[Questdog]

Wednesday, May 30, 2001

Today is Tony Becerra's 32nd birthday!

Yesterday's game was rained out, so we will try to play a doubleheader today.

Jacksonville Jays (16-34 .320 15 GB in 8th (last) place in the Southern Division) at
Hartford Whalers (20-31 .392 11 GB in 8th (last) place in the Northern Division)

Game 1
JAX: Victor Espinoza (36-R) (4-4 2.18 ERA 70.1 IP, 57 H, 2 HR, 19 BB, 53 SO) vs.
HART: Freeman Cain (34-L) (1-5 4.16 ERA 75.2 IP, 87 H, 3 HR, 33 BB, 27 SO)

Espinoza gave up 6 runs on 8 hits and 5 walks in 5.1 IP last time out in a loss.

Cain is their #1 starter, though Franklin Garcia, yesterday's pitcher, has a lot better stats. But Cain is a lefty, so we will find it difficult to score any runs... He gave up 2 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks in 7 IP last time out in a no decision.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: SS Leander Gooding (30-R .252-131-0-11-.616-2 B)
2: CF Cal Doty (24-L .278-187-1-18-.694-8 C+)
3: 3B Brian Porter (33-S .253-178-1-17-.641-0 C+)
4: 1B Ismael Gonzales (33-R .250-44-1-5-.647-0 D+)
5: RF Mike Volkman (33-L .395-76-1-16-.972-0 D+)
6: 2B Frank Roadman (26-R .192-146-3-12-.536-10 B)
7: LF Joe Roberts (30-L .343-134-0-13-.782-9 A) Sprained elbow
8: C Garrett Bender (27-R .310-58-2-9-.828-0 B+)
9: P Victor Espinoza (36-R .105-19-0-0-.296-0 F)

HARTFORD
1: RF Billy Ness (27-L .364-55-0-7-.817-4 B)
2: CF Mike Fox (22-L .265-189-3-22-.746-9 B)
3: LF Robbie McFarland (23-L .295-105-4-18-.861-0 B) Rookie #82 prospect
4: C Mike Moen (30-R .278-169-1-13-.682-1 D)
5: 2B Charlie Mackey (26-R .180-128-3-16-.625-3 B)
6: 3B Eric Drake (27-S .122-49-0-1-.375-5 B+)
7: 1B Larry Napoli (34-R .216-102-5-15-.704-0 B+)
8: SS Dan Flaherty (40-R .179-145-3-10-.604-2 B)
9: P Freeman Cain (34-L .174-23-0-1-.348-0 F)

Game Start: 1:05 PM
Ballpark: Ebbets Field
Weather: 55 F, Overcast, with an 8 MPH wind blowing out to left
Attendance: 7,406

Top of the First:
Leander Gooding grounds out to short. Cal Doty grounds a hit to right. He tries to steal 2nd, but they have a pitchout on and he is out... Brian Porter beats out an infield hit. Ismael Gonzales swings at the first pitch and grounds out to 1st, unassisted.

Bottom of the First:
Billy Ness swings at a 3-2 pitch and grounds out to 3rd. Mike Fox lines out to 3rd. Robbie McFarland grounds out to short! 1-2-3!

Bottom of the Fourth:
Charlie Mackey and Eric Drake lead off with back to back walks... But the next three all make outs!

Top of the Fifth:
Garrett Bender leads off with a double to left center. P Victor Espinoza lays down a bunt, but they get the out at 3rd, 3-5... Leander Gooding grounds into a 6-4-3 double play...

It starts to rain in the bottom of the 5th...

Top of the Sixth:
With 2 outs, Ismael Gonzales grounds a hit up the middle. Mike Volkman gets beaned. Frank Roadman grounds a hit to center and Gonzales scores! 1 to 0, Jays!

Bottom of the Seventh:
After P Victor Espinoza throws a strike to Mike Fox, the umpires stop the game for 50 minutes. Now, I have a policy of never pulling a pitcher when he is throwing a shutout, but Espinoza was already at 117 pitches before the rain delay and there is no way he could pitch 3 more innings. Call to the Bullpen: Bill Grant (30-L), the lefty who cannot get lefties out, so we bring him in with 2 lefties to face.... Fox swings at his first pitch and rips one hard to left, but Joe Roberts makes a great running catch! The next two make outs!

Top of the Eighth:
On the Hill: Morris Thomas (31-R), after a perfect 7th and the 50 minute rain delay. Cal Doty swings at the first pitch and lines a hit to right. Brian Porter grounds into a force at 2nd, 1-6, but SS Dan Flaherty is hurt. Chuck Kellogg (29-R) comes in to play 3rd and Eric Drake moves to short. Ismael Gonzales bats against the righty because I fell asleep for a minute and draws a walk. I am brilliant! Mike Volkman grounds a double down the right field line and Porter scores! 2 to 0, Jays. That does it for P Thomas. New Pitcher: Edwin Torres (27-L), with a 3.81 ERA in 28.1 IP. Frank Roadman strikes out... Joe Roberts swings at the first pitch and grounds out to short...

Top of the Ninth:
New Pitcher: Marty Beck (24-R), their closer, with a 2.45 ERA in 33 IP. 18 walks, though, and only 11 strikeouts. Garrett Bender beats out an infield hit. PH Dennis Brown (27-L) strikes out. Leander Gooding swings at the first pitch and grounds a double over the 3rd base bag! Cal Doty is walked intentionally to load the bases up with 1 out. Brian Porter grounds a hit to right and Bender scores! 3 to 0, Jays! 1B Tony Becerra (32-L), who should have pinch-hit for Ismael Gonzales last inning, but came in for defense anyway, lines a hit to right and Gooding scores! 4 to 0, Jays! Mike Volkman flies out to right and the runners hold for some reason. Looked deep enough to me... Frank Roadman puts a charge into one to straight away center, but it is caught...

Won - 4 to 0

You have witnessed a very rare event!
A combined shutout by a team of mine!

We had 13 hits and made no errors
Hartford had 6 hits (all singles, 5 of them never left the infield) and made no errors

Victor Espinoza (W 5-4) pitched 6+ shutout innings, allowed 5 hits, 5 walks (1 INT) and struck out 2. 117 pitches.
LHP Bill Grant (H 4) went 2 scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit and 1 walk.
RHP Gary Adamson pitched a perfect 9th.

Freeman Cain (L 1-6) went 6 innings, gave us 1 run, 7 hits, 1 walk, 1 HBP and struck out 1. Only the 2nd left-hander to take a loss against us.

SS Leander Gooding hit a double and scored a run. CF/LF Cal Doty had 2 hits and a walk. 3B Brian Porter had 2 hits, scored a run and had an RBI. 1B Ismael Gonzales had 2 hits and a walk and scored a run. 1B Tony Becerra had a hit his only time up and had an RBI. RF Mike Volkman had 2 hits with a double, was hit by a pitch and had an RBI. C Garrett Bender had 2 hits with a double and a walk and scored a run. We will move him out of the 8 hole and see if he stops hitting....

Game 2
JAX: Tom Betke (25-R) (0-1 7.50 ERA 6 IP, 7 H, 0 HR, 3 BB, 4 SO) Rookie vs.
HART: Bill Wilson (32-R) (1-7 7.17 ERA 54 IP, 68 H, 17 HR, 20 BB, 38 SO)

This will be Betke's 2nd Major League start. His first was on May 8 and went fairly well for the first 6 innings, but then he and the Bullpen allowed 4 runs to scored in the 7th.

That is not a typo; Wilson has allowed 17 HR in 54 IP. He has lost 5 starts in a row, but pitched well last time out: 7 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 4 SO. I will give odds that he does not allow a HR to the Jays...

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: CF Cal Doty (24-L .283-191-1-18-.704-8 C+)
2: LF Joe Roberts (30-L .333-138-0-13-.760-9 A) Sprained elbow
3: 3B Brian Porter (33-S .257-183-1-18-.645-0 C+)
4: RF Mike Volkman (33-L .400-80-1-17-.992-0 D+)
5: 1B Tony Becerra (32-L .228-149-6-19-.656-1 A+)
6: 2B Frank Roadman (26-R .192-151-3-13-.532-10 B)
7: SS Leander Gooding (30-R .250-136-0-11-.616-2 B)
8: C Bert Swope (29-S .182-99-0-5-.497-0 B)
9: P Tom Betke (25-R .333-3-0-1-1.000-0 F)

HARTFORD
1: RF Billy Ness (27-L .350-60-0-7-.783-4 B)
2: CF Mike Fox (22-L .263-194-3-22-.737-9 B)
3: 1B Kim Scarbrough (34-R .229-83-0-7-.598-2 C+) Strained oblique
4: LF Roy Zimdahl (30-R .272-147-8-23-.827-2 B)
5: 2B Charlie Mackey (26-R .176-131-3-16-.616-3 B)
6: SS Eric Drake (27-S .137-51-0-1-.424-6 C)
7: 3B Larry Napoli (34-R .219-105-5-15-.708-0 C)
8: C Mike Tyra (25-R .243-37-0-0-.673-0 C+)
9: P Bill Wilson (32-R .278-18-0-2-.611-0 F)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Ebbets Field
Weather: 69 F, Overcast, with a 9 MPH wind blowing out to left
Attendance: 5,360

Top of the First:
Cal Doty swings at a 3-2 pitch and grounds out to 2nd. Joe Roberts grounds out to 1st, unassisted. Brian Porter grounds out to 2nd...

Bottom of the First:
Billy Ness grounds a hit up the middle. Mike Fox pops out to 3rd. Ness steals 2nd. Kim Scarbrough grounds out to short and Ness goes to 3rd. Roy Zimdahl strikes out looking on 3 pitches!

Bottom of the Second:
With 1 out, Eric Drake fouls off two payoff pitches and then takes ball 4. Larry Napoli swings at a 3-2 pitch and grounds a hit up the middle and Drake beats the throw to 3rd. Mike Tyra swings at an 0-2 pitch and hits a home run to left... 3 to 0, Whalers.

Top of the Third:
Leander Gooding nubs one in front of the plate, but C Mike Tyra throws the ball away for a 2 base error. It starts to rain.... The next three all make outs. Through 3 innings, we have not hit a home run yet, nor any hit whatsoever...

Top of the Fourth:
Joe Roberts lines a double to right. Brian Porter flies out to deep right center and Roberts moves over to 3rd. Mike Volkman takes a 3-2 pitch for strike three... Tony Becerra pops out to 2nd...

Bottom of the Fourth:
Larry Napoli and Mike Tyra lead off with back to back walks... P Bill Wilson bunts them up. With the infield in, Billy Ness grounds out to short and the runners hold. Mike Fox takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4, already P Betke's 5th walk of the game... Kim Scarbrough swings at the first pitch and grounds out to 2nd!

Top of the Sixth:
Cal Doty lines a hit to center, but gets thrown out trying to make it a double.... Joe Roberts lines a hit to center. With 2 outs, Mike Volkman lines a double to left and Roberts scores from 1st! 3 to 1, Whalers.

Bottom of the Seventh:
With 1 out, Roy Zimdahl and Charlie Mackey hit back to back singles. Call to the Bullpen: Roger Wallace (25-R). Ed Diskin is in to play 2nd in a double switch and Frank Roadman moves to short. Eric Drake beats out an infield hit to load the bases up with 1 out. Larry Napoli flies out to right and the runners hold. Mike Tyra lines out to 2nd!

Top of the Ninth:
New Pitcher: Edwin Torres (27-L), not their closer, who pitched an inning and gave us 2 runs in the first game. Torres got 2 outs in the first game. 3-4-5 up for us. Brian Porter pops out to short... Mike Volkman swings at the first pitch and grounds out to the pitcher... PH Ismael Gonzales (33-R) lines a hit to left. Frank Roadman strikes out...

Lost - 3 to 1

We had 7 hits and made no errors
Hartford had 9 hits and made 1 error

Tom Betke (L 0-2) went 6.1 innings, allowed 3 runs, 8 hits, 1 home run, 5 walks and struck out 2.
RHP Roger Wallace went 1.2 scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit and struck out 2.

Bill Wilson (W 2-7) went 8 innings, gave us 1 run, 6 hits, no walks and struck out 7. And still 17 HR allowed....
LHP Edwin Torres (SV 3) pitched a scoreless 9th, gave us 1 hit and struck out 1. The 15th Save against us by the 15th different pitcher! This has to end soon as almost every reliever in the League has a Save against us....

LF Joe Roberts had 2 hits with a double and scored our only run. RF Mike Volkman hit a double and had our only RBI. PH Ismael Gonzales had a hit.

For Hartford, C Mike Tyra hit his 1st home run of the season, drew a walk and had 3 RBI.

The Whalers announced that SS Dan Flaherty, the 40 year old, had torn a muscle in his back and was likely out for the rest of the season.