Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - No Dog Day For Barker, 24th Cannon Ball

Though it's a Monday off for those of us south of the border (or north, if you live in Windsor or certain places in the Yukon), there is no rest for this Canadian, as we had our day of holi on Friday.

A 3-3 record for the affiliates last night and yesterday afternoon. Why isn't it "last afternoon"?

Norfolk 7, Syracuse 5
Boxscore, Post-Standard game story

Kevin Barker hit two homers, one in the first and one in the third, and drove in three. He also added a single. And this was only the first five innings! He now has 11 homers in 31 games, an amazing total. Let's give him another month, though -- remember Cash v.2004 or Hinske v.2005.

However, I don't feel like waiting until August for Dave Bush. He should be back up with Toronto soon. Through four innings, he had only one bad frame, the three-run third. Even with that, he still had five strikeouts and only one walk.

However, the fifth was not kind. Single-single-single-homer. This all came with two outs, too. Well, I still think Bush should be recalled before too long. Spike Lundberg threw two scoreless innings to drop his ERA under 3.00 -- he's the fourth SkyChief reliever and fifth pitcher overall (Gaudin is the starter) who can claim that.

Altoona 12, New Hampshire 3
Boxscore, Union-Leader game story

Altoona has scored 4.8 runs per game so far in 2005. New Hampshire? 3.8. So there's a difference in the offensive abilities, clearly.

But 9 runs more, scoring 12? Off Zach Jackson? Well, to be fair, Jackson only gave up seven of those in the first three innings. (He was pulled in the fourth, possibly due to performance, possibly due to his pitch count of 90 at the time.) Five more runs in the next five innings buried the F-Cats, as you can't expect them to score 12 runs in three games, let alone one.

The home side did get within seven, though. Yeah, I know, but you look for the little things to mention in a game that was 12-1 until the ninth. Like Ryan Roberts and Rob Cosby with two hits each. Cosby even homered, a rarity at home for this team.

Old friend Tom Evans, set to turn 31 in five days, hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning. He's at .269/.389/.495, his best line since, uh, 1998. Well, you can't win them all. Note: Dustin McGowan starts tonight in Binghamton.

Dunedin 10, Clearwater 4
Boxscore

Chip Cannon homered again. He also struck out. We should copy that into every Minor League Update, it would save time.

Dunedin scored in every single one of the first five innings. Oh, and the seventh. Manny Mayorson and On-Base Jayce Tingler got on three times each (two hits and a walk for both). Check this first inning out: Tingler reaches base, Mayorson follows, then a Cannon HR. We should copy that into every Minor League Update, it would save time.

Mike MacDonald went into the sixth with only two earned runs to his name, then turned it over to Brad Mumma and Danny Hill for some terrific relief. In fact, Mumma faced nine batters and struck out five of them, including the side in the bottom of the seventh.

Cedar Rapids 7, Lansing 6
Boxscore, Lansing State Journal game story

Not a good start from Chi-Hung Cheng yesterday afternoon. Nine hits and three walks, and he didn't make it out of the fifth.

Nothing special on the offensive side of the boxscore yesterday afternoon, aside from Curtis Thigpen's single and double. Manager Ken Joyce was ejected in the eighth, the team blew a 6-4 lead in the last three innings, and they had a ten-hour bus ride to Dayton last night. That must be fun, eh?

Detailed play-by-play of the final three half-innings can be found here, here and here.

Bonus article: Christian Snavely deserves turnaround, says the Lansing State Journal. Did you know Christian is a devout Christian and his wife's name is Christen? Now you do.

Auburn 10, Jamestown 6
Boxscore

Randy Dicken started for the D-Days and went five strong, eventually handing it over to Edward Rodriguez, who picked up a save for pitching the 7th, 8th and 9th. Emmanuel Sena, called "Manny" by the radio crew, hit a three-run homer in the second inning to put his team up 4-2. Other home runs came from Cory Patton (solo) and Ryan Patterson (two-run).

Both Patton (S-D-D-HR) and Joey Metropoulos (S-S-D-D) had four hits on the night, combining for 8 of Auburn's 14.

Pulaski 7, Bristol 4
Boxscore

An 11-hit attack from the P-Jays, who I see are still using that awful T-Bird (P-Bird, I guess) logo. Among the two-hitters: Wesley Stone, Jacob Butler, Jorge Sandes. However, the team struck out 16 times, which is just ridiculous. Typical of Rookie ball, I assume?

Joe Wice had a great start, going five and only giving up one run. Five baserunners against six strikeouts, which is also very, very good. Rafael Perez picked up his first save in his fifth game of the season. Pulaski has won four in a row.

Three-Star Selection:
3. Joe Wice
2. Cory Patton
1. Kevin Barker

Today's Games:
Syracuse (Marcum) @ Norfolk (Seo), 6:15.
New Hampshire (McGowan) @ Binghamton (Chenard), 7:00.
Dunedin (Janssen) vs Clearwater, 12:00.
Lansing (Core) @ Dayton (Bailey), 7:00.
Auburn @ Jamestown, 7:00.
Pulaski vs Bristol, 4:00.

Standings:
Syracuse: 42-42, in third place, 9 games back of Buffalo.
New Hampshire: 42-39, in third place, 2 games back of Portland.
Dunedin: 8-3 in second half, second place behind Fort Myers by a half game.
Lansing: 5-6 in second half, fifth place, 3 games back of South Bend.
Auburn: 6-7, third place, two games back of Jamestown.
Pulaski: 7-6, tied for third place, one game back of Danville and Princeton.

Today's standings are brought to you by my guaranteed-to-taste-somewhat-like-poultry chicken cacciatore: Brown three pounds of chicken. Mix it in the bottom of the slow cooker with six ounces of tomato sauce. Then, add two sliced onions, two minced garlic cloves, a pound of diced tomatoes, a teaspoon of ground oregano, basil and pepper to taste. Don't forget the bay leaf. Cook on low for 6.5 hours.

There. Green ain't the only one who can cook.

Posted by Rob on Monday, July 04 2005 @ 09:19 AM EDT.

No Dog Day For Barker, 24th Cannon Ball | 25 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

MatO - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:06 AM EDT (#121427) #

Listened to the FAN on Saturday afternoon where they have a baseball show and caught an interview with the Chiefs play-by-play guy. Rosario has a "tired" shoulder and he was DL'd to rest and rehab it. Supposedly nothing serious. Marc mentioned on the previous Minor League thread that Marcum has a blister problem. Again nothing serious and he could have started but is being held back as a precaution.

Mike Green - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:27 AM EDT (#121428) #

The first meal my spouse made for me was Chicken Cacciatorre, although I don't think she cooked it 6.5 hours. Speaking of which, isn't "Chicken Cacciatorre" what Met fans would have called then St. Louis catcher Joe Torre if he backed away from a fight?

I am pleased to hear that Marcum's problems are only blisters, and that he'll get the start tonight.

Rob - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:41 AM EDT (#121432) #

Cacciatorre, cacciatore, same difference. Though I'm guessing Joe Clark is happy that it's not cacciatory. And yes, our slow cooker has lost power since the early 80's, so for me, 390 minutes is enough.

Jae Seo, who for some reason is a favourite of mine, is starting for Norfolk; he has a 2.99 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 90 K in 90.1 IP. Tom Glavine for the Mets: 4.95 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, 44 K in 96.1 IP. Yay, New York front office!

You know what would be nice? Web and/or good coverage of Dunedin and Auburn.

Pistol - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:47 AM EDT (#121434) #

Fordin had a notes column with a blurb about Cannon:

Ricciardi went on to say that Cannon would probably move all the way to Double-A New Hampshire at some point, which would represent a major leap for someone that started the year in the Class A Midwest League. The organizational philosophy has always been to let the players force the promotion, and Ricciardi said Cannon's a perfect example.

"He's taking advantage of his opportunity," Ricciardi said. "He's pushing us, and we've done it with everybody else. We might as well get him up there too. He's deserving of it."

Marc Hulet - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 11:03 AM EDT (#121437) #

I don't think a double-A promotion for Chip is really all that much of a stretch. Had Joey Metropoulos been healthy in April he likely would have started out in Lansing and Chip would have been in Dunedin. But the injury presented an opportunity for the Jays to be cautious with Chip and things probably worked out for the best. The jump from Auburn to Dunedin probably did not do Vito Chiaravalloti any favours, given his recent struggles.

Mike Green - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 11:21 AM EDT (#121442) #

Vito started out last season in Dunedin like a house on fire after winning the Triple Crown in the NYPL the summer before. It is really too bad that his elbow injury has prevented him from hitting the way he can.

MatO - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 02:14 PM EDT (#121467) #

Final in from the FSL. Dunedin wins 5-0. Janssen threw a one hitter through 7 with 1 BB and 6 K's. Cannon went 3-4 with a BB and a K.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 03:08 PM EDT (#121476) #

Janssen and Cannon are both forcing their way up methinks. It would be hard to promote both Purcey and Janssen unless room is made somehow. Based on performance, Janssen is a lot more ready to move despite Purcey's good K total. Purcey is giving up too many homeruns and walks. With his start today, Janssen is clearly the best pitcher the Jays have going below AA ball.

Cannon's been impressive lately. He's been keeping his average up and while he was striking out 1 in 3 at bats earlier, it's very close to 1 in 4 now which is acceptable for a power hitter. I'm not sure if there's anyone blocking him at AA. They must be able to find him at bats between 1B and DH. Of course, he hasn't even had 100 at bats at the level yet so it's hard to get too excited.

MatO - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 04:18 PM EDT (#121483) #

Auburn loses 4-1. Nothing of note except a couple more hits from Patterson including a double.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 08:07 PM EDT (#121518) #

6-2 lead for New Hampshire in the top of the 4th as Negron just drove in two runs with his third hit of the game, a single up the middle. He's 3 for 3 and a homerun short of the cycle. He steals second this inning too.

McGowan so far: 3 ip 3 h 2 r 2 er 1 bb 3 k 0 hr

He's allowed a double and triple among his hits. Both runs scored off him in the second inning.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 08:15 PM EDT (#121519) #

45 pitches for McGowan through 3 innings, about average. 30 strikes, 15 balls.

2-1 pitch flied to Negron in CF for the 1st out.

93 mph fastball misses. Strike. Ball. He's touched 96. A 2-1 pitch is hammered down the right field line for a homerun. Lead is cut to 6-3.

First pitch popped up to shallow LF, 2 down.

Strike. Foul. Grounded to Tablado, 3 down.

4 ip 4 h 3 r 3 er 1 bb 3 k 1 hr

Rob - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 08:22 PM EDT (#121520) #

As I sit here, listening to the game, some other McGowan numbers in the first four innings:
Pitches per inning: 11, 20, 14, 12.
Time per batter (sec): 65, 85, 90, 71
Time per pitch (sec): 18, 30, 19, 24

Aside from his second inning, he's been pretty consistent in his approach: 0:18 to 0:24 per pitch. His overall averages through four innings are 1:19 per batter and 24 seconds per pitch, whatever those numbers mean.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 08:33 PM EDT (#121522) #

Cats go very quickly in the top of the 5th. McGowan returns for the bottom of the inning.

McGowan ahead of Hietpas 1-2. Flied to RF. 1 out.

Ragsdale gets ahead 2-0. Broken bat grounder to SS, Tablado throws him out. 2 down.

1-0 pitch grounded through the hole with Cosby playing in to defend the bunt. Lydon has a single. He steals second as Kratz makes a good throw but just late.

Syracuse: Marcum 6 ip 6 h 0 r 0 bb 4 k (no decision)
League has pitched 2 shutout innings with a bb and k and is the pitcher of record as the Chiefs scored 2 in the 8th.

Full count to Baldaris. Grounded foul. McGowan fighting his control as the game goes on. High ball 4. 2 on and 2 outs.

Jacobs comes up as the tying run. McGowan up to 72 pitches now and he has a 90 pitch limit. Fastball outside. Curve swung on and missed, 1-1. In the dirt, 2-1. Grounded foul, 2-2. Curve swing and a miss, 3rd out.

5 ip 5 h 3 r 3 er 2 bb 4 k 1 hr, 77 pitches.

Dustin can go one more if he comes out throwing strikes.

Rob - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 08:36 PM EDT (#121523) #

McGowan threw 20 pitches in that inning, 77 total. 32 seconds per pitch, 2:09 per batter.

Which is high, to say the least.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 08:38 PM EDT (#121524) #

Acuna opens with a single.

Kratz flies to the track. Just three pitches for Chenard this inning.

Acuna steals second.

Tablado ahead 1-0. Fouled back. Curves misses. Driven to CF for a hit. Acuna held up and moves up only to third. Hard hit ball.

Waugh due up and Ken Chenard is getting the hook with runners on the corners and 1 out in the top of the 6th.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 08:48 PM EDT (#121525) #

Portobanco relieves Chenard. Wild pitch scores Acuna and Tablado moves up to 2B. 7-3 Cats. 3-0 now to Waugh. Ball 4.

1st and 2nd, one out for Negron who is a homer short of the cycle. Swinging strike. In the dirt and Tablado goes to third. Groundball base hit into right field. Waugh to second, Tablado scores. 8-3 Cats. Negron is 4 for 4 tonight with 3 rbi.

Roberts batting with 2 on, 1 out. Falls behind 0-2. High. Strikes out. 2 down.

Johnston takes a strike. Outside corner, 95 mph. 0-2. Foul. Down and in, 1-2. Down into the left field corner, fair. RBI double for Johnston, 9-3 Cats.

Cosby with runners in scoring position, 2 down. Curve, strike 1. Grounded to 2B to end the inning. Nice long rest and another 3 runs for McGowan.

Rob - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 08:54 PM EDT (#121526) #

Okay, McGowan's got to be finished now. The first two hitters in the sixth homered off him, and Bob Lipman said his curve did not look good anymore.

And Basso goes out, it looks like that's it.

5-plus innings, 5 runs, 7 hits.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 08:55 PM EDT (#121527) #

McGowan falls behind 2-0 to Harper. Swinging strike. Hit high to left and it's gone. Homerun on a 2-1 pitch and McGowan gives up his second homer of the game. Harper already had a double earlier and he hit this one out the opposite way.

Duncan takes a strike. Ball. Curve high, delivered awkwardly. High and deep to right and this one is gone. 9-5 the score and McGowan gives up his third of the night. Dustin has hit a wall and the manager is out to the mound. His night is done after 85 pitches.

Final tally for McGowan including two batters faced in the 6th:

5 ip 7 h 5 r 5 er 2 bb 4 k 3 hr

Ugly line. He lost control and seemed tired the last couple of innings. Hopefully his arm wasn't bothering him.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 09:04 PM EDT (#121528) #

Thorpe gets Malek for the 1st out on a flyout to LF.

2-0 to Bacani. 92 mph misses, 3-0. Ball 4.

Hietpas runs the count full and reaches base.

Ragsdale ends up lining into a doubleplay to end the inning. Thorpe does the job sort of and the Cats lead 9-5 after 6.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 09:09 PM EDT (#121529) #

1-2-3 go the Cats in the 7th. To the bottom of the 7th, 9-5 they lead.

edtjeerd - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 09:56 PM EDT (#121532) #

R Billie

Are you listening to the game off of the internet? If so, could you post a link to it? Thanks.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:17 PM EDT (#121533) #

Listen in here.

I had to step away for a while but apparently the Mets came back to tie it at 9. The Cats just came up empty in the top of the 10th.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:19 PM EDT (#121534) #

Gronk was apparently pummelled in the 9th for 4 runs to tie it. He's still in the game here in the bottom of the 10th.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:25 PM EDT (#121535) #

Rob Cosby comes up with his second homer of the game to put the Cats ahead 10-9 in the top of the 11th.

R Billie - Monday, July 04 2005 @ 10:40 PM EDT (#121540) #

Jordan DeJong trying to nail it down in the bottom of the 11th. Yikes.

Lydon grounds out to Roberts.

1-1 grounded by Baldaris through the hole into left field. Tying run is aboard.

Jacobs takes a 92 mph cutter on the corner. Same pitch again for a strike. Ball. Misses away, 2-2. Misses, full count. Fouled back. Fouled back. Called strike 3. 2 down.

Brett Harper doubled and homered of McGowan and doubled in the 9th off Gronk. He's up here with the game on the line. Someone got ejected from the game as they argued the strikeout on Jacobs.

First pitch flied to left and Waugh has it to seal the save for DeJong and win in extras for Gronk. 10-9 the final.

No Dog Day For Barker, 24th Cannon Ball | 25 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.