Millennial League Baseball, est. 2001

[Questdog]

August 9, 2004

Monday Morning Report
Player of the Week - Tom Hamm, CF, Buffalo (34-R .334/.377/.491) Had 14 hits with 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 0 BB, 1 SO, 2 SB, 0 CS, 7 R and 8 RBI in 6 G (2nd career PoW)

(Slash lines are for the season, not the week)

August 2 - CF Tom Hamm (34-R) of Buffalo had 4 hits with a double and a home run, scored 3 runs and had 3 RBI at Columbus. The Bombers won, 11 to 2.
August 2 - Terry Henry (33-R) of New Orleans allowed 11 hits and 5 walks but no runs at Memphis. He struck out 5.It is his 3rd shutout of the season and the 5th of his career. He is now 5-6 with a 5.04 ERA in 16 starts (19 G). The Pelicans won, 2 to 0.
August 3 - Ottawa lost P Buford Nolan (28-R) for the rest of the season with a torn labrum. He was 10-4 with a 3.33 ERA in 21 starts.
August 3 - Rick Cox (33-R) of Charlotte pitched a 5 hit shutout at Louisville. He walked 1 and struck out 2. It is his 4th shutout of the season and the 10th of his career. He is now 10-7 with a 2.73 ERA, the worst of his career, in 23 starts. The Hornets won, 4 to 0.
August 4 - Tommy Corris (24-R) of Louisville pitched a 5 hit shutout at home versus Charlotte. He walked 3 and struck out 7. At bat, he had a hit. It is his 4th shutout of the season and the 9th of his career. He is now 14-6 with a 2.44 ERA in 23 starts. The Colonels won, 1 to 0. LF Danny Rosas (25-L) led off the game with a home run and then all the scoring was done.
August 4 - CF Jose Vazquez (31-R) of Richmond went 3 for 3 with a double and a triple and 2 walks, scored 4 runs and had 3 RBI at home versus Birmingham. The Robins won, 11 to 4.
August 4 - Tom Peterson (33-R) of Syracuse pitched a 5 hit shutout at Rochester. He did not walk a batter and struck out 2. At bat, he had a hit. It is his 4th shutout of the season and 16th of his career, the most of any pitcher. Jim Baucom and Steve Cron were tied with him with 15. He is now 12-6 with a 2.57 ERA in 23 starts. The Sycamores won, 3 to 0, and only had 3 hits themselves.
August 4 - Jim Hower (36-R) of Ottawa pitched a 3 hit shutout at home versus Hartford. He walked 3 and struck out 5. At bat, he had a hit. It is his 2nd shutout of the season and the 10th of his career. He is now 8-11 with a 3.83 ERA in 24 starts. The Otters won, 11 to 0.
August 4 - 2B/SS Ken Kelly (26-S) of Birmingham came up a dingle short of a Cycle, scored 3 runs and had 4 RBI at Richmond. The Barons scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th to take a 9 to 5 lead, but lost, 10 to 9. 1B/2B Mike Sammon 25-R) of Richmond had 3 hits to extend his hitting streak to 20 games, the longest this season in the MLB.
August 6 - Jim Riggs (34-R) of Providence pitches a 4 hit shutout at Rochester. He walked 2 and struck out 5. It is his 1st shutout of the season and the 13th of his career. He is now 5-14 with a 4.86 ERA in 24 starts. The steamrollers won, 4 to 0.
August 6 - Yui Ogawa (29-L) of Indianapolis pitched a 5 hit shutout at home versus Syracuse. He walked 4 and struck out 7. It is his 3rd shutout of the season and 8th of his career. He is now 8-11 with a 4.16 ERA in 24 starts. The Arrows won, 1 to 0.
August 7 - Hartford lost at home to Buffalo, 3 to 2, for their 10th loss in a row.
August 8 3B Keith Meyer (29-L) of Memphis, playing with the flu, had a hit to extend his hitting streak to 20 games.

[Questdog]

Monday, August 9, 2004

The Louisville Sluggers are here to play a short 2 game set. They lost 2 of 3 at home to Memphis over the weekend. We are 7-2 against them on the season and swept them in 3 games the last time they visited, July 23-25. They are 14th in scoring with 3.72 runs per game (Jacksonville is #3 with 4.55). The Colonels are 7th in fewest runs allowed with 3.94 per game (Jacksonville is #1 with 3.19). Their run differential is -24 and ours is +149, still 2nd to Buffalo (+157).

Louisville Colonels (54-56 .491 22 GB in 4th place in the Southern Division) at
Jacksonville Jays (76-34 .691 10.5 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division)

LOU: Tommy Corris (24-R) (14-6 2.44 ERA 170 IP, 151 H, 10 HR, 33 BB, 112 SO) All-Star
JAX: Del Warwick (29-L) (8-6 2.73 ERA 154.2 IP, 152 H, 9 HR, 32 BB, 97 SO) Gold Glove(02)

Corris is their #1 starter. 3 of his 6 losses on the season have been at the hands of the Jays. He is 0-3 in 3 starts against us with an 8.82 ERA. 16.1 IP, 22 H, 2 HR, 5 BB, 15 SO.

Warwick gave up 1 run on 3 hits, 1 home run and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts in 8.1 innings last time out in a win.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
LOUISVILLE
1: RF Danny Rosas (25-L .247-372-5-31-.659-35 B+) 6 for 11 w/2 HR vs Warwick
2: LF Ernie Mitchell (25-L .350-123-3-17-.946-8 B) Rookie
3: 2B Ron Lerche (25-R .293-416-19-63-.848-10 B+) All-Star
4: 3B Ed Ruiz (34-R .231-199-7-24-.715-1 C+)
5: 1B Alan Douglas (28-S .208-408-10-34-.585-16 A) 40 HR last year
6: C Dick Pavlov (36-L .287-349-8-40-.745-0 B) All-Star(4: 01-04)
7: SS Ken DeMinico (22-L .224-228-3-22-.594-4 A)
8: CF Al Graves (27-L .260-235-2-23-.706-7 C)
9: P Tommy Corris (24-R .210-62-0-5-.432-0 F) All-Star

JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .245-53-0-6-.550-0 B)
2: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .298-312-7-33-.764-0 C) Rookie
3: CF Cal Doty (27-L .335-406-9-49-.891-15 C+) All-Star
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .325-360-18-80-.954-13 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .276-399-19-79-.820-6 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .234-355-12-44-.708-19 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .224-308-6-36-.641-20 B+)
8: C Bert Swope (32-S .260-242-1-24-.643-1 B)
9: P Del Warwick (29-L .163-49-0-3-.367-0 D+) Gold Glove(02)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Connie Mack Stadium
Weather: 78 F, Partly Cloudy, with a 6 MPH wind blowing out to right
Attendance: 11,888

Top of the First
Danny Rosas strikes out! Ernie Mitchell grounds out to the pitcher! Ron Lerche strikes out! 1-2-3!

Bottom of the First
Junior Danielson grounds out to short. Fernando Tello strikes out... Cal Doty pokes a hit to right! Ray McDonald strikes out...

Bottom of the Second
Tom McDowell grounds a hit to left. Jack Washburn grounds into a force at 2nd, 3-6. He steals 2nd! Bart Daw grounds a hit up the middle and Washburn scores! 1 to 0, Jays! Bert Swope bloops a hit to left. P Del Warwick bunts the runners up. Junior Danielson swings at the first pitch and grounds out to short...

Top of the Third
Ken DeMinico and Al Graves, two lefties at the bottom of their lineup for a reason, lead off with back to back hits... P Tommy Corris bunts them up. Danny Rosas pops out to left and the runners hold. Ernie Mitchell, another lefty, doubles to right and both runners score... 2 to 1, Colonels.

Bottom of the Third
Fernando Tello hits a home run to right! Tie Game: 2 to 2! Cal Doty lines a hit to left and Ray McDonald beats out an infield hit! But the next three all make outs....

Top of the Fourth
Ed Ruiz lines a hit to left and gets balked to 2nd.... But the next three make outs!

Top of the Sixth
With 1 out, Ron Lerche lines an 0-2 pitch to center for a hit. Ed Ruiz hits a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left for a home run... 4 to 2, Colonels.

Bottom of the Eighth
New Pitcher: Steve Dockery (27-R), their 4-time All-Star and reigning Relief Man Award winning closer. He is 3-2 with 14 SV and a 2.08 ERA in 34.2 IP. He missed all of June with an injury. Cal Doty lines a double to right! With 1 out, Tom McDowell beats out an infield hit! Jack Washburn, as expected, strikes out looking... Bart Daw strikes out looking....

Bottom of the Ninth
8-9-1 up for us. Bert Swope strikes out... PH Dave Thompson (28-R) swings at the first pitch and grounds out to short. Leander Gooding strikes out looking....

Lost - 4 to 2

We had 11 hits and made no errors
Louisville had 9 hits and made no errors

Del Warwick (L 8-7) went 7 innings, allowed 4 runs, 8 hits, 1 home run, no walks and struck out 4. He balked. 114 pitches.
LHP Albert Davies went 2 scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit and struck out 2.

Tommy Corris (W 15-6) went 7 innings, gave us 2 runs, 9 hits, 1 home run, no walks and struck out 3. At bat, he had a hit.
RHP Steve Dockery (SV 15) pitched 2 scoreless innings, gave us 2 hits and struck out 5.

RF Fernando Tello hit his 8th home run of the season. CF Cal Doty went 4 for 4 with a double, but no runs or RBI. 3B Tom McDowell had 2 hits. PH Mike Volkman had a hit.

[Questdog]

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Louisville Colonels (55-56 .495 21 GB in 4th place in the Southern Division) at
Jacksonville Jays (76-35 .685 10.5 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division)

LOU: Carlos Santiago (26-L) (9-11 2.68 ERA 171 IP, 142 H, 8 HR, 43 BB, 100 SO) All-Star
JAX: Al Calice (23-R) (6-4 3.25 ERA 124.2 IP, 112 H, 11 HR, 48 BB, 66 SO) Rookie

In his last start, Santiago pitched 9 shutout innings, allowing 5 hits and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts, but that was not good enough to get a win. He is 1-2 in 3 starts against the Jays this season with a 2.35 ERA. 23 IP, 24 H, 1 HR, 6 BB, 17 SO.

Calice gave up 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks with 5 strikeouts in 6 innings last time out in a win.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
LOUISVILLE
1: CF Al Graves (27-L .261-238-2-23-.705-7 C)
2: 3B Ken DeMinico (22-L .224-232-3-22-.593-4 A)
3: 2B Ron Lerche (25-R .293-420-19-63-.844-10 B+) All-Star
4: LF Jamie Hawley (24-L .223-175-3-16-.637-0 D+)
5: C Dick Pavlov (36-L .286-353-8-40-.742-0 B) All-Star(4: 01-04)
6: 1B Ed Ruiz (34-R .236-203-8-26-.735-1 B)
7: RF Ray Lovell (30-L .237-152-1-10-.552-1 B)
8: SS Graham Carr (32-R .282-131-0-12-.637-0 B+)
9: P Carlos Santiago (26-L .038-52-0-1-.113-0 F)

JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .232-56-0-6-.521-0 B)
2: 1B Dave Thompson (28-R .303-89-0-4-.752-0 C+)
3: CF Cal Doty (27-L .341-410-9-49-.904-15 C+) All-Star
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .324-364-18-80-.949-13 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .278-403-19-79-.822-6 C+)
6: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .297-316-8-34-.770-0 C) Rookie
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .224-312-6-37-.640-20 B+)
8: C Jim Hess (34-R .218-87-4-13-.606-0 B)
9: P Al Calice (23-L .089-45-0-3-.267-0 F) Rookie

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Connie Mack Stadium
Weather: 88 F, Clear Skies, with a 7 MPH wind blowing left to right
Attendance: 11,625

Top of the First
Al Graves pops out to right. Ken DeMinico walks on 4 pitches... Ron Lerche lines a hit to center... Jamie Hawley pops out to right. Dick Pavlov gets beaned to load the bases up with 2 outs... Ed Ruiz, who hit a home run yesterday, strikes out!

Bottom of the First
Junior Danielson grounds the first pitch to 1st, but Ed Ruiz makes a bad toss to the pitcher for an error! Dave Thompson grounds into a 6-4-3 double play... Cal Doty grounds out to 2nd...

Top of the Second
Ray Lovell lines the first pitch to left center for a double... But the next three make outs!

We send 9 batters to the plate in the first three innings...

Top of the Fourth
Ed Ruiz grounds a hit up the middle. Ray Lovell grounds a hit to right and Ruiz heads to 3rd. Fernando Tello throws the ball into the dugout for an error and Ruiz scores... 1 to 0, Colonels. Graham Carr lines the first pitch to center for a hit... P Carlos Santiago bunts into a force at 2nd, 1-6, and Lovell stays at 3rd. Al Graves grounds out to 3rd and P Santiago goes to 2nd and Lovell stays at 3rd. Ken DeMinico lines out to right!

Bottom of the Fourth
With 2 outs, Cal Doty takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. Ray McDonald lines the first pitch to left center for a double and Doty scores from 1st! Tie Game: 1 to 1!

Bottom of the Fifth
With 2 outs, Jim Hess lines one to short, but Graham Carr muffs it for an error! P Al Calice, the sub-.100 hitter and a lefty, to boot, lines an 0-2 pitch to right center for a double and Hess scores from 1st! 2 to 1, Jays!

Top of the Ninth
On the Hill: 2-time All-Star Bill Grant (33-L), after a scoreless 8th. 8-9-1 up for the Colonels. The Bullpen is warmed up. Graham Carr strikes out! PH Ernie Mitchell (25-L), the rookie who was 1 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI yesterday, plunks one and beats it out for an infield hit.... PH Ron Duggins (32-R), batting .289 with 2 HR and 8 RBI in 45 AB, grounds into a force at 2nd, 6-4, but Mitchell slid in hard to break up the double play. Ken DeMinico grounds out to 2nd and THIS Ball Game Belongs to the Jays!

Won - 2 to 1

25-8 now in 1-run games!

We had 3 whole hits and made 1 error
Louisville had 8 hits and made 2 errors

Al Calice (W 7-4) went 7 innings, allowed 1 run, 6 hits, 3 walks, 1 HBP and struck out 4. 119 pitched. At bat, he hit a double and had an RBI.
LHP Bill Grant (SV 16) pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowed 2 hits and struck out 2.

Carlos Santiago (L 9-12) went 8 innings (CG), gave us 2 runs (1 earned), 3 hits, 1 walk and struck out 3. 105 pitches.

LF/RF Ray McDonald hit a double and had an RBI.

[Questdog]

Thursday, August 12, 2004

We are in Syracuse to play the defending Millennial Cup champions 4 games through the weekend and finish our season series. They just split a pair of games in Columbus. We lost 3 of 4 games against them in Jacksonville, April 12-15. They are 12th in scoring with 3.88 runs per game (Jacksonville is #3 with 4.50). The Sycamores are 2nd in fewest runs allowed with 3.40 per game (Jacksonville is #1 with 3.18). Their run differential is +54, 6th best in the MLB, and ours is +148, now the best! Buffalo is at +143!

Jacksonville Jays (77-35 .688 11.5 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Syracuse Sycamores (67-46 .593 5 GB in 2nd place in the Northern Division)

JAX: Jim Baucom (23-L) (21-1 1.58 ERA 193.2 IP, 129 H, 7 HR, 26 BB, 186 SO) All-Star(3: 02-04)
SYR: David Lucero (25-L) (7-11 2.97 ERA 154.1 IP, 144 H, 9 HR, 44 BB, 104 SO) Rookie

Baucom allowed 2 runs on 8 hits, 1 home run and no walks with 9 strikeouts in a CG win last time out.

Lucero beat us in April, giving us 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk with 5 strikeouts in 8 innings.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .233-60-0-6-.520-0 B)
2: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .295-319-8-34-.764-0 C) Rookie
3: CF Cal Doty (27-L .340-412-9-49-.901-15 C+) All-Star
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .324-367-18-81-.950-13 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .276-406-19-79-.816-6 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .231-359-12-44-.701-20 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .222-315-6-37-.634-20 B+)
8: C Don Kern (27-R .098-51-0-1-.318-0 B)
9: P Jim Baucom (23-L .188-64-0-5-.400-0 C) All-Star(3:02-04)

SYRACUSE
1: CF Jim Beard (26-R .264-356-4-32-.661-22 A) Gold Glove
2: 3B Charlie LaRue (24-R .273-242-1-15-.627-0 B) Rookie
3: 1B Mitch Kahmann (25-L .242-347-16-47-.723-0 C)
4: 2B Frank Bates (32-R .239-422-23-53-.774-7 B+) Silver Slugger(2: 02-03,SS)/All-Star(4: 01-04)
5: C Lee Dean (31-L .243-334-7-24-.707-1 C) Silver Slugger(2: 01-02)/All-Star(2: 02-03)
6: LF Dave Bess (28-R .260-196-3-21-.714-2 B+)
7: SS Tony Anderson (23-R .266-109-2-13-.689-0 B) Rookie #42 prospect
8: RF Javier Perez (28-L .367-60-4-15-1.032-0 B)
9: P David Lucero (25-L .200-50-0-5-.436-0 F)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Shea Stadium
Weather: 73 F, Partly Cloudy, with a 10 MPH wind blowing in from right
Attendance: 15,015

Top of the First
Junior Danielson strikes out.... We need a new batting order until Charlie Faber is back.... Fernando Tello lines a double to right! Cal Doty grounds out to the pitcher and Tello goes to 3rd. Ray McDonald grounds an 0-2 pitch up the middle for a hit and Tello scores! 1 to 0, Jays! McDonald steals 2nd! Tom McDowell takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. Jack Washburn draws a walk to load the bases up with 2 outs. Bart Daw grounds out to 3rd....

Bottom of the First
Jim Beard flies out to right. Charlie LaRue doubles to right center and extends his hitting streak to 14 games... Mitch Kahmann swings at a 3-2 pitch and misses! Frank Bates grounds out to short!

Top of the Fourth
Jack Washburn lines the first pitch to left center for a triple! Bart Daw takes a 3-2 pitch for strike three... With the infield in, Don Kern grounds a hit through the right side and Washburn scores! 2 to 0, Jays! And Kern has his BA over .100! P Jim Baucom bunts him to 2nd. Junior Danielson grounds out to 3rd....

Top of the Seventh
New Pitcher: Alfredo Hernandez (29-R), who is 5-2 with 3 SV and a 2.07 ERA in 61 IP. With 2 outs, Junior Danielson grounds a hit to left. Fernando Tello grounds the first pitch up the middle for a hit and Danielson beats the throw to 3rd! Cal Doty grounds a hit up the middle and Danielson scores! 3 to 0, Jays!

Top of the Ninth
C Bert Swope (32-S) takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. P Jim Baucom swings away for some reason and grounds out to 3rd and Swope goes to 2nd. All he did was cost himself credit for a SH.... Junior Danielson lines hits 3rd hit of the game to left! Maybe we do not need to rethink the batting order! Fernando Tello grounds into a 4-6-3 double play.... Except getting Tello out of the 2 hole... He is a GDP machine... That is #12 for him.

Won - 3 to 0

We had 9 hits and made no errors
Syracuse had 2 hits and made no errors

Jim Baucom (W 22-1) pitched 9 shutout innings (CG), allowed 2 hits, 1 walk and struck out 8. 96 pitches. His 7th shutout of the season and 16th of his career! The 7 shutouts ties the season record set by Mike Elizondo of Columbus last year and the 16 shutouts ties Syracuse's Tom Peterson for the most ever!

David Lucero (L 7-12) went 6 innings, gave is 2 runs, 5 hits, 2 walks and struck out 6.

2B Junior Danielson had 3 hits and scored a run. RF Fernando Tello had 2 hits with a double and scored a run. 1B Jack Washburn hit a triple and scored a run.

[Questdog]

Friday, August 13, 2004

Friday the 13th! I am glad I am not superstitious! I am also glad, though, that Jim Baucom pitched yesterday! Today will be unlucky for somebody!

Jacksonville Jays (78-35 .690 11.5 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Syracuse Sycamores (67-47 .588 6 GB in 2nd place in the Northern Division)

JAX: Mike Marsh (23-R) (8-4 2.22 ERA 93.1 IP, 75 H, 2 HR, 34 BB, 66 SO) All-Star/Rookie
SYR: David Huerta (23-L) (3-4 3.57 ERA 58 IP, 57 H, 5 HR, 28 BB, 40 SO) Rookie

Marsh allowed 6 runs on 4 hits and 7 walks with 5 strikeouts in 5.1 innings last time out in a loss.

Huerta was the #29 prospect this Spring. He was a 3rd round pick in the 2003 B Leagues Draft, the same draft where his mound opponent, Mike Marsh, was a 2nd round pick. We have never faced him.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .296-324-8-34-.767-0 C) Rookie
2: 2B Leander Gooding (33-R .224-174-0-8-.563-4 B)
3: CF Cal Doty (27-L .339-416-9-50-.898-15 C+) All-Star
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .323-371-18-82-.945-14 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .274-409-19-79-.812-6 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .232-362-12-44-.708-20 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .219-319-6-37-.627-20 B+)
8: C Don Kern (27-R .113-53-0-2-.343-0 B)
9: P Mike Marsh (23-R .214-28-0-5-.552-0 B+) All-Star/Rookie

SYRACUSE
1: RF John Byers (21-R .308-435-2-41-.757-24 B+) All-Star/Rookie #9 prospect
2: 3B Charlie LaRue (24-R .273-245-1-15-.631-0 B) Rookie
3: 1B Mitch Kahmann (25-L .240-350-16-47-.717-0 C)
4: 2B Frank Bates (32-R .238-425-23-53-.769-7 B+) Silver Slugger(2: 02-03,SS)/All-Star(4: 01-04)
5: C Lee Dean (31-L .244-336-7-24-.711-1 C) Silver Slugger(2: 01-02)/All-Star(2: 02-03)
6: LF Dave Bess (28-R .256-199-3-21-.704-2 B+)
7: CF Jim Beard (26-R .261-360-4-32-.654-22 A) Gold Glove
8: SS Tony Anderson (23-R .259-112-2-13-.671-0 B) Rookie
9: P David Huerta (23-L .400-20-0-1-.829-0 F) Rookie #29 prospect

It seems it should be rare for a defending League Champion to have 4 rookies in their lineup. And another, Kahmann, is only a 2nd year player.

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Shea Stadium
Weather: 78 F, Clear Skies, with a 10 MPH wind blowing in from center
Attendance: 15,574

Top of the First
Fernando Tello's debut in the leadoff spot. It is only a temporary solution, until I think of something better.... He is no threat to steal a base... He strikes out... Leander Gooding grounds out to 2nd. Cal Doty strikes out looking... It is going to be one of those ol' "I Got the Lefty Blues" days...

Bottom of the First
John Byers takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4.... Is it going be another 7 walk performance by P Mike Marsh? No, it is not, because he calls out Trudy the Trainer.... Super. New Pitcher: All-Star Albert Davies (27-L). Charlie LaRue pops out to left. Mitch Kahmann lines a hit to center and Byers goes to 3rd... Frank Bates grounds into a 4-6-3 double play!!

2 innings, 2 GDP by our defense!

No GDP in the 3rd because they go down in order!

Through 5 innings, our hitters have 1 hit and 7 strikeouts....

Bottom of the Fifth
Lee Dean hits a home run to right center... 1 to 0, Sycamores.

Top of the Sixth
PH Dave Thompson (28-R) lines a hit to left, goes to 2nd on a ground out and to 3rd on a wild pitch. With the infield in, Leander Gooding grounds a hit through the left side and Thompson scores! Tie Game: 1 to 1! Gooding gets caught stealing...

Bottom of the Seventh
New Pitcher: 2-time All-Star Bill Grant (33-L). With 1 out, Frank Bates hits a home run to right... 2 to 1, Sycamores. Lee Dean hits his second home run of the game to right.... 3 to 1, Sycamores. On 3 home runs...

Top of the Eighth
Don Kern grounds out to 3rd before I can decide who to pinch-hit for him with... That does it for P David Huerta, who is at 116 pitches. New Pitcher: Benny Martineau (33-L), their All-Star(02) and 2-time defending Fireman Trophy winning closer. He was displaced at the start of this season by the return of 2003 Ace Award winner Ron Hutchins to the Bullpen, but has retaken his job, as he has been more effective than Hutchins this year. He is 4-1 with 7 SV and 1.37 ERA in 52.2 IP. PH Gary McKellar (34-R) swings at the first pitch and lines a hit to center. Fernando Tello grounds a 3-2 pitch up the middle for a hit! Leander Gooding doubles to right and McKellar scores! 3 to 2, Sycamores. Why did Tello stop at 3rd? Cal Doty swings at the first pitch and hits a home run to right center!!! 5 to 3, Jays! Who is this Benny Martineau impostor?! Whoever he is, he is heading to the showers! And I think we found out who Friday the 13th was unlucky for! New Pitcher: Greg Estep (26-L), a rookie who is 4-2 with 2 SV and a 2.77 ERA in 55.1 IP. He strikes out Ray McDonald and Tom McDowell....

Bottom of the Eighth
New Pitcher: Robbie Hopley (30-R). Junior Danielson (33-R) is in to play 2nd and Gary McKellar stays in to play center. Cal Doty moves to left and Ray McDonald moves to right. Tony Anderson grounds a hit to right and Ray McDonald muffs the pickup for an error.... But the next three all make outs!

Bottom of the Ninth
The Bullpen (Roger Wallace) is ready, but we really hope we do not have to use him.... 3-4-5 up for the Sycamores, who have hit 3 home runs between them today.... Mitch Kahmann fouls out to 3rd! Frank Bates, who has a home run today, grounds out to 1st, 3-1, Jack Washburn making a nice play! Lee Dean, who has 2 home runs today, takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4.... PH Don Czachor (33-L), a career .340 hitter, who has never started a game and who was 0 for 1 yesterday, flies out to right and THIS Game, as improbable as it seems, Belongs to the Jays!

Won - 5 to 3

We had 8 hits and made 1 error
Syracuse had 7 hits and made 1 error

Mike Marsh faced 1 batter and walked him.
LHP Albert Davies went 5 innings, allowed 1 run, 3 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 3. 54 pitches.
RHP Bob Craig went 1 scoreless inning, allowed 1 hit and struck out 1.
LHP Bill Grant (W 7-0) went 1 inning, allowed 2 runs, 2 hits, 2 home runs and struck out 2. He had allowed only 2 HR all season before today....
RHP Robbie Hopley (SV 9) pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit and 1 walk.

David Huerta went 7.1 innings, gave us 1 run, 4 hits, no walks and struck out 9. He threw a WP. 116 pitches.
LHP Benny Martineau (L 4-2, BS 2) did not retire a batter and gave us 4 runs on 4 hits and a home run.

2B Leander Gooding had 2 hits with a double, scored a run and had an RBI. CF/LF Cal Doty hit his 10th home run of the season and had 3 RBI. PH Dave Thompson had a hit and scored a run. PH/CF Gary McKellar had a hit and scored a run.

In 2001, the Jays had 1 player hit double digit home runs: Tony Becerra with 16
In 2002, we had 2 players: Marty Eades with 21 and Tony Becerra with 12
In 2003, we had 3: Marty Eades with 21, Jack Washburn with 12 and Ray McDonald with 12
In 2004, we have 4!: Tom McDowell with 19, Ray McDonald with 18, Jack Washburn with 12 and Cal Doty with 10!

Trudy's report on Mike Marsh is back spasms that she figures to bother him for 5 for 6 days.

[Questdog]

Saturday, August 14, 2004

Jacksonville Jays (79-35 .693 12.5 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Syracuse Sycamores (67-48 .583 7 GB in 2nd place in the Northern Division)

JAX: Dale Gilchrist (25-R) (9-9 3.85 ERA 149.2 IP, 145 H, 14 HR, 49 BB, 84 SO)
SYR: Bill Floyd (26-L) (7-3 3.24 ERA 75 IP, 70 H, 5 HR, 34 BB, 38 SO) Rookie

Gilchrist allowed 2 runs on 7 hits, 1 home run and 1 walk with 6 strikeouts in a CG win last time out where we scored 17 runs. We have scored 12 total runs in the 4 games since....

We faced Floyd in April and scored 2 runs on 2 hits and no walks with 1 strikeout in 1.1 innings when he left with an injury. We ended up losing the game in 10 innings. Why must we face all these derned left-handers?

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .262-65-0-6-.571-0 B)
2: 3B Leander Gooding (33-R .230-178-0-10-.578-4 C+)
3: CF Cal Doty (27-L .340-420-10-53-.906-15 C+) All-Star
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .323-375-18-82-.940-14 B+) All-Star
5: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .230-366-12-44-.700-20 B)
6: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .296-328-8-34-.764-0 C) Rookie
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .217-323-6-37-.619-20 B+)
8: C Don Kern (27-R .105-57-0-2-.321-0 B)
9: P Dale Gilchrist (25-R .464-56-0-5-.964-0 D)

SYRACUSE
1: RF John Byers (21-R .308-438-2-41-.758-24 B+) All-Star/Rookie
2: 3B Charlie LaRue (24-R .269-249-1-15-.621-0 B) Rookie
3: 2B Frank Bates (32-R .238-428-24-54-.777-7 B+) Silver Slugger(2: 02-03,SS)/All-Star(4: 01-04)
4: LF Cecil Barrett (27-R .314-35-1-9-.762-1 B+) Rookie
5: 1B Javier Perez (28-L .349-63-4-15-.984-0 B)
6: CF Jim Beard (26-R .259-363-4-32-.649-22 A) Gold Glove
7: SS Tony Anderson (23-R .261-115-2-13-.671-0 B) Rookie
8: C Jim Prusinski (32-R .100-10-0-0-.350-0 C+) Rookie
9: P Bill Floyd (26-L .261-23-0-6-.596-0 B) Rookie #86 prospect

4 rookies yesterday in their lineup was nothing! They have 6 today!

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Shea Stadium
Weather: 74 F, Clear Skies, with a 9 MPH wind blowing in from right
Attendance: 16,057

Top of the First
Junior Danielson hits a hard ground ball to the left side and Tony Anderson makes a diving stop and throws him out... Leander Gooding grounds a hit up the middle! Cal Doty lines the first pitch to left for a hit! A passed ball moves the runners up! Ray McDonald swings at a 3-2 pitch and grounds out to 2nd and Gooding scores and Doty goes to 3rd. 1 to 0, Jays! Jack Washburn launches the 1st pitch over the right field fence!! 3 to 0, Jays! Fernando Tello doubles to left center! Bart Daw grounds out to 3rd...

Bottom of the First
John Byers pops out to 1st. Charlie LaRue strikes out! Frank Bates lines the first pitch hard to left, but Ray McDonald makes a diving catch! 1-2-3!

Bottom of the Third
P Bill Floyd and John Byers lead off with back to back hits... But the next three make outs!

Top of the Eighth
New Pitcher: Alfredo Hernandez (29-L), who gave us a run in 3 innings on Thursday. Cal Doty belts a 3-2 pitch over the fence in right! 4 to 0, Jays! Back to back games with a home run for Doty!

Bottom of the Eighth
With 2 outs, Frank Bates takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4... Cecil Barret grounds a hit to right and Bates goes to 3rd. The Bullpen gets up. A wild pitch scores Bates... 4 to 1, Jays.

Top of the Ninth
PH Mike Volkman (36-L) grounds a hit to left. PH Danny Stewart (33-L), PH Danny Stewart?? Why are you pinch-hitting for a .450 hitter (Dale Gilchrist)???? Because he is a pitcher and if we let him bat, he will most likely just bunt... Stewart grounds a double play ball to short, but Tony Anderson boots it! Junior Danielson grounds one again to the left side and is again robbed of a hit, this time by 3B Charlie LaRue, who makes a diving stop and pegs him out at 1st and the runners move up. That does it for P Alfredo Hernandez. New Pitcher: Greg Estep (26-L), who faced 5 batters yesterday and got them all out with 3 strikeouts. Leander Gooding grounds out to 2nd and Volkman scores. They did not have the infield in for some reason... 5 to 1, Jays!

Won - 5 to 1

We had 7 hits and made 1 error
Syracuse had 6 hits and made 1 error

Dale Gilchrist (W 10-9) went 8 innings, allowed 1 run, 5 hits, 2 walks and struck out 7. He threw a WP. 105 pitches. At bat, he had a hit. His 4th win in a row!
RHP Bob Craig pitched a scoreless inning, allowed 1 hit and struck out 1.

Bill Floyd (L 7-4) went 7 innings, gave us 3 runs, 5 hits, 1 home run, 3 walks and struck out 3. At bat, he had a hit.

3B Leander Gooding had a hit and a walk, scored a run and had an RBI. CF Cal Doty had 2 hits with his 11th home run, drew a walk and scored 2 runs. 1B Jack Washburn hit his 13th home run and had 2 RBI. RF Fernando Tello hit a double. PH Mike Volkman had a hit and scored a run.

[Questdog]

Sunday, August 15, 2004

Jacksonville Jays (80-35 .696 12.5 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Syracuse Sycamores (67-49 .578 8 GB in 2nd place in the Northern Division)

JAX: Del Warwick (29-L) (8-7 2.84 ERA 161.2 IP, 160 H, 10 HR, 32 BB, 101 SO) Gold Glove(02)
SYR: Tom Peterson (33-R) (12-7 2.73 ERA 181 IP, 155 H, 7 HR, 21 BB, 91 SO) All-Star(2: 03-04)

Warwick gave up 4 runs on 8 hits, 1 home run and no walks with 4 strikeouts in 7 innings last time out in a loss.

Peterson was 17-9 with a 1.96 ERA in 247.2 IP last year. He led the MLB in wins with 20 in 2001 and has led in fewest BB/9 the last 2 seasons. He is walking even fewer this year. He is 4-2 in 6 starts against the Jays in his career with a 2.39 ERA. 49 IP, 34 H, 2 HR, 6 BB, 17 SO.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: SS Junior Danielson (33-R .243-70-0-6-.531-0 C)
2: 2B Leander Gooding (33-R .231-182-0-11-.580-4 B)
3: CF Cal Doty (27-L .342-424-11-54-.915-15 C+) All-Star
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .320-378-18-83-.935-14 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .271-413-19-79-.804-6 C+)
6: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .295-332-8-34-.764-0 C) Rookie
7: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .230-370-13-46-.706-20 B)
8: C Bert Swope (32-S .260-246-1-24-.644-1 B)
9: P Del Warwick (29-L .160-50-0-3-.360-0 D+) Gold Glove(02)

SYRACUSE
1: RF John Byers (21-R .308-442-2-41-.755-24 B+) All-Star/Rookie
2: 3B Charlie LaRue (24-R .265-253-1-15-.612-0 B) Rookie
3: 2B Frank Bates (32-R .237-431-24-54-.773-7 B+) Silver Slugger(2: 02-03,SS)/All-Star(4: 01-04)
4: 1B Don Bruns (34-R .184-125-2-5-.495-0 C)
5: C Lee Dean (31-L .247-340-9-26-.733-1 C) Silver Slugger(2:01-02)/All-Star(2:02-03)
6: LF Dave Bess (28-R .257-202-3-21-.704-2 B+)
7: CF Jim Beard (26-R .259-367-4-32-.647-22 A) Gold Glove
8: SS Tony Anderson (23-R .252-119-2-13-.649-0 B) Rookie
9: P Tom Peterson (33-R .173-52-0-4-.362-0 F) All-Star(2: 03-04)

Game Start: 2:05 PM
Ballpark: Shea Stadium
Weather: 69 F, Overcast, with a 10 MPH wind blowing out to right
Attendance: 15,663

Top of the First
Junior Danielson pops one to short, but Tony Anderson drops the ball for an error! Leander Gooding grounds into a force at 2nd, 1-4. Cal Doty flies out to center. Gooding steals 2nd! Ray McDonald hits a 3-2 pitch to left for a home run! 2 to 0, Jays! Tom McDowell flies out to right, John Byers making a nice catch...

Bottom of the First
John Byers swings at the first pitch and grounds out to 3rd. Charlie LaRue grounds out to 2nd. Frank Bates grounds a hit to left... He steals 2nd. Don Bruns strikes out!

Top of the Third
Junior Danielson doubles to left! With 1 out, Cal Doty lines a hit to left and Danielson scores! 3 to 0, Jays! Doty gets caught stealing....

Top of the Fourth
Tom McDowell lines the first pitch to right center for a double and goes to 3rd on a ground out. Jack Washburn flies out to the warning track in center and McDowell trots home. 4 to 0, Jays!

Top of the Sixth
Fernando Tello lines a double to right and goes to 3rd on a ground out. With the infield in, Bert Swope grounds a hit to right and Tello scores! 5 to 0, Jays! The next two make outs.

Bottom of the Seventh
Don Bruns walks and Lee Dean grounds a hit to left. Dave Bess lines out to short and we double Bruns off at 2nd!!

Won - 5 to 0

Sweep of the MLB Champs!

We finish the season series with Syracuse 5-3!
First time we have ever beaten them in a season series!

We had 11 hits and made no errors
Syracuse had 6 hits and made 1 error

Del Warwick (W 9-7) pitched 9 shutout innings (CG), allowed 6 hits, 1 walk and stuck out 8. 120 pitches. At bat, he had a hit. His 4th shutout of the season and 10th of his career!

Tom Peterson (L 12-8) went 6 innings, gave us 5 runs (3 earned), 10 hits, 1 home run, no walks and struck out 2.

SS/2B Junior Danielson hit a double and scored a run. CF/LF Cal Doty had 2 hits and an RBI. LF/RF Ray McDonald had 2 hits with his 19th home run of the season and had 2 RBI. 3B Tom McDowell hit a double and scored a run. RF Fernando Tello hit a double and scored a run. C Bert Swope had 2 hits with a double and an RBI.

For Syracuse, 2B Frank Bates had 3 hits and stole a base.

Down on the Farm: The Daytona (A) Tortugas lost, 3 to 2, in 10 innings for their 18th loss in a row....

[Questdog]

August 16, 2004

Monday Morning Report
Player of the Week - Sandy Sanchez, C, Richmond (27-S .298/.400/.360) Had 11 hits (15 AB) with 4 2B, 4 BB, 1 SO, 4 R and 10 RBI (!!!) in 5 G

(Slash lines are for the season, not the week)

August 9 - Hartford beat Providence at home, 4 to 3, ending their 11 game losing streak.
August 9 - Jack Brown (28-R) of Charlotte pitched a 4 hit shutout at Birmingham. He walked 3 and struck out 4. At bat, he had 3 hits, scored a run and had an RBI. It is his 1st shutout of the season and the 7th of his career. He is now 4-6 with a 3.31 ERA in 13 starts (25 G). The Hornets won, 13 to 0. That is 30 runs allowed in the last 2 games for the Barons. LF Terry Graham (24-L) had 5 hits, tying the MLB record, with 3 doubles, tying the MLB record, and scored 3 runs.
August 10 - Terry Luckett (29-L) of Columbus pitched a 5 hit shutout at home versus Syracuse. He walked 2 and struck out 7. At bat, he had 2 hits and scored a run. It is his 1st shutout of the season and 12th of his career. He is now 15-4 with a 2.11 ERA in 24 starts. The Explorers won, 6 to 0.
August 10 - 1B/2B Mike Sammon (25-R) of Richmond had a hit to extend his hitting streak to 25 games, the longest in the MLB this season. The Robins lost, though, 4 to 3, in 13 innings at home to New Orleans.
August 10 - RF Terry Graham (24-L) of Charlotte had 3 hits with 2 home runs, scored 3 runs and had 4 RBI at Birmingham. The Hornets won, 12 to 5. That makes 42 runs allowed by the Barons in their last 3 games. The record for runs allowed in a season, set by the 2001 Jacksonville Jays with 875 may be in jeopardy!
August 12 - 3B Keith Meyer (29-L) of Memphis went hitless at Buffalo, ending his hitting streak at 22 games, the 2nd longest this season.
August 12 - Buffalo lost 3-time All-Star RF Ivan Moreno (32-L) for the rest of the season with a broken bone in his elbow. They do not expect him to even be ready to play by Opening Day next year.... He was batting .280 in 404 AB with 24 HR and 79 RBI, being just shy of the MLB lead in HR and RBI.
August 13 - 1B Mike Sammon (25-R) of Richmond went hitless at Providence, ending his hitting streak at 26 games, the longest in the MLB this season and 3rd longest of all-time. Larry Davis of Charlotte had a 27 game streak last year and Jerry Rafanello of New Orleans had a 29 game streak in 2002.
August 13 - Melvin Brisita (23-R) of Louisville pitched a 2 hit shutout at Hartford. He walked 4 and struck out 5. 131 pitches. It is his 3rd shutout of the season and 4th of his career. He is now 6-9 with a 3.22 ERA in 20 starts. The Colonels won, 2 to 0.
August 13 - 2B Tom Howard (28-R) of Orlando went 1 for 1 with 4 walks, stole base and scored 4 runs at home versus Rochester. The Juice won, 13 to 4. each team had 10 hits, but the Juice also had 10 walks. 1B Herman Chance (34-R) also drew 4 walks.
August 13 - Rookie Jim Larson (30-R) of Ottawa pitched a 3 hit shutout at home versus Charlotte. He walked 2 and struck out 4. At bat, he hit a SF. 93 pitches thrown. It is his 1st shutout. He is now 2-6 with a 5.74 ERA in 11 starts. The Otters won, 7 to 0.
August 14 - Rick Cox (33-R) of Charlotte pitched a 2 hit shutout at Ottawa. He walked 5 and struck out 2. 135 pitches thrown. It is his 5th shutout of the season and 11th of his career. He is now 12-7 with a 2.64 ERA, the worst of his career, in 25 starts. The Hornets won, 5 to 0.
August 14 - LF Dave Brooks (26-L) of Richmond had 5 hits with a double, scored a run and had 3 RBI at Providence. C Sandy Sanchez (27-S) went 4 for 4with a double and a walk and 4 RBI. The Robins won, 11 to 5, and had 19 hits.
August 15 - Sammy Brumley (28-L) of Richmond pitched a 4 hit shutout at Providence. He walked 1 and struck out 6. At bat, he had 2 hits with a double, scored a run and had 2 RBI. It is his 2nd shutout of the season and 7th of his career. He is now 5-6 with a 3.99 ERA in 18 starts. The Robins won, 12 to 0.

[Questdog]

Monday, August 16, 2004

We have a doubleheader today because of an earlier rainout and no off days anywhere near to help defray the cost, so we need a spot starter from Daytona (A). But absolutely no one there is pitching worth a dern... Danny Coreano, who did so well for us last year and pitched a shutout in his first start of this season is 1-6 with an 8.76 ERA since being sent down. Only one starting pitcher has an ERA under 4.00 for the Tortugas and he's the one we called up: Dave Buchalter (26-R), who is 3-3 with a 5.16 ERA in 13 starts (15 G) with the Jays since 2002. C Jim Hess (34-R) was sent to Daytona to make room on the roster. Also, I began my campaign o get the powers that be to change the name of the Tortugas to something else.... I am not a fan....

We are in Columbus to finish our season series with the Explorers with 5 games in 4 days, beginning with a doubleheader today where we will be the home team for one of the games. They split 4 games here with New Orleans over the weekend. We won all 3 games that the weather would let us play in Jacksonville, June 10-13. They are 10th in scoring with 3.91 runs per game (Jacksonville is down to #4 with 4.50). The Explorers are 2nd in fewest runs allowed with 3.42 per game (Jacksonville is #1 with 3.10). Their run differential is +57, 6th best in the MLB, and ours is +162, still #1, 5 runs better than Buffalo.

Jacksonville Jays (81-35 .698 12.5 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Columbus Explorers (65-50 .565 10 GB in 3rd place in the Northern Division)

Game 1
(we are the 'home' team)
COL: Terry Luckett (29-L) (15-4 2.11 ERA 166 IP, 139 H, 12 HR, 35 BB, 104 SO) All-Star(4: 01-04)
JAX: Al Calice (23-R) (7-7 3.14 ERA 131.2 IP, 118 H, 11 HR, 51 BB, 70 SO) Rookie

Luckett, the 4-time All-Star, is their #1 starter. We beat him in Jacksonville, scoring 3 runs on 9 hits with no walks and 9 strikeouts in 8 innings.

Calice gave up 1 run on 6 hits and 3 walks with 4 strikeouts in 7 innings last time out in a win, his 3rd in a row. He is 5-0 in 13 starts since May 20.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
COLUMBUS
1: CF Steve Shauer (28-L .315-368-2-50-.778-16 C+) Bruised thumb 20 CS
2: LF Dave Sanders (30-R .287-324-0-24-.707-2 A)
3: 1B Gabriel Beltran (34-S .305-423-18-61-.876-17 B) MVP(02)/Silver Slugger(2: 02-03)/All-Star(3: 02-04)
4: RF Jorge Moreida (25-L .272-423-5-42-.733-27 A)
5: 3B Floyd Shawn (27-R .251-355-8-40-.672-3 B+)
6: SS Joe Tirey (32-L .205-390-4-24-.563-5 A) Gold Glove(2: 01,03)
7: C Marc Barksdale (33-R .224-340-8-40-.638-2 B) All-Star/Gold Glove(2: 01-02)
8: 2B Roger Briones (21-L .274-62-0-9-.590-0 C+) Rookie #21 prospect
9: P Terry Luckett (29-L .418-55-0-6-.901-0 D) All-Star(4: 01-04)

JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .240-75-0-6-.536-0 B)
2: 1B Dave Thompson (28-R .298-94-0-4-.734-0 C+)
3: LF Cal Doty (27-L .343-428-11-55-.916-15 B+) All-Star
4: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .271-417-19-79-.804-6 C+)
5: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .295-336-8-34-.764-0 C) Rookie
6: CF Gary McKellar (34-R .284-109-0-14-.686-0 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .215-326-6-37-.616-20 B+)
8: C Don Kern (27-R .100-60-0-2-.306-0 B)
9: P Al Calice (23-L .106-47-0-4-.319-0 F) Rookie

Game Start: 1:05 PM
Ballpark: Comiskey Park
Weather: 80 F, Clear Skies, with a 9 MPH wind blowing out to center
Attendance: 9,232

Top of the First
Steve Shauer lines a hit to right... Dave Sanders takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4.... Gabriel Beltran lines a hit to center and Shauer scores... 1 to 0, Explorers. Jorge Moreida lines a hit to left and Sanders scores... 2 to 0, Explorers. Can we get an out, please! We cannot use our Bullpen up in the first game! Floyd Shawn swings at the first pitch and grounds into a 5-4-3 double play and Beltran goes to 3rd!! Joe Tirey takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4... Marc Barksdale strikes out looking. 31 pitch inning...

Bottom of the First
Junior Danielson grounds out to 3rd. Dave Thompson hits one 469 ft. to left center! 2 to 1, Explorers. Cal Doty grounds out to short. Tom McDowell swings at the first pitch and beats out an infield hit. Fernando Tello flies out to left.

Bottom of the Second
Gary McKellar grounds the first pitch to left for a hit! Bart Daw grounds into a 6-4-3 double play.... Don Kern draws a walk. P Al Calice grounds one to 2nd, but Roger Briones boots it! Junior Danielson grounds the first pitch up the middle for a hit and Kern scores! Tie Game: 2 to 2!

Top of the Third
Dave Sanders and Gabriel Beltran lead off with back to back walks... 4 walks already for P Al Calice... Jorge Moreida pokes an 0-2 pitch to right for a hit and the bases are loaded with no outs... Floyd Shawn grounds the first pitch up the middle for a hit and Sanders scores... 3 to 2, Explorers. Joe Tirey grounds into a force at home, 3-2. Marc Barksdale grounds a hit through the right side and 2 runs score... 5 to 2, Explorers. P Al Calice needs to take his lumps.... Roger Briones grounds a hit to right and Tirey scores... 6 to 2, Explorers. P Terry Luckett lines a hit to left and another run is in... 7 to 2, Explorers. Steve Shauer grounds a double play ball to 2nd, but Junior Danielson boots it and the bases are loaded with 1 out... Dave Sanders grounds out to 1st, unassisted, and another run scores... 8 to 2, Explorers.

Bottom of the Third
With 1 out, Tom McDowell hits the first pitch over the wall in left center! 8 to 3, Explorers.

Top of the Sixth
On the Hill: P Roger Wallace (29-R), after a perfect 5th. Steve Shauer strikes out and P Wallace calls out Trudy the Trainer.... Just wonderful.... We will have no Bullpen for the second game with a bum starter going for us.... New Pitcher: 2-time All-Star Bill Grant (33-L). He gets the next two out.

Lost - 8 to 3

We had 7 hits and made 1 error
Columbus had 12 hits (all singles) and made 1 error

Al Calice (L 7-5) went 4 innings, allowed 8 runs (7 earned), 10 hits, 4 walks and struck out 1. It is his first loss in almost 3 months (May 20)
RHP Roger Wallace faced 4 batters and got them all out with 2 strikeouts.
LHP Bill Grant went 1.2 scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit and struck out 1.
RHP Robbie Hopley went 2 scoreless innings, allowed 1 hit, 1 walk and struck out 1. He threw a WP.

Terry Luckett (W 16-4) went 9 innings (CG), gave us 3 runs (2 earned), 7 hits, 2 home runs, 1 walk and struck out 6. 98 pitches. At bat, he had a hit and an RBI.

1B Dave Thompson hit his 1st home run on the season. 3B Tom McDowell had 2 hits with his 20th home run. He is the 2nd player ever to hit 20 HR in a season for the Jays! Marty Eades, the player he was traded for, hit 21, the team record, twice. CF Gary McKellar had 2 hits. PH Leander Gooding had a hit.

For Columbus, RF Jorge Moreida had 4 hits, scored a run and had an RBI.

Trudy's report on Roger Wallace is a strained back that will bother him for about 3 days.

Game 2
JAX: Dave Buchalter (26-R) (A Ball: 7-11 3.66 ERA 128 IP, 136 H, 11 HR, 52 BB, 87 SO)
COL: Mike Elizondo (25-R) (8-8 2.86 ERA 182.1 IP, 176 H, 11 HR, 25 BB, 92 SO) All-Star(2: 03-04)

Buchalter is making his season debut and, hopefully, swan song. He is 3-3 with a 5.16 ERA in 13 career starts (15 G) for the Jays. 71.2 IP, 76 H, 12 HR, 33 BB, 37 SO.

We faced Elizondo in June and scored 3 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks with 1 strikeout in 6 innings in a no decision that we won. He is 0-3 in his last 6 starts, but has pitched well in 4 of the games.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .241-79-0-7-.534-0 B)
2: CF Cal Doty (27-L .341-431-11-55-.909-15 C+) All-Star
3: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .291-340-8-34-.755-0 C) Rookie
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .322-382-19-85-.943-14 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .273-421-20-80-.813-6 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .231-373-13-47-.705-20 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .212-330-6-37-.609-20 B+)
8: C Bert Swope (32-S .264-250-1-25-.653-1 B)
9: P Dave Buchalter (26-R Season debut D)

COLUMBUS
1: CF Steve Shauer (28-L .317-372-2-50-.782-16 C+) Bruised thumb
2: LF Dave Sanders (30-R .284-327-0-25-.704-2 A)
3: 1B Gabriel Beltran (34-S .307-427-18-62-.878-17 B) MVP(02)/Silver Slugger(2: 02-03)/All-Star(3: 02-04)
4: RF Jorge Moreida (25-L .278-428-5-43-.742-27 A)
5: 3B Floyd Shawn (27-R .250-360-8-41-.668-3 B+)
6: SS Joe Tirey (32-L .204-393-4-24-.561-5 A) Gold Glove(2: 01,03)
7: C Jorge Ortega (25-R .213-89-0-5-.540-0 C+) Rookie
8: 2B Dan Carroll (26-R .246-138-3-16-.643-8 A+) Gold Glove
9: P Mike Elizondo (25-R .170-47-0-3-.358-0 F) All-Star(2: 03-04)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Comiskey Park
Weather: 73 F, Partly Cloudy, with a 7 MPH wind blowing out to center
Attendance: 10,556

Top of the First
Junior Danielson lines a hit to right! Cal Doty lines a hit to center! Fernando Tello, in his debut in the 3 hole, grounds into a force at 2nd, 3-6, and Danielson goes to 3rd. Ray McDonald lines a hit to right and Danielson scores! 1 to 0, Jays! We need a lot more, if we are going to win! Tom McDowell pops out to 1st... Jack Washburn takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4 to load the bases up with 2 outs. Bart Daw, who is not hitting much anymore, lines out to 2nd... .128 now in August. But we have no one else who can play defense well enough to take his job....

Bottom of the First
Steve Shauer grounds out to 3rd. Dave Sanders beats out an infield hit. Gabriel Beltran walks on 4 pitches.... The Bullpen is all tuckered out, so P Dave Buchalter needs to give us some innings.... And there are no off days for the next two weeks.... Jorge Moreida, who had 4 hits in the opener, fouls out to 3rd. Floyd Shawn strikes out!

Bottom of the Fourth
With 2 outs, Joe Tirey hits a home run to right center... Tie Game: 1 to 1.

Top of the Sixth
Cal Doty grounds a hit to right and Fernando Tello doubles off the wall in left center! They walk Ray McDonald intentionally to load the bases up with no outs. Tom McDowell lines a 3-2 pitch to center for a hit and 2 runs score!! 3 to 1, Jays! Jack Washburn, who just loves to bunt, bunts the runners up.... I wish he would quit that... Bart Daw strikes out... They walk Bert Swope intentionally to load the bases up for P Dave Buchalter. With the state of our Bullpen, we are not pinch-hitting and he is a decent hitter for a pitcher. He grounds out to 1st, unassisted....

Bottom of the Sixth
P Dave Buchalter rewards us for letting him hit by walking Dave Sanders and Gabriel Beltran on 8 pitches... The Bullpen gets up. Jorge Moreida takes 4 pitches and the bases are loaded with no outs... Unbelievable... 12 straight balls... Floyd Shawn strikes out! Joe Tirey lines out to left and the runners an 2nd and 3rd both advance. 3 to 2, Jays. Jorge Ortega lines out to right!

Top of the Seventh
Junior Danielson and Cal Doty lead off with back to back hits! Fernando Tello grounds into a force at 2nd, 4-6, and Danielson goes to 3rd. Ray McDonald grounds into a force at 2nd, 4-6, but they cannot turn the double play and Danielson scores. 4 to 2, Jays!

Top of the Eighth
New Pitcher: Warren Wynn (34-R), who is 2-3 with 4 SV and a 2.58 ERA in 52.1 IP. With 1 out, Bart Daw takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. Bert Swope grounds into a force at 2nd, 4-6. With 2 outs, PH Mike Volkman (36-L) hits a home run to center!! 6 to 2, Jays!

Top of the Ninth
With 1 out, Fernando Tello hits one to deep right center and the wind carries it over the fence! 7 to 2, Jays!

Won - 7 to 2

Buchalter beats 2-time All-Star Elizondo!
Awesomeness!

That is our 82nd win of the season, a new team record!
And 44 more games to go!

We had 11 hits and made no errors
Columbus had 6 hits and made no errors

Dave Buchalter (W 1-0), in his season debut, went 7 innings, allowed 2 runs, 4 hits, 1 home run, 5 walks and struck out 3.
LHP Albert Davies went 2 scoreless innings, allowed 2 hits and 1 walk.

Mike Elizondo (L 8-9) went 7 innings, gave us 4 runs, 9 hits, 3 walks (2 INT) and struck out 3.

2B Junior Danielson had 3 hits and scored 2 runs. CF Cal Doty had 3 hits and scored a run. RF Fernando Tello hit a double and hit 9th home run of the season and scored 2 runs. LF Ray McDonald had a hit and 2 RBI. 3B Tom McDowell had a hit and 2 RBI. PH Mike Volkman hit his 1st home run of the season and had 2 RBI.

[Questdog]

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

We thanked P Dave Buchalter (26-R) for his excellent service and sent him back to Daytona (A) and called up C Garrett Bender (30-R) until C Jim Hess (34-R) serves his 10 days in A Ball.

Jacksonville Jays (82-36 .695 12 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Columbus Explorers (66-51 .564 10.5 GB in 3rd place in the Northern Division)

JAX: Jim Baucom (23-L) (22-1 1.51 ERA 202.2 IP, 131 H, 7 HR, 27 BB, 194 SO) All-Star(3: 02-04)
COL: Ron Vanderpool (31-R) (0-1 16.88 ERA 2.2 IP, 7 H, 0 HR, 0 BB, 2 SO)

Baucom pitched a 2 hit shutout with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts last time out. Our Bullpen could sure use a Complete Game today. But with no days off for the next two weeks, we cannot let his pitch count get out of hand.

This will be the 2nd start of the season for Vanderpool. His 1st was against us in June and we beat him, scoring 5 runs on 7 hits and no walks with 2 strikeouts in 2.2 innings.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .262-84-0-7-.573-0 B)
2: LF Danny Stewart (33-L .270-152-1-10-.689-0 B+)
3: CF Cal Doty (27-L .344-436-11-55-.913-15 C+) All-Star
4: RF Ray McDonald (24-L .321-386-19-87-.940-14 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .272-426-20-82-.808-6 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .229-375-13-47-.703-20 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .210-333-6-37-.606-20 B+)
8: C Bert Swope (32-S .261-253-1-25-.648-1 B)
9: P Jim Baucom (23-L .179-67-0-5-.382-0 C) All-Star(3: 02-04)

COLUMBUS
1: RF Jorge Moreida (25-L .278-431-5-43-.743-27 A)
2: LF Dave Sanders (30-R .285-330-0-25-.706-2 A)
3: 1B Gabriel Beltran (34-S .308-429-18-62-.881-17 B) MVP(02)/Silver Slugger(2: 02-03)/All-Star(3: 02-04)
4: C Marc Barksdale (33-R .224-344-8-42-.637-2 B) All-Star/Gold Glove(2: 01-02)
5: CF Steve Shauer (28-L .315-375-2-50-.777-16 C+)
6: 3B Roger Briones (21-L .273-66-0-10-.585-0 B) Rookie
7: SS Joe Tirey (32-L .207-396-5-26-.573-5 A) Gold Glove(2: 01,03)
8: 2B Dan Carroll (26-R .239-142-3-16-.625-8 A+) Gold Glove
9: P Ron Vanderpool (31-R .000-1-0-0-.000-0 F)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Comiskey Park
Weather: 79 F, Partly Cloudy, with a 7 MPH wind blowing out to right
Attendance: 10,704

Top of the First
Junior Danielson grounds out to 2nd. Danny Stewart grounds out to 2nd. Cal Doty grounds out to 2nd... A broken record...

Bottom of the First
Jorge Moreida grounds out to 1st, unassisted. Dave Sanders strikes out looking! Gabriel Beltran lines out to center! 1-2-3!

Top of the Second
Ray McDonald is the fourth straight batter to hit one towards the 2nd baseman to start this game, but his ball goes over the fielder's head and he has a double! With 1 out, Jack Washburn swings at the first pitch and beats out an infield hit! He tries to steal 2nd, but they have a pitchout on and the Gold Glover, C Marc Barksdale, throws him out by a mile... Bart Daw flies out to deep right...

Top of the Third
Bert Swope gets beaned and P Jim Baucom bunts him to 2nd. Junior Danielson lines the first pitch to center for a hit, but too hard for Swope to score. Danny Stewart clears the bases with a double to right!! 2 to 0, Jays! Cal Doty hits a home run to right!! 4 to 0, Jays! Ray McDonald hits a home run to right center! 5 to 0, Jays! His 20th of the season and the Jays have 2 players with 20 or more home runs for the first time in their history!

Won - 5 to 0

8 shutouts for P Jim Baucom this season sets a new MLB record!

We had 9 hits and made no errors
Columbus had 6 hits and made 1 error

We also tied our modest team record of 6 straight games with a home run!

Jim Baucom (W 23-1) pitched 9 shutout innings (CG), allowed 6 hits, 1 walk and struck out 6. 122 pitches. More pitches than we wanted to let him throw, but we could not pull him from a shutout! At bat, he had a hit. Back to back shutouts for him and 3 straight CG. His 23rd win also ties the MLB record set by Ron Wisham of Syracuse in 2002! He also reached 200 strikeouts this game! The MLB record is 248 by Ron Hutchins of Syracuse in 2002. Baucom had the 2nd highest of all-time last year with 216.

Ron Vanderpool (L 0-2) went 4 innings, gave us 5 runs, 7 hits, 2 home runs, no walks, 1 HBP and struck out 2.

LF Danny Stewart hit a double, scored a run and had 2 RBI. CF Cal Doty hit his 12th home run of the season and had 2 RBI. RF Ray McDonald hit a double and his 20th home run. C Bert Swope went 1 for 1 with a double and was hit by a pitch and scored a run.

Trudy gave us bad news after the game, but I cannot say that it was unexpected. Charlie Faber is not healing as fast as she though he would and his return is uncertain.....

Down on the Farm: Daytona (A) scored a run in the top of the 8th and another in the top of the 9th to win, 4 to 3, at Utica and end their 19 game losing streak.

[Questdog]

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Jacksonville Jays (83-36 .697 13 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Columbus Explorers (66-52 .559 11.5 GB in 3rd place in the Northern Division)

JAX: Dale Gilchrist (25-R) (10-9 3.71 ERA 157.2 IP, 150 H, 14 HR, 51 BB, 91 SO)
COL: Bill Halpin (28-R) (5-4 3.61 ERA 97.1 IP, 71 H, 6 HR, 47 BB, 61 SO)

Gilchrist has won 4 in a row and we are going to spoil his streak by making him pitch on short rest today. It is Mike Marsh's turn to go, but he is still suffering from back spasms. Trudy says it will not affect his pitching, but I know how that tale ends: with a torn labrum and 18 months on the DL.... Gilchrist gave up 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks with 7 strikeouts in 8 innings last time out. If he can give us 5 innings, maybe our Bullpen, still tired from the doubleheader, can make it through to the end.

Other than being a bit wild, Halpin is a solid pitcher. He was 13-12 with a 3.48 ERA in 227.1 IP last year. We have only faced him once in his career and he beat us, giving us 4 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks with 2 strikeouts in 7 innings.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .261-88-0-7-.570-0 B)
2: CF Cal Doty (27-L .343-440-12-57-.916-15 C+) All-Star
3: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .293-345-9-35-.767-0 C) Rookie
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .323-390-20-88-.951-14 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .270-430-20-82-.801-6 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .230-379-13-47-.701-20 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .211-337-6-37-.604-20 B+)
8: C Bert Swope (32-S .264-254-1-25-.660-1 B)
9: P Dale Gilchrist (25-R .458-59-0-5-.949-0 D)

COLUMBUS
1: CF Steve Shauer (28-L .311-379-2-50-.770-16 C+)
2: LF Dave Sanders (30-R .284-334-0-25-.704-2 A)
3: 1B Gabriel Beltran (34-S .305-433-18-62-.873-17 B) MVP(02)/Silver Slugger(2: 02-03)/All-Star(3: 02-04)
4: RF Jorge Moreida (25-L .276-435-5-43-.737-27 A)
5: 3B Floyd Shawn (27-R .247-364-8-41-.661-3 B+)
6: SS Joe Tirey (32-L .208-399-5-26-.574-5 A) Gold Glove(2: 01,03)
7: C Jorge Ortega (25-R .207-92-0-5-.530-0 C+) Rookie
8: 2B Dan Carroll (26-R .248-145-3-16-.640-8 A+) Gold Glove
9: P Bill Halpin (28-L .143-28-0-1-.351-0 F)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Comiskey Park
Weather: 77 F, Partly Cloudy, with a 7 MPH wind blowing in from right
Attendance: 10,180

Top of the First
Junior Danielson strikes out... Cal Doty swings at the first pitch and grounds out to 2nd. Fernando Tello lines a 3-2 pitch to right center for a hit! Ray McDonald triples to right center and Tello scores! 1 to 0, Jays! Tom McDowell hits a home run to left center!! 3 to 0, Jays! Jack Washburn walks on 4 pitches. He steals 2nd! Bart Daw lines out to center.

Bottom of the First
Steve Shauer strikes out! Dave Sanders grounds out to 3rd. Gabriel Beltran pops out to right! 1-2-3!

Top of the Second
With 1 out, P Dale Gilchrist lines a 3-2 pitch to right for a double! But he calls out Trudy the Trainer.... Unbelievable.... We try to protect one pitcher and get the other one hurt... Pinch-runner: P Al Calice (22-R). Junior Danielson doubles to right center and P Calice scores! 4 to 0, Jays! The next two make outs.

Bottom of the Third
On the Hill: 2-time All-Star Bill Grant (33-L), after a scoreless 2nd. With 1 out, P Bill Halpin grounds one to 2nd, but Junior Danielson throws the ball away for a 2 base error... Steve Shauer beats out an infield hit... Dave Sanders lines out to 2nd and Danielson fires to 3rd to double off P Halpin!!

Bottom of the Seventh
New Pitcher: Bob Craig (26-R). Floyd Shawn and Joe Tirey lead off with back to back hits and the Explorers have runners at the corners with no outs... Jorge Ortega lines a hit to left and Shawn scores... 4 to 1, Jays. The Bullpen gets up. With 1 out, PH Tim Brantley (30-L), a 2002 All-Star, batting .146 with 4 HR and 10 RBI in 89 AB, takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4 to load the bases up... Steve Shauer strikes out! PH Robert Duenas (34-L), 1 for 1 with a double and a walk this series, grounds out to short!

Top of the Eighth
New Pitcher: Greg Mantei (35-L), who is 5-3 with 2 SV with a 3.69 ERA in 70.2 IP. With 1 out, Tom McDowell walks on 4 pitches. Jack Washburn doubles to right center! With the infield in, Bart Daw grounds a hit through the left side and McDowell scores and Washburn heads home. LF Robert Duenas throws the ball to the backstop for and error! 6 to 1, Jays! The next two make outs.

Bottom of the Eighth
Gabriel Beltran takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4... The Bullpen gets up. With 1 out, Floyd Shawn takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. Joe Tirey takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4 to load the bases up with 1 out.... Call to the Bullpen: Robbie Hopley (30-R), who is not fresh.... Jorge Ortega draws a walk to force in a run... 6 to 2, Jays. Dan Carroll swings the first pitch and grounds into a 6-2-3 double play!!

Won - 6 to 2

We had 10 hits and made 1 error
Columbus had 6 hits (all singles) and made 1 error

Our 7th straight game with a home run, a new team record!

Dale Gilchrist pitched 1 scoreless inning, allowed no hits, no walks and struck out 1. At bat, he hit a double.
LHP Bill Grant (W 8-0) pitched 5 scoreless innings, allowed 3 hits, 1 walk and struck out 2. 86 pitches.
RHP Bob Craig went 1.1 innings, allowed 2 runs, 3 hits, 4 walks and struck out 2. 49 pitches.
RHP Robbie Hopley (H 8) got 2 outs and walked 1.
LHP Albert Davies pitched a perfect inning and struck out 2.

Bill Halpin (L 5-5) went 7 innings, gave us 4 runs, 8 hits, 1 home run, 2 walks and struck out 7.

2B Junior Danielson hit a double and had an RBI. LF/RF Ray McDonald hit a triple, scored a run and had an RBI. 3B Tom McDowell hit his 21st home run of the season, drew a walk, scored 2 runs and had 2 RBI. 1B Jack Washburn had 2 hits with a double and a walk, stole a base and scored a run. SS Bart Daw had a hit and a walk and 2 RBI. PH Mike Volkman had a hit.

Trudy's report on Dale Gilchrist is a strained hamstring and she expects him to be out 4 to 5 weeks....

[Questdog]

Thursday, August 19, 2004

We put P Dale Gilchrist (25-R) on the Disabled List and recalled P Dave Buchalter (26-R). We also took the opportunity to recall C Jim Hess (34-R) and send C Garrett Bender (30-R) back to Daytona (A).

P Mike Marsh has reported that his back spasms have subsided, so he will go today.

Jacksonville Jays (84-36 .700 13 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Columbus Explorers (66-53 .555 11.5 GB in 3rd place in the Northern Division)

JAX: Mike Marsh (23-R) (8-4 2.22 ERA 93.1 IP, 75 H, 2 HR, 35 BB, 66 SO) All-Star/Rookie
COL: Steve Melita (31-R) (5-9 4.97 ERA 105 IP, 131 H, 8 HR, 27 BB, 53 SO)

Marsh faced 1 batter in his last outing and walked him and then left with an injury.

Melita was 12-14 with a 3.42 ERA in 208 IP last year. He is 2-2 in 5 starts against the Jays in his career with a shutout and a 3.52 ERA. 30.2 IP, 30 H, 0 HR, 12 BB, 16 SO.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .258-93-0-8-.572-0 B)
2: CF Cal Doty (27-L .342-445-12-57-.910-15 C+) All-Star
3: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .292-349-9-35-.764-0 C) Rookie
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .322-394-20-89-.951-14 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .270-433-21-84-.808-6 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .233-382-13-47-.710-21 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .212-340-6-39-.607-20 B+)
8: C Bert Swope (32-S .261-257-1-25-.652-1 B)
9: P Mike Marsh (23-R .214-28-0-5-.552-0 B+) All-Star/Rookie

COLUMBUS
1: CF Steve Shauer (28-L .310-384-2-50-.765-16 C+)
2: LF Dave Sanders (30-R .282-337-0-25-.698-2 A)
3: 1B Gabriel Beltran (34-S .303-436-18-62-.869-17 B) MVP(02)/Silver Slugger(2: 02-03)/All-Star(3: 02-04)
4: RF Jorge Moreida (25-L .273-439-5-43-.730-27 A)
5: 3B Floyd Shawn (27-R .251-367-8-41-.668-3 B+)
6: SS Roger Briones (21-L .271-70-0-10-.580-0 C) Rookie
7: C Marc Barksdale (33-R .223-349-8-42-.636-2 B) All-Star/Gold Glove(2: 01-02)
8: 2B Dan Carroll (26-R .242-149-3-16-.623-8 A+) Gold Glove
9: P Steve Melita (31-R .235-34-0-8-.513-0 C+)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Comiskey Park
Weather: 72 F, Partly Cloudy, with an 8 MPH wind blowing in from center
Attendance: 8,936

Top of the First
Junior Danielson lines a hit to right! He steals 2nd, his first steal of the season! Cal Doty grounds out to 2nd and Danielson goes to 3rd. As the announcers used to say back in the day, "that was a professional at bat." Fernando Tello swings at the first pitch and grounds one to short, but rookie Roger Briones throws the ball away for a 2 base error and Danielson scores! 1 to 0, Jays! Ray McDonald swings at the first pitch and grounds out to 1st, unassisted, and Tello goes to 3rd. Tom McDowell grounds a 3-2 pitch up the middle for a hit and Tello scores! 2 to 0, Jays! McDowell steals 2nd! Jack Washburn grounds out to 2nd...

Bottom of the First
Steve Shauer triples off the wall in center... Dave Sanders pops out to right and Shauer holds his post. Gabriel Beltran draws a walk... Jorge Moreida flies out to left and Shauer tags up, but Ray McDonald throws him out at home! C Bert Swope suffered a hard hit, but held on to the ball! And he seems okay!

Bottom of the Second
Floyd Shawn takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4.... Roger Briones walks on 4 pitches.... What has happened to P Mike Marsh and his control? On August 1, he pitched a 5 hit shutout with no walks and 10 strikeouts. At that point of the season, he was averaging 2.76 walks per 9 innings. But he has walked 11 now in his last 6.1 innings.... Marc Barksdale grounds out slowly to short and the runners move up. Dan Carroll grounds out to 2nd and Shawn scores. 2 to 1, Jays.

Top of the Third
Junior Danielson swings at the first pitch and beats out an infield hit and then goes to 2nd on a wild pitch! Cal Doty walks on 4 pitches. Fernando Tello hits a 2-2 pitch over the right field wall for a home run!!! 5 to 1, Jays! His 10th home run of the season and we now have 5 players in double digits in HR! Ray McDonald lines a 3-2 pitch to center for a hit. With 1 out, Jack Washburn jerks a home run down the right field line!! 7 to 1, Jays!

Bottom of the Fourth
With 2 outs, Marc Barksdale lines a hit to left and goes to 2nd on a passed ball. Dan Carroll grounds a 3-2 pitch to left for a hit and Barksdale scores. 7 to 2, Jays.

Bottom of the Fifth
Dave Sanders takes a 3-2 pitch for ball for and another walk... Gabriel Beltran grounds into a force at 2nd, 5-4. Jorge Moreida swings at the first pitch and pops out to right. And P Mike Marsh calls out Trudy the Trainer.... New Pitcher: Roger Wallace (29-R). Dave Thompson (28-R) is in to play 1st in a double switch. Floyd Shawn pops one up to shallow right and everyone watches it drop for a hit... Roger Briones grounds out to the pitcher.

Bottom of the Eighth
New Pitcher: Robbie Hopley (30-R). Marc Barksdale and Dan Carroll lead off with back to back hits. PH Joe Tirey (32-L), a glove first shortstop, who is 5 for 8 with a HR this series, grounds into a force at 2nd, 6-4, and Barksdale goes to 3rd. Steve Shauer pops out to short. Dave Sanders strikes out on 3 pitches!

Won - 7 to 2

Is it a sweep or not?
We won 4 of 5 games, but the one we lost, we were the home team.
So, we swept them in the 4 games that they were the home team!

We finish the season series with Columbus 7-1!
The 3rd team in the North we went 7-1 against this season! (Indianapolis and Ottawa)

We had 10 hits and made 1 error
Columbus had 9 hits and made 1 error

We extend our team record to 8 straight games with a home run!

Mike Marsh went 4.2 innings, allowed 2 runs, 5 hits, 4 walks and struck out 1.
RHP Roger Wallace (W 6-2) went 2.1 scoreless innings, allowed 2 hits, 1 walk and struck out 1.
Robbie Hopley went 2 scoreless innings, allowed 2 hits, 1 walk and struck out 1.

Steve Melita (L 5-10) went 2.1 innings, gave us 7 runs (5 earned), 6 hits, 2 home runs, 1 walk and struck out 2. He threw a WP.

2B Junior Danielson had 2 hits, stole a base and scored 2 runs. Cal Doty had a hit and a walk and scored a run. RF Fernando Tello hit his 10th home run of the season, scored 2 runs and had 3 RBI. 3b Tom McDowell had a hit and was hit by a pitch, stole a base and had an RBI. 1B Jack Washburn had 2 hits with his 14th home run and had 2 RBI.

Trudy's report on Mike Marsh is the back spasms have returned. She figure them to bother him a week or so.... With our lead, we are not going to let him pitch injured....

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Westheim

I am tense as a longbow and can't wait to see how you're gonna win the title in 2003; 2004 at the latest.

(cough) (cough)

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by Westheim

(cough) (cough)

That is funny! I was already planning to quote that post on the day we clinched! But now you have jinxed us and we will lose.....

[Questdog]

Friday, August 20, 2004

We sent C Jim Hess (34-R) right back to Daytona (A) and called up Danny Coreano (25-L) to make Mike Marsh's next start. Coreano's last start for the Tortugas was not horrible, though most of the rest have been.

We are in Charlotte to play the Hornets a 3 game series over the weekend. They just split 4 games here with Indianapolis. We are 5-4 against them on the season and split a pair of games the last time we visited, July 6-7. They are 5th in scoring with 4.35 runs per game (Jacksonville is #4 with 4.55). The Hornets are 10th in fewest runs allowed with 4.20 per game (Jacksonville is #1 with 3.09). Their run differential is +18, 8th best in the MLB, and ours is +176, still 1st!

Jacksonville Jays (85-36 .702 14 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Charlotte Hornets (58-62 .483 26.5 GB in 5th place in the Southern Division)

JAX: Del Warwick (29-L) (9-7 2.69 ERA 170.2 IP, 166 H, 10 HR, 33 BB, 109 SO) Gold Glove(02)
CHAR: Ron Simon (31-R) (8-10 4.12 ERA 164 IP, 161 H, 22 HR, 57 BB, 111 SO) All-Star(02)

Warwick pitched a 6 hit shutout with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts last time out. He is 7-2 in his last 12 starts with a 1.55 ERA in 92.1 IP. It seems my previous lamenting at his demise was premature!

Simon is 1-0 in 2 starts against us this season with a shutout and a 1.69 ERA. 16 IP, 14 H, 1 HR, 5 BB, 14 SO.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .265-98-0-8-.583-1 B)
2: CF Cal Doty (27-L .341-449-12-57-.908-15 C+) All-Star
3: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .291-354-10-38-.768-0 C) Rookie
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .322-398-20-89-.947-14 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .271-436-21-85-.809-7 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .236-385-14-49-.723-21 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .212-344-6-39-.605-20 B+)
8: C Bert Swope (32-S .258-260-1-25-.645-1 B)
9: P Del Warwick (29-L .167-54-0-3-.370-0 D+) Gold Glove(02)

CHARLOTTE
1: SS Harold Evans (25-R .273-121-1-5-.651-3 B+)
2: CF Ed Northrup (26-L .281-281-0-27-.665-24 B+) Rookie
3: 3B Larry Davis (29-S .323-477-3-57-.788-9 B) Silver Slugger(01)/All-Star(01)
4: RF Terry Graham (24-L .296-443-22-81-.894-1 A) All-Star
5: 2B Terry Wolf (32-L .304-270-12-52-.900-0 B) Silver Slugger(03)/All-Star(3: 02-04)
6: LF Gabe Valdez (32-R .190-121-1-10-.521-0 A+)
7: 1B Bruce McArthur (27-L .262-428-15-61-.765-1 A+) Gold Glove(2: 02-03)
8: C Mike Tyra (28-R .214-309-7-28-.674-0 B)
9: P Ron Simon (31-R .115-52-0-3-.247-0 C) All-Star(02)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Charlotte Municipal Stadium
Weather: 80 F, Partly Cloudy, with an 8 MPH wind blowing in from right
Attendance: 12,734

Top of the First
Junior Danielson golfs a 2-2 pitch to center for a hit! He steals 2nd and goes to 3rd when C Mike Tyra throws the ball away! Cal Doty lines one to center, but Ed Northrup makes a diving catch.... Danielson tags up and scores. 1 to 0, Jays! Fernando Tello swings at a 3-2 pitch and lines out to left. Ray McDonald pops out to center.

Bottom of the First
Harold Evans strikes out on 3 pitches! Ed Northrup grounds out to the pitcher! Larry Davis lines out to center! 1-2-3!

Top of the Second
Tom McDowell takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. Jack Washburn beats out an infield hit! After Bart Daw and Bert Swope both strike out, P Del Warwick lines a hit to left and McDowell heads home, but gets thrown out by Gabe Valdez....

Bottom of the Second
Terry Graham doubles to center... With 1 out, Gabe Valdez, the sub-.200 hitter doubles to right and Graham scores... Tie Game: 1 to 1. Bruce McArthur lines a 3-2 pitch to left for a hit and Valdez scores... 2 to 1, Hornets. The next two make outs.

Bottom of the Third
Harold Evans and Ed Northrup lead off with back to back hits and the Hornets have runners at the corners with no outs... Larry Davis lines the first pitch to left for a double and Evans scores... 3 to 1, Hornets and 6 hits already and 6 outs made... Terry Graham flies out to deep left and both runners advance. 4 to 1, Hornets. Terry Wolf grounds a hit up the middle and Davis scores... 5 to 1, Hornets. We do not have the Bullpen to pull Warwick this early..... The next two make outs.

Top of the Sixth
Fernando Tello takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. With 1 out, Tom McDowell takes another 3-2 pitch for ball 4. Jack Washburn lines yet another 3-2 pitch to center for a hit and the bases are loaded with 1 out. Bart Daw keeps the theme going by taking a 3-2 pitch for ball 4 to force in a run! 5 to 2, Hornets. Bert Swope walks on 4 pitches to force in another run! 5 to 3, Hornets. PH Mike Volkman (36-L) grounds a hit to center and 2 runs score!! Tie Game: 5 to 5! That does it for P Ron Simon. New Pitcher: Sonny Davis (26-R), a rookie who has pitched 5 innings and allowed 4 runs on 5 hits, a home run and 3 walks with 2 strikeouts. Junior Danielson strikes out looking.... Cal Doty strikes out.... Ugh!

Bottom of the Sixth
New Pitcher: All-Star Albert Davies (27-L). Mike Tyra takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4 and P Sonny Davis bunts him to 2nd.... We walk Harold Evans intentionally so that Ed Northrup can clear the bases with a double to center and end up on 3rd... 7 to 5, Hornets. Davies cannot get pulled yet... Everyone else is very tired in the Pen, except Roger Wallace, who is only sorta tired.... With the infield in, Larry Davis grounds out to 3rd and Northrup stays put. Terry Graham strikes out.

In the top of the 7th, our 3-4-5 hitters go down in order to the bum rookie....

We go down in order again in the 8th to the bum rookie, but he is hurt.

Top of the Ninth
New Pitcher: Miguel Tejeda (26-R), their closer, who is 4-11 with 13 SV and a 4.09 ERA in 72.2 IP. 9-1-2 up for us. PH Danny Stewart (33-L) grounds out to 3rd. PH Dave Thompson (28-R) beats out an infield hit! Cal Doty beats out an infield hit! Oh! If we win this one, we have truly been blessed by the baseball gods! Fernando Tello draws a walk to load the bases up with 1 out! Ray McDonald grounds a hit to right, but only 1 run scores..... 7 to 6, Hornets. Why did Doty stop at 3rd? RF Terry Graham does have a howitzer for an arm, though... But now we have 2 strikeouts coming to bat.... Tom McDowell strikes out.... Jack Washburn strikes out on 3 pitches.... It is not always good to be right... Doty should have tried....

Lost - 7 to 6

We had 10 hits (all singles) and made no errors
Charlotte had 12 hits and made 1 error

We end our team record streak of games with a home run at 8.

Del Warwick went 5 innings, allowed 5 runs, 9 hits, 1 walk and struck out 5. At bat, he had 2 hits.
LHP Albert Davies (L 7-5) went 3 innings, allowed 2 runs, 3 hits, 2 walks (1 INT) and struck out 1.

Ron Simon went 5.1 innings, gave us 5 runs (4 earned), 7 hits, 5 walks and struck out 5.
RHP Sonny Davis (W 1-0) pitched 2 perfect innings and struck out 3.
RHP Miguel Tejeda (SV 14) went 1 inning, gave us 1 run, 3 hits, 1 walk and struck out 2.

PH Dave Thompson had a hit and scored a run. RF Fernando Tello had a hit and 2 walks and scored a run. 3B Tom McDowell drew 2 walks and scored a run, but struck out with the tying run on 3rd and less than two outs. 1B Jack Washburn had 2 hits and scored a run, but struck out to end the game with the bases loaded. Bart Daw drew a walk, scored a run and had an RBI. PH Mike Volkman had a hit and 2 RBI. He is 5 for 10 with a HR in August.

The Hornets announced that rookie P Sonny Davis had a mild shoulder strain that they expected to bother him for about two weeks. The will put him on the DL.

[Questdog]

Saturday, August 21, 2004

Jacksonville Jays (85-37 .697 14 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Charlotte Hornets (59-62 .488 25.5 GB in 5th place in the Southern Division)

JAX: Al Calice (23-R) (7-5 3.52 ERA 135.2 IP, 128 H, 11 HR, 55 BB, 71 SO) Rookie
CHAR: Jack Brown (28-R) (5-6 3.35 ERA 107.1 IP, 99 H, 9 HR, 45 BB, 70 SO) All-Star(02)

Calice gave up 8 runs (7 earned) on 10 hits and 4 walks with 1 strikeout in 4 innings last time out in a loss.

Brown was 12-10 with a 4.53 ERA in 173 IP last year. He is 2-4 in 9 starts against the Jays in his career with a 3.47 ERA. 57 IP, 59 H, 2 HR, 19 BB, 31 SO.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .265-102-0-8-.580-2 B)
2: CF Cal Doty (27-L .340-453-12-58-.904-15 C+) All-Star
3: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .291-357-10-38-.770-0 C) Rookie
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .320-403-20-90-.941-14 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .269-439-21-85-.806-7 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .238-390-14-49-.724-21 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .210-347-6-40-.602-20 B+)
8: C Don Kern (27-R .092-65-0-2-.295-0 B)
9: P Al Calice (23-L .104-48-0-4-.312-0 F) Rookie

CHARLOTTE
1: RF Harold Evans (25-R .280-125-1-5-.666-3 B+)
2: SS Bruce McArthur (27-L .264-432-15-62-.770-1 B) Gold Glove(2: 02-03,1B)
3: 1B Larry Davis (29-S .322-481-3-58-.788-9 B) Silver Slugger(01,3B)/All-Star(01)
4: LF Terry Graham (24-L .298-446-22-82-.898-1 A+) All-Star
5: 2B Terry Wolf (32-L .307-274-12-53-.901-0 B) Silver Slugger(03)/All-Star(3: 02-04)
6: CF Scott Damon (25-R .258-415-16-62-.747-4 B)
7: 3B Marty Derringer (26-R .237-372-6-38-.656-23 A)
8: C Mike Tyra (28-R .212-312-7-28-.669-0 B)
9: P Jack Brown (28-R .417-36-0-4-.889-0 B+)

Game Start: 2:05 PM
Ballpark: Charlotte Municipal Stadium
Weather: 90 F, Clear Skies, with an 8 MPH wind blowing in from right
Attendance: 13,888

Top of the First
Junior Danielson grounds out to short. Cal Doty drives one to deep center, but Scott Damon makes a leaping catch.... Fernando Tello strikes out on 3 pitches....

Bottom of the First
Harold Evans swings at the first pitch and grounds out to 1st, unassisted. Bruce McArthur bounces the first pitch to right for a hit... Larry Davis doubles to left center... Terry Graham beats out an infield hit and McArthur scores... 1 to 0, Hornets. Terry Wolf lines an 0-2 pitch to right for a hit and Davis scores... 2 to 0, Hornets. The Bullpen is still ravaged and P Calice needs to give us innings.... Scott Damon grounds into a force at 2nd, 6-4, and Graham goes to 3rd. 2B Junior Danielson was leveled by Wolf and he calls out Trudy the Trainer.... But she comes back to the dugout alone! We for sure cannot afford to lose another middle infielder.... Marty Derringer pops out to center.

Bottom of the Third
Terry Graham grounds a hit up the middle... With 2 outs, Marty Derringer lines the first pitch to right for a double and Graham scores... 3 to 0, Hornets. P Al Calice goes 2 months without losing a game and now he is going to lose them back to back...

Through 5 innings, we have 2 hits, no walks and 5 strikeouts....

Bottom of the Fifth
Terry Graham launches the first pitch over the right field fence... 4 to 0, Hornets.

Top of the Sixth
Don Kern drives one to the warning track in center and Scott Damon is there, but he muffs the catch for a 2 base error! PH Mike Volkman (36-L) grounds out to 1st, unassisted, and Kern goes to 3rd. Junior Danielson strikes out... Cal Doty lines a hit to center and Kern scores! 4 to 1, Hornets. No shutout!

Top of the Seventh
With 3 outs, Jack Washburn draws a walk. Bart Daw grounds a double over the 3rd base bag and Washburn scores! 4 to 2, Hornets.

Bottom of the Seventh
On the Hill: Roger Wallace (29-R), after a perfect 6th. With 2 outs, Scott Damon triples to left center. Marty Derringer lines a hit to right and Damon scores... 5 to 2, Hornets.

Lost - 5 to 2

We lost back to back games for the first time since Richmond beat us in 2 games, July 26-27.

We had 4 whole hits and made no errors
Charlotte had 11 hits and made 1 error

Al Calice (L 7-6) went 5 innings, allowed 4 runs, 9 hits, 1 home run, 3 walks and struck out 2. None of our starting pitchers have gone more than 5 innings in the last 4 games...
RHP Roger Wallace went 3 innings, allowed 1 run, 2 hits and struck out 2.

Jack Brown (W 6-6) went 8 innings, gave us 2 runs (1 earned), 4 hits, 1 walk and struck out 9.
RHP Miguel Tejeda (SV 15) pitched a perfect 9th with 1 strikeout. 5 pitches.

SS Bart Daw hit a double and had an RBI.

For Charlotte, LF Terry Graham had 3 hits with his 23rd home run of the season, scored 2 runs and had 2 RBI.

The Hornets announced that SS Bruce McArthur, injured during the game, had hamstring soreness that they expected to take 5 or 6 days to heal up.

[Questdog]

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Jacksonville Jays (85-38 .691 14 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division) at
Charlotte Hornets (60-62 .492 24.5 GB in 5th place in the Southern Division)

JAX: Dave Buchalter (26-R) (1-0 2.57 ERA 7 IP, 4 H, 1 HR, 5 BB, 3 SO)
CHAR: Angel Gomez (24-R) (12-6 2.68 ERA 174.1 IP, 159 H, 13 HR, 45 BB, 83 SO)

Buchalter went from emergency spot starter to rotation member all of a sudden.... We are giving Jim Baucom an extra day of rest.

Gomez is 0-2 in 2 starts against the Jays this season with a 6.94 ERA. 11.2 IP, 19 H, 2 HR, 1 BB, 7 SO.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Leander Gooding (33-R .229-188-0-11-.573-5 B)
2: CF Cal Doty (27-L .339-457-12-58-.900-15 C+) All-Star
3: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .289-360-10-38-.764-0 C) Rookie
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .319-407-20-90-.936-14 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .266-443-21-85-.799-7 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .237-392-14-49-.722-21 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .211-350-6-41-.606-20 B+)
8: C Bert Swope (32-S .255-263-1-26-.640-1 B)
9: P Dave Buchalter (26-R .000-3-0-0-.000-0 D)

CHARLOTTE
1: RF Ed Northrup (26-L .283-286-0-29-.671-24 A) Rookie
2: SS Bruce McArthur (27-L .265-434-15-62-.772-1 B) Gold Glove(2: 02-03,1B) Hamstring soreness
3: 1B Larry Davis (29-S .322-485-3-58-.787-9 B) Silver Slugger(01,3B)/All-Star(01)
4: LF Terry Graham (24-L .302-450-23-84-.910-1 A+) All-Star
5: 2B Terry Wolf (32-L .306-278-12-54-.895-0 B) Silver Slugger(03)/All-Star(3: 02-04)
6: CF Scott Damon (25-R .260-419-16-62-.754-4 B)
7: 3B Marty Derringer (26-R .239-376-6-40-.662-23 A)
8: C Mike Tyra (28-R .213-315-7-28-.674-0 B)
9: P Angel Gomez (24-R .245-53-0-3-.542-0 D+)

Game Start: 2:05 PM
Ballpark: Charlotte Municipal Stadium
Weather: 88 F, Clear Skies, with a 6 MPH wind blowing in from right
Attendance: 12,518

Top of the First
Leander Gooding doubles to center! Cal Doty swings at the first pitch and hits a home run to right!! 2 to 0, Jays! His fourth home run in the last 11 games! Fernando Tello swings at a 3-2 pitch and misses... Ray McDonald beats out an infield hit! He steals 2nd! Tom McDowell pops out to left. Jack Washburn swings at the first pitch and grounds out to 2nd.

Bottom of the First
Ed Northrup flies out to deep center. Bruce McArthur pops out to 2nd. Larry Davis walks on 4 pitches... Terry Graham grounds out to 2nd!

Bottom of the Second
Terry Wolf doubles to left center... With 2 outs, Mike Tyra grounds a hit to left and Wolf scores... 2 to 1, Jays.

After getting 3 hits in the first inning, we still have 3 hits through 6....

Bottom of the Sixth
Larry Davis doubles to right... The Bullpen gets up. Terry Graham grounds out to 2nd and Davis goes to 3rd. Terry Wolf takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4. Call to the Bullpen: Bob Craig (26-R). Scott Damon grounds into a 6-4-3 double play!! But P Craig goes to see Trudy when he comes back to the dugout and she says he is done for the day.....

Bottom of the Seventh
New Pitcher: Robbie Hopley (30-R), to face the bottom of the order. Marty Derringer and Mike Tyra lead off with back to back hits... The Bullpen got up after the first hit. But the next three make outs!

Bottom of the Ninth
On the Hill: All-Star Albert Davies (27-L), after a scoreless 8th. Gary McKellar (34-R) is in to play center. Cal Doty moves to left and Ray McDonald moves to right. 7-8-9 up for the Hornets. The Bullpen is ready, but no one else is fresh... Marty Derringer strikes out! Mike Tyra pokes his third hit of the game over the shortstop... PH John Hartz (39-R), the 2-time All-Star(01-02), who is batting .267 with 1 HR and 7 RBI in 60 AB, grounds a hit up the middle... PH Stan Jernigan (34-R), batting .219 with 2 HR and 5 RBI in 32 AB, strikes out looking! Bruce McArthur pops out to center and THIS Ball Game Belongs to the Jays!

Won - 2 to 1

We had 4 whole hits (3 in the 1st inning) and made no errors
Charlotte had 11 hits and made 1 error

2nd straight game with only 4 hits...

Dave Buchalter (W 2-0) went 5.1 innings, allowed 1 run, 5 hits, 3 walks and struck out 2.
RHP Bob Craig (H 2) faced 1 batter and got 2 outs.
RHP Robbie Hopley (H 9) went 1 scoreless inning and allowed 2 hits.
LHP Albert Davies (SV 4) pitched 2 scoreless inning, allowed 4 hits and struck out 2.

Angel Gomez (L 12-7) went 7 innings, gave us 3 hits (all in the 1st inning), 2 runs, 1 home run, no walks, 1 HBP and struck out 3.

2B Leander Gooding had 2 hits with a double and scored a run. CF/LF Cal Doty hit his 13th home run and had 2 RBI and threw a runner out at 2nd.

For Charlotte, C Mike Tyra had 3 hits and an RBI.

Trudy's report on Bob Craig is a sore shoulder that should be fine in 2 or 3 days.

[Questdog]

August 23, 2004

Monday Morning Report
Player of the Week - Jimmy Reed, CF, Providence (27-R .273/.348/.343) Had 13 hits with 4 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1 R and 5 RBI in 7 G (6 GS) (2nd career PoW)

(Slash lines are for the season, not the week)

August 16 - Jerry Doherty (26-L) of Buffalo pitched a 3 hit shutout at home versus Louisville. He did not walk a batter and struck out 6. 90 pitches thrown. At bat, he had 2 hits and a walk, scored a run and had an RBI. It is his 4th shutout of the season and 6th of his career. He is now 13-7 with a 2.97 ERA in 23 starts. The Bombers won, 5 to 0. They are 4-0 since RF Ivan Moreno went out for the season.
August 16 - Rookie 3B Carlos Frias (23-R) of Richmond went 5 for 5 with a double and 2 RBI at Hartford. The Robins won, 7 to 3.
August 19 - 3B Jorge Ramos (31-L) of Louisville hit a Grand Slam, drew a walk and had 5 RBI at Buffalo. The Colonels won, 10 to 3.
August 19 - Richmond lost 3-time All-Star and 2-time Gold Glover CF Jose Vazquez (32-R) for the rest of the season with a torn labrum. He was batting .294 with 3 HR and 47 RBI in 439 AB. He had scored 80 runs in 105 games.
August 19 - Larry Bowling (26-R) of Providence pitched a 3 hit shutout at New Orleans. He did not walk a batter and struck out 2. At bat, he had 3 hits and scored 2 runs. It is his 3rd shutout of the season and 10th of his career. He is now 11-8 with a 3.15 ERA in 27 starts. CF Jimmy Reed (27-R), playing with back tightness, went 5 for 5 with 2 doubles and a triple, scored a run and had 4 RBI. The Steamrollers won, 5 to 0.
August 22 - 2B Leo Toruno (30-L) of Memphis went 3 for 3 with 2 home runs and a walk, stole a base, scored 3 runs and had 5 RBI at home versus Richmond. The Mules won, 11 to 3.

[Questdog]

Monday, August 23, 2004

We are back home to play the Memphis Mules a 4 game series. They did us a good turn by sweeping Richmond in 3 games at home over the weekend, outscoring the Robins, 25 to 9. Before that, they had lost 9 in a row. We are 6-1 against them on the season and this is their 1st visit to Jacksonville. They are 10th in scoring with 3.93 runs per game (Jacksonville is #3 with 4.52). The Mules are 7th in fewest runs allowed with 4.04 per game (Jacksonville is still #1 with 3.12). Their run differential is -14 and ours is +173, still best in the MLB!

Memphis Mules (58-66 .468 28 GB in 6th place in the Southern Division) at
Jacksonville Jays (86-38 .694 15 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division)

MEM: Dave Gray (35-R) (6-8 3.33 ERA 173 IP, 144 H, 9 HR, 77 BB, 76 SO)
JAX: Jim Baucom (23-L) (23-1 1.45 ERA 211.2 IP, 137 H, 7 HR, 28 BB, 200 SO) All-Star(3: 02-04)

We faced Gray in April and beat him, but only scored 1 run on 7 hits, 1 home run and 1 walk with 4 strikeouts in 7 innings. Del Warwick pitched a 3 hit shutout and Ray McDonald hit the home run.

Baucom has pitched 2 straight shutouts and 3 straight CG. We could use another CG today, but do not want to let his pitch count get up again. Last time out, he allowed 6 hits and 1 walk with 6 strikeouts.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
MEMPHIS
1: SS Tony Weninger (23-R .255-368-1-30-.656-19 B+)
2: CF Steve Gress (33-L .229-266-7-22-.675-7 B) All-Star(01)
3: C Roger Beaudin (32-R .259-371-4-34-.702-6 D+) All-Star(2: 03-04)
4: 1B Nestor Gonzalez (30-L .260-430-25-72-.795-2 A) Silver Slugger(01)/All-Star(3: 01-03)
5: 3B Pedro Manzanares (30-R .205-73-1-8-.577-0 B)
6: LF Rafael Jimenez (30-L .226-340-8-33-.663-5 C) All-Star(2: 02-03)
7: 2B Larry Devaney (22-R .227-203-1-13-.555-3 A) Rookie #13 prospect
8: RF Ron Alario (34-R .209-335-4-28-.588-2 A+) Gold Glove(2: 02-03)
9: P Dave Gray (35-R .077-52-1-2-.212-0 D)

JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .255-106-0-8-.558-2 B)
2: 3B Leander Gooding (33-R .234-192-0-11-.586-5 C+)
3: CF Cal Doty (27-L .338-461-13-61-.903-15 C+) All-Star
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .319-411-20-90-.932-15 B+) All-Star
5: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .287-363-10-38-.760-0 C) Rookie
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .235-395-14-49-.716-21 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .210-353-6-41-.601-20 B+)
8: C Bert Swope (32-S .252-266-1-26-.633-1 B)
9: P Jim Baucom (23-L .186-70-0-5-.394-0 C) All-Star(3: 02-04)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Connie Mack Stadium
Weather: 91 F, Clear Skies, with an 8 MPH wind blowing out to center
Attendance: 12,656

Top of the First
Tony Weninger strikes out! Steve Gress swings at a 3-2 pitch and grounds out to 1st, unassisted. Roger Beaudin strikes out! 1-2-3!

Bottom of the First
Junior Danielson grounds out to 3rd, Pedro Manzanares making a sparkling play... Leander Gooding swings at the first pitch and pops out to center. Cal Doty pokes a hit to center. He gets caught stealing by a bum catcher....

Top of the Second
P Jim Baucom strikes out the side in order! 5 K's in 6 batters!

The Mules go 9 up, 9 down with 7 strikeouts!

In the bottom of the 3rd, we load the bases up with 2 outs for RF Ray McDonald, who hit the home run off P Dave Gray in April, but he strikes out for the second time today....

Top of the Fourth
Tony Weninger beats out an infield hit... Maybe someday... But not today.... Steve Gress draws a walk... Roger Beaudin takes a 3-2 pitch for ball 4 and the bases are loaded with no outs.... 7 K's in the first 9 batters and then all of a sudden the magic is gone.... Nestor Gonzalez lines a 1-2 pitch to left for a double and 2 runs score... 2 to 0, Mules. Pedro Manzanares flies out to left and both runners advance. 3 to 0, Mules. Rafael Jimenez strikes out. Larry Devaney grounds out to short.

Through 5 innings, we have 2 hits...

And through 6, as Ray McDonald strikes out for the third time...

Top of the Seventh
Pedro Manzanares whacks the first pitch over the left field wall for a home run... 4 to 0, Mules. His second home run of the season.... Both have been against the Jays....

Bottom of the Seventh
Jack Washburn leads off with a walk. Bart Daw flies out to left. That does it for P Dave Gray, who threw 130 pitches his last start and, like Jim Baucom, is not a high stamina guy. New Pitcher: Jackie Wade (28-R), who is 1-3 with 1 SV and a 2.31 ERA in 35 IP with 0 HR. Bert Swope lines a hit to left. PH Mike Volkman (36-L) draws a walk to load the bases up with 1 out. PH Tom McDowell (27-R) grounds into a force at home, 6-2... Leander Gooding strikes out....

Top of the Eighth
New Pitcher: 2-time All-Star Bill Grant (33-L). Tom McDowell stays in to play 3rd and Leander Gooding moves to 2nd. PH Leo Toruno (30-L), batting .292 with 23 HR and 71 RBI in 467 AB, pokes a hit to center... Tony Weninger grounds a 3-2 pitch to 3rd, but McDowell boots it.... Steve Gress grounds into a 4-6-3 double play!!

Our 3-4-5 hitters go down in order in the 8th.... A dark day...

Top of the Ninth
Nestor Gonzalez walks on 4 pitches... The Bullpen gets up. With 1 out, Rafael Jimenez hits a home run to right center... 6 to 0, Mules.

Lost - 6 to 0

We had 4 whole hits (all singles) for the 3rd game in a row and made 1 error
Memphis had 6 hits and made 1 error

Jim Baucom (L 23-2) went 7 innings, allowed 4 runs, 3 hits, 1 home run, 2 walks and struck out 10. 110 pitches. 4 of 5 base runners allowed scored... And it all started out so well.... Editor's Note: For those of you thinking I jinxed him by noting that the Mules went 9 up, 9 down, I would have you know that I am acutely aware of jinxes. And though I do not believe in them, I do believe that it is proper baseball etiquette to give them due respect and observe their forms. I did not write the 9 up, 9 down line until after Baucom had actually allowed a hit.
LHP Bill Grant went 1.1 innings, allowed 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 1.
RHP Roger Wallace got 2 outs and allowed 1 hit.

Dave Gray (W 7-8) went 6.1 scoreless innings, gave us 2 hits, 4 walks and struck out 4. Ray McDonald 3 times....

CF Cal Doty had a hit and a walk. C Bert Swope had 2 hits. PH Mike Volkman drew a walk.

[Questdog]

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Trudy has cleared SS Frank Roadman (29-R) to play and we definitely want him back because he is the only player we have under contract who is competent at playing shortstop, other than Bart Daw. But I do not want to send Junior Danielson or Leander Gooding to Daytona (A). So we will activate Roadman after today's game and then send P Danny Coreano down.

Memphis Mules (59-66 .472 27 GB in 6th place in the Southern Division) at
Jacksonville Jays (86-39 .688 14 GA in 1st place in the Southern Division)

MEM: Charlie Foltz (30-R) (7-11 3.74 ERA 175.2 IP, 168 H, 15 HR, 56 BB, 127 SO) All-Star(01)
JAX: Danny Coreano (25-L) (2-1 5.66 ERA 41.1 IP, 57 H, 4 HR, 15 BB, 22 SO)

We have faced Foltz twice this season and whacked him around pretty well both times, but could not manage to pin a loss on him. We won one of the games and lost the other. 7.04 ERA, 7.2 IP, 12 H, 2 HR, 1 BB, 10 SO.

Coreano, who was 8-6 with a 3.53 ERA in 19 starts last year, has not pitched for the Jays since May 16. He has been lit up in A Ball since being demoted and is 2-6 with a 7.83 ERA for Daytona (A) in 10 starts.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age-Bats BA-AB-HR-RBI-OPS-SB DEF)
MEMPHIS
1: LF Fred Huff (23-R .277-238-0-19-.650-14 B)
2: 2B Leo Toruno (30-L .293-467-23-71-.899-19 B) Silver Slugger(2: 01,SS,02)/All-Star(3: 01-02,04)
3: 3B Keith Meyer (29-L .306-487-26-76-.869-15 C+) MVP(2: 01,03)/Silver Slugger(3: 01,2B,02-03)/All-Star(4: 01-04)
4: 1B Nestor Gonzalez (30-L .261-433-25-74-.798-2 A) Silver Slugger(01)/All-Star(3: 01-03)
5: CF Steve Gress (33-L .227-269-7-22-.670-7 B) All-Star(01)
6: SS Larry Devaney (22-R .227-207-1-13-.553-3 B) Rookie
7: RF Ron Alario (34-R .206-339-4-28-.582-2 A+) Gold Glove(2: 02-03)
8: C Pat Kennedy (23-R .367-60-2-8-.985-0 C+) Rookie #14 prospect
9: P Charlie Foltz (30-R .157-51-1-1-.408-0 F) All-Star(01)

JACKSONVILLE
1: 2B Junior Danielson (33-R .248-109-0-8-.543-2 B)
2: C Bert Swope (32-S .257-269-1-26-.641-1 B)
3: RF Fernando Tello (22-L .284-366-10-38-.755-0 C) Rookie
4: LF Ray McDonald (24-L .316-415-20-90-.924-15 B+) All-Star
5: 3B Tom McDowell (27-R .263-448-21-85-.790-7 C+)
6: 1B Jack Washburn (22-L .234-398-14-49-.713-21 B)
7: SS Bart Daw (32-R .210-357-6-41-.600-20 B+)
8: CF Gary McKellar (34-R .284-116-0-14-.679-0 B)
9: P Danny Coreano (25-L .364-11-0-2-.871-0 F)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Ballpark: Connie Mack Stadium
Weather: 85 F, Partly Cloudy, with a 10 MPH wind blowing left to right
Attendance: 11,456

Top of the First
Fred Heff strikes out! Leo Toruno grounds a hit to left... Keith Meyer pops out to center. Nestor Gonzalez swings at the first pitch and hits one a mile, but straight up and pops out to the shortstop!

Bottom of the First
Junior Danielson lines out to center. Bert Swope swings at a 3-2 pitch and grounds out to 1st, unassisted. Fernando Tello strikes out.... We had better get more than 4 hits today, or I will not be happy.... Dunno what I would do, but I know I will not be happy....

Top of the Second
With 1 out, Larry Devaney lines a hit to center. Ron Alario mashes one to deep center, but Gary McKellar makes a leaping catch at the warning track! Pat Kennedy lines a double to left and Devaney scores... 1 to 0, Mules.

Top of the Third
With 1 out, Leo Toruno, who grounded a hit to left his first time up, grounds a hit to right... He steals 2nd. Keith Meyer lines a hit to right center... Nestor Gonzalez lines the first pitch to right for a hit and Toruno scores... 2 to 0, Mules. The next two make outs.

Through 5 innings, we have 2 hits....

Top of the Sixth
With 1 out, Steve Gress grounds a hit to right. Larry Devaney beats out an infield hit. The Bullpen gets up. With 2 outs, Pat Kennedy hits a home run to left... 5 to 0, Mules.

Bottom of the Sixth
Fernando Tello doubles to right! With 2 outs, Jack Washburn pokes a hit to right and Tello scores! 5 to 1, Mules.

Top of the Seventh
With 2 outs, Keith Meyer lines a hit to right. Nestor Gonzalez lines a double to right.... Steve Gress beats out an infield hit and Meyer scores... 6 to 1, Mules.

Bottom of the Ninth
New Pitcher: Jim Sutton (34-L), who is 7-1 with 3 SV and a 3.67 ERA in 68.2 IP. With 1 out, Bart Daw pokes a hit to center. Gary McKellar gets beaned by an 0-2 pitch. 2B Leander Gooding (33-R) grounds a hit up the middle and the bases are loaded with 1 out. PH Don Kern (27-R) strikes out on 3 pitches... PH Danny Stewart (33-L), the last player left on the bench, doubles to right and 2 runs score!! 6 to 3, Mules. That does it for P Sutton. New Pitcher: John Robillard (28-R), their closer, who is 5-11 with 17 SV and a 5.60 ERA in 82 IP. Fernando Tello, the tying run, strikes out looking on 3 pitches.....

Lost - 6 to 3

We had 8 hits and made no errors
Memphis had 12 hits and made no errors

Danny Coreano (L 2-2), who is already on the train back to Daytona (A), went 7 innings, allowed 6 runs, 12 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 7. 119 pitches.
RHP Robbie Hopley pitched 2 perfect innings.

Charlie Foltz (W 8-11) went 8 innings, gave us 1 run, 5 hits, 4 walks and struck out 6. 126 pitches.
RHP John Robillard (SV 17) faced 1 batter and struck him out.

PH Danny Stewart hit a double and had 2 RBI. RF Fernando Tello hit a double and scored a run, but struck out looking to end the game as the tying run. 1B Jack Washburn was 1 for 1 with 2 walks and an RBI. CF Gary McKellar went 2 for 2 with a walk and was hit by a pitched and scored a run. 2B Leander Gooding had a hit in his only at bat.

For Memphis, rookie C Pat Kennedy hit a double and his3rd home run of the season and had 4 RBI.