AAA Colorado Springs – W 6-3, (67-60, 2nd, 5.0 GB)
After a disastrous outing last time out against Round Rock in which he was tagged for six earned runs, Nick Schmidt rebounded nicely to throw five innings of two run baseball. Perhaps the best news for Schmidt though is that he overall August K/BB ratio has been excellent. In July Schmidt struck out 18 and walked 21 batters on his way to an 8.07 ERA for the month, but so far in August Schmidt has walked only two while striking out 16 and has a much more respectable 4.76 ERA. Even though he’s 26, he’s definitely made big strides forward this season.
Meanwhile, the offense was active enough to give Schmidt the win. Matt McBride and Brendan Harris had the only two multi hit games for the Sky Sox and these two got the scoring started in the second as McBride singled and Harris doubled him home with one out. Harris also led off with a single in the Sky Sox three run 5th – The frame that would give Colorado Springs all the runs they would need. On the negative side though was #15 PuRP Charlie Blackmon, as he went hitless for the fourth time in his last ten games and has cooled off considerably since his red hot July.
AA Tulsa – L 5-1, (22-31 (Second Half), 3rd, 13.5 GB)
For the second straight night, Tulsa lost to the Frisco Rough Riders by the score of 5-1 in a very forgettable game. Brandon Hynick was decent, going six innings while giving up three runs (two of them earned), but he received almost no run support as the offense was nearly shutout. Only a two out 9th inning solo home run from #1 PuRP Nolan Arenado prevented the goose egg. The blast also continued Arenado’s strong August as he now has a 1.059 OPS for the month.
High-A Modesto – W 7-6, (30-23 (Second Half), 1st)
This was easily the wildest game of the night. #4 PuRP (That’ll be going down) Tyler Matzek got six outs before leaving the game in the third inning with a leg injury after getting caught up in a home plate collision on a passed ball. Matzek was hittable again while on the mound surrendering five hits and five runs (only three of them earned) making this the 7th time in his last eight starts he’s given up at least five base knocks. On the bright side, it’s the first time all season he didn’t walk anyone.
By the middle of the 5th inning, Modesto was left in a 6-0 hole. The Nuts would get one run back in the bottom of the frame on a Joey Wong RBI single and another in the 6th inning on a solo shot from #10 PuRP (That’ll be going up) Kyle Parker – His 6th home run in the last five games. The real magic though wouldn’t come until the 9th. Still trailing 6-2, the Nuts' Juan Crousset drew a walk to lead off the inning (It always seems to start with a walk doesn’t it?); Jayson Langfels then hit his fourth home run of the season to cut the deficit in half. The comeback, or perhaps more appropriately collapse continued when Joey Wong grounded to second and Visalia infielder Garrett Weber committed both a fielding and a throwing error (his second and third on the night) to bring the tying run to the plate in #12 PuRP Rafael Ortega. He isn’t really known for his power, but that didn’t matter in this at bat. Ortega, who was already 0-4 in the game and is batting just .190 for the month of August, launched a dramatic game tying two run home run that wiped out what looked to be a sure win for the Rawhide. Another leadoff walk in the 10th (this time to Kyle Parker), and a game winning RBI single by Brett Tanos would complete the comeback.
Low-A Asheville – W 14-1, (30-24 (Second Half), 2nd, 4.5 GB)
This is about as pretty as it gets. #7 PuRP Tyler Anderson continued his string of strong starts as for the third straight outing, he stuck out at least six. (This comes after not striking out more than six hitters in any start all season through July.) Anderson’s line of 7.0 IP, 0ER, 7 K’s and 0BB’s also extends his streak of games in which he’s allowed two runs or less in at least five innings of work to nine. In those starts, Anderson has now thrown 56.1 innings while posting a magnificent 1.28 ERA.
At the same time, the offense exploded in every way possible. Every Tourist had at least one hit, seven of them had at least two, the team scored in all but three of the innings they came to bat, and to top it all off, Asheville scored at least three runs in an inning three different times. Leading the charge was #3 PuRP Trevor Story who went 3-5 with two home runs and five RBI on the night.
Tri-City – L 7-6, (9-15, (Second Half) 4th, 7.0 GB)
The Dust Devils got in trouble early in this one as Benjamin Hughes proved extremely hittable. When he exited after the 5th inning, the Boise Hawks had piled up ten hits and seven runs, leaving the usually offensively changed Dust Devils in a seemingly insurmountable six run hole. Tri-City would fight to the end though grabbing three in the 5th and two more in the 7th before getting the tying run on base in the 9th. These rallies were highlighted by a 3-5 (2RBI) night for #16 PuRP Rosell Herrera. Oddly, on an evening where eight of the nine Dust Devil starters reached base safely with either a hit or a walk, the team’s best hitter, Francisco Sosa was not one of them. His strikeout to end the game in the 9th snapped what was a ten game hitting streak.
Grand Junction – L 8-5, (9-10, (Second Half) 4th, 3.0 GB)
After seeing his 27 game hitting streak come to an end on Thursday, David Dahl tried to start a new one as he connected for his league leading 9th triple of the season in the first inning on Friday. Overall though Dahl has cooled off this week, as he’s gone six straight games without a multi hit effort and has 6 K’s and no walks in that same stretch. Dahl isn’t the only young Grand Junction Rockie to be leading the Pioneer League in an extra base hit category though. 20 year old Julian Yan extended his league home run lead in this one as he launched his 14th of season – A two run shot in the 8th.
Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough offense to keep up with the lack of good pitching. Starter Ryan Warner only last 3.1 innings while surrendering three runs (two earned) and Alving Mejias would later come out of the bullpen and give up four more.
DSL Rockies – L 8-2, (37-28, 2nd, 1.5 GB)
Starter David Martinez gave up two earned runs in four innings but his start was disappointing because that’s more earned runs than he’s given up in any of his last ten outings. (The seven hits he gave up were also by far a season high for the 17 year old). Carlos Polanco would then come in and give up three more which was too much for the DSL Rockies offense to handle. They only mustered five hits all game, just one for extra bases, and nobody batting lower than 4th in the order got a hit.
Looking Ahead: Peter Tago will take the mound tonight for the Dust Devils (7:15 p.m. local time) and will try to get back on track. He struggled last time out giving up three earned runs in just four innings but had four very solid starts before that in which he went a combined 24.2 innings and only gave up five runs (1.82 ERA).
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Add to myYahoo!Upper management in a corporation stay busy in their accounting departments carefully analyzing their cost/profit margins. The goal: Are they in the black or red? Is the company making money and, if so, how much???
Besides money, Major League Baseball teams must win ball games. Recently, the Chicago Cubs did some juggling of their own with their roster.
Some of the players that got pink slips were some of my favorite - Rick Johnson, Geovany Soto, and Ryan Dempster. Their departure from the team left some Cub fans in doubt, including me. I wish these guys the best of luck and hope in a new team uniform they will fulfill their dreams and play on a pennant team.
As for the Cubs: What did they get? Will they be better off? Only time will tell.
Read The Full Article:
http://cornerlotsbaseball.blogspot.com/2012/08/business-as-usual-chicago-cubs.htm
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We all know the combination of Giancarlo Stanton and Coors Field should make Miami Marlins fans very happy. But in as disappointing a season as this one, whenever a crazy Stanton power feat occurs, Marlins fans are obliged and are quite willing to celebrate it with zeal.
Well, last night, another crazy Stanton power feat occurred.
While Jose Reyes's three-run homer was the most impactful homer of yesterday's game, garnering 0.334 WPA, Stanton's sixth-inning home run was the most powerful homer from last night. In fact, it was the longest homer hit in the last three years in terms of true distance according to ESPN Home Run Tracker (H/T Purple Row).
Marlins OF Giancarlo Stanton's home run earlier today went 494 feet, the longest HR since Wladimir Balentien's 495-foot HR in 2009
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 18, 2012
Stanton has already destroyed a scoreboard with a home run this season, and we've taken an entire tour of Marlins Park with his home runs, so really, at this stage we should not be surprised. But being impressed by Giancarlo Stanton and his awesome power is the one of the few remaining joys of the Marlins' 2012 season.
Stanton's homer measured at a true distance of 494 feet, the longest in three years. It was the longest this season by nine feet, beating out an early July homer by Cameron Maybin. The shot was to dead center field and it was far beyond that, reaching almost the back of the lower deck at Coors. The previous night, he had hit one to a similar location and it was maybe 10 to 15 rows in front of that one. It was a towering fly ball and an absolute no-doubter in terms of distance, as play-by-play commentator Rich Waltz had it gone the whole way.Rich Waltz may have even contributed to that homer in true Michael Jong Institute of Jinxing (#MJIJ) fashion, as he mentioned after the previous pitch before the homer that Stanton was having difficulty picking up pitcher Josh Roenicke's short-armed delivery. Seconds later, Stanton launched the longest home run in three years and a majestic shot at that.
The ball was also extremely well-hit off the bat, as it had a speed off the bat of 116.3 mph. That ties it for the 12th hardest hit homer of the season. Of course, Stanton owns not only the hardest hit homer of the year (and of Home Run Tracker history, the aforementioned Scoreboard Breaker) but the second hardest one as well, this shot off of Cole Hamels at Marlins Park in late June.
Giancarlo Stanton has now hit five homers in five games in Coors Field. This is a four-game series. There are two games left. Yes, this is Giancarlo Stanton, and he's here to terrorize your baseballs.
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Add to myYahoo!Mike Schmidt 1987 Fleer All-Star Team As a kid, I remember that pulling one of these cards from a pack of 1987 Fleer baseball cards was as thrilling as pulling a certified autograph today. Randomly inserted into packs, it took some … Continue reading →![]()
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http://bapple2286.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/mike-schmidt-1987-fleer-all-star-team/
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Add to myYahoo!Game 2 vs. Dodgers The Braves won in extra innings Friday, kicking off the Dodgers series on the right foot. Juan Francisco provided the game-winning RBI single in the 11th. The same two teams will face off in the Civil Rights Game tonight. Aaron Harang will go for the Dodgers, sporting a 3.76 ERA but [...]
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CapitolAvenueClub/~3/ZDZGVW7-DMM/
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Giancarlo Stanton is locked up in a Denver-area jail this morning amidst allegations of lewd acts toward a baseball, according to somebody.
Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but Stanton's home run off of Josh Roenicke last night traveled 494 feet, according to the ESPN Home Run Tracker, making it the longest homer in the big leagues in three years. In addition, Stanton has now homered in all five games in which he has played at Coors Field. Here are the distances of those:
494 feet (off of Josh Roenicke on 8/17/12) 456 feet (off of Adam Ottavino on 8/16/12) 466 feet (off of Aaron Cook on 8/17/11) 433 feet (off of Edgmer Escalona on 8/16/11) 474 feet (off of Kevin Millwood on 8/15/11)
Can you imagine if he played for the Rockies? I mean, he wouldn't homer every single game, but I'm thinking 30-35 bombs in 81 home games wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Anyway, two of the most notable homers of the year in MLB have now been hit by Stanton vs. the Rockies. The other, of course, being his scoreboard-destroying blast off of Jamie Moyer in Miami back in May.
Watch the video highlights of last night's Stanton blast here.
More after the jump...
MLB Network on Dexter Fowler getting married, more - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia
This should really please a certain section of our fanbase (sarcasm), as Dex talks about his upcoming November wedding.
In addition to the marriage stuff, Dexter also talks about his experience in playing in the Beijing Olympics, playing hoops against Matt Kemp, and the prospects of a team featuring all baseball players taking on the USA basketball squad.
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Add to myYahoo!Well, we as fans knew last night was going to be tough against the Tigers in Detroit. Obviously, it was.
Last night, the Orioles lost their first contest in their three-game set against the Tigers, 5-3. The game was frustrating on some many levels, as Tommy Hunter tossed a typical Tommy Hunter start and the bullpen could not hold a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning.
Then again, the Orioles have nothing to be embarrassed about. The duo of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder treated the Birds like a lapdog, as they both homered to do the damage for the Tigers. Fielder homered twice ? both two-run shots in the 6th and 8th inning ? and Cabrera hit one off Hunter in the first inning.
Both of Fielder?s shots were absolute bombs; however, the second homer made the difference last night off of reliever J.C. Romero, breaking a 3-3 tie. Darren O?Day (6-1) ? who has been clutch on the mound all season ? took the loss, as he allowed the runner on base before Fielder?s fateful homer.
Again, it sucked that Detroit?s two big-boppers killed the Orioles; however, BOTH men are likely potential Hall-of-Famers barring anything crazy happening in their careers.
Baltimore?s offense came via a Nick Markakis RBI-double in the 3rd inning and a Matt Wieters? homer ? his 17th and a two-run shot ? in the fifth.
Joaquin Benoit (2-3) earned the win in relief for Detroit.
Tommy Hunter pitched well enough to perhaps win ? or lose ? but it was a solid start for him.
However, in my mind, last night will be remembered for Mark Reynolds? outburst and Buck Showalter being thrown of out the game in the fifth inning after a blown call at first.
Sometimes it is the little things during a game that makes a difference.
>>> Read More
Read The Full Article:
http://oriolepost.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-loss-in-motown-for-orioles-reynolds.html
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Add to myYahoo!This is the third instalment of this series. You can find the older ones here (most recent on top.) Promotions and demotions are listed under the team where the player currently plays (this means promotions to the Minnesota Twins will not be listed[...]
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheTenthInningStretch/~3/hp5OAI53KjU/minnesota-twi
ns-minor-league-weekly_18.html
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In Fish Stripes' continued attempt to remind people of the past of the Florida Marlins along with the present and future of the Miami Marlins, we bring you a new feature published three or so times a week entitled This Day In Marlins History! The concept itself is very simple: whenever we publish this, we find an interesting fact or tidbit related to the Florida / Miami Marlins and write a little bit about that event.
On this day, August 18, 2009, Ricky Nolasco had perhaps his best start in his career for the Florida Marlins against the Houston Astros.
Source: FanGraphs
Attendance: 30,189
Hero of the Game: Ricky Nolasco (0.172 WPA)
Goat of the Game: Ross Gload (Remember him? Proud member of the Marlins Veteran Pinch Hitters Foundation) (-0.095 WPA)
Play of the Game: Carlos Lee hits a home run in the first inning. Lance Berkman scores. (-0.183 WPA)
Ricky Nolasco had a horrific first half of the season for the Florida Marlins, having reached a 9.09 ERA by the end of May before he was demoted to Triple-A for a small stint. But Nolasco's peripherals, while still bad, were not close to as bad as that ERA indicated. His 4.75 FIP was not good, but it showed that he clearly was not as bad as advertised, and when he returned from the minors, the ridiculous improvement continued.
By the time we had gotten to the start against the Astros on August 18, Nolasco had lowered his 9.09 ERA all the way down to 5.44. But things did not start off well, as he gave up a double and then a home run to Carlos Lee (weird talking about him as an opponent after a month of him on our team) to put the Houston Astros up 2-0.
That was the biggest play of the game, certainly for the Astros, but it was the only real damage they were going to get against Nolasco. That is because right after that home run, Nolasco stopped allowing anything.
Twenty-Three StraightRicky Nolasco put out Geoff Blum on a swinging strikeout right after El Caballo's home run. That was the first of twenty-three straight batters Nolasco handled, notching all ten of his strikeouts during the streak. Eight of the ten strikeouts came from whiffs. Eight different hitters struck out against Nolasco, including two of them (Chris Coste and Geoff Blum, who started it all) whiffing twice.
From the descriptions of the plays, very few of the batted balls that were hit looked likely to land as hits or anything particularly dangerous, meaning Nolasco was mostly cruising during those 23 straight outs. Nolasco went into another zone in mowing down Astros hitters, much like he often did in that 2009 season, when there were stretches when he looked absolutely dominant. No doubt these 23 straight outs inflated his great numbers with the bases empty.
Home Runs Back Nolasco
The Marlins could not simply leave Nolasco hanging, and they came back to help him scoring two runs in the fourth to tie the game. Dan Uggla launched his 22nd blast of the season to tie the game that inning. The Marlins went on to pick him up with a big rally in the sixth inning. Jorge Cantu hit his 13th of the season to start things off, and the Marlins drove in two more runs on a Jeremy Hermida single and a Chris Coghlan bases-loaded walk. Hermida topped off the scoring with a solo shot in the eighth inning with the game seemingly well in hand, based on how dominant Nolasco had been.
Nolasco's run against the Houston Astros was an amazing accomplishment worthy of review, but it was not his only one of 2009. Indeed, Nolasco's 23 straight outs may not even be his best performance that season, but it was certainly an impressive feat that is worth remembering on this day in Marlins history, August 18, 2009.
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Add to myYahoo!Gwinnett Braves 2, Norfolk Tides 3
Sean Gilmartin turned in his best start with Gwinnett yesterday, throwing 5 innings and allowing only 1 hit, a solo homer. Gilmartin only walked one and struck out 6 men, lowering his AAA ERA to 3.20 in the process. Gwinnett managed only 3 hits on the day, but one was a 2 run homer by Rusty Ryal that drove in Ruben Gotay, who had singled before him. The G-Braves had a 2-1 lead when Gilmartin was removed, but Peter Moylan coughed it up, allowing a run on two hits. The bullpen would give up another, and Gwinnett lost 3-2.
Randall Delgado goes tonight as Gwinnett opens up a series in Durham.
Mississippi Braves 6, Jackson Generals 7 - 13 innings
Despite being outhit 16-9, Mississippi kept it close but ultimately lost to Jackson on a 13th inning walkoff. Gary Moran started and posted a quality start, but was let down by his defense. Moran went 6 innings, allowing 3 earned runs; the defense let in 2 unearned runs. Moran allowed 10 baserunners while managing 4 strikeouts in what was not his sharpest outing. The bullpen, led by Mark Lamm, kept it close until the end when Cory Rasmus gave up the walkoff. Evan Gattis was a wrecking ball tonight, reaching base 5 times with 2 walks, 2 doubles, and a single. He drove in 2 of the M-Braves' 6 runs as well. Joey Terdoslavich earned a pair of RBIs as well when he connected on his 4th homer of the year.
Zeke Spruill goes against Jackson today.
Lynchburg Hillcats 1, Wilmington Blue Rocks 11
Lynchburg got absolutely throttled by Wilmington last night. The Blue Rocks put up a 10 spot in the 2nd and never looked back. Aaron Northcraft had a disastrous start, recording 4 outs while allowing 7 earned runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. A trio of errors let in two more to cap Northcraft's rough night. On the other side of the ball, the Hillcats were 3 hit. Not too much more to say about this one.
Dimasther Delgado takes on the Blue Rocks today.
Lexington Legends 8, Rome Braves 17
Every Rome pitcher allowed at least one run tonight, but it didn't matter because every hitter in the Rome lineup reached base and either scored or drove in a run. Robby Hefflinger led the way with a monstrous night, scoring 2 and driving in 5 as part of a 4 hit day. His 3 run shot in the 8th capped a fantastic day for him. Tony Mueller also had a 4 hit day, notching 4 singles and a walk as well. William Beckwith and Brandon Drury each collected a pair of hits and RBIs as well on the night. The game was actually close at 9-7 in the 8th before Rome blew it open with an 8 spot in the bottom half of the inning.
Greg Ross takes on the Legends tomorrow.
Bluefield Blue Jays 0, Danville Braves 3 - Game 1
Danville swept a doubleheader yesterday, winning 3-0 in both games behind some stellar starting pitching. In Game 1, Frank LaFreniere through 6 innings of shutout ball, allowing 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. In the nightcap, Eduardo Castillo went 5 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 as well. Carlos Franco and Josh Elander led the way in game one, with Elander clubbing an RBI double and Franco going 2-3 with an RBI. In Game 2 it was Seth Moranda delivering the big knock, a 2-out 2 run single. Logan Robbins added the other run for Danville.
Danville plays Bluefield again this afternoon
GCL Braves - Postponed.
The GCL Braves were rained out yesterday. They were scheduled to play a doubleheader today, but that too has been rained out.
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