[Questdog]

Friday, September 12, 2003

The Birmingham Barons are here to play a 3 game series over the weekend. They just lost 3 of 4 games in Rochester, the last two in extra innings, so hopefully they have no Bullpen against us. We are 7-4 against them on the season and won a pair of games the last time they visited, July 29-30. They lead in scoring with 4.50 runs per game (Jacksonville is #8 with 3.94). They lead the MLB HR (135) and we 13th (77), but have only hit 1 in our last 14 games. The Barons are 13th in fewest runs allowed with 4.32 per game (Jacksonville is #6 with 3.88). The Barons lead in the League with 135 HR hit, but have allowed more (137), the most in the MLB. We have allowed the 3rd most with 106. Their run differential is +25 and ours is +7.

Birmingham Barons (69-72 .489 9.5 GB in 7th place in the Southern Division) at
Jacksonville Jays (70-69 .504 7.5 GB in 4th place in the Southern Division)

BIRM: Cesar Rodriguez (29-R) (10-9 3.47 ERA 184 IP, 178 H, 15 HR, 55 BB, 120 SO) All-Star(01) vs.
JAX: Del Warwick (28-L) (11-11 2.65 ERA 204 IP, 203 H, 14 HR, 52 BB, 111 SO) Gold Glove

Rodriguez is 0-1 in 2 starts against us this season with a 4.30 ERA. 14.2 IP, 19 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 8 SO.

Warwick gave up 2 runs on 11 hits, 1 home run and no walks with 4 strikeouts in 7 innings last time out in a no decision that our Bullpen lost in the 9th inning.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
BIRMINGHAM
1: 3B Stan Stephens (25-R .363-565-4-54-.834-53 C+) All-Star(2: 01,03)
2: SS Ken Kelly (25-S .248-533-13-61-.668-29 B) All-Star(02)
3: 1B Jim Montgomery (32-R .235-514-26-87-.736-0 A) All-Star 8 for 23 w/3 HR vs Warwick
4: CF Sergio Acevedo (29-R .221-507-37-103-.808-26 B+) Silver Slugger(01)/All-Star(3: 01-03) 113 HR in 3 seasons
5: RF Bob Marks (25-R .236-436-9-44-.688-15 A) Rookie #9 prospect
6: 2B Rick Halverson (27-L .273-293-3-29-.730-5 B) All-Star(01)
7: LF Benny Dreher (25-R .276-225-4-23-.716-11 B+) Gold Glove(2: 01-02)
8: C Bob Marcuson (32-R .189-228-1-12-.491-1 C+) All-Star(01)
9: P Cesar Rodriguez (29-R .267-60-1-5-.579-0 F) All-Star(01)

JACKSONVILLE
1: LF Cal Doty (26-L .289-502-3-48-.729-32 B+)
2: CF Danny Stewart (32-L .228-325-1-19-.580-9 C+)
3: RF Ray McDonald (23-L .301-511-11-69-.829-17 B+)
4: 3B Marty Eades (32-R .284-486-20-87-.826-2 C) All-Star
5: 1B Jack Washburn (21-L .253-380-9-38-.730-26 B)
6: C Bert Swope (31-S .210-229-0-23-.549-1 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (31-R .243-416-9-55-.658-39 B+)
8: 2B Junior Danielson (32-R .264-182-0-8-.604-13 B)
9: P Del Warwick (28-L .186-59-0-3-.370-0 C) Gold Glove

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Connie Mack Stadium
Weather: 80 F, Partly Cloudy, with a 7 MPH wind blowing out to center
Attendance: 7,413

Top of the First:
Stan Stephens tries to bunt his way on, but fails to get one down. He swings away and grounds out to short. Ken Kelly hits a home run to left center... 1 to 0, Barons. Jim Montgomery swings at a 3-2 pitch and misses. Sergio Acevedo hits a home run to left.... 2 to 0, Barons. Bob Marks strikes out.

Bottom of the First:
Cal Doty strikes out.... Danny Stewart pops out to 2nd. Ray McDonald lines a hit to center. Marty Eades doubles to left and McDonald scores from 1st without a throw! 2 to 1, Barons. Jack Washburn, who has hit 2 home runs off Rodriguez, flies out to right.

Bottom of the Sixth:
Cal Doty and Danny Stewart lead off with back to back line drive hits to left. Doty steals 3rd! Ray McDonald grounds one to 1st, but P Cesar Rodriguez drops the toss for an error and Doty scores! Tie Game: 2 to 2! But the next three all make outs....

Bottom of the Eighth:
Cal Doty takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. With 1 out, he steals 2nd! They walk Ray McDonald intentionally. We try a double steal and C Bob Marcuson throws the ball into left field for an error and Doty scores! 3 to 2, Jays! With the infield in, Marty Eades grounds a hit up the middle and McDonald scores! 4 to 2, Jays! With 2 outs, Bert Swope triples to right and Eades scores! 5 to 2, Jays! But Swope is hurt... Pinch-runner: Don Kern (26-R), who will stay in to catch. That does it for P Cesar Rodriguez. New Pitcher: Don Kneip (36-L), who is 1-4 with 1 SV and a 2.98 ERA in 93.2 IP. Bart Daw lines a hit to center and Kern scores! 6 to 2, Jays! Junior Danielson grounds one to short, but Ken Kelly boots it! PH Ed Diskin (39-R) strikes out...

Won - 6 to 2

We had 8 hits and made no errors
Birmingham had 5 hits and made 3 errors

Del Warwick (W 12-11) went 8 innings, allowed 2 runs, 5 hits, 2 home runs, 2 walks and struck out 7.
RHP Roger Wallace pitched a perfect inning (2-3-4 hitters) with 1 strikeout.

Cesar Rodriguez (L 10-10) went 7.2 innings, gave us 6 runs (5 earned), 7 hits, 2 walks (1 INT) and struck out 4.

LF Cal Doty had a hit an a walk, stole 3 bases and scored 2 runs. RF Ray McDonald ha a hit and a walk (INT), stole a base, scored 2 runs and had an RBI. 3B Marty Eades had 2 hits with a double, scored a run and had 2 RBI. C Bert Swope hit a triple and had an RBI.

Trudy's report on Bert Swope is an intercostal strain that she expects to sideline him for about 3 weeks.... That is about all that is left in the season.