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Shutouts galore and the quickest AA update ever.

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They went 11 innings in Syracuse, and it was wild from the get-go. 7-2 lead for the SkyChiefs after one and a half, then 9-8 for Buffalo after four. Chad Mottola hit his 20th homer (one of three hits on the night) in the top of the seventh to give Syracuse a brief lead, but it was tied quickly thereafter and remained so until 11th, when Buffalo pushed across a run against Adrian Burnside. The Bisons' Kaz Tadano was there for the top of the climactic 11th inning, picking up his fourth win of the year.

Justin Singleton had a three-run shot in the first, while Gabe Gross singled, scored, walked twice and struck out twice.

Presented without comment:
Gross, 2003 AAA: .264/.380/.456
Gross, 2004 AAA: .294/.381/.454
Gross, 2005 AAA: .297/.382/.445 (before last night's game)

(This is not a comment; just a confirmation of my keyboarding skills: the OBP and SLG values are not typos.)

The game probably put to rest any playoff hopes Syracuse had, and Rochester hero of the night Dusty Wathan (son of former Royals catcher and manager John) had the following to tell the Syracuse Post-Standard: "A lot of people in Rochester and a lot of people in Syracuse were counting on a win for them tonight the way this started. It's huge for us to demoralize people who are watching the scoreboard." If I was more of a Syracuse fan, I might not find that funny. But I do.


New Hampshire won 4-0. Rob Cosby brought home one run on a single, Miguel Negron somehow homered and brought in three more (some hot streak, eh?), Vince Perkins had a terrific Game Score of 75 over seven innings and the wind was 2 miles per hour.


8-1 was the score for Dunedin over Lakeland. It wasn't as close as the score indicated, as Kyle Yates flirted with a no-hitter until the second. I kid, I kid -- he had a very good night, pitching six innings -- in three of them, he didn't allow a runner to reach second -- giving up only one run and striking out six.

Vito Chiaravalloti had a homerun, a single and a couple of walks. Robinzon Diaz doubled in the third, then was removed for a defensive replacement. I wonder if he had an injury -- and if so, how serious it was.


Lansing did not play. Auburn did, but...uh...you see, Scott Mitchinson showed up. Who is Mitchinson? Well, he had a 7.71 ERA entering the game and it was at 6.04 after the game. You all remember the Dave Stieb near-misses? Well, Mitchinson nearly had a no-hitter here. If you don't count the sixth inning, he was perfect. I guess this will forever be known in Batavia as the "Josh Bell-Sean Shoffitt-Guy Who Reached on Catcher's Interference Game."(If you're wondering, Bell doubled and Shoffitt singled.) There's no real point in linking to the boxscore, is there?


And finally, Pulaski. Another shutout! For the other team. Lee Soto had what the experts call a non-good night. Two strikeouts, a popout, a double play ground ball, and his 22nd error of the year. To be fair, nobody really had a good night aside from 2005 draftee Jacob Butler, who had a couple of singles and walked. Jesus Gonzalez went 0-for-4, but he's shown some really nice power this season.


Three-Star Selection:
3. Chad Mottola
2. Kyle Yates
1. Vince Perkins

Choose Your Own Adventure: No Runs Or Lots Of Runs | 10 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Jordan - Thursday, August 25 2005 @ 10:50 AM EDT (#126567) #
"Choose Your Own Adventure" was just the best book series ever. The Cave of Time, which started it all, was the template, and while there were better and worse ones in the series, the concept and execution were consistently terrific. CYOA was the model for pretty much every text-based adventure software program developed afterwards, but it doesn't receive the credit it deserves.

Gabe Gross will be in the major leagues next season. I just don't think it'll be in a Toronto uniform.

Ducey - Thursday, August 25 2005 @ 11:33 AM EDT (#126576) #
Compare:

Gross .297/.382/.445 6HR 12 SB
JFG .249/.334/.451 25 HR
Tyrell Godwin (AAA PCL) .327/.392/.450 9HR 20 SB

All are born in 1979. Who will be the best player?
Rob - Thursday, August 25 2005 @ 12:17 PM EDT (#126580) #
Wow. I was not aware of Godwin's AAA numbers. 47 walks to 67 strikeouts in 462 AB -- not bad. He's improved on his 2004 season by far.
Nigel - Thursday, August 25 2005 @ 02:40 PM EDT (#126592) #
According to Minorleaguebaseball.com the three position players that the Jays are sending to the AFL are Quiroz, Roberts and Lind. They haven't named the pitchers that they are sending. Generally, teams send 5-6 players (2-3 position players and 2-3 pitchers).
VGeras - Thursday, August 25 2005 @ 03:42 PM EDT (#126594) #
According to InsideTheDome.com the pitchers are Andrade, Buzachero and the Jays also will send Erik Kratz
Jim - Thursday, August 25 2005 @ 03:54 PM EDT (#126596) #
The pitching in the AFL is so far behind the bats that it's hard to take it very seriously.
VGeras - Thursday, August 25 2005 @ 03:58 PM EDT (#126597) #
WOW! Gaudin and Arnold got rocked this afternoon for Syracuse.
JaysFanInCT - Thursday, August 25 2005 @ 05:16 PM EDT (#126605) #
Arnold has been just awful. His days in the organization must be numbered at this point. That trade sure hasn't worked out as expected.
Ducey - Thursday, August 25 2005 @ 05:29 PM EDT (#126606) #
BA today said:

"A 2004 13th-round pick out of Texas known for his big curveball, the Blue Jays may have found a keeper in righthander Kyle Yates. Yates allowed one run on four hits over six innings Wednesday in high Class A Dunedin's 8-1 win over Lakeland, improving his season totals in the Florida State League to 6-2, 2.02 in 71 innings. In his last four games, Yates has allowed just two earned runs in 28 innings, allowing just 16 hits and striking out 30."
R Billie - Friday, August 26 2005 @ 01:26 PM EDT (#126691) #
Yates has had a really quiet but successful year. Mostly because he wasn't on anyone's radar coming into the year. He was just an anonymous college righthander taken later in the draft. We still have to wait and see where he ends up after getting to AA.

Janssen may move to AAA though he has hit the wall in his last couple of starts. Understandable given this is his first full season of pro.

Purcey will likely start in AA. Perkins might still be there but they'll probably move him up if they can. Davis Romero will challenge for a slot. Ricky will probably open in Dunedin. Banks looks ready to move up to AAA.
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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.