The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

Ricardo Lozano (MICH) is threatening a few records this year. His .3771 average is besting Greg McCain's 2014 record of .3687 and his 1.138 OPS is bettering Curt Whimsters 2014 mark of 1.117. Fernando Moya (PIT) has 57 doubles, 1 behind Julian Martinez' league record 58 in 2013.

On the pitching side Gabriel Pimentel will set the all time single season W% mark at 1.000, besting Michigans Maurice Patersons' mark of .958 set last year. Las Vegas' Tony Dougherty is 8-21 which ties Ed Lawsons mark of 21 losses for Dallas set in 2018. Matt Carver of Dallas is 9-20 and starting today. Angelo Esparza has 17 complete games, Cordell Bond 16, trailing Mike Lewis' mark of 18 set last year. Tulsa Driller Tim Sutherland has set the dubious mark of HR's in a year, yielding 51! injust 162.1 IP! That broke Chris O'Slattery's mark of 50 set in 2018 and again in 2021. Estaban Figueroa starts today, and at 320 K's he's 9 shy of Esparza's 2022 mark of 329. Both Figueroa and Tulsa's Bryant Thomas (there's that name again!) are going to shatter the single season k/9 mark of 11.314, Esparaza is at 12.361, Thomas 11.786. Figueroa is also flirting with the OPP AVG record Thomas set in 2019 of .192, he's currently holding hitters to a .189 average. And Esparza has a WAR of 12.35, trailing only his own 2022 record of 12.65.

And in the races, well actually the race, West Michigan and Michigan are looking to take it to the wire. Michigan will play Providence today and tomorrow, and then head home to host the White Caps for he seasons final 3 games. West Michigan has New Hampshire today and tomorrow.

Brooklyn clinched yesterday, Alaska will try to clinch today

[PhillieFever]

Cool to see Martinez starting to bounce back, and just in time for postseason.

[gehrig38]

His first start back was a stinker, but I even included that in his #'s since recalled
13 GS 10 QS 7-3 3.38 ERA 88 IP 91 H 19 BB 76 K's.
He needs to be sharp as the real season is coming up.

[gehrig38]

9/25 CHI 10 DAY 3
W-Hall (17-7) L-Woodroffe (9-11)
HR DAY-M.Rodriguez (25)
Hall 8-7-3-0-1-2 Chavez 2 RBI's (115) Miranda 3-3 2B (42) Moore 3-5 RBI Hamlyn 2-4 2 runs 2 RBI's

STUFF-Stan Hall finishes the regular season 17-7 3.68 in 32 starts. Throwing 207.2 IP 201 H with 189 K's. It's his 4th straight season of 15+ wins and he's now 73-23 3.56 lifetime in 134 starts.

GREAT GAMES-West Michigan thumped New Hampshire 13-0 to remain 2 up, and Bernardo Montoya was a big reason why.


PLAYOFF NEWS-Michigan kept pace by beating Providence 9-1 with a 7 run 9th inning. They remain 2 back with 4 to play, the final 3 against each other.

RECORDS!!! Esteban Figueroa punched out 8 in 8 innings to fall 1K short of the single season record of 329! Figueroa and Esparza are both tied with a 2.54 ERA, Esparza is tied with Philly's Doug Russell at 19 wins and Figueroa will win the K title with 328.

[gehrig38]

9/26 CHI 14 DAY 3
W-Morgan (16-9) L-Howell (4-5)
HR CHI-Hudson (40) Shaw 2 (26) Blakeway (3)
Morgan 6-5-3-3-4-3 Cruz 3-4 2B (23) 3 RBI's (64) Hudson HR 3 RBI's (117) Shaw 3-4 2 HR's 4 RBI's (86) Greene (DAY) 3-4 2B (32) RBI (152)

STUFF-Andy Morgan finishes the year 16-9 4.92 in 31 starts. He had a 5+ ERA in May and July which hammered his numbers. Really hoping his command gets better and he starts keeping the ball in the yard more, 77 BB's and 34 HR's in 190.1 IP. He's given up 31, 32 and 34 HR's the past 3 years and 77, 87 and 77 walks. He punched out 216 with a career high .316 BABIP this season.

NORTHEAST DIVISION RACE: Michigan is now in a position to control their fate. They must win 2 of 3 for a 1 game playoff, a sweep to win it.

[gehrig38]

9/27 CHI 3 GB 1
W-Gonzalez (1-0) L-Thomas (6-8) S-Cruz (31)
HR CHI-Hudson (41)
Gonzalez 6-4-0-0-1-4 in his IBL debut (3rd overall pick in 2018 out of U. of Florida). Carlson (H23) and Davenport (H3) come in and escape a bases loaded 0 out jam in the 7th. Hudson 2-3 HR 2 RBI's (119)

NORTHEAST DIVISION RACE: All tied up with 2 to play! 24 year old Shigekaz Kurota goes 8-9-5-3-1-7 to move to 15-4 4.42. He was Michigan's 2nd rounder (42nd overall) in 2017 out of Pleasant View Christian HS, TN.



STUFF-Angelo Esparza went 8-7-3-3-0-13 in a 4-3 win over Dallas to win his CL leading 20th game. He finishes the regular season 20-7 2.57 with 310 K's. His ERA is good for 3rd in the league as Cody Miller moved up to 2.56, and Figueroa ends the season at 2.54. It's his 3rd straight 20 win season and 2nd consecutive year with 300+ strikeouts.

[gehrig38]

9/28 CHI 6 GB 5
W-Hansen (1-0) L-J.Martinez (6-5) S-Cruz (32)
HR GB-Walker (36)
Hansen's 1st IBL win. Our 2nd rounder (42nd overall) in 2018 out of Georgetown HS, we were honestly close to giving up on him, and he's rebounded very nicely, and still just 24. Cruz 2-3 2B (24) Shaw 2-2 3B (4) (hitting .351 now)

NORTHEAST DIVISION RACE: West Michigan is vying for their 3rd straight trip to the post season while Michigan is looking for their 1st! And it does not get any better than this...



Michigan will trot out ace Maurice Paterson (19-7 4.28 258 K's) while West Michigan counters with their ace in John Drake (15-4 2.51 222 K's). Win or go home, sweet.

STUFF-Doug Russell (PHI) went 8-7-3-2-1-3 for a 6-4 win over Boston to win #20. He finishes the year with Esparza as the games only 20 game winners, and is 20-8 4.44.

[gehrig38]

SP Orlando Rea, dealt to Staten Island earlier this year in the 7 player 4 pick deal, has gone 10-1 2.63 in 13 starts since joining the Yankees. When they get their ace Antonio Rodriguez back next season (30-17 last two seasons) and 22 year old Chris Poe (2-1 before shoulder surgery this year) they are going to be a much better team.

Bryant Thomas (TUL) in his final tune up before the playoffs threw a 3-hitter at Houston, striking out 15 to move to 17-9 3.12 in 34 starts this year. His 321 K's mark a career high and is the 3rd highest total in IBL history. My Lord, every start seems to be a stark reminder of the bad trade, as if he's proving a point...

[gehrig38]

WEEK: 27
RECORD: 4-1
OVERALL: 108-54 +23
RUNS SCORED: 1116 (1st) all time IBL record
RUNS AGAINST: 735 (2nd)
OWNERS MOOD: Delighted
FAN INTEREST: 92/100

9/29 GB 10 CHI 1
W-Yates (13-9) L-Bass (2-4)
HR GB-Alvarado (11)
Yates 8.2-4-1-0-2-3. Brooks 3-5 2B (21) Dominguez 3-5 2 2B's (29) 2 RBI's (125) Alvarado 2-3 HR 4 RBI's (70) Walker 2-5 RBI (108)

PLAYOFF RACE-Michigan will spend its 12 straight year on the outside looking in when playoff baseball starts.....Mejia's 2R HR in the 7th broke it open. Drake went 8-9-2-2-1-1 and Paterson 6.1-7-5-5-0-6.
Heck of a way to cap off the season for Fresno's Rich Alfred.

[gehrig38]

.

[gehrig38]

Castro wins his 3rd and Lozano sets a new single season mark, but .0003!

[gehrig38]

Award Winners
BOLD are league records
.
Batting Title
FL
2012 .342 Bill Hill (DAY)
2013 .336 Ernesto Garza (SI)
2014 .3687 Gregory McCain (EDM)
2015 .351 Ernesto Garza (SI)
2016 .360 Todd Helton (GB)
2017 .350 Carlos Andrade (BRO)
2018 .336 Eric Coats (CHI)
2019 .345 Luis Chavez (CHI)
2020 .345 Dennis Ash (CHI)
2021 .347 Dennis Ash (CHI)
2022 .339 Roberto Alvarado (GB)
2023 .3690 Ricardo Lozano (MICH)

CL
2012 .357 Rich Stone (FRE)
2013 .347 Vincente Soto (LA)
2014 .336 Vincente Soto (LA)
2015 .368 Jesus Andrales (LV)
2016 .339 Allan Hedden (PIT)
2017 .3390 Jesus Castro (PHI) .3387 Vincente Soto (LA) .3386 Jesus Andrales (LV)
2018 .340 Rich Alfred (TUL)
2019 .359 Jesus Andrales (LV)
2020 .355 Jesus Castro (PHI)
2021 .338 Jesus Chapa (NH)
2022 .3304 Fernando Moya (PIT) .3300 Gonzalo Rios (EP) .3291 Pete Merritt (PHI)
2023 .330 Jesus Castro (PHI)

HR Title
FL
2012 60 Bill Hill (DAY)
2013 49 Bill Hill (DAY)
2014 42 Carlos Leon (BRO)
2015 52 Alberto Vargas (BUF)
2016 48 Wes Morgan (CHI)
2017 52 Andruw Jones (GB)
2018 49 Christian Schall (COL)
2019 42 Alex Rodriguez (ALK)
2020 43 Lonnie Vaughan (SI)
2021 59 Tony Greene (DAY)
2022 47 Todd Greene (DAY)
2023 50 Bernardo Montoya (MICH)

CL
2012 56 Cy May (HOU)
2013 41 Orlando Rios (FRE)
2014 54 Carlos Arredondo (PHI)
2015 47 Carlos Arredondo (PHI)
2016 48 Ron Stokes (SAN)
2017 57 Curt Whimster (TUL)
2018 49 Chandler Harris (LA)
2019 48 Travis Bryant (BAL) George Quinn (PHI)
2020 46 Travis Bryant (BAL)
2021 49 Alex Rodriguez (BAL)
2022 47 Jesus Becerra (LV)
2023 45 George Quinn (PHI)

RBI Crown
FL
2012 153 Bill Hill (DAY)
2013 156 Bill Hill (DAY)
2014 118 Tim Davis (EDM)
2015 176 Gerald Wright (EP)
2016 156 Stefan Conway (NY)
2017 147 Jeffrey Hudson (COL)
2018 137 Jeffrey Hudson (COL)
2019 152 Hugh Collins (CHI)
2020 139 Wazir Ubadah (AZ)
2021 147 Hugh Collins (CHI) Tony Greene (DAY)
2022 140 Todd Greene (DAY)
2023 157 Todd Greene (DAY)

CL
2012 157 Cy May (HOU)
2013 141 Orlando Rios (FRE)
2014 150 Henry Wilson (LA)
2015 133 Ross Tunstall (PIT)
2016 134 Curt Whimster (TUL)
2017 148 Curt Whimster (TUL)
2018 137 George Quinn (PHI)
2019 147 Cliff Edwards (SAN)
2020 142 George Quinn (PHI)
2021 142 Alex Rodriguez (BAL)
2022 135 Jesus Becerra (LV)
2023 146 George Quinn (PHI)

ERA Title
FL
2012 2.59 Ernie Kelly (DAY)
2013 2.15 Shaun Calhoun (WMI)
2014 3.21 Walt Thompson (BRO)
2015 3.22 Will Cannon (COL)
2016 3.45 Barry Zito (ALK)
2017 2.91 Walt Thompson (CHI)
2018 2.97 Walt Thompson (CHI)
2019 3.35 Roberto Martinez (CHI)
2020 2.78 John Drake (WMI)
2021 2.96 Antonio Rodriguez (SI)
2022 3.03 John Drake (WMI)
2023 2.50 John Drake (WMI)

CL
2012 2.99 Mattthieu Cafasso (LV)
2013 3.07 Cecil Watts (CC)
2014 2.92 Chris O'Slattery (BAL)
2015 2.59 Vincent Bray (PIT)
2016 2.70 Rafael Garza (LA)
2017 2.72 Vincent Bray (PIT)
2018 2.94 Vincent Bray (PIT)
2019 2.60 Ramon Roa (PIT)
2020 2.52 Angelo Esparza (SAN)
2021 2.43 Angelo Esparza (SAN)
2022 2.73 Angelo Espanza (SAN)
2023 2.53 Cody Miller (BOS)

Wins
FL
2012 19 Chris Dusek (BUF)
2013 22 Ernie Kelly (DAY)
2014 18 Walt Thompson (BRO)
2015 19 Paco Gonzalez (EDM) Ron Pearce (SI) Walt Thompson (BRO)
2016 20 Ken Lee (CHI) Jesus Romano (NY)
2017 21 Walt Thompson (CHI)
2018 19 Ken Lee (CHI)
2019 20 Ken Lee (CHI)
2020 20 John Drake (WMI) Stan Hall (CHI)
2021 20 Roberto Martinez (CHI)
2022 23 Maurice Paterson (MICH)
2023 19 Maurice Paterson (MICH)

CL
2012 20 Matthieu Cafasso (LV) Alberto Luna (BAL)
2013 22 Raul Gonzalez (HOU)
2014 20 Vince Bray (PIT) Christ O'Slattery (BAL)
2015 24 Vince Bray (PIT)
2016 21 Vincente Elisary (FRE) Rafael Garza (LA)
2017 22 Vince Bray (PIT) George Perkins (TUL)
2018 20 George Perkins (TUL)
2019 21 Richard Dyce (TUL)
2020 20 Luis Acosta (PHI)
2021 25 Angelo Esparza (SAN)
2022 25 Angelo Esparza (SAN)
2023 20 Angelo Esparza (SAN) Doug Russell (PHI)

K Title
FL
2012 278 Walt Thompson (BRO)
2013 255 Walt Thompson (BRO)
2014 281 Walt Thompson (BRO)
2015 236 Walt Thompson (BRO)
2016 229 Jesus Romano (NY)
2017 240 Barry Zito (ALK)
2018 226 Jesus Romano (NY)
2019 252 Joaquin Vargas (WMI)
2020 260 Maurice Paterson (MICH)
2021 277 Joaquin Vargas (WMI)
2022 285 Joaquin Vargas (WMI)
2023 265 Joaquin Vargas (WMI)

CL
2012 236 Chris O'Slattery (BAL)
2013 245 Chris O'Slattery (BAL)
2014 238 Chris O'Slattery (BAL)
2015 240 Vince Bray (PIT)
2016 206 Chris O'Slattery (BAL)
2017 232 Vincent Bray (PIT)
2018 266 Ramon Roa (PIT)
2019 279 Bryant Thomas (TUL)
2020 290 Angelo Esparza (SAN)
2021 273 Angelo Esparza (SAN)
2022 329 Angelo Esparza (SAN)
2023 328 Esteban Figueroa (SAC)

Saves
FL
2012 43 F. Flores
2013 47 Bill Barlow (DAY) Greg Patterson (BRO)
2014 38 Nicholas Clark (NY)
2015 41 Sherwood Jacobs (MICH)
2016 37 Nicholas Clark (NY) Ernesto Cruz (CHI)
2017 48 Ernesto Cruz (CHI)
2018 46 Ivan Lopez (COL)
2019 44 Francisco Herreva (GB)
2020 49 Tom Conklin (WMI)
2021 44 Tom Conklin (WMI) Quincy Gallagher (ALK)
2022 41 Stephen Watkins (WMI)
2023 35 Pepe Artlano (BUF) Tomas Gonzalez (WMI)

CL
2012 44 Julio Gonzalez (LA)
2013 42 Anbar Suhayb (LV)
2014 46 Julio Arroyo (PHI)
2015 43 Anbar Suhayb (LV)
2016 42 Anbar Suhayb (LV)
2017 39 Bill Barlow (SAC) Clinton Quinn (BAL)
2018 47 Joe Boswell (PIT)
2019 40 Shimei Ikarashi (SAN) Jesus Machado (BAL)
2020 42 Otto Hunter (TUL)
2021 44 Alex Brown (CC)
2022 49 Jake Ellison (BOS)
2023 43 Dale Picot (TUL)

[gehrig38]

Hitting.
Castro wins his 3rd batting title, Quinn a HR and RBI title, makes you worry about that Philly offense. Moya sets the single season mark for doubles.



And pitching. Clearly it's the era for strikeout pitchers in the CL, the three most dominant strikeout arms, by a wide margin, are there. Think it's safe to say Angelo Esparza is the best pitcher the IBL has ever seen, and he's just 28. Figueroa had buzzards luck this year. Career high .688 QS%, 7 CG's, getting just 3.94 runs per game. He had 22 starts going 6+ with 3 ER or less and was 15-3. Those three losses? 3 consecutive starts he went 24 IP 4 ER and lost all 3, 2-0, 1-0 and 2-1. He had 8 starts in which he gave up 2 ER or less and either lost, or got a ND.

[gehrig38]

Tony Greene is clearly one of the 2-3 best young hitters in the game. Power, average, run production, pretty impressive. Luis Chavez fails to go 30/30 for the first time in 7 years. In fact I am now going to look that up, see just who has done it. Ricardo Lozano was the 10th round pick of the Brooklyn Cyclones (254th overall) in 2015 out of Quaker Valley HS, PA. He was released after just one season, 52 games, 153 AB's, 0 HR's 14 RBI's. Michigan signed him as a minor league FA in July of the next year. 2019 he came onto the scene, working from AA to AAA to a 2nd half call up where he was the IBL's #25 prospect. His last 3 seasons .306-38-124 '21 .303-28-98 .436 OBP '22 and this year. He's just 26 years old.




Locally the Chicago staff had what felt like a horrible season. Pimentel going down could be the turning point in a post season that's caused us a myriad of issues. When you talk class of the Frontier league pitching, I'm thinking the names Vargas, Drake, Paterson and Rubio are in the discussion. Along with Stan Hall.

[gehrig38]

My CF, 3B and SS all in the top 10 for ZR, huge. Jackson with a very nice 40.4 CS rate. 1st year in awhile an Iron Pig hasn't shown up in the errors column. How about Adam Morris? Dave Walker and Andruw Jones in the same outfield. Ash was 3rd in the league with 10 assists for CF. His ZR of 20.7 tied Andruw Jones and his 1.145 EFF led the league for CF. Blakeway was #1 in ZR and EFF for SS and top 5 in pretty much every other category. Miranda was #1 in ZR and 3 in EFF for 3B.



Albert Pujols has begun to make a name on both sides of the ball.

[gehrig38]

In the FL



In the CL

[gehrig38]

So here's what I know.
In the IBL's history, 13 different players have accomplished the 30 HR/30 SB feat in a season and they've done it a total of 20 times. I put Rollins season on here because 25/70 is probably a rarer feat.
Just 3 players have ever gone 40/40 in a season.

30/30 Club
6 Luis Chavez
3 Mehpare Isfahani, Hugh Collins, David Walker
2 Esteban Fernandez, Angelo Gomez
1 Bob White, Rusty Davey, Alberto Vargas, Pedro Debesa, Pedro Lopez, George Quinn

40/40 Club
2 Luis Chavez
1 David Walker, Alberto Vargas

25/70 Jimmy Rollins (PHI) '21
31/56 Bob White (LV) '17
33/37 Rusty Davey (NY) '19
43/40 David Walker (GB) '21
37/42 David Walker (GB) '22
36/52 David Walker (GB) '23
48/43 Alberto Vargas (BUF) '12
32/41 Esteban Fernandez (SAN) '20
34/33 Esteban Fernandez (SAN) '22
39/32 Luis Chavez (CHI) '17
32/30 Luis Chavez (CHI) '18
41/46 Luis Chavez (CHI) '19
42/42 Luis Chavez (CHI) '20
35/35 Luis Chavez (CHI) '21
38/34 Luis Chavez (CHI) '22
31/42 Mehpare Isfahani (BAL) '15
32/30 Mehpare Isfahani (BAL) '19
30/32 Mehpare Isfahani (BAL) '21
30/40 Pedro Lopez (MICH) '23
31/40 Pedro Debesa (COL) '21
37/44 Hugh Collins (CHI) '14
34/33 Hugh Collins (CHI) '15
40/31 Hugh Collins (CHI) '16
46/33 Angelo Gomez (COL) '15
42/34 Angelo Gomez (COL) '16
38/31 George Quinn (PHI) '18

[gehrig38]

TIME TRAVEL BACK TO THE NIGHT BEFORE 2022 WORLD SERIES GAME 6.....
I'm waffling on whether or not to start Rea or Trujillo. Trujillo hasn't got the deep game stamina when he's fully rested, no idea how this might effect him. He's at 82% now, with 3 days off. Maybe I go with Rea and at the 1st sign of trouble get Trujillo in? Problem is Cody Miller might not leave much of an opening.
I'm sleeping on this one, too nervous to play right now after that last game....

Didn't work out so well, even worse when you factor in Rea's 10-1 run with Staten Island after I traded him.

Alaska's offense is completely LH dependent, so we are going to move Trujillo to game 2, Morgan and Martinez in game 3. Bass was taken off the roster, 1B/3B and RHH Steve Rush was added and Roberto Cruz after Bass was taken off and Castro was put on the DL. Castro is likely out the post season, at least 2 more weeks and Plazewski had a setback and will be out for the post season as well.

Oh and lest we forget Mr. Marquis pre season 'demand', win it all, or he will clean house. I honestly never even thought, not for a second, to ask if that meant me as well?

FRONTIER LEAGUE

Alaska Avalanche (Jesus Solis 10-6 4.27)
@
Chicago Iron Pigs (Stan Hall 17-7 3.68)

Hugh Collins doubles leading off the 2nd and scores 1 out later on a Shane Jackson RBI single. Stan Hall works out of 2 huge jams, loading the bases in the 4th with no outs and getting the punch out and a double play on the next pitch.
In the bottom half Andre Blakeway drives in Collins for the 2nd run. 2-0 end of 4. Halls line 4-5-0-0-1-5 on 71 pitches, Solis 4-5-2-2-1-3 on 56.
With 2 outs and Earl Shaw on 2nd, Solis elects to pitch to Salinas, who makes him pay with a 2 run shot to extend the lead to 4-0.
Hall has a quick 5th and is 5-6-0-0-1-5 on 81 pitches through 5.
Stan Hall battles, and then demands to stay in, which we love about our ace, and crafts a game 1 masterpiece going 9-7-0-0-1-10 on 134 pitches!
Carlos Gomez is 3-4 with a 2B in the loss. Solis tosses the CG as well, going 8-7-4-4-2-6 on 99 pitches.
Chicago 4 Alaska 0
W-Hall (1-0) L-Solis (0-1)
HR CHI-Salinas (1)
Chicago leads the series 1-0

Brooklyn Cyclones (Pancho Martinez (12-8 4.82)
@
West Michigan White Caps (Joaquin Vargas 16-11 3.96)

Holding a 4-1 lead into the 8th the two teams combine for 10 runs over the last 1.5 innings with the White Caps getting 3 in the bottom of the 8th to tie it 4-4, and then surrendering 4 in the top of the 9th to trail 8-4. They then rallied to score 3 in the bottom half before Bernardo Montoya (of the 50 homer Montoya's) punched out vs Kevin Sharp with the tying run on.
Brooklyn 8 West Michigan 7
W-Douglas (1-0) L-Ikarashi (0-1) S-Sharp (1)
HR BRO-Miranda (1) J.Perez (1) WMI-H.Hernandez (1)
Brooklyn leads the series 1-0

COASTAL LEAGUE

Tulsa Drillers (Bryant Thomas 17-9 3.12)
@
Philadelphia Patriots (Artie McCarthy 12-7 5.02)

The Patriots 1000 run offense took a back seat to a Driller team that pounded out 17 hits and 11 runs and Bryant Thomas worked aroun 6 walks in 6 IP for the Drillers to open up the series with a win. Jamie Vance went 4-5 2B (1) 3 RBI's (3) and Caden Haynes was 3-4 HR 4 RBI's (4) while Vincente Rodriguez and William Moreton both went 3-5, combining to score 3 and drive in 3. Vincente Sandoval was 3-3 2 2B's and 2 RBI's in the loss.
Tulsa 11 Philadelphia 6
W-Thomas (1-0) L-McCarthy (0-1) S-Gomez (1)
HR TUL-Moreton (1) Haynes (1) PHI-Roman (1)
Tulsa leads the series 1-0

Sacramento River Cats (Esteban Figueroa 16-10 2.54)
@
San Antonio Silver Stars (Angelo Esparza 20-7 2.57)

HOLY CRAP! How did I not see this from the get go? The ultimate dream matchup!!!
And it didn't disappoint. Figueroa goes 8-3-1-1-2-7 with the run coming on a HR by the games 2nd hitter Vic Cahill, and Esparza going 8-7-1-1-3-6, giving up his only run on a 3rd inning Cody Jordan solo HR. With Jon Douglas on for Esparza to start the 9th Marcos Oginlara led off with a single and then a play that will be replayed for days to come in San Antonio. River Cat Diogo Ameixeira hit a routing fly to right that RF Lance Berkman somehow dropped, permitting Oginlara to get to 3rd. After a Nat King pop up, Carlos Andrade was walked to load the bases when Luis Arredondo laces a 2 run single down the left field line. Silver Star closer Bill Barlow would retire the side on 5 pitches to end it.
Sacramento 3 San Antonio 1
W-Figueroa (1-0) L-Douglas (0-1) S-Barlow (1)
HR SAC-Jordan (1) SAN-Cahill (1)
Sacramento leads the series 1-0

[gehrig38]

Our 3rd overall pick in last years draft out of USC.
New hats should be showing up soon on my Tulsa club. And fwiw the reference to Rockford is a potential slip of the tongue by a stupid PR person. I am working to have Bakersfield Uni's made, and if not, the AA Bakersfield team will be moving to Rockford

[gehrig38]

FRONTIER LEAGUE

Alaska Avalanche (Raul Rubio 18-9 2.88)
@
Chicago Iron Pigs (Jorge Trujillo 17-6 4.05)

Both starters worked in and out of trouble early. Ledezma tripled in the 1st, baca tripled in the 4th and Fick hit a game tying solo shot in the 6th for Alaska. It took that to tie it after Roberto Cruz drilled a 2 run shot in the 5th to put Chicago up 3-2. Trujillo would hand it over to the pen in the 7th, having gone 6.1-9-3-3-2-4 and Casas and Carlson went 3-1-0-0-1-1 to get it to the 10th, where Perez came in to get Carlson out of a pickle. Rubio would get through 8, going 8-7-3-3-3-4 before turning it over to Michael Wheeler in the 9th. He'd go 1-2-3.
Dennis Ash drilled a 10th inning leadoff triple, and Wheeler walked Andre Blakeway to setup the force before Cruz drilled his 1st pitch to right for a walk off game winning single. Cruz finished 2-5 HR 3 RBI's (3) and Carlos Gomez went 3-4 with a 2B, again (6-8 2 2B's in series).
CHI 4 ALK 3 (10)
W-Perez (1-0) L-Wheeler (0-1)
HR ALK-Fick (1) CHI-Cruz (1)
Chicago leads the series 2-0

Brooklyn Cyclones (Larry Lowry 17-10 3.91)
@
West Michigan White Caps (Artie Johnson 14-11 4.01)

Artie Johnson surrendered a career high 12 hits in 8 innings but managed to make every pitch he had to, scattering those 12 enough to allow just 2 runs while the offense, in managing just 6 hits, found a way to score 4. Brooklyn outhit them 13-6 for the game.
West Michigan 4 Brooklyn 2
W-Johnson (1-0) L-Lowry (0-1) S-Gonzalez (1)
HR WMI-Montoya (1)
Series tied at 1

COASTAL LEAGUE

Tulsa Drillers (Francisco Bernal 16-9 3.85)
@
Philadelphia Patriots (Boyd Jackson 7-0 2.47)

20 year old rookie Boyd Jackson getting the call for game 2. And he was nails, going 6.2-5-1-0-3-3 on 116 pitches with Mark Allen going the final 2.1 yielding 0 hits and punching out 4 while the offense chipped into a 1-1 tie with a single run in the 6th on a Mendez solo HR and a pair of RBI doubles by Dave Nicholson and Mike Zimmerman as well as an RBI single by Jesus Castro sewed it up.
Philadelphia 5 Tulsa 1
W-Jackson (1-0) L-Bernal (0-1) S-Allen (1)
HR PHI-Mendez (1)
Series tied at 1

Sacramento River Cats (Howard Crane 17-10 3.29)
@
San Antonio Silver Stars (Jorge Ortiz 13-9 4.49)

San Antonio pounded 17 game winner Howard Crane to the tune of 7 hits and 7 runs in his 3.1 IP and Ortiz and 3 relievers managed to hold on, just barely, for the series tying win. Alejandro Villanueva went 4-5 with a 2B, HR and 2 RBI's while Jose Machado was 3-4 with a 2B and a run scored. Diogo Ameixeira went 2-4 with a 2B and 3 RBI's in the loss and Lance Berkman was 3-4 with a HR.
San Antonio 9 Sacramento 7
W-Ortiz (1-0) L-Crane (0-1) S-Douglas (1)
HR SAC-Berkman (1) Jordan (2) SAN-Villanueva (1)
Series tied at 1