Romero threw 6 shutout innings for Syracuse.  In the 7th of a scoreless game, he gave up an infield single, a sacrifice, and a single, an then was removed for Ryan Houston who allowed the inherited runner to score. It wasn't a great outing, due to the shortage of Ks, but he again pitched well enough to win.  The Sky Chiefs are scuffling now.

Today is the last day of the first half of the season for Dunedin and they are tied on top with Fort Myers.  Dunedin have lost their last two games to lose the advantage and must beat Tampa tonight.  Does anyone know what the tie-breaker is if two teams are tied?

Interesting situation in Dunedin today.  If you are the Blue Jays do you tell the manager to treat the game like a playoff and put the pressure on the players to see how they react when something is on the line, or do you just follow the usual game-to-game methods (ie: playing less productive players because they need the development). 

I'd lean towards having the manager treat it like it was do or die and I'd have been hitting the players with that for the past few days.  The old 'you have a shot at getting into the playoffs' incentive.  If the guys win treat them to a big dinner (meal money in A ball is fairly low iirc) and party after the game (hopefully they have tomorrow off).  The old train them early on how important winning is and how you get rewarded if you do win. 

The missus and I were in Batavia yesterday for the D-Days season opener against the Muckdogs.

 

Before I give the rundown of the game, I salute the missus for us going to this game and allowing me to file this report.  We took the day off because it was my birthday.  Because the Jays were out of town on my birthday (for the 5th time in the last 6 years!), I thought this year would be baseball free this time for the first time in 3 years (after games in Montreal and Toronto last year) and that we’d go out for dinner and a movie.  However, I discovered the Rochester Red Wings had an afternoon game against former Jay Josh Phelps and the Toledo Mud Hens.  After not making it to the Flour City for a game last year, we decided to right this wrong and make the trip to my favourite ballpark, Frontier Field. 

 

Being the baseball addict/junkie that I am, I mentioned to the missus that Auburn was in Batavia when we passed the exit sign for Batavia on the I-90 Monday night.  She said she wished I had mentioned it earlier because she would’ve booked another day off.  I said it would be nice to go but the fact she works at 4am in the morning put the kibosh on that idea.  Still, I figured we’re going to Frontier Field and that’s a present in itself.

 

Anyways, we go for a 3 hour plus game at Frontier Field (I had no problem the game took that long! None whatsoever! A game Rochester won 7-1).  Afterwards, we decided to stop for dinner in Batavia at Pontillo’s, a place we visited on our first trip there. Great food, plenty of it, and reasonable prices.  On our way into town, I saw the sign for Dwyer Stadium and she read my mind, saying “If you do the driving on the way back, we can go the game”.   We had pulled into town around 6:20 and she said we may miss the first inning but she needed to eat.  Thinking ahead and ordering our desserts to go (2 Chocolate Cannolis), we got out of the restaurant at 7:05.  I figured we would miss the first inning.  She dropped me off at the park to get tickets while she found a parking spot.  There was a bit of a line-up for tickets (apparently 1,500 fans were in attendance) but the line moved quickly enough and I got our stubs.  After having to park in Connecticut or New Jersey, the missus got to the park and thanks to the Opening Day festivities and line-up introductions, we got to our seats just in time for the start of the game.  I love it when a plan comes together!!  If that wasn’t enough, the missus sent out a birthday greeting on the Frontier Field scoreboard.  I’m so damn lucky it’s unbelievable.  Believe me I know!!!  I’m sorry for the lengthy tribute to the missus but I wanted it that on the record.  Anyways, on to the report………….

 

The pitching match-up featured a pair of righties.  Casey McKenzie toed the rubber for Auburn while Edgar Garcia, the number 9 prospect in the Phillies system according to Baseball America, was on the hill for Batavia.

 

Top 1st – As we just settled into our seats along the first base side, Doubledays leadoff man and CF Ben Zeskind christened the season with a groundball to first, made unassisted for the first out.  LF Anthony Calderone grounded to 2nd and 1B Luke Hopkins struck out swinging for a 3 up 3 down inning.  Auburn 0 Batavia coming up to bat.

 

Bottom 1st – CF Quentin Berry tapped out to the mound on a 1-1 pitch for a 1-3 putout.  The first hit of the season was collected by SS Jason Donald, who lined an 0-2 pitch into left for a base knock.  Donald would hit and later be hit as the evening went along.  He would advance to 2nd on a wild pitch by Casey McKenzie, but the Auburn hurler got down to business striking out LF Jacob Dempsey and 1B Charlie Yarbrough both swinging to end the frame.  McKenzie struck out Dempsey on a 2-2 high fastball and got Yarbrough with a breaking ball to end the frame.  Auburn 0 Batavia 0 after 1.

 

Top 2nd. – Brian Hall grounded out to short to begin the inning but Auburn would pick up its 1st hit of the season on a single to right by DH Chris Looze.  C Matthew Lane fell behind in the count at 0-2 but he would line the next pitch over the right field wall for the first D-Days runs of the season to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.  RF Shawn Scobee punched a single up the middle to try to keep the rally going.  However, Scobee would wind up killing the rally as he lost track of how many outs there were.  3B Manny Sena flied out to centre but Scobee took off for 2nd and didn’t realize it was just one out and was easily doubled off for the 8-3 double play.  This would turn out to be the first of a couple of baserunning adventures for the D-Days right fielder.  Auburn 2 Batavia 0.

 

Bottom 2nd – Casey McKenzie retired the first two hitters, RF Doug Morales on a grounder to first unassisted and DH Tim Kennelly on a fly ball to centre.  3B Cody Montgomery singled to right to keep the inning going but McKenzie would strike out C Joel Naughton swinging on a 0-2 curveball for out number 3.  Still Auburn 2 Batavia 0.

 

Top 3rd – SS Jonathan Diaz grounded out to short but leadoff man Ben Zeskind sent another groundball towards 1st base but this time it got by the Batavia first baseman down the line and he hustled into 2nd for a double.  Adam Calderone advanced him to 3rd with a grounder to 2nd but Luke Hopkins could not cash him in as he also grounded to 2nd to end the inning.  It remains Auburn 2 Batavia 0.

 

Bottom 3rd – Casey McKenzie kept up his K/IP pace going by getting 2B Zach Penprase on what appeared to be a slider.  Auburn LF Adam Calderone would catch a couple of fly balls off the bats of Quentin Berry and Jason Donald to complete the 3 up, 3 down inning.  Still Auburn 2 Batavia 0.

 

Top 4th – Another 3 up, 3 down frame.  Brian Hall and Chris Looze sent a couple of ground balls Jason Donald’s way at short for 6-3 putouts and Matthew Lane went down swinging, chasing a breaking ball in the dirt.  He was officially retired after the throw to first from the catcher.  Auburn still hanging on to a 2-0 lead.

Bottom 4th – McKenzie began the inning on a good note by getting Jacob Dempsey looking on a 3-2 curve, his 5th punchout of the night.  Clean-up hitter Charlie Yarbrough, who seemed to have his fan club in attendance with chants of “Charlie!  Charlie!” gave Muckdogs fans something to cheer about with a single to right.  He would advance to 3rd after Doug Morales punched another single to right.  Tim Kennelly would score Yarbrough with a sac fly to right to make it a 1 run game at 2-1.   Morales would proceed to steal 2nd but Cody Montgomery would ground to 2nd on a full count pitch to end the inning.  The score was now Auburn 2 Batavia 1.

 

Top 5th – Shawn Scobee drilled an Edgar Garcia pitch to deep right and for a moment, it looked like it would clear the fence.  However, Scobee would settle for the next best thing as the ball caromed off the wooden fence at Dwyer Stadium past the Batavia RF allowing Scobee to pull into 3rd for a triple.  Manny Sena tried to cash him in but he lifted a fly ball to centre that wasn’t all that deep.  Scobee tagged up but slammed on the brakes but with his back turned to the plate, he didn’t see the Batavia CF had uncorked a throw to the backstop.  It looked like manager Dennis Holmberg, handling 3rd base coaching duties as well, had a few words for Scobee after that.  With not a whole lot of foul territory behind home plate, it’s debatable whether Scobee might have been able to score on the play had he decided to tag up right away.  However, Scobee would get to stomp on home plate on as Jonathan Diaz singled to right to restore Auburn’s 2 run lead at 3-1.   Ben Zeskind flied out to centre for the inning’s 2nd out and with Adam Calderone batting, Diaz was caught stealing on a 2-6 putout to end the inning.  Auburn 3 Batavia 1.

 

Bottom 5th – The night was over for Auburn starter Casey McKenzie, who was “relieved” by another righty Javier Nieves, who was less than good.  His first 9 pitches were balls as Joel Naughton and Zach Penprase were given bases on balls, the number 8 and 9 hitters for Batavia.  Nieves then found himself in a full count to lead-off man Quentin Berry, who bailed Nieves out by chasing a pitch out of the strike zone for the first out.  Any thoughts on Nieves perhaps settling down and gaining confidence were quickly erased as he plunked Jason Donald to load up the bases.  D-Days Manager Dennis Holmberg had seen enough as he signaled to the pen for righthander Josh Sowers.  What a way to open the season.  Bases loaded, no pressure.  Sowers bailed out Nieves big time by inducing a grounder to 2nd for what turned out to be a 4-6-3 double play.  Keeping the ball on the ground would be a common theme for Sowers on this night.  Still Auburn 3 Batavia 1.

 

Top 6th – Adam Calderone flew out to centre and Luke Hopkins grounded out to short, despite a deflection off the glove of Batavia hurler Edgar Garcia for outs 1 and 2.  Brian Hall worked the count full and lunged to pull a pitch to the Batavia 3rd baseman for what should have been an inning-ending groundball.  However, Cody Montgomery sailed a throw over the first baseman’s head and it bounced into the stands to put Hall at 2nd.   Chris “Refuse To” Looze would make Batavia pay for the extra out with a single up the gut to cash in Hall and up Auburn’s lead to 4-1.  That would end Edgar Garcia’s night and he was relieved by righty Reymond Cruz.  Matthew Lane would ground into a fielder’s choice, 6-4, to end the inning.  Auburn 4 Batavia 1.

Bottom 6th – Josh Sowers returned to the mound for the D-Days and gave the left side of the infield some work.  He induced a ground ball to third off the bat of Charlie Yarbrough, which was nicely tracked by Manny Sena, who went to his knees to track the ball and made the play to first.  Then Jonathan Diaz  got some work at short, throwing out Doug Morales and Tim Kennelly.  Diaz had to deal with a diving Manny Sena in front of him on the last play but he managed to get to the ball to first in time to end the inning.  Still Auburn 4 Batavia 1.

 

Top 7th – With Reymond Cruz still pitching for Batavia, he began the frame by walking Shawn Scobee, who was then replaced by Zach Kalter on the basepaths.  I wonder if that was a subtle hint for Scobee.  Manny Sena grounded to short on a 3-2 pitch but with Kalter running on the pitch, he advanced to 2nd.  Jonathan Diaz joined Kalter on the basepaths by drawing a walk on a 3-2 pitch but they would not advance any further as Ben Zeskind struck out swinging and Adam Calderone tapped out to the mound, 1-3 on the scorecard, to end the inning.  Stretch time at Dwyer Stadium, it remains Auburn 4 Batavia 1.

 

Bottom 7th – Josh Sowers was back on the mound for the D-Days and induced a groundball to 2nd for the first out.  With 5 groundballs, Sowers produced 6 outs.  To this point, he did a great job keeping the ball down with I guess was his sinker.  Joel Naughton managed to get a bit of elevation on a Sowers pitch as he lined a single to centre.  Zach Penprase drew his 2nd walk of the night to push Naughton to 2nd.  Sowers rebounded to induce a grounder to short off  the bat of Quentin Berry but the D-Days could only get Penprase at 2nd so it was runners on the corners with 2 away.  Jason Donald must have had a magnet on his back or he pissed off the D-Days in some way as he was drilled in the back for a 2nd time to load up the bases.  Maybe Sowers was tiring at this point and he was relieved by righthander Scott Byrnes.  Like the way Sowers bailed out for Javier Nieves, Byrnes came to Sowers’ rescue by leaving the bases loaded.  Despite a first pitch ball that was nowhere close to the strike zone, Byrnes by retiring Jacob Dempsey on a grounder to short the end the inning.  Still Auburn 4 Batavia 1.

 

Top 8th – Reymond Cruz finished up a tidy effort in relief with a 3 up, 3 down inning.  He got Luke Hopkins to watch a called strike 3 and retired Brian Hall and Chris Looze on grounders to 2nd.  Auburn 4 Batavia 1.

 

Bottom 8th –  The CharlieYarbrough fan club had more reason to cheer as he drew a lead off walk.  Byrnes got his first K of the night, striking out Doug Morales swinging on a 3-2 high fastball.  He then got Tim Kennelly on a broken bat pop up to short for out number 2.  Then the fun began for Batavia.  Cody Montgomery managed to bounce a groundball that eluded Auburn first baseman Luke Hopkins for a double to right to push Yarbrough to 3rd.  Hopkins couldn’t be faulted on that play but he could be faulted on the next one as Byrnes got a ground ball to 1st from Joel Naughton.  However, Hopkins had the ball clank off his glove while Byrnes was running to cover the bag.  That led to Yarbrough scoring Batavia’s 2nd run to make it a 4-2 ballgame.  Montgomery advanced to 3rd on the play.  Byrnes again induced another grounder to 2nd off the bat of Zach Penprase.  Hall got to the ball but didn’t field it cleanly and what I thought should’ve been an error was ruled an infield hit.  That cashed in Cody Montgomery and Batavia was within 1 at 4-3.  Naughton and Penprase, the number 8 and 9 hitters for the Muckdogs, were pretty pesky as they managed to get on base the last 3 times up.  At this point, Byrnes must’ve figured if he wanted the job done right, he’d have to do it himself and if he’s going to induce any more groundballs, let them come to him.  And Byrnes did just that, getting a tapper back to the mound from Quentin Berry to end an 0-for-5 night, on a 1-3 putout to stop the bleeding.  It’s now Auburn 4 Batavia 3.

 

Top 9th – Righty Bill Kirk became the 3rd hurler of the night to replace Reymond Cruz.  He extended Batavia’s shut-out relief string to 3.1 innings with a 3 up, 3 down frame.  Al Quintana, pinch hitting for Matthew Lane, flied out to centre.  Zach Kalter grounded to short and Manny Sena, was barely thrown out at short to end the inning.  Sena was pretty upset and thought about spiking his batting helmet on the ground.  The man can run, there’s no question about it and I thought he was safe as well.  However, the ump didn’t give a damn what Sena and I thought.  Auburn 4 Batavia 3.

 

Bottom 9th- Edward Rodriguez was called upon to slam the door shut on the Muckdogs as he relieved Scott Byrnes.  Jason Donald led off the inning and instead of being plunked for the hat trick, he was caught looking on a 1-2 breaking ball for out number 1.  However, Rodriguez would put the tying run on base as he walked Jacob Dempsey.  Brian Capps came in to pinch run for him.  Rodriguez would get Charlie Yarbrough to chase another breaking ball in the dirt for strike 3 but this is where the missus and I were confused. Granted, it was getting cold and I was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts and my brain may have been frozen at this point but here’s the deal.  Al Quintana, who replaced Matthew Lane behind the dish for the D-Days, didn’t tag out Yarbrough to complete the strikeout.  Yarbrough ran down to first while Capps ran to 2nd.  Quintana, instead of throwing down to 1st to complete the strikeout, threw to 2nd to try to get Capps, who beat the throw.  I thought it would’ve been runners on 1st and 2nd with one out but Yarbrough was told to go back to the dugout.  Looking at the game log on milb.com, the play was ruled a wild pitch that advanced Capps to 2nd.  It didn’t make sense to me but there no was no huge argument from the Batavia dugout so the game continued.  With the tying run in scoring position, it was up to Doug Morales to keep the game going for the home side.  However, Edward Rodriguez had other ideas as he struck out Morales swinging on another breaking ball to end the ball game.  Doubledays Win!  Doubledays Win!  The final score – Auburn 4 Batavia 3.

 

Three Stars of the Game ………

 

1. Josh Sowers -  Wouldn’t it be fun to have Sowers and Towers on the big club someday?  A richly deserved victory in relief, inheriting a bases loaded situation from Javier Nieves in the 5th, and inducing an inning ending double play.  Despite a single, walk, and a hit batsmen, he produced 7 outs on 6 groundballs in his 2.1 innings of work.
2. Casey McKenzie – A solid start that was cut short (why?  I don’t know?  Pitch count?  Injury?).  He gave up 4 hits in his 4 innings of work but struck out 5 (4 of them swinging) and didn’t walk anyone.  It was a shame he couldn’t have gone another inning to qualify for the W.
3. Edward Rodriguez – Nailed down the save after overshadowing a walk by striking out the side, the last 2 batters looking, stranding the potential tying run on base.

 

Honourable Mentions –

 

Scott Byrnes – Gave up 2 runs in 1.1 IP but the runs were unearned thanks to an error that extended the 8th inning and another grounder that I thought should’ve been another error.  He induced 3 groundballs to get the final out so he was doing his job!  He bailed out Josh Sowers out of a bases loaded jam in the 7th (with a groundball of course!) to keep the Muckdogs off the board.

 

Matthew Lane – His first at bat of the season was a good one.  His 2 run homer in the 2nd put the Doubledays in flight and ahead to stay in the 2nd.

 

Chris Looze – He recorded Auburn’s first hit of the season and came around to score on Lane’s homer.  He also drove in the eventual game winning run with a 2 out single to cash in Brian Hall.  Had 2 singles in 4 at-bats.

 

Shawn Scobee – Had some baserunning misadventures but reached base all 3 times up on a single, a triple, and a walk.  Also scored a run.

 

 

In the team picture –

 

Jonathan Diaz – Had a walk and a single in his three plate appearances.  Also made a fine defensive play at short, contending with a diving Manny Sena in front of him to throw out a runner to end the 6th inning.

 

Brian Hall – He wound up scoring the winning run after working the count full and reaching 2nd on a 2 base error in the 6th.

 

And to top off my birthday, I find out the Jays beat the Atlanta Braves 6-5 after we get over the border, meaning they still have a chance to make the post-season because every year they’ve made it they won on June 20th.  Thank you Alex Rios, Reed Johnson, Troy Glaus, and B.J. Ryan.  What a day!  What a night!  What a happy birthday!  Thanks for reading!

Thanks #2JB. Now, that's what I call a birthday present.

It's great news that Brian Hall is back.  How did he look at the plate and in the field?

Thanks #2, maybe I should show your story to my wife.

The Futures Game rosters were announced.  Davis Romero is the lone Blue Jay representative. The US team is absolutely loaded in the field- Suzuki, Fields, Gordon, Tulowitzki, Drew, Kendrick, Maybin, Reimold, Billy Butler.  I wonder how many 2011 All-Stars will emerge from that club.

From what I have read online, if Dunedin and Ft Myers end up tied in the FSL, then the Miracle win the 1st have division. Must be based on head to head record.

Over at BTF Mike Emeigh believes head to head is the tie-breaker which favours Dunedin 4-2.  Orlando Trias starts for Dunedin against Tampa but Kevin Slowey starts for Fort Myers against Lakeland.  Slowey has a 1.10 ERA in 13 starts so Dunedin will have to win or be left on the outside.  Trias sports a 3.62 ERA.

Lakeland defeated Fort Myers 2-1, while Dunedin has relinquished an early 4-0 lead and trails 6-4 in the ninth.  It looks like the tie-breaking rule is going to come into play.  Lakeland will end up 1/2 game back because it played 1 fewer game.