June 20 Game Notes

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Burlington Bees beat the Timber Rattlers 9-3 in the second half opener for both teams. Burlington scored four times in the first inning and one time in the second for a 5-0 lead. Mike Moustakas and Clint Robinson each had two RBI and Alex Caldera, who is 5-5 overall this season, is now 2-0 in three starts against the Rattlers.

ANPHYLACTIC SHOCK: The Bees have beaten the Rattlers five straight times this season. In the first inning of those five wins, Burlington has outscored the Rattlers 18-0 in the first inning.

STUNG: Rattler starter Edward Paredes was knocked out of the game without retiring any of the three batters he faced in the second inning. Paredes was charged with five runs on four hits and four walks in one inning. He has lost four straight decisions.

THAT OLD FAMILIAR FEELING: In the five straight losses to the Bees, Wisconsin starting pitchers have lasted a total of 12 innings and have allowed 25 runs. Twenty-one of those runs have been earned for an ERA of 15.75.

MOUNTING A COMEBACK: The Rattlers got to within 5-3 with three runs in the third inning. Maximo Mendez doubled in one run and Juan Diaz followed with a two-run double. Those were the snapped Caldera’s 15 inning scoreless streak against the Rattlers.

PUTTING IT AWAY: The Bees scored three times in the sixth and one more time in the seventh for the 9-3 lead. Three Burlington relievers worked a scoreless inning a piece to nail down the Burlington win.

THE LENGTH AND BREADTH: Wisconsin used six relievers out of the bullpen after Paredes was removed in the second inning. Keith Meyer threw a bases loaded wild pitch, then was hit on his pitching are with a line drive off the bat of Moustakas and had to leave the game. Natividad Dilone (3IP), Joe Kantakevich (2IP), Ryan Moorer (IP), Justin Souza (IP), and Jake Wild (IP) finished up out of the Wisconsin bullpen.

INTO THE FIRE: Dilone and Kantakevich both made their 2008 Rattler debuts last night. It was the first night with the team for both players. Dilone had been on the disabled list since May, 2007. Kantakevich started the season at High Desert in the California League, but struggled. Dilone pitched three scoreless innings, allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out three. Kantakevich allowed three runs on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts in two innings. Both players were on the Wisconsin’s 2007 Opening Day roster.

END OF THE STREAK: The loss last night ended Wisconsin’s five-game home winning streak.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Burlington Bees are the Midwest League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They finished the first half with a record of 30-39. The Bees finished in eighth place in the Midwest League Western Division, 12 games behind division winning Clinton and 9.5 games behind Kane County, the first half wild card. They are 1-0 and tied with four other Western Division teams for first place in the second half. Burlington is 11-24 away from home this season.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .239 as a team and have scored 238 runs (3.6/game). Wisconsin has hit 21 home runs this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.44. The Bees are hitting .236 as a team. They have scored 267 runs (3.8/game). Burlington has hit 48 home runs this season. The Bee pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.47.

2007 SEASON SERIES: Burlington won the season series with Wisconsin last year. The Rattlers went 3-5 in eight games with the Bees. Wisconsin was 1-4 at Community Field.

2008 SEASON SERIES: The Bees lead the season series 6-3. The Rattlers took three out of four games from the Bees on Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium May 12-15. The Bees won the first game of the series 1-0 in ten innings. The Rattlers won the final three games of the series: 6-4, 3-1, and 7-2. In their most recent meeting, the Bees swept a four game series from the Rattlers June 9-12 at Community Field.

PROSPECTING: Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook has placed five current Burlington Bees on their list of the top 30 prospects in the Kansas City organization. Shortstop Mike Moustakas is rated number one on the list. Pitcher Matt Mitchell is ranked at number nine. Pitchers Danny Duffy and Sam Runion are on the list at #6 and #12 respectively. Outfielder David Lough is on the list at #22. Pitcher Brett Fisher is on the Burlington disabled list and is ranked #19 by BA.

OUT OF THE 2007 DRAFT: The Bees have 10 members of their current roster who were members of the Kansas City draft class in 2007. Moustakas, a high school shortstop out of Chatsworth, California, was the second overall pick in the draft. Runion (2nd), Daniel Duffy (3rd) and outfielder Adrian Ortiz (5th) are the other three top ten picks on the Burlington roster. Other ’07 draftees include: Pitcher Matt Mitchell (14th); catcher Ryan Eigisti (15th); infielders Clint Robinson (25th) and Kyle Martin (29th); and outfielders David Lough (11th) and Wilson Tucker (33rd).

OUT OF THE 2008 DRAFT: Kansas City’s second round pick of this year’s draft joined the Bees during the series with Wisconsin at Community Field. Johnny Giovatella, a second baseman out of the University of New Orleans, was the 49th overall pick of the 2008 draft.

BURLINGTON STARTING PITCHER: Matt Mitchell was a 14th round pick of the Royals out of Barstow (CA) High School in the 2007 draft. Mitchell won the Arizona League ERA title in his first professional season as he went 5-1 with a 1.80ERA in 14 games (7 starts) with 72 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched. In his start prior to this evening for the Bees, Mitchell beat the Timber Rattlers at Community Field on June 11. He allowed three runs on six hits over six innings with a walk and six strikeouts in an 11-6 Burlington win. Mitchell is 4-5 with a 4.10ERA on the season. He is 1-2 with a 5.74 ERA in five games (two starts) away from Burlington this season.