ABOUT SUNDAY: The Timber Rattlers lost 5-3 to the Beloit Snappers. Wisconsin had a 2-0 lead through five innings, but Beloit scored all five runs of their runs in the top of the sixth. Chris Parmelee’s grand slam put the Snappers up 4-2. The Rattlers loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but managed one run before Matt Williams got the final out for the save.
GOOD START: Michael Pineda made his first start as a Timber Rattler in Sunday’s game. He pitched five scoreless innings and allowed four hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
A PAIR: Wisconsin broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs off Beloit starting pitcher Michael Berlind in the bottom of the fifth. Juan Diaz and Eddy Hernandez collected hits to start the rally. A sacrifice fly by Korey Feiner and an RBI double by Rob Garth plated the runs in the inning.
FIVE-SPOT: Rob Harmon relieved Pineda to start the sixth inning. The right-hander allowed a lead-off single, a strikeout with a wild pitch that allowed the next batter to reach, and a hit batsman to load the bases. Parmelee lifted a 2-1 pitch to right-center for the grand slam. The next batter walked and would eventually score on a sacrifice fly by Greg Yersich.
TAKING A RUN: Spencer Steeedley pitched three scoreless innings in relief for the Snappers and turned the game over to Charles Nolte in the bottom of the ninth. An error, a walk, and a hit batsman loaded the bases with no outs and drove Nolte from the game. Williams entered the game an got a popout and a strikeout to hold that 5-2 lead.
KEEPING THE STREAK ALIVE: Rattler second baseman Edilio Colina was 0-for-4 in his first four at bats of Sunday’s game. He stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth. His infield single extended his hitting streak to nine games and drove in a run. Colina is tied with Gavin Dickey for the longest hitting streak on the team this season.
ENDGAME: Williams got a strikeout to end the Wisconsin rally and the game.
KEEP ON ROLLIN': Calvin Beamon had two hits on Sunday to give him a seven game hitting streak.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The West Michigan Whitecaps are the Midwest League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. In 2007, the Whitecaps had the best record in the league 83-57. They also went on to win the Midwest League Championship, their second straight league title and their third in the last four years. The last team to win consecutive Midwest League Championships was the Appleton Foxes. The Foxes won three straight titles from 1982-1984.
WHITECAPS IN 2008: West Michigan is off to a 13-9 record to start this season. They are currently tied with the Lansing Lugnuts for first place in the Midwest League’s Eastern Division. In their most recent series, the Whitecaps dropped two out of three games at Cedar Rapids. West Michigan is 6-7 on the road in 2008 under their first-year manager Joe DiPastino.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: West Michigan is hitting .261 as a team. They have scored 116 runs (5.3/game) and have hit seven home runs. The Whitecap pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.13). Wisconsin has a team batting average of .240 and have scored 57 runs (3.0/game) with two homers. The Rattlers have a staff ERA of 4.03.
2007 SEASON SERIES: The Timber Rattlers were 2-6 against the Whitecaps last season. Wisconsin dropped three out of four at West Michigan in late April. The Rattlers and Whitecaps met in Grand Chute August 11-14 last season. West Michigan won three of four games in that set. Two of the games went to extra innings with the Rattlers winning in ten innings on August 12 and the Caps winning in eleven innings on August 14.
PROSPECTING: Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook has no active members of the Whitecap roster on their list of the Top 30 prospects in the Tiger organization. Only Charlie Furbush, a pitcher on the West Michigan disabled list, is rated by BA. He is ranked at #21.
OUT OF THE DRAFT: There are seven members of the 2007 Detroit draft class on the active West Michigan roster. Pitcher Manny Miguelez of the University of Miami was an 8th round pick and infielder Justin Henry of Ole Miss was a 9th round pick for the only top ten picks from ’07 to be with the Caps. Other draftees from last year are: Pitcher Noah Krol (17th), pitcher Andrew Hess (19th), pitcher Jon Kibler (30th), pitcher Paul Nardozzi (31st), and outfielder Kyle Peter (34th).
VETERANS: Six current Whitecaps spent at least a part of 2007 in West Michigan. Pitchers Kelvin Cedeno, Lauren Gagnier, and Ramon Garcia; catcher Jordan Newton; and infielders Audy Ciriaco, and Joe Tucker were Caps in ’07.
WEST MICHIGAN PITCHER: Alfredo Figaro was picked up as a minor league free agent by the Tigers in 2005 after he was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. Figaro pitched for the Tigers team in the Dominican Summer League in 2005 and their Gulf Coast League team in 2006. Figaro made 11 starts for the Oneonta Tigers of the New York-Penn League in 2007 and was 4-2 with a 3.38ERA and 40 strikeouts in 53.1IP. He also made five appearances (four starts) for Lakeland in the Florida State League where he was 0-2, with a 4.76ERA. In his last start for the Whitecaps, Figaro picked up the win over Beloit on April 22. He allowed two runs on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts over six innings. Tonight is his first appearance against the Rattlers.
It was either those guys or Limp Bizkit. Either choice shows how out of touch I am.
No comments:
Post a Comment