Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
...is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.

Two wins and two losses for the farm teams last night. One of the things I've always found hardest to understand about introductions to Minor-League Updates is their habit of continuously stating and repeating the very very obvious, as in, It's a nice day, or You're very tall, or Oh dear, you seem to have fallen down a thirty-foot well, are you all right?

Syracuse 3 Rochester 1

Another pitching duel in New York State saw the Jays’ organization emerge triumphant. Scott Downs had one of his best starts as a Skychief, scattering 7 hits over 7 innings and yielding just 1 run, walking nobody and striking out 6. He left with a 1-0 deficit, however, so the win went to Spike Lundberg, who recorded the final out of the 8th inning. Jason Arnold slammed the door in the 9th, allowing just one walk and striking out 2 Red Wings for his second save. In 10 1/3 innings in Syracuse, Arnold has yielded just 4 hits (2 of them homers), struck out 10, and walked just the one hitter tonight. If he keeps this up, he will grab the attention of the Jays’ front office.

The Skychiefs posted a three-spot in the bottom of the 8th with the benefit of just one hit. After two walks and an error loaded the bases with one out, Aaron Hill lofted a sacrifice fly to tie the game, and Chad Mottola dropped a triple into right field (nearly a diving catch) to drive in the go-ahead runs. Syracuse batters recorded only 3 other singles on the night, again matched up against top Twins prospect Scott Baker.

Box score

Skychiefs rob Red Wings, says the Syracuse Post-Standard.


New Hampshire 6 New Britain 5

More fine pitching in the Eastern League, as Josh Banks moved to 4-0 by posting a win without having his A game. Banks scattered 8 hits, including a triple and a home run, and allowed 3 runs in 5 innings; but as usual, he helped himself by issuing no walks and striking out 4 batters. In 30 2/3 innings, Banks has yielded 22 hits, walked just 2 batters, and struck out 25. if he has an Achilles heel, it’s the gopher ball – he now has allowed 4 home runs this year. Able relief work was supplied by Ryan Houston and Josue Matos, while Lee Gronkiewicz punched out 2 batters in a perfect ninth for his 5th save.

Catcher Erik Kratz drove in 3 runs with a homer, single and sacrifice fly, while 3B Rob Cosby doubled, singled, walked and scored 2 runs while driving in another. Raul Tablado walked twice and singled, an encouraging sign.

Box score


Fort Myers 7 Dunedin 5

The run of good starts came to a screeching halt in Dunedin, as David Purcey endured the worst outing of his young pro career. Purcey never got untracked, hitting the first batter of the game and issuing 3 walks (one with the bases loaded) and a wild pitch in the first inning alone. He was gone after 1 1/3 innings, on the hook for 6 runs (only 4 earned, thanks to an error in the first by shortstop Scott Dragicevich) on 4 hits and 3 walks; he did manage to whiff 3 batters. Strong relief work was eventually provided by Brad Mumma (1 walk and 3 K’s in 3 1/3 scoreless innings) and Milton Tavarez (1 hit and 1 K in 2 shutout frames).

Dunedin mounted a late comeback with 4 runs in the 7th, but it wasn’t enough. The first 4 batters in the lineup -- Jayce Tingler, Ryan Roberts, Adam Lind and David Smith -- each recorded 2 hits. Roberts and Smith each doubled, while Roberts also drew 2 walks. Much of the early offensive talk has centered on Lind, but it would be a mistake to overlook Smith, who drove in 3 runs and who came into the game batting a healthy .292/.370/.444 in 72 AB with a 9/17 BB/K rate. Also, it’s possible that catcher Robinzon Diaz was injured. He made a key error in the second inning on what the game log calls a “missed catch error,” and was replaced by John Schneider in the bottom half of the inning. Any information from Dunedin fans would be welcome

Box score


Dayton 5 Lansing 4 (10 innings)

Tough loss in extra frames for the Lugnuts, as Joey McLaughlin Jr. yielded the winning run in the bottom of the 10th on a walk, wild pitch, intentional walk and game-winning single. Adrian Martin spot-started for the Lugs, who had missed several games due to inclement weather, and was mediocre, allowing 3 runs in 3 innings on 4 hits, including a pair of homers. He was replaced in the 4th by Aaron Harang, who dominated for 3 innings, allowing just 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 6. Mark Sopko followed with 3 effective innings, but an unearned run in the 7th (on a Ryan Klosterman error at shortstop) allowed Dayton to tie the game.

Lansing scored all its runs in the 6th inning, aided by a key error by the Dayton pitcher. Overall, the struggling Yuber Rodriguez singled twice to raise his average to .176, while Chip Cannon walked 3 times and scored a run. Klosterman doubled in 2 runs in his 5 at-bats.

Box score


Your Three-Star Selection:


3. Erik Kratz, New Hampshire: Home run and 3 RBIs to lead the Fisher Cats to victory.

2. Aaron Harang, Lansing: Three solid relief innings, punctuated by 6 K’s, in a losing cause.

1. Scott Downs, Syracuse: Seven strikeouts in 7 innings to help Syracuse to a win.

The Knack of Flying | 12 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mick Doherty - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 09:45 AM EDT (#114459) #
Awesome Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Reference, sir!
Pepper Moffatt - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 09:55 AM EDT (#114460) #
Heh. I think we ought to replace the Batter's Box banner at the top of the screen with one that simply reads "Don't Panic".
Rob - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 11:08 AM EDT (#114464) #
Aaron Harang pitches for Lansing now? I thought it was Daryl. That's a hell of a demotion for Aaron -- he started for the Reds on Wednesday night, then was sent to an A-ball team two days later.
Jordan - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 11:49 AM EDT (#114466) #
Stay tuned for the hilarious spinoff of Too Many Molinas -- it's Who's That Harang? Coming up next on Fox!
C. Oliver - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 12:12 PM EDT (#114471) #
The first sentence of the Lansing recap reminds me of a typical Toronto Blue Jays writeup around 1983. Enough said.
kpataky - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 12:13 PM EDT (#114472) #

I was in New Britain for the game last night. Josh Banks looked strong but he took a hard come backer off the heel of the glove - it sounded very loud and the trainers rushed out to check him out. It was after he injured his hand that he gave up the runs. Josh is now 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA.

Erik Kratz turned around a mid-90s heater and sent it over the wall for a homer off of Twins #5 prospect Francisco Liriano.

Rob Cosby had two hits for the Fisher Cats, scored 2 runs had a double and knocked in a run.

The Rock Cats rally came up short in the 9th when Fisher Cats closer Lee Gronkiewicz came in and closed the door mixing an assortment of fastballs and off speed pitches to earn his 5th save. The Fisher Cats are now 11-10.

Chuck - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 12:37 PM EDT (#114474) #
I think we ought to replace the Batter's Box banner at the top of the screen with one that simply reads "Don't Panic".

When I heard Disney was responsible for the movie, my immediate reaction was to panic. Now having seen it, I was right to.

Stellers Jay - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 01:45 PM EDT (#114487) #
It's a premature question since it's speculation about an injury. But, if Diaz were injured for any period of time, would they bump Thigpen up a level or would they use organizational filler to catch in Dunedin? I realize teams don't often promote prosects to fill in for injured players, but there was a lot of specualtion prior to the year that Thigpen would start in Dunedin anyways.
kpataky - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 04:21 PM EDT (#114564) #
Does anybody like the game photos? Should I continue to post them? Or are they a pain in the butt to have inline like this?
Stellers Jay - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 04:54 PM EDT (#114578) #
Thumbs up from me Kevin. Always enjoyable.
Brian B. - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 05:10 PM EDT (#114587) #
I think your photos are great as well, Kevin.

If this is a vote, I vote yes please.
Stellers Jay - Saturday, April 30 2005 @ 07:51 PM EDT (#114600) #
Update!

Syracuse and NH both postponed due to rain. No score in Dunedin through 3 and a half. Jackson looks like he is on tonight allowing only one hit and striking out 4 through 4 innings. And forget my earlier question about a Diaz injury because he's in the line-up tonight.
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