[Questdog]

Friday, April 5, 2002

Columbus Explorers (0-3 .000 2 GB in 8th (last) place in the Northern Division) at
Jacksonville Jays (2-1 .667 0 GA tied for 1st place in the Southern Division)

COL: Steve Melita (29-R) (7-12 4.14 ERA 195.2 IP, 216 H, 18 HR, 64 BB, 106 SO last year) vs.
JAX: Dale Gilchrist (23-R) (16-5 2.10 ERA 206 IP, 164 H, 5 HR, 76 BB, 176 SO last year in B Ball) Rookie

We faced Melita once last year and he beat us, giving us 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk with no strikeouts in 8 innings.

Gilchrist is making his Major League debut today. He was our 3rd round pick in this year's B Leagues Draft.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
COLUMBUS
1: LF Steve Shauer (26-L .111-9-0-0-.311-1 A) Trade from Richmond
2: CF Jorge Moreida (23-L .273-11-0-0-.727-0 B)
3: 1B Gabriel Beltran (32-S .385-13-1-2-1.198-0 B)
4: RF Tim Brantley (27-L .455-11-0-1-.909-0 C)
5: 3B Sandy Jimenez (36-R .214-14-0-0-.429-1 C+)
6: 2B Ron Stillwagon (37-R .333-9-0-0-.788-0 C+) All-Star
7: SS Joe Tirey (30-L .083-12-0-0-.167-0 A) Gold Glove
8: C Marc Barksdale (31-R .400-10-0-1-1.000-0 B) Gold Glove
9: P Steve Melita (29-R Season debut C+)

JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Leander Gooding (31-R .133-15-0-0-.333-1 B+)
2: RF Rob Worms (29-R .364-11-0-1-.830-2 A) Gold Glove
3: CF Cal Doty (25-L .357-14-0-0-.757-2 C+)
4: 3B Marty Eades (31-R .500-12-0-3-1.200-0 C+)
5: C Garrett Bender (28-R .154-13-0-2-.421-0 B)
6: 1B Tony Becerra (32-L .000-9-0-0-.000-0 A+)
7: LF Glen Lewis (21-L .333-12-0-1-.801-2 C+) Rookie
8: SS Bart Daw (30-R .400-5-0-1-1.225-1 A)
9: P Dale Gilchrist (23-R Major League debut B) Rookie

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Connie Mack Stadium
Weather: 63 F, Partly Cloudy, with a 17 MPH wind blowing out to right
Attendance: 7,686

Top of the First:
Steve Shauer walks on 4 pitches.... He tries to steal 2nd, but Garrett Bender throws him out! Jorge Moreida swings at a 3-2 pitch and pops out to right. Gabriel Beltran swings at the first pitch and grounds out to short!

Bottom of the First:
Leander Gooding grounds out to 2nd. Rob Worms doubles to right! Cal Doty lines a 3-2 pitch to center for a hit and Worms heads home..... out... Doty takes 2nd on the throw home. Marty Eades grounds one to 2nd, but Ron Stillwaggon boots it. P Steve Melita tries to pick Eades off at 1st (he has never stolen a base in his life), but throws the ball away for an error and Doty scores! 1 to 0, Jays! Garrett Bender grounds a hit to left and Eades heads home....out... 2 runners thrown out at home in the inning....

Bottom of the Third:
With 1 out, Rob Worms doubles to right center. Cal Doty grounds a hit to right and Worms heads home......Safe! 2 to 0, Jays! Doty steals 2nd. Marty Eades lines a hit to center and Doty heads home....out... 3 players thrown out at home! 2 by CF Jorge Moreida, who has one of the strongest arms in the League and who should not be run on....

Bottom of the Fourth:
With 1 out, Glen Lewis triples off the wall in center! With the infield in, Bart Daw grounds out to short and Lewis holds. P Dale Gilchrist grounds out to short...

Top of the Fifth:
Tim Brantley leads off with a double to right, the first hit of the game for Columbus.... But the next three make outs!!!

Bottom of the Fifth:
With 1 out, Rob Worms strikes out looking and gets ejected for arguing with the umpire... Plus, P Steve Melita is hurt. Danny Stewart (31-L) will go in to play center, Cal Doty will move to left and Glen Lewis will move to right.

Top of the Ninth:
P Dale Gilchrist is at 122 pitches... He has the stamina to finish the game. The Bullpen is ready, though. 2-3-4 up for the Explorers. Jorge Moreida flies out to deep right. Gabriel Beltran lines a hit to right... Tim Brantley pops out to center! Sandy Jimenez grounds out to short and THIS Ball Game Belongs to the Jays!

Back to back shutouts by our rookie pitchers!
Unbelievable!

Won 2 to 0

Still in 1st place, baby!

We had 9 hits and made no errors
Columbus had 4 hits and made 2 errors

Dale Gilchrist (W 1-0), in his Major League debut, pitched 9 shutout innings (CG), allowed 4 hits, 4 walks and struck out 6. 137 pitches thrown.

Steve Melita (L 0-1) went 4.2 innings, gave us 2 runs (1 earned), 7 hits, 1 walk and struck out 2.

RF Rob Worms hit 2 doubles and scored a run and was ejected from the game. CF/LF Cal Doty had 2 hits and a walk, stole 2 bases, scored a run and had an RBI. 3B Marty Eades had a hit and a walk. LF/RF Glen Lewis had 2 hits with a triple and stole a base. SS Bart Daw drew 2 walks (1 INT).

The Explorers announced that P Steve Melita had back tightness and should be fine in about a week.

Down on the Farm: Daytona (A) won again with rookie P Dave Buchalter (23-R), our 6th round pick in this year's B Leagues Draft, picking up the win. He allowed 1 run on 5 hits, 1 home run and 1 walk with 7 strikeouts in 8 innings. At bat, he hit a double and knocked in 2 runs. Bob Craig (24-R) earned his 2nd Save in 2 games with another perfect 9 with 1 strikeout. The Tortugas won, 3 to 1, at home against Tampa.