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Wright Pitches Bay Sox to victory Over Seawolves

Saturday, May 11th, 2013

Myworld was in Bowie to watch Mike Wright pitch the Bowie Bay Sox to a 5-1 win over the Erie Seawolves.  Wright is the eighth rated prospect of the Baltimore Orioles.  He has a nice easy delivery, hitting 92-95 on his fastball.  He also threw a couple good curveballs that had a sharp break as they crossed the plate.  He worked six innings and only gave up just one run as he struck out six.

The Bay Sox got him some runs early by erupting for a three spot in the opening frame.  Five singles off Seawolf lefty Matt Crouse did the early damage.  Matt was able to last five innings, but he gave up 11 hits and five runs.  Buck Britton and Henry Urrutia each went 3 for 3 with one walk each.  Britton hit a solo shot for the Bay Sox in the fifth inning, the first Bay Sox homerun since April 26.

Jason Gurka worked the last three innings, giving up two hits and striking out five.

Game Notes: The last time we saw Tyler Collins play he was hitting less than .200 with only one homerun.  He had a streak of five games in a row with a homerun and now leads the Eastern League in homeruns with eight…Xavier Avery made a nice sprawling catch of a line drive.  An inning later Henry Urrutia also dove for a ball but couldn’t come up with it.  It is more difficult for the 6′5″ Urrutia to dive as gracefully and effortlessly as Avery.  He did make a nice diving catch toward the right field line in the next inning…Kevin Guasman has the best strikeout to walk ratio in baseball, an amazing 32/1.  No pitcher, not even a major leaguer can top that…Guasman has a reputation for eating small powdered donuts after each inning in games he is pitching.  During spring training Adam Jones filled his locker with powdered donuts.  They counted them and there were a total of 1,900 donuts.  They only lasted three weeks to the end of spring training…The Bay Sox keep an interesting stat.  They track their won/loss record against specific umpire crews, even breaking down their won/loss record against the home plate umpire…Matt Hobgood is pitching well in relief down in Delmarva.  In ten appearances his ERA is 0.90, giving up just nine hits in his 20 innings of work.  The only downside is his 13/20 walk to whiff ratio, far from Gausman territory.  Matt was a first round pick of the Orioles in 2009.  Some of the players selected in the first round after Hobgood include Zack Wheeler, Drew Storen, Mike Minor, Mike Leake, Aaron Crow, Shelby Miller and Mike Trout.  The Orioles would probably like to ask for a mulligan after selecting Hobgood.

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Nats Complete Sweep of Tigers

Friday, May 10th, 2013

While the sun was shining the rain was falling.  Wierd.  It didn’t last long.  The Tigers may have wished it lasted longer to make this series not even happen.  They lost the makeup game 5-4 allowing the Nationals to complete the sweep of the AL defending champion Tigers in a short two game series.  The Nationals will travel to Detroit at the end of July for a two game series where the Tigers can achieve revenge.

The Nationals got to Doug Fister early.  Denard Span pulled a double down the right field line to open the bottom of the first.  Roger Bernadina laid down a beautiful drag bunt for a single.  Doug got Bryce Harper to ground to second, but the Tigers could not complete the double play, Span scoring on the ground out.  Ryan Zimmerman followed with a single.  Adam LaRoche stroked a single to center appearing to load the bases with Bryce content to stop at third.  The ball skipped past the charging Austin Jackson for an error allowing Harper to score and Zimmerman to advance to third.  Ian Desmond roped another single to make it 3-0.  Fister finally bore down to strike out both Danny Espinosa and Wilson Ramos to end the inning.

Fister did not do much better in the second inning.  With one out and an 0-2 count to Denard Span he threw a ball inside, grazing Span on the uniform.  A walk to Roger Bernadina put two runners on setting up back to back RBI singles from Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche to make the score 5-1.

Fister would retire the side in order in the third, but did not come out to pitch in the fourth.  With runners on first and second and two outs Jim Leyland went to his big bullet early, pinch hitting Victor Martinez.  Victor swing at and missed on a Dan Haren 2-2 slider.

Dan Haren gave up a lot of hard outs, but Denard Span and Bryce Harper did a good job of tracking down the line drives that seemed to hang up in the air long enough to be snared.  Doug Fister drove in the first Tiger run in the second when he bounced a single up the middle to score Jhonny Peralta.  Austin Jackson hit a hard liner tracked down by Span that had National fans taking a deep breath.

When Tiger relievers stalled any further rallies by the Nationals the Tigers got a big 3-run pinch hit homerun from Matt Tuiasosopo in the sixth that traveled just past the left field bullpen to pull within one.  Dan Haren was pinch hit for in the bottom of the sixth, leaving the final three frames for the National’s bullpen.

Ryan Mattheus, Drew Storen and Rafael Soriano each tossed an inning of relief, each giving up a single but no more.  With Miguel Cabrera on first after a two out single in the ninth Soriano gave up a long fly ball to Prince Fielder caught at the warning track by Denard Span to end the game.

Game One: Rafael Soriano likes to rip his tucked in uniform jersey out to hang over his pants once he picks up a save.  He has convinced the rest of the Nationals to follow suit.  When a final out is made the uniform jerseys are all pulled out from their tucked in pants to celebrate the victory…Tiger relievers Darin Downs, Luke Putkonen, Drew Smyly and Jose Valverde only gave up one hit in the last five innings.  Jose was hitting 95 miles per hour on his fastball, something myworld doesn’t recall him hitting last year…Alex Avila hit two shots to right field, but Bryce Harper made an over the shoulder catch on one as he raced to the wall and a sliding catch on another to rob Alex of two hits.  Alex hit another hard line drive caught by a charging Span.  He finally got his hit in the eighth, but no batter in the game tagged the ball harder than Alex…Austin Jackson led off the fifth with a double.  He should have been doubled off second when Dan Haren caught a hard liner back at the box.  Austin froze about ten feet away from second but the throw from Haren sailed into centerfield as there appeared to be some confusion between Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa about who was to catch the throw.  Fortunately for the Nationals Jackson could not advance to third and died on second after two fly outs to center.

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Z-Mann Tames Tigers

Thursday, May 9th, 2013

It was a constant drizzle, delaying the game for close to an hour.  Myworld did not get home until way past midnight.  The delayed game did not impact the sizzle off the Jordan Zimmermann fastball as he restricted the Tigers to just one run on seven hits over seven innings in the Nationals 3-1 win over the Tigers.  He struck out seven, many swinging and missing at his high 95 mile per hour fastball.  The drizzle had stopped by the time Zimmermann took the mound and would not return until long after he left.  The sizzle on the fastball never left.

The Tigers scored first in the third inning.  Torii Hunter got things started by ramming a two out double down the third base line past a diving Ryan Zimmerman.  Miguel Cabrera lined a single between short and third, just enough to allow Hunter to race home ahead of the weak throw by Tyler Moore.  A walk to Prince Fielder put two runners on but Andy Dirks whiffed to end the inning.  It would be the last inning a Tiger would touch third base.

The Nationals rallied for a run in the bottom frame.  Denard Span led off the inning with a triple down the right field line.  He had stumbled rounding second and a good throw would have gotten him at third, but it was off line to the outfield side of the bag.  Ian Desmond lined one to first but Bryce Harper smacked a ball deep enough to left to score Span with the Nationals first run.

The Nationals scored another run in the fourth, again courtesy of a poor throw from right field.  Adam LaRoche started the inning with his second single to left field.  Danny Espinosa got his second hit of the game with a line single up the middle, LaRoche stopping at second.  Kurt Suzuki lofted a fly ball to right, LaRoche tagged and the throw from Torii Hunter skipped past the third baseman, hitting the railing of the camera well.  The ump pointed toward home allowing LaRoche to trot in with the go ahead run.  Espinosa was allowed to take third.  Jordan Zimmermann struck out to end the inning.

The Nationals scored another run in the fifth inning when Bryce Harper hit a no doubter deep into the right centerfield bleachers.  The centerfielder took one step back, stopped and watched the ball sail into the crowd.  As Harper rounded the bases he passed Miguel Cabrera, who at one time was a 20 year old potential superstar for the then Florida Marlins.  What myworld would have given to have read each of their thoughts as Bryce passed Miggy on his way to touching third.

Tyler Clippard got fans nervous in the eighth.  He retired the first two hitters, but walked Andy Dirks and Jhonny Peralta.  He had two strikes on both but couldn’t put them away.  Both fouled balls off until Clippard threw ball four.  He finally got Alex Avila on a 2-2 check swing third strike to end the eighth.

Rafael Soriano came on in the ninth to retire the Tigers on three fly ball outs.

Game Notes: Denard Span started the Nationals off well in the first with a bloop single over short.  He got picked off first before Desmond could finish his at bat…Two hitters struggling Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche both got two singles in three at bats.  One of Danny’s hits was a perfectly placed bunt single while both of LaRoche’s singles were opposite field hits…It is rare to see Bryce Harper strike out on a fastball, but Joaquin Benoit got him to swing and miss at a 95 mile per hour heater…Adam LaRoche looked too casual when he booted a slow grounder in the first.  Miguel Cabrera lined one at Ian Desmond at short who caught Torii Hunter too far off first base to double him off…Prince Fielder hit a high fly ball near the right field scoreboard that appeared to be a catchable ball that Bryce Harper missed.  He leaped at the scoreboard to catch the ball but the ball fell to the right side of his glove without hitting the scoreboard.  Andy Dirks, a lefthanded batter could not ground a ball to the right side to advance Fielder to third, where he could have been with one out.  Instead he grounded a ball to short, forcing Fielder to stay on second…Both Torii Hunter and Prince Fielder swung on and missed at a Jordan Zimmermann high 95 mile per hour fastball…Miguel Cabrera pulled a ball hard to left off Tyler Clippard to lead off the eight that would have cleared the fence if he had straightened it out.  The homerun would have made the score 3-2…Roger Bernadina made a diving catch in the ninth on a ball he appeared to have misjudged at first.  Roger was a defensive replacement for Tyler Moore in the eighth…The racing Presidents seem to have fallen into a pattern.  George Washington has won 11 races and Thomas Jefferson 7.  The other three Presidents have yet to win a race.  Something tells me there is a conspiracy going on.

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Tide Takes Eleven to Down Mudhens

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

It rained most of the day in Norfolk.  Fortunately for the Tide the rain stopped a couple hours before the game.  The Tide jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the Mudhens were true to their name, rallying for three in the eighth to tie the game.  Chris Robinson, hitting less then .200 entering the game, collected the clutch hit, a two out single in the eleventh to give the Tide a 6-5 win.

The Tide scored quickly off Mudhen starter Shawn Hill.  Two walks and two singles scored two runs, Russ Canzler stroking an RBI single and Yamaico Navarro lining one up the middle for an RBI single.  The Tide could have scored more but Danny Valencia was thrown out at third on the Navarro single, having the presence of mind to get into a run down to allow Canzler to cross the plate with the second run.

The Tide built the lead to 4-0 in the third on two solo homeruns.  Jason Pridie led off the inning with a solo shot that went over the patio in right field.  With two out Danny Valencia slugged an opposite field homerun into the bullpen in rightfield.

Steve Johnson pitched well through the first five innings, giving up only two hits and one walk.  He tired a bit in the sixth, walking the leadoff hitter Quintin Berry.  Nick Castellanos hit a one out double into right center to move Berry to third and Jordan Lennerton drove them both in with a single down the right field line.

Russ Canzler led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot deep into the left centerfield bullpen.  For Russ it was his second straight game of hitting a homerun.

The Mudhens rallied off the Tides bullpen, Chris Jones giving up a double and two singles to start the eighth inning in his third inning of work.  Alex Burnett came in to pitch and hit John Lindsay with his first pitch to load the bases.  A ground out to first scored the second run of the inning.  Argenis Diaz slapped one up the middle.  Jonathan Schoop made a nice dive for the ball to stop it, but could not get the force at second, allowing the tying run to score.

Travis Ishikawa led off the eleventh with a double.  Trayvon Robinson pinch ran for him, eventually scoring on the Chris Robinson two out single.

Game Notes: After each homerun the scoreboard shoots off cannons from the carrier to celebrate the event.  Norfolk is the home of the aircraft carrier…The Norfolk Tides are going to have a Star Wars day on May 4th, bringing in a number of Star War characters to celebrate the day.  They are encouraging fans to also wear Star Wars regalia.  They are calling this day “may the fourth be with you.”….Harbor Park was opened in 1993.  It is a concrete structure that still has an old fashioned feel to it.  Because of all the rain the announced attendance was 2,589.  There seemed less than that inside the stadium….L.J. Hoes also has the Denard Span walkup song, which Adam Jones also had, but has now changed…Jose Ortega looked impressive in his bullpen outing for the Mudhens, striking out the side in the eighth as he hit 97-98 on the radar gun.  He worked two perfect innings, striking out four.  Danny Valencia swung at and missed at three breaking pitches…Evan Reed was also hitting 97-98 for the Mudhens in relief.  His breaking pitch was consistently bouncing in front of the plate…Yamaico Navarro doesn’t seem to have the arm to play shortstop on an extended basis.  Defensively he may be a more consistent shortstop than Schoop, but Schoop has the better tools…Argenis Diaz fell face first when rounding the first base bag after taking the ball to the wall.  He was able to take second, but that should be on some blooper highlights if a video captured his fall…The game yesterday lasted just 1 hour and 59 minutes.

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Gausman Struggles in Bay Sox Loss

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

The Erie Seawolves had no problem getting around on the 95-97 mile per hour fastball of Kevin Gausman.  They ripped him for five runs on seven hits in his first two innings.  Daniel Fields greeted him for a 2-run homer in the seventh.  Gausman threw more slow stuff after the second inning and Erie hitters had more swing and misses.  Despite the troubled start, Gausman managed to pitch six innings giving up six runs on ten hits.

The Bay Sox were able to rally to tie the game at 6-6, preventing Gausman from taking the loss, but the Seawolves scored three runs in the tenth inning to win 9-6.  The rally started with a passed ball third strike followed by two doubles and two singles.

Game Notes: The Bay Sox are leading the Eastern League in hitting with a .310 average.  They are also leading the Eastern League in errors with 23.  They made two more in today’s game…Will Startup has an interesting leg kick.  He came on in relief for the Seawolves and pitches from the stretch regardless if anyone is on.  On most of his deliveries the lefthander does a high karate kick with his right leg before he pitches the ball.  Sometimes he won’t do the high leg kick trying to impact the timing of the hitter…Caleb Joseph injured his ankle at first base and had to be helped off the field.  He was leading the Eastern League in RBIs with 15…Aaron Baker came on to replace Joseph and punished a ball in the fifth to pull the Bay Sox to within one…Xavier Avery had a triple and double, but he pays no attention to his base coach at third.  He runs with his head turned back toward the ball while he glides around the bases.

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Cingrani Dominant in AAA Debut

Thursday, April 4th, 2013

Tony Cingrani was promoted from AA to the major leagues last year.  In AA he struck out a little more than 10 hitters per nine innings.  In his AAA debut Cingrani struck out 14 of the 18 hitters he faced.  He did not give up a hit and the only baserunner he allowed was a leadoff walk to Jordan Lennerton in the sixth. The Louisville Bats were able to beat the Toledo Mudhens 4-3.

Felix Perez lead off the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk off homerun.  A Bat error on a dropped throw by Josh Donaldson allowed the Mudhens to rally for three in the ninth.  Mike Hessman crushed two solo homeruns to give the Bats an early lead.

Tony Cingrani is number 65 on myworld’s Top 100 prospect list.  With outings like this his prospect status should move up or be eliminated as he is promoted to the Reds.

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Singleton Blows Lead Astros Over Tigers

Thursday, March 28th, 2013

Jonathan Singleton will spend the first 50 days in extended spring training as he serves out his 50 day suspension for testing positive for a drug of abuse.  He may have been the Astros starting firstbaseman this year, but he will have to wait until the All Star break to make an impact.  Today he blasted two homeruns to lead the Astros over the Tigers 11-4.

Anibal Sanchez gave up a solo homerun to Singleton in his first at bat in the second inning, a shot tagged over the right centerfield fence.  Anibal struggled in the third, giving up four straight hits, including a 2-run double to Rick Ankiel down the first base line.  After retiring the next two hitters Anibal had to face Singleton again and Jonathan roped a line drive over the right field fence for a 2-run shot, just inside the foul pole to give the Astros a 6-0 lead.

Phillip Humber pitched will for the Astros for the first four innings.  The Tigers got to him for four runs in the fifth, all the result of the Astros defense, specifically Ronny Cedeno giving the Tigers five outs.  Ronny made a high toss to the dimunitive Jose Altuve at second for the error.  Chris Carter and Cedeno allowed a shallow fly ball to left to drop between them to give the Tigers a second extra out.  Prince Fielder made them pay roping a shot that hit the scoreboard in right centerfield.

The Astros pulled away from the Tigers again with a 2-run homer from Jason Castro in the fifth.  Rick Ankiel added a solo shot in the sixth to give the Astros an 11-4 win.

Game Notes: Ronny Cedeno defensively does not look like the answer at short for the Astros.  He booted a ball and made a bad throw for two errors and allowed a popup to fall between him and Chris Carter.  Myworld was not clear whether Carter called for the ball, but if I’m Cedeno I don’t assume Carter catches anything…In the first three at bats myworld witnessed Jonathan Singleton hit a triple and two homeruns.  He walked and popped to third in his last two at bats…Carlos Correa played short and shows a good arm.  He grounded to third in his only at bat, barely beating the throw to first to prevent a double play.  Carlos does not show a lot of speed, at least from the burst out of the batter’s box in his one at bat….If anything will prevent the Tigers from winning their division it will be their poor defense and their slim bullpen…Matt Tuasosopo was referred to as Mr. T…The Astros showed their future in the last two innings hitting Domingo Santana, Correa and Delino Deshields.  Deshields was the only one of the three to get a hit.

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Phillies Shut Down Bungling Tigers

Thursday, March 28th, 2013

This was the first game of a doubleheader for myworld.  We were in Lakeland to watch the Phillies down the Tigers 4-1.  The Phillies made two errors in the opening frame after only one pitch was thrown.  Johnny Peralta let a ball slip right between his legs like a wicket, as he failed to bend down far enough to scoop it up, and Justin Verlander threw a wild pickoff throw to advance Ben Revere to second.  Ben eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Young to score the Phillies first run.

The Phillies also took advantage of the wildness of Bruce Rondon, who wasn’t close to the strike zone today in his second straight appearance.  He walked a couple, gave up a couple hits, allowed two runners to steal against him and balked in a run to give the Phillies two runs.

The Phillies played only four starters from yesterday’s 10-1 win over the Rays.  Ben Revere had a couple hits and two stolen bases and appears to have won the leadoff role.  He also scored two runs.  Kevin Fransden also started but probably regrets it.  Justin Verlander nailed him in the wrist in the third inning, painting a Rawlings tatoo there.  Fransden ran the bases but was taken out when the Phillies went out for defense.  Pete Orr and Freddy Galvis were the two other back to back starters, but each played a different position.  Freddy appears to have made the team as a utility player.

The Phillies started Cole Hamels and he silenced the Tiger bats for his three innings of work, facing only one batter over the minimum.  The lefthander did not hit 90 with any of his pitches but still whiffed three Tigers and got Prince Fielder to ground into a double play mixing the velocity of his pitches and the location.

Justin Verlander went five plus innings and only gave up one earned run, giving up two hits and a walk in the fourth.  He can rear back and throw the fastball at 95, but likes to sit at 90-91 and when he really needs to blow the smoke he airs it out.  In the third with runners on second and third with two outs he blew a 96 mile per hour fastball by Laynce Nix for the third out.  He also struck out Freddy Galvis swinging for the third out in the second on a 95 mile per hour fastball.  In the five complete innings he worked he struck out the last hitter in four of those innings.

The Tigers scored their only run in the sixth when Alex Avila led the inning off with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball and eventually scored on a fly ball from Austin Jackson.  The Tigers were pretty much shutout by Hamels and the Phillies five relief pitchers, mustering only three hits, two of those in the sixth inning.  They were retired in order in seven of the nine innings.

Game Notes: Chris Nichols got a one pitch save.  Brandon Erbe had come in and retired the five hitters he faced, but must have reached his pitch count.  Brandon was hitting 95-97 with his fastball.  Chris came on and retired Corey Jones on his first pitch for the last out of the game…Darin Downs looked good in relief for the Tigers, striking out three of the four hitters he faced.  All the Tiger pitchers were hitting 90 plus with their pitches, but Bruce Rondon appeared to dial it down by only hitting 96-97.  It didn’t help him find the plate…Ender Inciarte is making it hard for the Phillies not to keep him.  He is not intimidated when he comes to the plate, getting two more hits today in four at bats.  Justin tried to get Ender out by throwing three 94 mile per hour fastballs by him, but Ender stroked the third fastball into rightfield for a hit.  Ender is a Rule V pick.

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Scott Slam Leads Rays Over Tigers

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

Luke Scott blasted a grand slam homerun over the Tigers right field scoreboard to lead the Rays to an 11-5 exhibition victory over the Tigers.  The grand slam broke a 3-3 tie and allowed the Rays to run away with the game.  Tigers pitcher Doug Fister gave up the slam and lasted less than four innings, giving up seven runs.  He retired the side in order in the first inning but gave up seven hits and three walks in less than three innings.

The Tigers had what appeared to be their 2013 starting lineup on the field.  Torii Hunter legged out a triple in the first inning and scored after a Miguel Cabrera single.  Cabrera made a heads up play when Prince grounded to short and Ben Zobrist chose to get the out at first.  The Rays were playing the shift and Cabrera hustled to third when he saw no one covering the base.  Jeremy Hellickson tried to hustle to the bag ahead of Cabrera but lost the race.  Miguel scored on a single by Victor Martinez giving the Tigers a quick 2-0 lead at the end of one.

Jeremy Hellickson settled down after the first inning, but still gave up one run in the second.  Johnny Peralta was credited with a hit after Ryan Roberts played the ball poorly.  Austin Jackson blasted one over Desmond Jennings head for a triple to score Peralta to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.  Hellickson shut the offense down the next four innings to allow the Rays offense to explode.

The Rays separated themselves from the Tigers in the sixth, bouncing a couple balls past Prince Fielder for singles, the second hit by Leslie Anderson scoring one.  A safety squeeze by Sean Rodriguez scored another and a 2-run bomb by Shelly Duncan increased the Rays lead to 11-3.

The Tigers got a 2-run homerun from Devon Travis in the eighth to make it 11-5, but that was the extent of their offense in the last seven innings.

Game Notes: Prince Fielder had a poor defensive showing, making an error to allow a number of unearned runs to score in the fourth, and playing one ball poorly that was ruled a hit…The game did not get off to a good start when the young girl they asked to shout “Play Ball” to start the game, refused to cooperate.  Her mother had to pick her up and hold her to keep her near the microphone.  When she was asked to speak into the microphone she only hit it to bat it away…The Lakeland Tigers are the defending Florida State League champions and no team comes close to the Tigers seventy seven years with Lakeland, the longest affiliation by a team for a spring training site…Jack Cust was at DH and Luke Scott in right field.  Myworld does not see that happening when the season starts…Leslie Anderson is having a nice spring.  He singled and got on base via an error in two late game at bats.  The problem for Anderson is he has the same skills as Scott but with less power.  He is a better defensive outfielder, but not good enough that Maddon wants to put him out there on a regular basis.  He could win the starting first base job, with a better offensive game than James Loney…Chris Gimenez strayed too far off first base on a single.  When the ball was cutoff he was dead meat at first base.  Instead of a first and third with one out situation where a fly ball would score a run the Rays had a man on third with two out…Myworld has noticed a number of balk calls this spring…Myworld has also attended a number of games in which the winning team scores in double figures.  The last three games we have watched the winning team score in double figures for seven of the last 11 games.  One of those four games in which double figures was not reached the winning team scored nine runs…The Tigers have a 50/50 lottery ticket drawing.  This year’s winner took home over $3,000.  They do not read the winning numbers until the top of the ninth inning.  That will keep people in the ball park to watch an 11-5 game…Andy Dirks injured his leg crashing into the wall.  He is day to day…Mike Fontenot showed no arm to really play shortstop, or at least make a throw from the hole…At 6′7″ Steven Moya is one big dude.  He hit the first pitch, a hard bouncer to first base so myworld didn’t see much of him.  A man that big has a large strike zone…Devon Travis showed one of the fastest homerun trots of the spring.  He had three homeruns in 2012 and was a 13th round pick in the 2012 draft.

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Mets Rout Tigers 11-0

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

Myworld made our first appearance in Lakeland.  It wasn’t much of a game, even though Justin Verlander started for the Tigers.  Jordany Valdespin took his third pitch and punched it over the right field wall to lead off the game.  The Mets went on to win 11-0.

Verlander also gave up a homerun to Brandon Hicks in the second inning.  Previous to that he had forked up a double to John Buck and then balked him home.  After the inning ended he argued with the home plate umpire he didn’t balk.  He hit 91-92 with his fastball with a couple pitches hitting 94-95 so he still has a way to go before he is major league ready.

Jonathan Niese was the more effective pitcher, tossing four plus innings of shutout ball.  He was fortunate to have Prince Fielder attempt to steal against him after he walked him in the second.  Prince was thrown out by about 10 feet.

The Mets rocked Phil Coke for three runs in the seventh.  Phil may not have gotten anyone out if Anthony Recker was not thrown out at third trying to advance on a single and Travis D’Arnaud tagged a line drive that happened to be hit right at their shortstop.  The Tigers also rolled out their other closer possibility Bruce Rondon.  He hit 100 plus miles per hour on at least four pitches, giving up two hits.  He got Wilmer Flores to ground into a broken bat double play and also ended the inning by getting Omar Quintanilla to swing and miss at a 101 mile per hour fastball.

Game Notes: Brandon Hicks scored three runs in the game, homering, walking and getting on base via an error…Brennan Boesch had a horrible game in the outfield, dropping a ball for an error and chasing a high fly ball towards the line and having it drop in front of him.  The fans gave him a Bronx cheer after he caught a routine fly ball…John Buck hit two doubles, scoring twice.  Travis D’Arnaud DH’ed and went 0 for 5…Jordany Valdespin hit a homerun to lead off the first.  Justin Verlander plunked him in the groin in his third at bat when Jordany squared around to bunt.  Leyland removed Verlander and as he walked off the field he ignored the squirming Valdespin…Matt Den Decker showed impressive range in centerfield, chasing down two long balls, one as he crashed against the fence.  He also struck out twice.  If Matt can hit he will be their future starting centerfielder for the Mets with his range…Johnnie Peralta was in the starting lineup but after a meal of clam chowder he had food poisoning to knock him out of the lineup…Austin Jackson showed a weak arm in his one throw home.  It was also offline…Trevor Bell came in to pitch and showed little.  Brian Bixler took one of his 88 mile per hour fastballs into the grassy berm in left field.  Not once did he hit 90…Bruce Rondon took the longest walk from the bullpen to the mound.  Hopefully he speeds up his appearance once the season starts…The place to eat after a Tigers exhibition game is Harry’s in downtown Lakeland on Main Street and kentucky.  Good New Orleans type food…The grounds crew at Lakeland does a much better job of YMCA than the Yankee grounds crew in Tampa…There were four model type girls sitting in the front near the Tigers dugout.  My first thought was the blond was Kate Upton, but after catching her trying to flirt with some of the Met players and shaking her two assets at one of the players made me doubt that.  Anthony Recker seemed to be her favorite player.  Jim Leyland seemed to get a kick out of talking to them.  They spent most of their time looking at their cellphones for emails and texting than watching the game.  Of course, myworld spent too much time watching them than watching the game.  Shame on me.

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