Meanwhile, tight game and a wild finish in High Desert (and those who caught the tail end of the Mariners game thread last night probably know how it went, as I was listening to the end of the game and would not shut up about it, lol)... Wisconsin watched their own version of Mateo gag up another ballgame... West Tennessee blew up a one-time phenom with a huge late-inning rally... and with Eddie Guardado injured, it's likely he has passed the lefty suck torch to Ryan Rowland-Smith, who undid a solid start in Tacoma by a surprise replacement for the expected starting pitcher, who was a curious no-show. That's as many prepositions as I had stiff drinks last night.
A: High Desert 3, Lake Elsinore 2, 10 innings
Aaron Cotter: 6 IP, 5 H, (1 R) 0 ER, walk, 5 K
Roman Martinez: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 K
Austin Bibens-Dirkx: 1 IP, 1 H, (1 R) 0 ER, walk, 2 K, and a very curious rule violation
Michael Saunders: 0-5, K (.283)
Jesus Guzman: 2-5, R, SB (.288)
Jeff Dominguez: 3-5, double, R, K, SB (.310)
Travis Scott: (debut) 2-5, 2 RBI, K
Tight game with a big finish. Aaron Cotter looked to take a hard luck 1-0 loss, but High Desertgot a big break in the 7th. With two outs and Casey Craig on 1st. Craig stole 2nd, then Michael Saunders hit a routine fly to left, except LF Chad Huffman DROPPED it, and Craig scored to tie the ballgame. Pitcher Brandon Higelin balked to move Saunders to 2nd, but got Jesus Guzman to escape the inning.
High Desert had a good shot in the bottom 8th with men on 1st and 2nd, one out... except catcher Travis Scott, making his first appearance of the year after missing 14 games with an oblique injury, grounded into the 6-4-3 inning ending double play. They also got a man on 2nd in the bottom 9th when Chris Colton pinch hit for Josh Womack and hit a one out double, but Casey Craig and Michael Saunders, easily two of the best bats in the Mavs lineup, went quietly to send it to extras.
The Mavs sent out reliable sidewinder Austin Bibens-Dirkx to work the 10th. He got Yordany Ramirez to fly out and struck out Mike Baxter, and that's when things got weirder than Austin's last name. Now, I admit that I was inebriated while listening to the game so I was a bit unclear as to what exactly happened. I had heard that after walking Matt Antonelli, Bibens-Dirkx was called for a balk for going into his jersey, a technical no-no, which put Antonelli on 2nd.
Turns out that's not what happened. Apparently during Antonelli's AB, the Lake batter in the hole, Seth Johnston, got tossed for a reason no media outlet will specify, though from what I heard under the influence, Johnston must have been the one who 'went to his jersey' and got tossed as a result. We may never know.
Anyway, the hijinks during the Antonelli at-bat didn't end there. Ball four to Antonelli got lodged in catcher Travis Scott's catching equipment and he couldn't get it out! As a result, Antonelli was able to take 2nd, as the umps ruled the gaffe a catching error! Chad Huffman singled in the next AB, scoring Antonelli to make it 2-1 Lake in the biggest screwing this side of Mike Reilly.
But High Desert would not give up. Down 2-1 with their final three outs against Lake closer John Madden. Jesus Guzman tapped it back to Madden, who FUMBLES and Guzman is safe at 1st. Reed Eastley watched strike three for one out, and Mavs manager Scott Steinmann did not approve, so umpire Johnny Conrad said 'STFU GTFO.' EJECTED. Jeff Dominguez avenged his skipped and lined a single to center to put runners at the corners, one out. Johan Limonta gets plunked by the Maddencruiser, BOOM, and the bases are loaded. And here comes Travis Scott, already having a pretty crappy debut despite a hit, thanks to his rally killing GIDP and equipment gaffe that, if he does not respond here, costs his team the game.
And Scott smoked a worm-burner down the right side, PAST THE INFIELD and Guzman scores! Dominguez hustled home and the throw was NOT IN TIME, HIGH DESERT WINS!!! Travis Scott redeems himself with the walkoff Texas Leaguer in one of the craziest 10th innings you'll ever see in A ball.
A: Beloit 8, Wisconsin 3
Nathan Adcock: 4 IP, 4 H, (2 R) 0 ER, 2 walks, 6 K
Robert Harmon: 2 IP, 1 H, walk, 2 K
Justin Souza: 1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER (HR), from Justin Souza?, K
Steve Uhlmansiek: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, walk
Ogui Diaz: 1-4, triple, RBI, K, CS (.265)
Carlos Triunfel: 0-4, 2 K (.222)
Greg Halman: 1-3, walk, K, picked off (.195)
Alex Liddi: 2-4, triple, 2 R, K (.147)
Leury Bonilla: 2-3, 2 doubles, R, 2 RBI (.385)
Hargrove's kid: 0-4, 3 K (.211)
I'm guessing nobody wanted to hang out with Justin Souza after last night's game.
AA: West Tenn 7, Mississippi 5
Joe Woerman: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 walks, 4 K, WP
Mumba Rivera: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER (2 HR), 2 walks, 5 K, 2 WP, no concept of 'taking a day off'
Craig James: 1 IP, walk, 3 K
Jeff Frazier: 0-4, R, walk (.153)
Matt Tuiasosopo: 3-3, triple, 2 R, RBI, walk (.373)
Rene Rivera: 1-2, 2 run HR (?!), walk (.200)
Alex Meneses: WILKOMMEN! 2-3, double, R, RBI, walk, K
Sebastien Boucher: 1-3, 2 RBI (.167)
Mississippi kept tacking on run after run as this game progressed and it looked like the DIAMOND JAXX, trailing 5-2, their only scoring being the violation of reality and common sense that was Rene Rivera's 2nd inning 2 run homer, were gonna drop another game to the AA Braves. And then reliever Jeff Bennett came back out for Mississippi in the bottom 8th and the sea parted: with Jeff Frazier somehow on 1st base with one out, Tui, already 2 for 2, made it 3 for 3 with a big triple to center. 5-3. Rene Rivera was so fat he couldn't help but get hit with a pitch and runners were on the corners, one out (West Tenn thankfully pulled him for pinch runner Chris Minaker).
Bennett got the hook and Mississippi brought in Joey Devine, last seen trying and failing to stick in the big leagues with Atlanta. Joey took the mound as he always does, looking to prove that he belongs in the big leagues. He walked Ron Prettyman to load the bases. He walked Alex Meneses to force in Tui and make it 5-4. He put one over the plate and Sebastien Boucher smoked it to center to score Minaker and Prettyman. The DIAMOND JAXX retook the lead 6-5. One out.
Brent Johnson grounded to third, but not seeing a chance to get the lead runner, Van Pope threw to 2nd to get Boucher for two outs, runners on the corners. Bad call, shoulda punted: Devine uncorked a wild pitch that scored Meneses and gave Brent Johnson 2nd. 7-5 West Tenn. Two out.
And then Joey Devine walked Luis Valbuena, one of the coldest bats in the lineup. He got the hook. Yeah, he and Soriano totally need to trade places right now, because Joey Devine is READY FOR THE BIG TIME after a performance like that.
Zach Schreiber got Jeff Frazier to be Jeff Frazier for the 3rd out but the damage was done. Craig James shut the AA Braves down in the top 9th for the save.
AAA: Fresno 5, Tacoma 1
Jason Mackintosh, NOT CHA SEUNG BAEK: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, walk, 4 K
Ryan Rowland-Smith: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 walks, K (ERA: 9.31)
Jon Huber: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, walk, K
Sean Green: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, walk, K
Adam Jones: 1-4 (.333)
Jeremy Reed: 1-4, double, R (.236)
Mike Morse: 0-4 (.232)
Bryan LaHair: 0-3, walk, 3 K (.220)
WLAD: 2-3, RBI, walk (.340)
Jeff Clement (DH): 0-3, walk, 2 K (.224)
Rob Johnson: 0-4, 2 K (.239)
Brant Ust: 1-3, double, K (.273)
I'm guessing nobody wanted to hang out with Ryan Rowland-Smith after the game either.
Also, note the curious absence of scheduled starter Cha Seung Baek, as it appears the rumors of the Mariners starting Brandon Morrow were all hot air. Could it have all been a giant smokescreen by the org to delay the opposition from getting a head start on scouting Baek? Sure, this org is run by guys who couldn't find water if you threw them in the ocean, but I can see them pulling a bait and switch like this to head off thoughtful opposing scouts at the pass.
Either way, Jason Mackintosh made the most of his callup, throwing 5 surprisingly effective shutout innings, and was in line for the win before Ryan Rowland-Smith did his performance impression of a Brazilian freeway crash. RRS sure has hit the wall in AAA this season. Meanwhile, Jon Huber is rebounding from HIS poor start, mopping up seven outs while allowing only a couple baserunners, and Sean Green didn't look too hot after his cup of coffee with the big club this week.