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Old 04-20-2019, 04:59 PM   #147
Questdog
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases......
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Friday, July 13, Year I

We signed our one and only international amateur free agent today. 3B Antonio Ortiz (16-R) was inked to a contract for a $140,000 bonus. He is a wretched defender and will be moved to First Base. We signed him because he reportedly has some power and can outrun my pet turtle, though the race was close.

Again with the Friday the 13th!
Well, we cannot be having worst luck today than we already got lately...

We start the second half of the season with a double header in Kansas City. We need to make up a rainout from earlier. We will play 4 games with them over the weekend. We are 4-2 against them this season and won the 2 games we played in Kansas City. They are 4th in scoring in the PCL with 4.3 runs per game (Portland is down to 9th with 3.8). They are tied for 2nd in HR (80), only one off the lead, even though Royals Stadium is a tough place to homer. We ware dead last with 44, even behind the Astros now. In our last 14 games, we have hit exactly 1 home run (Randy James). The Royals are 7th in fewest runs allowed with 4.1 per game (We are still #1 with 3.1).

Portland Beavers (52-35 .598 in 1st place in the PCL West) at
Kansas City Royals (49-39 .557 2 GB in 2nd place in the PCL East)

Our 7 game losing streak is on the line today.

Game 1
POR: Terry Melton (26-R 11-3 2.01) vs. KC: Steve Byrd (32-R 12-5 3.32)

Byrd is their #1 starter. We have beaten him twice this season, but he pitched decently, going at least 7 innings each time.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS)
PORTLAND
1: RF Dale Ainsworth (26-L .303-333-4-37-.795)
2: CF Perry Templet (23-L .315-302-3-33-.784) Rookie
3: 1B Jeff Austin (29-R .240-321-9-39-.663)
4: 2B Gary Long (32-R .281-317-6-31-.735)
5: LF Jeff Schottler (24-R .251-215-3-22-.697) Rookie
6: 3B Randy James (32-R .265-249-7-34-.734)
7: C Dennis Webb (25-L .267-146-0-10-.652)
8: SS Eddie Thomas (25-R .277-65-0-8-.690) Rookie
9: P Terry Melton (26-R .222-45-0-1-.550)

KANSAS CITY
1: SS Alejandro Prieto (26-S .237-299-8-31-.688)
2: 1B Pedro Fuentes (30-R .285-330-16-52-.817) All-Star
3: CF Randy Schmitt (25-L .305-311-11-41-.821) All-Star Rookie #5 prospect
4: LF Ricky Rodriguez (30-R .278-335-14-47-.821) All-Star
5: 3B Tony Olson (37-L .244-303-5-36-.723)
6: RF Ed Gladney (31-L .273-253-5-31-.742)
7: C Jose Muniz (27-R .234-265-8-34-.675)
8: 2B John Brockman (30-L .225-213-4-19-.667) 42 BB
9: P Steve Byrd (32-R .085-47-0-1-.191)

Game Start: 1:05 PM
Ballpark: Royals Stadium
Weather: 90 F, Clear Skies, with a 12 MPH wind blowing out to center.
Attendance: 39,722

Top of the First:
Dale Ainsworth beats out an infield hit. C Jose Muniz has a weak arm and P Steve Byrd is decent at holding runners. But Ainsworth does not run. Perry Templet grounds into a force at 2nd, 4-6. Jeff Austin grounds into a force at 2nd, 5-4. He does not run either. Gary Long grounds out to short.

Bottom of the First:

Alejandro Prieto lines a hit to left. Pedro Fuentes grounds a hit to left on an 0-2 pitch. Prieto steals 3rd. Randy Schmitt strikes out! Full count to Ricky Rodriguez and he takes ball 4 to load the bases up. Tony Olson flies out to center and Prieto scores. 1 to 0, Royals. Ed Gladney flies out to center.

Top of the Second:
Jeff Schottler leads off by lining a hit to right. Randy James then drills one over the center fielder's head for a double! Schottler stops at 3rd. Dennis Webb hits a hard line drive right at the second baseman who doubles Schottler off 3rd base.... Eddie Thomas grounds out to 3rd, Tony Olson making a nice play. 2nd and 3rd with no outs, but no runs...

Top of the Third:
P Terry Melton leads off by striking out, but the ball gets past C Jose Muniz and Melton is safe at 1st! They rule it a passed ball. A wild pitch sends him to 2nd and a single by Dale Ainsworth sends him to 3rd. The second straight inning we put a runner on 3rd with no outs. Can we score this time, please? Ainsworth gets thrown out stealing, just like I knew he would.... But Perry Templet does not pop out, like I thought! He grounds a hit to left and Melton scores to tie the game at 1! Jeff Austin then gets his second half off to a good start by grounding into a 6-4-3 double play... He just HAS to hit in the second half....

Top of the Fourth:

With 1 out, Jeff Schottler homers to left!!! A Home Run!!!! We have not seen one of those since July 1!!! You have to go back to June 23 to see another! 2 to 1, Beavers!

Bottom of the Fourth:

After getting the 3rd out, Terry Melton comes to the dugout complaining of back pain again... His day is done.

Bottom of the Fifth:
New Pitcher: Lou Hertzberg (29-L). John Brockman leads of with a double, gets bunted to 3rd by P Steve Byrd and scores on a fly ball by Alejandro Prieto. Tie game at 2 apiece.

Bottom of the Seventh:

New Pitcher: Jerry Wilhelm (32-L). Ed Gladney leads off with a double. We walk Jose Muniz intentionally. John Brockman bunts the runners up, but they leave P Steve Byrd in to hit... One or the other is stupid.... We bring the infield in and Byrd grounds out to short. Alejandro Prieto strikes out!

Top of the Eighth:

3-4-5 hitters up for us and they go down 1-2-3....

Bottom of the Eighth:
New Pitcher: Antoine Redd (31-R). Dave Lesley is in to play 2nd in a double switch. Pedro Fuentes whacks an 0-2 pitch into the right field corner for a double... We walk Randy Schmitt intentionally. Ricky Rodriguez swings at the first pitch and homers to straight away center... 5 to 2, Royals. Redd has not been good lately and our best, Don Schmidt, is out....

Lost - 5 to 2

8 losses in a row and 7 straight of scoring 2 or fewer runs...

We had 11 hits and made no errors
Kansas City had 8 hits and made no errors

Terry Melton went 4 innings, allowed 1 run, 3 hits, 1 walk and struck out 1. At bat, he scored a run.
LHP Lou Hertzberg (BS 3) went 2 innings, allowed 1 run, 1 hit, 1 HBP and struck out 1.
LHP Jerry Wilhelm went 1 scoreless inning, allowed 1 hit, 1 intentional walk and struck out 1.
RHP Antoine Redd (L 1-3) faced 5 batters and got 1 out. He allowed 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 home run and 1 intentional walk.
RHP Brian Hagans faced 2 batters and got them both out with 1 strikeout.

Steve Byrd (W 13-5) went 8 innings, gave us 2 runs (1 earned), 9 hits, 1 home run, 2 walks and struck out 3. He threw a WP.
RHP Jack Rose (SV 17) pitched a scoreless 9th, giving us 2 hits and striking out 1.

RF Dale Ainsworth had 3 hits. LF Jeff Schottler had 2 hits with his 4th home run of the season. 3B Randy James hit a double and drew a walk. C Dennis Webb had 2 hits. 2B Dave Lesley had a hit in his only AB.

For the Royals, LF Ricky Rodriguez hit a double and his 15th home run of the season, drew a walk, was hit by a pitch (before the home run) and had 3 RBI.

GAME 2
POR: Ron Wolf (27-R 10-4 2.80) vs. KC: Troy Levine (24-L 6-2 2.06) Rookie

Levine has been excellent, but we scored 5 runs off him in 4 innings on May 12 in Portland, though we lost the game, 10 to 6.

Wolf, the All-Star Game loser, has only allowed 1 earned run in his last 3 starts combined, but is only 1-1...

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS)
PORTLAND
1: SS Eddie Thomas (25-R .261-69-0-8-.652) Rookie
2: LF Howard McNeal (30-R .252-234-6-26-.696)
3: 1B Jeff Austin (29-R .237-325-9-39-.655)
4: 2B Gary Long (32-R .280-321-6-31-.733)
5: 3B Randy James (32-R .266-252-7-34-.740)
6: CF Jeff Schottler (24-R .256-219-4-23-.716) Rookie
7: C Dave Benya (26-S .130-54-0-2-.346)
8: RF Gordon Saunderson (26-L .258-66-0-4-.652) Rookie
9: P Ron Wolf (27-R .154-39-0-1-.359)

KANSAS CITY
1: SS Alejandro Prieto (26-S .238-302-8-32-.687)
2: 1B Pedro Fuentes (30-R .287-334-16-52-.811) All-Star
3: CF Randy Schmitt (25-L .303-314-11-41-.815) All-Star Rookie #5 prospect
4: RF Ed Gladney (31-L .276-257-5-31-.749)
5: 3B Tony Olson (37-L .242-306-5-37-.715)
6: LF Jim Dingess (32-R .312-77-2-16-.863)
7: 2B John Brockman (30-L .227-216-4-19-.671)
8: C Edwin Valdez (34-R .211-19-0-1-.663)
9: P Troy Levine (24-L .065-31-0-1-.161) Rookie

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Royals Stadium
Weather: 88 F, Clear Skies, with a 12 MPH wind blowing out to center.
Attendance: 39,025

Top of the First:
Eddie Thomas leads off with a 4 pitch walk. He steals 2nd. Howard McNeal grounds a hard one over the 3rd base back for a double and Thomas scores! 1 to 0, Beavers! Jeff Austin swings at the first pitch and flies out to center. Gary Long flares a hit to right center and McNeal heads home... RF Ed Gladney uncorks a wild throw and McNeal is safe and Long goes to 2nd on the error! 2 to 0, Beavers! Can we score more than 2, today? Randy James grounds out to 3rd. 2 outs. Jeff Schottler swings at a 3-2 pitch and flies out to center.

Bottom of the First:
Alejandro Prieto grounds a hit into right. Pedro Fuentes pops out to 2nd. Randy Schmitt doubles to left and Prieto scores. 2 to 1, Beavers. Schmitt steals 3rd. Ed Gladney pops out to 3rd for the second out. Tony Olson homers to right....unbelievable... 3 to 2, Royals. We finally get some runs.... Jim Dingess strikes out.

Bottom of the Third:
Alejandro Prieto leads off with a hit and with 1 out, Randy Schmitt reaches base on an error by 3B Randy James. Ed Gladney singles to right and Prieto heads home , but RF Gordon Saunderson throws him out! Tony Olson fouls out to the catcher to end the inning!

Bottom of the Fourth:
With 1 out, John Brockman doubles, steals 3rd and scores when C Dave Benya throws the ball into left field. 4 to 2, Royals.

After giving us runs in the first inning, P Troy Levine sets them down in order in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th....

Lost - 6 to 2

9 losses in a row....
2 runs in the 1st inning and none the rest of the way...
8th straight with 2 or fewer runs scored...

We had 8 hits and made 2 errors
Kansas City had 9 hits and made 1 error

Ron Wolf (L 10-5) went 5+ innings, allowed 6 runs (5 earned), 8 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk (INT) and struck out 3.
LHP Jerry Wilhelm went 2 scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit, 1 walk and struck out 1.
RHP Barry Chapman pitched 1 perfect inning.

Troy Levine (W 7-2) went 7.2 innings, gave us 2 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk and struck out 3. At bat, he had an RBI.

LF Howard McNeal had 2 hits with a double, scored a run and had an RBI. PH Dale Ainsworth had a hit. PH Glenn Pearce had a hit.

For the Royals, RF Ed Gladney had 3 hits with a double and scored a run.

The trainer's report on P Terry Melton is not good. It is a herniated disk again, but this time he will miss at least 2 months.... Out best starter and our best reliever are gone from the only strength we had on this team, our pitching.... Now we have no strengths and need to hope we can hold on somehow....

Did I say we could not have worst luck than we had been having? How stupid I was...
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