Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine

Two wins, Two losses, Two did not play.



 
A rough night for Dustin McGowan as he was touched for 6 runs (5 earned) in 5 1/3 on 8 hits and a walk, striking out just 2. Lee Gronkiewicz was the first man out of the pen and allowed 4 runs (2 earned) in his inning after allowing just 3 earned runs in his first 24 innings of 2006. Ryan Houston and Jordan De Jong each contributed a scoreless 1 1/3, but by that time the Buffalo was out of the barn.
 
Luis Figueroa enjoyed a fine night in the leadoff spot, collecting a single, a double, and a round-tripper. Justin singleton and Rob Cosby also went deep, part of a 2-hit night for Singleton. Sergio Santos was oh-fer while John-Ford Griffin had a walk and a single to show for his 4 trips.
 
New Hampshire: Scheduled off day
 
 
The Blue Jays rolled a 5 in the bottom of the 7th to down the Miracle. C Robinzon Diaz, SS Ryan Klosterman, 2B Chris Gutierrez, and 3B Jason Armstrong all had 2 hits, including doubles for Klosterman and Gutierrez. CF Ryan Patterson had a double and a base on balls in 5 plate appearances. Orlando Trias pitched 7 strong innings for the win, stiking out 4 and walking none while giving up the 2 runs on 8 hits. Rob Ray shut Fort Myers down on 1 hit over the final 2 innings, striking out 3.
 
 
The Lugnuts totaled just 5 hits, though 3 of those were doubles (Brian Bormaster, Anthony Hatch, Joey Metropoulos). Big City also had a single and a walk, while Sean Shoffit, Jacob Butler, and Yuber Rodriguez all drew 2 free passes. Sean Stidfole, Joey McLaughlin, and Josh Sowers were ineffective on the mound. Yesson Berroa tosses 1 2/3 of 1-hit relief.
 
 
Four Doubleday pitchers teamed up to shut down the Crosscutters on 6 hits. Brian Bull got the start and went 4 2/3, charged with a run on 3 hits, striking out 3. Randy Dicken followed with 1 1/3 innings with 2 walks, then Ben Harrison for a 1-hit 1-walk frame. Eddie Rodriguez nailed a 2 inning save on 2 hits and a K.
 
On the hitting side, RF Shawn Scobee and 1B Luke Hopkins smacked doubles, CF Adam “Don’t Call Me Ivan” Calderone and LF Ben Zeskind legged out triples, and 2B Brian Hall took it over the wall. 3B Scott Campbell ran amok, successfully stealing 2 bags and getting picked off once. Calderone, Hopkins, and Scobee enjoyed 2 hit nights.
 
 
Pulaski: Postponed, rain.
 
 
Three Star Selection!
 
A lean collection of stars.
 
The Third Star: Chris Gutierrez, Dunedin. Single Double Walk.
 
The Second Star: Joey Metropoulos, Lansing. Single Double Walk.
 
The First Star: Brian Hall, Auburn. Homer Walk.
Two For Tuesday | 16 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Maldoff - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 09:33 AM EDT (#149842) #

Quick post-script to McGowan's start.  Dustin was flying through 5 innings (only 3 hits, 1 ER), but then gave up a hit to lead off the 6th, which was followed by a Rob Cosby error (not sure if it would have been enough for a DP or not).  Dustin then gave up a single to the next batter, but followed that up with a K.  Another single scored 1, and then Jon Van Evrey came up and cleaned the bases. I feel like if Cosby makes the DP, the whole inning didn't happen.

MatO - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 09:52 AM EDT (#149843) #
According to the game log all those singles were of the ground ball variety.  Cosby's error was for throwing, going for the force at 2nd so it could have very well been a DP ball.
Mike Green - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 10:49 AM EDT (#149844) #
The park in Syracuse contributes.  The OPS of opponents against Syracuse pitchers is 50 points higher in Syracuse, while the hitters gain 140 points of OPS at home.  The park favours the home run by 10-15% more than league average, and the BABIP is a little bit higher, probably due to the infield.

Syracuse has had some good pitching this year, but the offence and defence is not there. The team was noticeably better when Russ Adams was there and had adjusted to Sergio Santos.

R Billie - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 11:06 AM EDT (#149846) #
That's true.  From what we saw of Figueroa he's not much of a defender nor a hitter.  I'm guessing Roberts isn't much better defensively.  The D seems to give up hits like crazy at home.
Gerry - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 11:16 AM EDT (#149848) #

I was at yesterday's game in Syracuse.  I will have some follow up stories over the next week but here are my game impressions.

There were nine scouts at the game, that could be a coincidence or it could be that both Cleveland and the Jays will be active in the trade market in the next few weeks.

Dustin McGowan does have great stuff but his fastball control is still lacking.  Dustin had a great slider last night and good changes and curves but the fastball....   Here are some examples from my notes:

  • 1st inning - Garko hit by a fastball when McGowan opened up on delivery
  • 1st - Dubois - single off fastball
  • 2nd - Marte - hit  a fastball HR depth but foul
  • 2nd - Van Every  -hit a fastball opposite field (see later) to the warning track
  • 3rd - Francisco - line drive single off fastball
  • 4th - Garko - fly ball to track off fastball
  • 5th - Van Every - line drive double to wall off fastball
  • 5th - Gautreau - line drive to left, possibly a catchable ball off fastball
  • 6th - Alfaro - line drive off fastball
  • 6th - Marte - line drive single off fastball
  • 6th - Van Every - grand slam to opposite field off fastball

I still see McGowan's fastball control as being an issue.  I think McGowan might have to ratchet back to 92-93 mph fastball with better control rather than the down the middle 95-96 he throws now.  In other words don't expect to see McGowan taking Towers' spot come Saturday.

The Cosby misplay in the sixth was a tailor made double play ball, two steps to his left, moving towards second.  The ball hit him high on the glove and dribbled into left field.

I saw Tom "nasty" Mastny pitch.  Mastny used to be in the Jays system back in 2004 I believe.  Mastny is tall, about 6'6", thin, and has a high leg kick, out from his body that helps him hide the ball before he comes at you with a 3/4 delivery.  His fastball was around 89-90 with a good curve.  When he gets in the stretch he loses the advantage of that delivery and looked to me to be more hittable.

Sergio Santos is a fastball hitter, as are a lot of young hitters.  He hit well in the two hole behind Adams when he saw a lot of fastballs.  Santos likes to hit early in the count, with few walks, as he will swing at a pitch he likes.  He swang early last night a few times and hit the ball hard with no luck, but when he got deeper into counts he was setup for the breaking ball away.  Santos has made progress this year but he looks to me like he needs more time to see if he can develop more plate discipline.

The game looked good for a while for the Chiefs but poor defense and pitching against a good hitting team hurt them in the back half of the game.

Mike Green - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 11:41 AM EDT (#149850) #
Wow, the milb log had at least 4 errors.  I kind of wondered when it described Van Every's double in the 5th as a ground ball to the centerfielder; it can happen if you've got someone like 'ol man Franco motoring around first and the ball deflects off the shortstop's glove. There's a huge difference between a groundball and a liner to the wall in right or left centerfield.

So, ignore the log. McGowan was hit pretty hard. Thanks, Gerry.
kpataky - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 01:18 PM EDT (#149853) #
Ricky Romero was promoted to the Fisher Cats today. No word on when his next start would be...
Mike Green - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 01:29 PM EDT (#149854) #
Here's the confirmation of the Ricky Romero move.
kpataky - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 01:53 PM EDT (#149856) #
You can actually read about the Romero move in the press notes on the Fisher Cats website.
Pistol - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 02:08 PM EDT (#149859) #
Romero pitched on Saturday so his normal turn would be on Thursday, but there isn't an open spot in the NH rotation until Saturday.
Maldoff - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 02:09 PM EDT (#149860) #

In addition, it looks like Russ Savickas has been promoted again (this time only to Dunedin).

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ros&cid=424&stn=true&sid=t424

Lugnut Fan - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 02:11 PM EDT (#149861) #
kpataky - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 02:26 PM EDT (#149862) #
That is correct about Romero. He last pitched on the 24th. I know the Jays want to keep Purcey on course for 3 more starts before the break, so he'll definitely pitch Friday 6/30 (on his 5th day), then again in the day game on 7/5, then on 7/10. Of course this is weather permitting. Another option is they could push Yates back to the Saturday start and have Ricky pitch on his 5th day Thursday (6/29). They've historically given Yates an extra day off here and there due to his tendency to throw a lot of pitches.
Gerry - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 04:22 PM EDT (#149866) #
Dunedin won this afternoon behind another good start from Eric Fowler.
Gerry - Tuesday, June 27 2006 @ 10:42 PM EDT (#149881) #
Travis Snider, welcome to the pro's, 0-4 with three K's.
Two For Tuesday | 16 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.