[Questdog]

Thursday, June 24, 2004

We are back home to play the Rochester Roosters a 4 game series through the weekend. They are the last MLB team we have yet to face this season. They split a pair of games at home with Providence on Monday and Tuesday. We were 6-2 against them last year when they finished 72-90 in 6th place in the North. They are 11th in scoring with 3.90 runs per game (Jacksonville is tied for 7th with 4.10). The Roosters are 9th in fewest runs allowed with 4.04 per game (Jacksonville is #1 with 3.19). Their run differential is -10, 11th best in the MLB, and ours is +64, 2nd best.

Rochester Roosters (34-37 .479 10 GB in 5th place in the Northern Division) at
Jacksonville Jays (46-24 .657 3.5 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division)

ROCH: Steve Weston (28-L) (6-7 2.95 ERA 106.2 IP, 80 H, 8 HR, 39 BB, 110 SO) All-Star(2: 01-02)/Silver Slugger(02)
JAX: Al Calice (23-R) (4-4 3.06 ERA 79.1 IP, 68 H, 7 HR, 31 BB, 36 SO) Rookie

Weston is Jim Baucom's chief rival for the lead in strikeouts. He is currently 2nd to Jim, but could pass him today with a double digit effort. He is their #1 starter. He was 10-13 with a 3.54 ERA in 224 IP last year. As a tough lefty, you would expect him to have a good record against the Jays and he does: 4-0 in 4 starts with a 1.35 ERA. 33.1 IP, 19 H, 0 HR, 14 BB, 24 SO.

Calice pitched 6 scoreless innings with 5 hits and 5 walks allowed and struck out 3, but threw 110 pitches last time out in a win.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
ROCHESTER
1: 2B Buddy Hendricks (24-R .272-195-1-12-.674-5 A++)
2: SS Brian Bowden (27-R .253-269-4-16-.592-12 A+) Gold Glove(02)
3: RF Glen Lewis (23-L .314-274-5-27-.810-24 C+) RoY(02)/All-Star(2: 02-03) ex-Jay
4: CF Tom Walker (24-R .302-265-11-33-.851-14 B)
5: LF Ron LeMaster (26-L .284-215-3-29-.780-6 B+)
6: 1B Marty Eades (33-R .296-186-7-37-.846-0 C) All-Star ex-Jay
7: 3B Gary Russell (27-R .254-181-6-26-.713-0 B) Trade from Ottawa on June 4
8: C Mark Scott (29-R .221-213-1-30-0 B) Gold Glove
9: P Steve Weston (28-L .250-32-0-1-.554-0 F) All-Star(2: 01-02)/Silver Slugger(02)

JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Leander Gooding (33-R .250-76-0-5-.624-4 B)
2: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .281-171-3-19-.698-0 C) Rookie
3: CF Cal Doty (27-L .336-268-5-29-.880-12 C+)
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .308-208-10-42-.909-6 B+)
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .268-250-12-46-.806-4 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .240-229-9-25-.698-18 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .240-183-3-20-.657-13 B+)
8: C Jim Hess (34-R .294-34-2-6-.795-0 B)
9: P Al Calice (23-L .143-28-0-3-.429-0 F) Rookie

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Connie Mack Stadium
Weather: 83 F, Clear Skies, with an 8 MPH wind blowing out to left
Attendance: 9,338

Top of the First
Buddy Hendricks flies out to left. Brian Bowden strikes out! Glen Lewis, the ex-Jay Rookie of the Year, lines out to center! 1-2-3!

Bottom of the First
Leander Gooding grounds out to short. Fernando Tello grounds a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a hit! Cal Doty grounds into a force at 2nd, 3-6. Ray McDonald doubles to right center and and Doty scores and McDonald ends up on 3rd! 1 to 0, Jays! Tom McDowell takes a 3-2 pitch for strike three...

Bottom of the Second
With 1 out, Bart Daw lines a 3-2 pitch to right for a double and steals 3rd! Jim Hess grounds out to 3rd and Daw scores. 2 to 0, Jays!

Top of the Third
Gary Russell doubles to right and goes to 3rd on a ground out. P Steve Weston, the Silver Slugger, lines a hit to right and Russell scores... 2 to 1, Jays. Buddy Hendricks swings at a 3-2 pitch and grounds out to short and P Weston goes to 2nd. Brian Bowden lines a 3-2 pitch to left center for a hit and P Weston scores... Tie Game: 2 to 2. Bowden tries to steal 2nd, but C Jim Hess throws him out! He has now thrown out 6 of 10 on the season!

Bottom of the Fourth
With 1 out, Tom McDowell hits a home run to left! 3 to 2, Jays!

Top of the Fifth
With 1 out, Gary Russell doubles to left and goes to 3rd on a passed ball... With the infield in, Mark Scott grounds out to 2nd and the runner holds. P Steve Weston, the Silver Slugger, pops out to right!

Top of the Sixth
Buddy Hendricks beats out an infield hit... The Bullpen gets up. Brian Bowden cannot get a bunt down, so he grounds a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a hit and Hendricks beats the throw to 3rd, but is hurt. Pinch-runner: Shawn Royer (39-R), their best pinch-hitter and as slow as molasses and not likely to take over at 2nd base.... Glen Lewis grounds out to short and Royer scores and Bowden goes to 2nd. Tie Game: 3 to 3. Tom Walker grounds out to short and Bowden goes to 3rd. Call to the Bullpen: Albert Davies (27-L). Ron LeMaster pops out to right!

Bottom of the Sixth
Cal Doty beats out an infield hit. Ray McDonald swings at a 3-2 pitch and grounds into a 6-4-3 double play.... Tom McDowell skies one to right, but it clanks off the glove of Glenn Lewis for a 2 base error! Jack Washburn takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. In a 10 pitch at bat, Bart Daw grounds a 3-2 pitch to left for a hit and McDowell scores! 4 to 3, Jays!

Top of the Seventh
Marty Eades grounds a hit up the middle... The Bullpen is up. Gary Russell draws a walk... But the next three make outs with 2 strikeouts!

Top of the Eighth
New Pitcher: 2-time All-Star Bill Grant (33-L). Gary McKellar (34-R) is in to play center. Cal Doty moves to left and Ray McDonald moves to right. Brian Bowden pokes a hit to left center... Glen Lewis bounces one back to the box that should be a double play, but P Grant makes a bad throw to 2nd for an error... The Bullpen gets up. Tom Walker walks to load the bases up with no outs... Ron LeMaster swings at the first pitch and clears the bases with a double grounded over the 1st base bag... 6 to 4, Roosters. Call to the Bullpen: Roger Wallace (29-R). With 1 out, we walk Gary Russell intentionally.... The next two make outs.

Bottom of the Eighth
New Pitcher: Dave Martinez (31-R) who is 2-0 with 1 SV and a 3.63 ERA in 22.1 IP. With 1 out, Ray McDonald takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. Tom McDowell swings at an 0-2 pitch and hits his second home run of the game to left!! Tie Game: 6 to 6!

Top of the Ninth
Top of their order up. 2B Josue Camacho (32-R) pops out to right. Brian Bowden draws a walk... The Bullpen gets up. Bowden takes off for 2nd, but we have a pitchout on and C Jim Hess throws him out! 7 for 11 now on throwing out runners! Glen Lewis flies out to deep center!

Bottom of the Ninth
New Pitcher; Phil Engel (29-R), their current closer, since they traded their all-time Saves leader, David Rocha (36-L), to Ottawa on June 4. Engel is 0-3 with 3 SV and a 4.23 ERA in 38.1 IP. A FIP of 3.21, though. 8-9-1 up for us. PH Danny Stewart (33-L) bloops a hit to left! PH Mike Volkman (36-L) grounds into a 4-6-3 double play.... Leander Gooding walks on 4 pitches. PH Dave Thompson (28-R) is sent up. P Engel picks Gooding off at 1st....

Extras!

Top of the Tenth
New Pitcher: Bob Craig (26-R). Bert Swope (32-S) is into catch. Danny Stewart stays in to play left and Cal Doty moves back to center. 4-5-6 up for the Roosters. They go down in order with 2 strikeouts!

Bottom of the Tenth
2-3-4 up for us. Bert Swope is now the #2 and he beats out an infield hit. We cannot pinch-run for him, as he is the last catcher. Cal Doty draws a walk! Ray McDonald pokes a 3-1 pitch to center and Swope heads home and he is safe and THIS Ball Game Belongs to the Jays!

Won - 7 to 6
For the first time ever, we have won 5 games in a row started by left-handers!

We had 11 hits and made 1 error
Rochester had 9 hits and made 1 error

Al Calice went 5.2 innings, allowed 3 runs, 6 hits, no walks and struck out 4.
LHP Albert Davis went 1.1 scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit, 1 walk and struck out 2.
LHP Bill Grant (BS 3) did not retire a batter, allowed 3 runs (2 earned - his own error), 2 hits and 1 walk.
RHP Roger Wallace went 2 scoreless innings and walked 2 (1 INT).
RHP Bob Craig (W 1-0) pitched a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts. His first career win!

Steve Weston went 6 innings, gave us 4 runs (3 earned), 7 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 3. At bat, he had a hit, scored a run and had an RBI.
RHP Phil Engel (L 0-4) went 1+ inning, gave us 1 run, 3 hits and 2 walks.

2B Leander Gooding had a hit and a walk. C Bert Swope had a hit and scored the winning run in his only at bat. CF/LF Cal Doty had a hit and a walk and scored a run. LF/RF Ray McDonald had 2 hits with a double and a walk, scored a run and had 2 RBI, including the game winner. 3B Tom McDowell hit 2 home runs, scored 3 runs and had 3 RBI. He now has 14 HR on the season and leads the MLB with 49 RBI! SS Bart Daw had 2 hits, stole a base, scored a run and had an RBI. PH/LF Danny Stewart had a hit.

For Rochester, SS Brian Bowden had 3 hits and a walk, scored a run and had an RBI.

The Roosters announced that 2B Buddy Hendricks had a torn abdominal muscle and they expected him to miss about 5 weeks.