[Questdog]

Tuesday, June 4, 2002

3B Marty Eades (31-R) had been cleared to play by Trudy the Trainer, so he was activated from the DL. To make room, CF Danny Stewart (31-L), 1 for 18 (.056) with 7 SO, has been sent to Daytona (A). I hope he is not finished as a ball player.

We are finally back home for a little while and the Memphis Mules are here to play a short 2 game set. They lost 2 of 3 games at Louisville over the weekend. We split a pair of games with them in Memphis, April 15-16. They are 3rd in scoring with 4.45 runs per game (Jacksonville is up to #12 with 3.68!) They are 9th in fewest runs allowed with 4.071 per game (Jacksonville is up to #8 with 4.070). We have allowed 4 more runs than they have, but have played 1 more game. We are actually slightly better than the League average (4.08), believe it or not! Of course, we will be back to below average after this game... The Mules' run differential is +21 and ours is -22, up to 13th.

Memphis Mules (29-27 .518 4.5 GB in 3rd place in the Southern Division) at
Jacksonville Jays (24-33 .421 10 GB in 6th place in the Southern Division)

MEM: Rick Potts (23-R) (8-1 2.27 ERA 83.1 IP, 72 H, 8 HR, 22 BB, 71 SO) vs.
JAX: Dalton Hartman (25-R) (1-1 3.93 ERA 18.1 IP, 25 H, 3 HR, 1 BB, 10 SO)

Potts is their #1 starter. He is tied for 2nd in wins and 4th in strikeouts. We keep catching everyone's #1, it seems. The last game we played with the Mules, we had to face Potts and he beat us, but we scored 5 runs on 10 hits, 1 home run and no walks with 8 strikeouts in 6 IP.

Hartman gave up 3 runs on 8 hits, 2 home runs and no walks with 4 strikeouts in 6 innings last time out in a loss.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
MEMPHIS
1: CF Steve Gress (30-L .242-227-2-18-.636-5 B) All-Star
2: SS Bill Weydert (24-S .214-154-1-10-.529-5 B)
3: 3B Keith Meyer (27-L .353-218-8-33-.977-10 C+) MVP/Silver Slugger(2B)/All-Star
4: 2B Leo Toruno (28-L .317-208-8-36-.950-16 B) Silver Slugger(SS)/All-Star
5: 1B Nestor Gonzalez (28-L .320-197-11-46-.911-0 A) Silver Slugger/All-Star
6: RF Ron Alario (32-R .195-128-0-3-.497-0 A+)
7: LF Juan Nunez (35-R .284-88-0-4-.652-2 D+) All-Star
8: C Ed Vaughan (35-L .139-122-5-17-.579-0 C)
9: P Rick Potts (23-R .088-34-0-2-.235-0 B+)

JACKSONVILLE
1: CF Frank Wendell (34-R .258-62-1-7-.636-2 C+)
2: 2B Leander Gooding (31-R .238-202-1-15-.586-11 B+)
3: LF Glen Lewis (21-L .299-187-6-26-.853-12 C+) Rookie
4: 3B Marty Eades (31-R .356-59-2-11-.963-0 C+)
5: C Bert Swope (30-S .274-84-2-7-.745-1 B)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (20-L .313-32-3-8-1.072-1 B) Rookie
7: RF Rob Worms (29-R .204-162-4-14-.628-13 A) Gold Glove
8: SS Bart Daw (30-R .237-156-2-16-.629-6 A)
9: P Dalton Hartman (25-R .250-4-0-1-.500-0 F)

Game Start: 1:05 PM
Ballpark: Connie Mack Stadium
Weather: 89 F, Clear Skies, with a 9 MPH wind blowing out to right
Attendance: 6,827

Top of the First:
Steve Gress flies out to left. Bill Weydert lines out to short. Keith Meyer grounds a hit up the middle. Leo Toruno swings at the first pitch and pops out to 3rd!

Bottom of the First:
Frank Wendell strikes out... Leander Gooding grounds out to short. Glen Lewis sends one to deep center, but Steve Gress runs it down...

Bottom of the Second:
Marty Eades, in his first at bat in 6 weeks, grounds a double down the left field line! But the next three do down with 2 strikeouts...

Bottom of the Fourth:
Glen Lewis pokes a hit to right center. Marty Eades gets plunked with an 0-2 pitch and drops in pain.... Trudy the Trainer goes out, but comes back alone and Eades stays in the game! With the runners on the move (which is stupid with someone who strikes out as much as Bert Swope), Swope swings at a 3-2 pitch and misses, but the runners are both safe! That is the first stolen base of Eades' career! With the infield in, Jack Washburn grounds out to 2nd and the runners hold.... Rob Worms, who also strikes out a lot, swings at a 3-2 pitch and grounds a hit to left and both runners score!! 2 to 0, Jays! Bart Daw doubles to right center and Worms scores! 3 to 0, Jays!

Bottom of the Fifth:
Frank Wendell swings at the first pitch and lines a hit to right center and gets bunted to 2nd by Leander Gooding. With 2 outs, Marty Eades doubles over the center fielder's head and Wendell scores! 4 to 0, Jays!

Top of the Sixth:
With 1 out, Steve Gress walks on 4 pitches, only the 2nd walk issued by P Dalton Hartman in 23.2 IP. Bill Weydert bloops a hit over the 3rd baseman... The Bullpen gets up. Keith Meyer grounds into a force at 2nd, 3-6, and Gress goes to 3rd. Leo Toruno lines a hit to center and Gress scores. 4 to 1, Jays. Nestor Gonzalez hits a home run to right.... Tie Game: 4 to 4. I should have pulled P Hartman, but he had struck out Gonzalez earlier, so I let him go...

Bottom of the Sixth:
With 1 out, Rob Worms hits a home run to left! 5 to 4, Jays! That does it for P Rick Potts. New Pitcher: Jim Sutton (32-L), with a 2.93 ERA in 27.2 IP. with 2 outs, PH Ed Diskin (38-R) doubles to right. Frank Wendell grounds a hit to center and Diskin scores! 6 to 4, Jays! CF Steve Gress was hurt making the throw home.

Top of the Eighth:
On the Hill: Jim Kenzy (34-R), after a scoreless 7th. RF Ken Gates (27-L), batting .275 with 3 RBI and 9 BB in 40 AB, draws a walk... The Bullpen gets up. With 1 out, Keith Meyer grounds one up the middle, but Leander Gooding makes an amazing stop and throw him out at 1st and Gates moves up. Leo Toruno grounds one right to Gooding, but he throws this one away for a 2 base error and Gates scores... 6 to 5, Jays. Nestor Gonzalez is NOT walked... Why do we walk people so often, but NEVER when it makes sense? He grounds a hit to right and Toruno scores... Tie Game: 6 to 6. Ron Alario, the next batter, is hitting .191 with NO HR.... He grounds out to short...

Bottom of the Eighth:
On the Hill: John Robillard (26-R), their closer, after a perfect 7th with 2 strikeouts. With 1 out, Bart Daw walks on 4 pitches. PH Cal Doty (25-L) grounds into a force at 2nd, 3-6. Frank Wendell is allowed to hit because he has 2 hits today and lines a hit to center! Leander Gooding pokes a little hit to left and Doty heads home.... The throw by Juan Nunez is to the backstop for an error! 7 to 6, Jays! Glen Lewis bloops a hit to left and both runners score!! 9 to 6, Jays! That does it for P Robillard. New Pitcher: Jim Zeiler (42-R), with a 4.02 ERA in 15.2 IP with 1 SO. But he had a 2.21 ERA in 57 IP last year with only 11 SO. Marty Eades takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. Bert Swope lines a hit to left center and Lewis scores! 10 to 6, Jays! Jack Washburn grounds a double over the 1st base bag and Eades scores! 11 to 6, Jays. Tied our season high in runs!

Won - 11 to 6

Believe it or not, we are up to 5th place!
My head is swooning from the thin atmosphere up here!

We had 16 hits and made 2 errors
Memphis had 7 hits and made 1 error

We just tied a record that I did not notice us setting before, because it is so modest:
We have homered in 4 straight games!
That is our team record, believe it or not, and this is only the 3rd time we have ever done it and all 3 were this season.

Dalton Hartman went 6 innings allowed 4 runs, 4 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 3. At bat, he hit a double.
RHP Jim Kenzy (W 3-2, BS 2) went 2 innings, allowed 2 unearned runs, 2 hits and 1 walk.
RHP Barry Finney went 1 scoreless inning, allowed 1 hit and struck out 2.

Rick Potts went 5.1 innings, gave us 5 runs, 8 hits, 1 home run, no walks, 1 HBP and struck out 5. I am always suspicious of those pitchers that do not walk batters, but plunk them...
RHP John Robillard (L 1-2) went 1.2 innings, gave us 4 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk and struck out 2.

CF Frank Wendell had 3 hits, scores 2 runs and had an RBI. 2B Leander Gooding had 2 hits, scored a run and had an RBI. LF Glen Lewis had 2 hits, stole a base, scored 2 runs and had 2 RBI. 3B Marty Becerra, in his first game in 6 weeks, hit 2 double, drew a walk, was hit by a pitch, stole his first career base, scored 2 runs and had an RBI. 1B Jack Washburn hit a double and had an RBI. RF Rob Worms had 2 hits with his 5th home run of the season, scored 2 runs and had 3 RBI. SS Bart Daw hit a double, drew a walk and had an RBI. PH Ed Diskin hit a double and scored a run.

For Memphis, 1B Nestor Gonzalez had 2 hits with his 12th home run, and 4 RBI.

The Mules announced that CF Steve Gress had back stiffness that would probably bother him for 2 to 3 weeks. They will put him on the DL.

Down on the Farm: CF Danny Stewart (31-L), in his debut with Daytona (A), went 2 for 5 with a home run. The Tortugas still lost (for the 10th time in a row), but it is encouraging to see that he can still pop the ball occasionally. I really hope he continues to hit well for them and can help us out later.