[Questdog]

Saturday, June 29, 2002

Mathematically, this will be the last game of the first half, so I will post the monthly stats of the Beavers a bit early so we can have a permanent record of their first half performance.

San Francisco Seals (56-23 .709 in 1st place in the PCL West) at
Portland Beavers (37-43 .463 19.5 GB in 6th place in the PCL West)

SF: Mike Bennett (31-L 9-2 3.17) vs. POR: Frank Flores (23-R 8-4 2.35) Rookie

Bennett is their #1 starter and was acquired in a trade with Los Angeles this past winter. We seem to be catching a lot of #1 starters of late... He has made one start against us this season and had a no decision and gave us 3 runs in 6 IP.

Flores pitched a 5 hit shutout last time out. He is currently 5th in the PCL in ERA.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS)
SAN FRANCISCO
1: SS George Cowles (29-R .264-284-0-26-.627)
2: LF Al Rowley (27-R .261-46-0-4-.594) Rookie
3: CF Clay Laurence (23-R .313-320-10-51-.872) Silver Slugger/Gold Glove
4: 2B Bill Webber (25-S .316-310-12-64-.864) Silver Slugger
5: 1B Mike Sorrel (26-L .273-260-6-31-.770)
6: C Bruce Jump (33-R .229-236-8-35-.691)
7: 3B Antonio Vigil (35-R .244-45-3-11-.772)
8: RF Ricardo Jimenez (31-L .225-40-0-4-.655)
9: P Mike Bennett (31-L .143-28-0-0-.286)

PORTLAND
1: 3B Dave Risinger (26-R .271-155-2-14-.649)
2: CF Jack Hinckley (26-R .327-156-1-11-.765)
3: LF Fernando Martinez (27-L .268-112-6-16-.743) Gold Glove
4: 1B Glenn Snowden (25-R .306-291-22-59-.973) All-Star/Gold Glove
5: RF Fernando Mexicano (21-L .273-286-22-62-.897)
6: 2B Shannon Kuchta (24-R .260-296-6-25-.687)
7: C Jim Shippy (31-R .267-165-4-20-.732)
8: SS Juan Rojas (23-S .223-148-1-9-.515)
9: P Frank Flores (23-R .171-35-1-7-.473) Rookie

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Multnomah County Stadium
Weather: Roof Closed
Attendance: 17,410

Top of the First:
George Cowles lines out to 1st, Glenn Snowden making a nice catch. Al Rowley grounds out to 2nd. Clay Laurence grounds out to short! 1-2-3!

Bottom of the First:
Dave Risinger lines a hit to center. Jack Hinckley beats out an infield hit. We pull off a double steal! Fernando Martinez beats out an infield hit and Risinger scores! 1 to 0, Beavers! Glenn Snowden grounds a hit to left and Hinckley scores! 2 to 0, Beavers! Snowden's hitting streak is at 16 games. Fernando Mexicano draws a walk to load them up with no outs! Shannon Kuchta lines out to center and Martinez gets thrown out at the plate for a double play... Snowden and Mexicano advance. Jim Shippy swings at the first pitch and doubles down the right field line! 2 runs score! 4 to 0, Beavers! Juan Rojas grounds a hit to right and Shippy scores! 5 to 0, Beavers! P Frank Flores grounds out to the pitcher.

Top of the Second:
Now, it's our turn to suffer... With 1 out, Mike Sorrel, Bruce Jump and Antonio Vigil all single to load the bases up. Ricardo Jimenez grounds out to the pitcher and we get the force at home, 1-2. P Mike Bennett grounds one to 3rd and Dave Risinger boots it and Sorrel scores. 5 to 1, Beavers. George Cowles takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4 to force in a run... 5 to 2, Beavers. Al Rowley lines out hard to center.

Top of the Third:
Clay Laurence lines a hit to left, but gets caught stealing. Bill Webber takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4 and steals 2nd. With 2 outs, that thorn in our side, Bruce Jump, grounds a 3-2 pitch up the middle for a hit and Webber scores. 5 to 3, Beavers.

Bottom of the Fourth:
Jim Shippy leads off with a double to center. That does it for P Mike Bennett. New Pitcher: Bob Gallucci (28-R) with a 1.80 ERA in 15 IP. He gets 3 outs in a row...

Top of the Fifth:
Al Rowley leads off with a double to right center... The Bullpen is up. With 1 out, Bill Webber beats out an infield hit. Mike Sorrel grounds into a force at 2nd, 4-6, and Rowley scores. 5 to 4, Beavers. Bruce Jump, that prickly thorn, strikes out!

Bottom of the Fifth:
With 2 outs, Glenn Snowden hits one 432 ft, to left center! 6 to 4, Beavers!

Bottom of the Sixth:
New Pitcher: Jim Steele (37-R) with a 1.26 ERA in 43 IP. With 2 outs, Juan Rojas reaches on a 2 base throwing error by SS George Cowles. PH Rick Woodell (31-L) grounds a hit to left and Rojas scores! 7 to 4, Beavers!

Top of the Eighth:
On the Hill: David Fuentes (25-R), beginning his second inning of work after a perfect 7th where he retired their 3-4-5 hitters. With 1 out, Antonio Vigil grounds a hit to right. Ricardo Jimenez doubles down the right field line. And the tying run comes to the plate in the person of reigning MVP, PH Dave McDowell (31-R). He is NOT walked, as I anticipated, but lines a 2-2 pitch down the right field line for a double and both runners score... 7 to 6, Beavers. But does anyone think that our Bullpen can hold them scoreless for 5 more outs? Call to the Bullpen: Jim Kokos (28-R). George Cowles swings at the first pitch and pops out to left! Al Rowley nuns one in front of the plate and C Jim Shippy field it and throws the ball down the right field line for a 2 base error and McDowell scores... Tie game: 7 to 7. Now, the thing with P Jim Kokos is that he is okay against right-handed batters, but lefties give him all kinds of trouble... So we sensibly walk Clay Laurence (23-R) intentionally to face Bill Webber (25-S)..... That bonehead move forces me to the Bullpen again: Roy Huls (21-R), who is not fresh at all, but is the only option who has a chance to retire Webber... 3-2 pitch on the way and Webber takes it for ball 4 to load the bases up....Call to the Bullpen: Chuck Purnell (26-L) to face Mike Sorrel... Sorrel swings at a 1-2 pitch and lines it to center for a hit.... Jack Hinckley overruns the ball for an error and 2 more runs are in.... 9 to 7, Seals. Call to the Bullpen: Jennings Sims (29-R), who will have to get 4 more outs, come what may.... Don Neumann (32-S) is in to play left in a double switch. Fernando Martinez moves to right. Bruce Jump grounds out to 3rd.

Bottom of the Eighth:
New Pitcher: Bo Travis (30-L) with a 2.21 ERA in 20.1 IP. Shannon Kuchta swings at an 0-2 pitch and hits it high and deep to left.... Al Rowley at the wall, but it clears the fence! 9 to 8, Seals. Jim Shippy draws a walk. PH Jose Julio (28-R) grounds into a force at 2nd, 1-4. Don Neumann grounds a hit up the middle. Dave Risinger grounds into a 4-6-3 double play....

Bottom of the Ninth:
New Pitcher: Duane Paxton (28-R), their closer with a 2.09 ERA in 43.2 IP. He picked up a save yesterday. Jack Hinckley strikes out. Fernando Martinez grounds a hit to center. Glenn Snowden swings at a 3-2 pitch and doubles to left center! Martinez rounds 3rd and heads home....safe! Tie game: 9 to 9. Now, we have to win it here or we lose in extra innings with only P Jennings Sims left... And he is up to bat.... There is only Rick Mansoor (29-R) and Esteban Mondolfo (30-R) left on the bench.... If I pinch hit and we fail to score, we have only tired pitchers to put out there... Of course, Sims is not tired yet, but they have their 3-4-5 Murderer's Row coming up and the odds of him getting them out without allowing a run is very low... PH Esteban Mondolfo (30-R) is sent to the plate...He swings at the first pitch and grounds out to short... 2 outs. They walk Shannon Kuchta intentionally to face Jim Shippy. He swings at a 3-2 pitch and misses....

Extras!

Top of the Tenth:
New Pitcher: Garry Ayers (29-R), who threw 39 pitches yesterday. Sorry, Garry. 3-4-5 hitter up for them.... They go down 1-2-3!!!!

Bottom of the Tenth:
New Pitcher: Dan Robinson (37-L), the ancient rookie. He pitched 2 scoreless innings yesterday and is not fresh, either, but fresher than Ayers was. With 1 out, 3B Rich Cruz (30-R) lines a hit to right. But the next two make outs...

Top of the Eleventh:
With 1 out, Antonio Vigil doubles down the right field line... With 2 outs, PH Mike Hopkins (39-R), a .205 hitter, is walked intentionally. George Cowles grounds one up the middle that looks like a hit, but SS Dave Risinger snares it and flips to 2nd to get the force out!!!

Bottom of the Eleventh:
New Pitcher: Dick McKinster (36-R) with a 2.12 ERA in 34 IP. He is fresh as a daisy. He's the last reliever in their Pen, though. We go down in order... Martinez and Snowden both made outs and we let P Garry Ayers end the inning...

Top of the Twelfth:
Which of course means, he gives up runs in this inning... But they go down in order, including Laurence and Webber!!!!

Bottom of the Twelfth:
Please, score! With 2 outs, Jose Julio lines a hit to center. He steals 2nd. But Rich Cruz grounds out to 2nd...

Top of the Thirteenth:
We have to pull P Garry Ayers, as he is gassed. New Pitcher: Rondey Moe (26-R), who was scheduled to start tomorrow's game. Rick Mansoor, the last player on our bench, is in to catch in a double switch. Mike Sorrel leads off with a double down the left field line.... Bruce Jump, that old thorn, drives one to the wall in center where jack Hinckley makes a leaping catch, but Sorrel moves to 3rd. Antonio Vigil walks. Ricardo Jimenez lays down a bunt and the squeeze is on. P Moe fields the ball and fires it to C Mansoor, but too late... 10 to 9, Seals. And runners are on 1st and 2nd. P Dick McKinster bunts them over. 2 outs. George Cowles pops out to 3rd.

Bottom of the Thirteenth:
Top of our order is up. With 1 out, Jack Hinckley lines a hit to right center. Fernando Martinez flies out to left. Glenn Snowden lines a hit to right and Hinckley goes to 3rd. And now all of our hopes ride on a minor league catcher who hit .234 in A ball last year....Rick Mansoor draws a walk to load the bases up. That brings up Shannon Kuchta. The odds of him walking are pretty slim, since he only has 18 in the season and 4 of those were intentional. He swings at the first pitch and pops out to center....

Lost - 10 to 9

11 game winning streak for the Seals now...
4 game losing streak for us.

We had 18 hits and made 3 errors
San Francisco had 16 hits and made 1 error

We used 8 pitchers which ties our record.

Frank Flores went 6 innings, allowed 4 runs (2 earned), 9 hits, 2 walks and struck out 1.
RHP David Fuentes (H 2) went 1.1 innings, allowed 3 runs (2 earned), 3 hits and struck out 1. How you can get a Hold while allowing 3 runs, is pretty stupid...
RHP Jim Kokos (BS 1) got 1 out, allowed 2 unearned runs and 1 walk (INT). He did not blow the Save; 3B Dave Risinger blew the Save...
RHP Roy Huls faced 1 batter and walked him.
LHP Chuck Purnell faced 1 batter and allowed a hit.
RHP Jennings Sims went 1.1 scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit, 1 walk (INT) and struck out 2.
RHP Garry Ayers, in a heroic effort, went 3 scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit, 1 walk (INT) and struck out 2.
RHP Rondey Moe (L 2-3) went 1 inning, allowed 1 run, 1 hit and 1 walk.

Mike Bennett went 3+ innings, gave us 5 runs, 7 hits, 1 walk and struck out 2.
RHP Dick McKinster (W 3-1) went 3 scoreless innings, gave us 3 hits, 1 walk and struck out 2.

CF Jack Hinckley had 3 hits, stole a base and scored a run. LF/RF Fernando Martinez had 2 hits, scored a run and had an RBI. 1B Glenn Snowden had 4 hits with a double and his League leading 23rd home run of the season, scored 2 runs and had 3 RBI. C Rick Mansoor drew a walk in his only appearance. 2B Shannon Kuchta hit his 7th home run and drew a walk (INT). C Jim Shippy hit 2 doubles, drew a walk, scored a run and had 2 RBI. PH Rick Woodell had a hit and an RBI. LF Don Neumann had a hit in his only AB. 3B Rich Cruz was 1 for 2.

For San Francisco, 1B Mike Sorrel had 3 hits with a double, scored a run and had 3 RBI. 3B Antonio Vigil had 4 hits with a double and a walk and scored 2 runs.