch! Thayer To Rays
Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times has this on his blog [Thanks, A]:
RHP Dale Thayer has been called up from Triple-A Durham, to join the beleaguered bullpen. He is on his way to the stadium.
Thayer, who has been up twice previously this season, has 3.52 ERA with one save in six big-league appearances. He was 2-5, 2.27 with 17 saves in 23 chances for Durham.
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