- Luis Nuñez has discovered the utility of ball four, and I don't mean Jim Bouton: he drew ANOTHER walk yesterday.
- Wisconsin's season may have been one prolonged disappointment, but Michael Pineda made sure they ended the season with a bang, striking out 14 and allowing only a 5th inning infield single from Domnit Bolivar in a season ending one hitter. Pineda struck out at least one batter in every inning and all but one of Pineda's K's were swinging strikeouts.
1st: Groundball, flyball, strikeout (swing)
2nd: Strikeout (swing), strikeout (swing), strikeout (swing)
3rd: Groundball, groundball, strikeout (swing)
4th: Groundball, strikeout (swing), strikeout (swing)
5th: Groundball, flyball, groundball, strikeout (swing)
6th: Groundball, strikeout (swing), flyball
7th: Groundball, flyball, strikeout (swing)
8th: Groundball, strikeout (swing), strikeout (called)
9th: Strikeout (swing), strikeout (swing), pop up
Groundballs: 9
Flyballs: 4
Line Drives: 0
Pop Ups: 1
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 14
Pineda's line drive rate over the last month? 10.3%.
- Also finishing with a bang despite a whimperous season were the High Desert Mavs, using a 4 run 6th to power ahead, enough to withstand a 3 run Lake Elsinore rally in the bottom half to close the season with a 6-4 win.
- The West Tennessee DIAMOND JAXX, however, ended their regular season with a whimper: rainy weather cancelled their season finale against the Mississippi Braves. They'll go to the playoffs thanks to winning the Southern League North division 1st half championship. They get the rarely seen but often dominant Carolina Mudcats, whose key to victory is one of the Southern League's better defenses: their .660 defensive efficiency is a close 3rd behind league leaders Huntsville and Birmingham, good for a 2nd lowest 4.34 runs per game. Their pitching is alright but hardly spectacular, thanks to the requisite control issues... though closer Chris Mobley is pretty tough to hit. Good luck getting flyballs to drop against these guys.
- Three good things about the Rainiers' season finale:
1. Chris Jakubauskas bailed out a struggling Robert Rohrbaugh in the 4th and responded with 4 shutout innings in which he struck out 8.
4th: Pop up, strikeout (swing), flyball, strikeout (swing)
5th: Strikeout (swing), line drive, strikeout (called), strikeout (swing)
6th: Flyball, strikeout (swing), groundball
7th: Pop up, strikeout (swing), strikeout (swing)
2. The September callups for the M's left a slight vacuum in the Rainiers roster for closing day. In the case of Brandon Morrow, he was done for the year here anyway so big deal. Replacing Luis Valbuena was as easy as Kevin Howard sliding over to 2B, but supplanting Tui at 3B was AZLer Scott Savastano, who responded with two hits, and was the man aboard in the 9th for...
3. ... Prentice Redman's season ending walkoff 2 run home run to win the ballgame 6-5. Yep, Redman did not warrant a look from the M's, but he made sure that he and the Rainiers closed the season, as many others did yesterday, with a bang.
Stats below the jump. West Tenn has at least two games left and Everett finishes their season Wednesday.
A-: Eugene 10, Everett 4
EVE: 32-42... EUG: 38-36
(League: 256/345/373... 4.17 ERA)
Walter Suriel: 3 IP, 10 H, (8 R) 6 ER (HR), 2 K, wild pitch (14 GS +1, 6.06 ERA, 78.2 IP, 12 HR, 24/67 BB/K)
Christian Staehely: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, walk, 3 K (19 app, 4.95 ERA, 36.1 IP, 1 HR, 22/30 BB/K)
Philip Hann: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER (HR), K (21 app, 4.50 ERA, 32 IP, 2 HR, 11/26 BB/K)
Luis Nuñez: 2-5, R, walk (283/306/367)
Manny Pimentel: 3-4, R, walk (231/340/313)
Welington Dotel: 1-5, 3 run HR, 2 K (281/335/439)
Jharmidy De Jesus: 2-4, R, walk, K (268/315/463)
Ryan Royster: 0-2, 3 walks (179/316/228)
A: Wisconsin 5, Quad Cities 0
WIS: 25-45... QC: 35-35
(League: 252/322/371... 3.68 ERA)
Michael Pineda: ONE HITTER, 14 K (21 GS +5, 1.95 ERA, 138.1 IP, 7 HR, 35/128 BB/K)
Daniel Carroll: 3-4, 2 R, SB #31 (248/325/324)
Alex Meneses: 2-5, 2 doubles, R, RBI, K (229/328/278)
Denny Almonte: 2-5, 2 RBI, K, SB #14 (249/303/420)
Joe Dunigan: 1-4, double, RBI, K (240/299/421)
Juan Diaz: 2-4, double, R, SB #16 (233/275/306)
A+: High Desert 6, Lake Elsinore 4
Mavs: 26-44... Lake: 39-31
(League: 273/340/412... 4.51 ERA)
Alfredo Venegas: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER (HR), 2 walks, 3 K (16 GS +9, 4.97 ERA, 112.1 IP, 12 HR, 32/87 BB/K)
Bryan Harris: 1.1 IP, K (41 app, 7.14 ERA, 51.2 IP, 13 HR, 12/33 BB/K)
Anthony Varvaro: 1 IP, K (24 GS +6, 7.12 ERA, 122.2 IP, 22 HR, 82/113 BB/K)
Steven Richard: 1 IP, 1 H, walk (32 app, 4.50 ERA, 42 IP, 2 HR, 24/42 BB/K)
Kuo Hui Lo: 1-3, 2 RBI (252/309/404)
Fernando Encarnacion: 2-4, 2 doubles, 2 R, 2 RBI, K (255/280/426)
Gavin Dickey: 2-4, 2 doubles, 2 R, RBI (242/306/333)
AA: West Tenn's regular season finale was cancelled due to bleh weather. On to the playoffs!
AAA: Tacoma 6, Portland 5
TAC: 80-64... POR: 70-74
(League: 277/348/444... 4.85 ERA)
Robert Rohrbaugh: 3 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, walk, 3 K (18 GS +1, 5.25 ERA, 96 IP, 8 HR, 28/76 BB/K)
Chris Jakubauskas: 4 IP, 2 H, 8 K (9 GS +3, 2.59 ERA, 55.2 IP, 5 HR, 14/48 BB/K)
Denny Stark: 1 IP, 1 H, 3 K (10 app, 3.00 ERA, 21 IP, 2 HR, 4/21 BB/K)
Jon Huber: 1 IP, 3 H, (3 R) 2 ER, hit batter (52 app, 6.40 ERA, 70.1 IP, 7 HR, 21/56 BB/K)
Prentice Redman: 3-4, 2 run HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, walk, K (310/388/571)
Oswaldo Navarro: 1-4, double, 2 RBI, K (261/326/333)
Craig Wilson: 2-4, solo HR (287/396/557)
Scott Savastano: 2-4, 2 R
0 recs | 13 comments
Holy balls, Chris Jakubauskas is on a strikeout tear
his change-up was devastating yesterday. That’s now 23 Ks in his 11 2/3 IP since July 1. In that time, he’s walked exactly one batter. Really cool to see.
Awesome game, with the forgettable exception of HuberTime in the top of the 9th.
marc w - September 2, 2008
And here I was thinking we weren't going to see Jakubauskas again
Not only did he come back, but he looked dominant out of the pen.
Gomez - September 2, 2008
I want to give a round of applause to Gomez
for his excellent ML roundups. Not only do they provide us with a glimpse at what’s to come, but they keep us in tune at a time when tuning in is difficult.
AND, bonus points because the days of John Smith and Bill John are clearly over. Seriously, reading through those names is like reading hieroglyphics.
Well (mostly) DONE!!
Montucky - September 2, 2008
Here here.
Kudos to you for not only writing these up everyday, but having to find wifi hotspots to do it. Whatever Jeff is paying you, he should double it! :)
basebliman - September 2, 2008
Amen!
Thingray - September 2, 2008
Yes yes big ups to Gomez
Scrupio - September 2, 2008
Fifth'd
redwolf75 - September 2, 2008
Word.
pdb - September 2, 2008
Thanks guys
I’m glad all the work is appreciated.
Gomez - September 2, 2008
Any chance the M's decide to push Pineda up to West Tenn next year?
Scrupio - September 2, 2008
That would be a considerable jump, but they might
That said, they’re probably moving High A ops to the Florida State League next season, which will make them more willing to place top pitching prospects at that level. It depends on how aggressively they want to promote their pitchers (I’m not sure how their aggressive promotion philosophy will change under a new GM and staff) and how ready they think they are.
Gomez - September 2, 2008
What's up with Prentice Redman?
Can you go into some of the specific reasons why he didn’t even get a second look by the M’s?
Boydo - September 2, 2008
Not on the 40 man
He’s organizational filler; those guys have almost no chance unless the team really, really has a reason to turn to them. Same deal with Victor Diaz earlier – the M’s couldn’t really claim that they didn’t have a hole at DH.
Essentially, the M’s have to cut someone they think fits into their future plans to call up guys like Diaz/Redman/whoever. I know, I know: the M’s 40 man includes tons of crap, but it’s still a big decision, and the team still needs some room to fit in new guys next year. Last year the team was able to get Nick Green a cup of coffee, but it’s generally tough to do. And it goes without saying: if you’re turning to your org depth guys for call-ups, your team/season is a massive ball of fail.
Finally, check out Redman’s historical stats. This is as out of character for him as Nick Green’s epic, out-of-nowhere stint in Tacoma was. Green came up, sucked, and is back to being Nick Green this year. Hell – Redman wasn’t great shakes this year in AA. It’s cool to see a guy go off like this, and he’s legitimately pumped when he hit that HR, but in general, there are plenty of guys who aren’t really MLB players who have nice years, or nice half- years.
marc w - September 2, 2008
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