Game 3 at Fraser. It could be the last one. Let's hope not.
It might help out a little if we can get some f***in home field advantage tomorrow from the church patrons at St. Fraser. Did you hear Holman tonight? Those people are showing support for their dying franchise. Where's your spirit?
Showing posts with label postgame post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label postgame post. Show all posts
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Friday, September 07, 2007
Alive and kicking
Wow. Put this one up there with the Spirit's win in Quebec in 2004. This game had it all.
Tonight's starting pitchers, Gary Galvez and JC Huguet, cruised early on, and the game settled into a calm pattern. It was scoreless through 5. Then, the runs came fast and furious, and in the end the Spirit emerged with a 5-4 victory and a 2-1 series lead. WOOO!!
With the game tied at 4, Mike Torres smashed a home run off of Surf closer Matt Pike to decide the game. Derek Drage came in and set Keesee, Fischer, and Taylor down 1-2-3 to end the game.
The Spirit struck first in the 6th on Alex Trezza's solo home run, but the Surf came right back to chase Galvez with 3 of their own in the bottom of the frame.
In the top of the 7th, Mike Torres's RBI single and Alex Trezza's bases loaded sac fly tied the score again.
But once again, the Spirit bullpen could not hold it. With Lucas Taylor (who else?) on 3rd and 1 out, Anthony Granato grounded out against Carl Schaeffer to bring home the 4th Surf run.
The Spirit, however, did not give up. Vic Davilla came through with a clutch RBI single in the top of the 8th, scoring Gary Roche and tying the game before Torres's winning blast an inning later.
ONWARD!
Tonight's starting pitchers, Gary Galvez and JC Huguet, cruised early on, and the game settled into a calm pattern. It was scoreless through 5. Then, the runs came fast and furious, and in the end the Spirit emerged with a 5-4 victory and a 2-1 series lead. WOOO!!
With the game tied at 4, Mike Torres smashed a home run off of Surf closer Matt Pike to decide the game. Derek Drage came in and set Keesee, Fischer, and Taylor down 1-2-3 to end the game.
The Spirit struck first in the 6th on Alex Trezza's solo home run, but the Surf came right back to chase Galvez with 3 of their own in the bottom of the frame.
In the top of the 7th, Mike Torres's RBI single and Alex Trezza's bases loaded sac fly tied the score again.
But once again, the Spirit bullpen could not hold it. With Lucas Taylor (who else?) on 3rd and 1 out, Anthony Granato grounded out against Carl Schaeffer to bring home the 4th Surf run.
The Spirit, however, did not give up. Vic Davilla came through with a clutch RBI single in the top of the 8th, scoring Gary Roche and tying the game before Torres's winning blast an inning later.
ONWARD!
For now, we've still got tomorrow.
Note: Yes, I am aware of the news. And I will have plenty to say about the departure of the Spirit once the season is over. But for now, I have precious few chances to do what I love the most - talk about the games played by my favorite baseball team. So that's what we'll do.
It was definitely not the best of nights at Fraser Field. All night, the Spirit tried to scratch and claw their way back from an early 2 run deficit. From the 1st thru 7th innings, the Spirit stranded 9 baserunners and wasted many chances to get back in it. Finally, in the 8th, they broke through, when Mike Torres's broken bat bloop single over the shortstop's head scored Nilson Teilon and tied the game at 2.
Unfortunately, as if Spirit fans needed another kick in the balls tonight, the Surf got the win by fighting back to put a run on the board in the 9th off of Jamie Baker. Lucas Taylor hit a go-ahead RBI single up the middle with 2 outs to give Atlantic City a 3-2 win and even the best-of-5 series at 1 as the scene shifts to scenic (not) New Jersey for the remainder of the series.
Jamie Baker got the loss for the Spirit. Jamie Tricoglou earned the win, giving up the 1 run in the 8th over 3 innings of relief work. Each starter got a no decision - Matt Bishop, who gave up two runs in 6.1, and Ben Thurmond, who yielded 1 run in 6 innings of work.
Bishop pitched quite well in the game overall, but put the Spirit behind the 8-ball by giving up a pair of runs in each of the first two innings. In the first, Will Quintana's RBI groundout scored Taylor to make it 1-0. Atlantic City added one in the 2nd. Clyde Williams led off the inning with a double and was brought home by a Wally Rosa RBI single.
The Spirit halved the lead in the 4th on a sacrifice fly to center by Mike Torres which scored Teilon, but they blew a chance to do more damage. North Shore had runners on 2nd & 3rd with 1 out but could only bring in the one run as Josue Lopez grounded out to end the inning.
North Shore had baserunners in each of the next three innings, but failed to score in each before ultimately breaking through in the 8th.
When forced to rally in the 9th, however, they fell short, when Vic Davilla grounded out weakly to first to end the ballgame, and perhaps an era.
It was definitely not the best of nights at Fraser Field. All night, the Spirit tried to scratch and claw their way back from an early 2 run deficit. From the 1st thru 7th innings, the Spirit stranded 9 baserunners and wasted many chances to get back in it. Finally, in the 8th, they broke through, when Mike Torres's broken bat bloop single over the shortstop's head scored Nilson Teilon and tied the game at 2.
Unfortunately, as if Spirit fans needed another kick in the balls tonight, the Surf got the win by fighting back to put a run on the board in the 9th off of Jamie Baker. Lucas Taylor hit a go-ahead RBI single up the middle with 2 outs to give Atlantic City a 3-2 win and even the best-of-5 series at 1 as the scene shifts to scenic (not) New Jersey for the remainder of the series.
Jamie Baker got the loss for the Spirit. Jamie Tricoglou earned the win, giving up the 1 run in the 8th over 3 innings of relief work. Each starter got a no decision - Matt Bishop, who gave up two runs in 6.1, and Ben Thurmond, who yielded 1 run in 6 innings of work.
Bishop pitched quite well in the game overall, but put the Spirit behind the 8-ball by giving up a pair of runs in each of the first two innings. In the first, Will Quintana's RBI groundout scored Taylor to make it 1-0. Atlantic City added one in the 2nd. Clyde Williams led off the inning with a double and was brought home by a Wally Rosa RBI single.
The Spirit halved the lead in the 4th on a sacrifice fly to center by Mike Torres which scored Teilon, but they blew a chance to do more damage. North Shore had runners on 2nd & 3rd with 1 out but could only bring in the one run as Josue Lopez grounded out to end the inning.
North Shore had baserunners in each of the next three innings, but failed to score in each before ultimately breaking through in the 8th.
When forced to rally in the 9th, however, they fell short, when Vic Davilla grounded out weakly to first to end the ballgame, and perhaps an era.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
JOSUE LOPEZ
...just hit a walkoff home run to give the Spirit a 4-3 win in the bottom of the 13th!!!!
Newcomer Carl Schaeffer pitched a scoreless 13th to get the win. Where'd we get this guy and who did we cut?
Oh yeah -- WOO!
Newcomer Carl Schaeffer pitched a scoreless 13th to get the win. Where'd we get this guy and who did we cut?
Oh yeah -- WOO!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
The Spirit lose a thriller
The celebrations will have to wait for at least one more day.
The Spirit lost to Worcester tonight, 7-6, in what turned out to be a thrilling game in front of an involved crowd at Fraser Field.
Worcester controlled the game early on by putting up 6 runs against Matt Bishop and chasing him after just 3.1 innings.
Bishop wasn't too pleased with his own performance:
Brandon Martin came in and pitched very well from there, getting the Spirit through the 7th inning with some quality relief work. Jamie Baker yielded a run in the 8th to give Worcester a 7-5 advantage going into the bottom of the 9th.
Then, all heck broke loose. With 1 out, Josue Lopez hit an absolute bomb over the rightfield wall to cut the lead to 1. Joe Hough walked to put a man on. Then, BJ Weed legged out an infield hit to put two runners on for Gary Roche.
Roche blooped a single into shallow left just out of the reach of a diving Alex Pena, who recovered in time to gun down Hough, who broke for home on the play.
A big topic of conversation after the game was whether or not Tommy should have sent Hough, but I think that's too easy of an excuse. It was a really nice recovery and throw by Pena and the play wound up being really close. It was simply well-executed by Pena.
That put the tying run on 3rd and the winning run on 2nd for Mike Torres, who hit a hard line drive that Pena snagged at short to end the game. The Spirit were literally inches away from at least tying the game twice, but Worcester escaped.
From a selfish standpoint, I was sad that the Spirit didn't clinch it tonight because I won't be there tomorrow - but all in all, you have to be pretty pleased with the game, it just didn't turn out our way.
Also, I got myself a white #16 Jon de Vries jersey with his name on the back at the Spirit pro shop, so I am VERY HAPPY.
I actually caught Worcester scoring a run on tape, but needless to say I have crappy filming skills:
Question: can we play all of our playoff games on the road? :)
Also, don't despair - The next phase of "WHO'S NOW" is coming tomorrow morning. Well, it's coming when I wake up, so realistically, tomorrow afternoon. ;)
The Spirit lost to Worcester tonight, 7-6, in what turned out to be a thrilling game in front of an involved crowd at Fraser Field.
Worcester controlled the game early on by putting up 6 runs against Matt Bishop and chasing him after just 3.1 innings.
Bishop wasn't too pleased with his own performance:
Brandon Martin came in and pitched very well from there, getting the Spirit through the 7th inning with some quality relief work. Jamie Baker yielded a run in the 8th to give Worcester a 7-5 advantage going into the bottom of the 9th.
Then, all heck broke loose. With 1 out, Josue Lopez hit an absolute bomb over the rightfield wall to cut the lead to 1. Joe Hough walked to put a man on. Then, BJ Weed legged out an infield hit to put two runners on for Gary Roche.
Roche blooped a single into shallow left just out of the reach of a diving Alex Pena, who recovered in time to gun down Hough, who broke for home on the play.
A big topic of conversation after the game was whether or not Tommy should have sent Hough, but I think that's too easy of an excuse. It was a really nice recovery and throw by Pena and the play wound up being really close. It was simply well-executed by Pena.
That put the tying run on 3rd and the winning run on 2nd for Mike Torres, who hit a hard line drive that Pena snagged at short to end the game. The Spirit were literally inches away from at least tying the game twice, but Worcester escaped.
From a selfish standpoint, I was sad that the Spirit didn't clinch it tonight because I won't be there tomorrow - but all in all, you have to be pretty pleased with the game, it just didn't turn out our way.
Also, I got myself a white #16 Jon de Vries jersey with his name on the back at the Spirit pro shop, so I am VERY HAPPY.
I actually caught Worcester scoring a run on tape, but needless to say I have crappy filming skills:
Question: can we play all of our playoff games on the road? :)
Also, don't despair - The next phase of "WHO'S NOW" is coming tomorrow morning. Well, it's coming when I wake up, so realistically, tomorrow afternoon. ;)
Thursday, August 23, 2007
All streaks come to an end
The Jackals downed the Spirit 6-2 tonight to salvage game 4 in Little Falls.
Gary Galvez actually did pretty well overall - he got roughed up for 3 in the 2nd and 3 in the 3rd, but he settled down after that to get through seven innings.
Wilton Veras had the key blow, a 3-run homer in the 3rd to really put it out of reach.
Jackals' starter Kevin Ool was a tough nut to crack tonight, giving up 2 runs on 8 innings. The Spirit didn't get to him until the 7th, when they put up 2 runs -- but a GIDP by Joe Hough with the bases loaded ended the rally.
Old friend Kevin Fitzgerald pitched a scoreless 9th to hold down the lead.
The Spirit end their road slate with a 28-13 record away from Fraser Field. They also wound up splitting the season series with New Jersey, 4-4.
Back to Fraser tomorrow to start the regular season-ending homestand.
Out of Town:
New Haven lost - meaning the magic # to finish ahead of them is 1.
Brockton and Quebec are locked up in an 8-8 tie in the top of the 7th - LET'S GO ROX!
If Brockton gets the victory, the Spirit can clinch a playoff spot with a win at home tomorrow.
UPDATE: BROCKTON TAKES THE LEAD!!! 11-8, a 3 run double for McGee. Brockton has 17 hits in the game.
UPDATE 2: Brockton wins! Magic# 1
Gary Galvez actually did pretty well overall - he got roughed up for 3 in the 2nd and 3 in the 3rd, but he settled down after that to get through seven innings.
Wilton Veras had the key blow, a 3-run homer in the 3rd to really put it out of reach.
Jackals' starter Kevin Ool was a tough nut to crack tonight, giving up 2 runs on 8 innings. The Spirit didn't get to him until the 7th, when they put up 2 runs -- but a GIDP by Joe Hough with the bases loaded ended the rally.
Old friend Kevin Fitzgerald pitched a scoreless 9th to hold down the lead.
The Spirit end their road slate with a 28-13 record away from Fraser Field. They also wound up splitting the season series with New Jersey, 4-4.
Back to Fraser tomorrow to start the regular season-ending homestand.
Out of Town:
New Haven lost - meaning the magic # to finish ahead of them is 1.
Brockton and Quebec are locked up in an 8-8 tie in the top of the 7th - LET'S GO ROX!
If Brockton gets the victory, the Spirit can clinch a playoff spot with a win at home tomorrow.
UPDATE: BROCKTON TAKES THE LEAD!!! 11-8, a 3 run double for McGee. Brockton has 17 hits in the game.
UPDATE 2: Brockton wins! Magic# 1
Monday, August 20, 2007
"Get this man his postgame spread!"
On a night when the man who hit the biggest home run in Spirit history returned to the fold, Josue Lopez picked up a big, clutch homer of his own, sending a two-run blast deep into the night in the 9th to give the Spirit a 6-4 victory over the New Jersey Jackals.
Derek Drage picked up another heart-attack save, putting on the first two men before escaping the jam with the help of a huge strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play when Dustin Yount whiffed. He got Joe Mihalics to pop out to (who else?) Nilson Teilon to end game 1 of a 4-game set that could very well be a preview of the championship series in a few weeks.
Joey Siak got the start for the Spirit. He pitched five decent innings, giving up three runs, and earned a no-decision.
The Spirit gave Joey an early lead off of Isaak Pavlik, putting up a 3-spot in the 2nd inning. Teilon (woo!) walked and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Josue Lopez. After Jerson Perez reached, John Welch hit his 3rd home run in the last 5 games, increasing the lead to 3-0.
With the score 3-1 in the 4th, Josue Lopez got another RBI on a fielder's choice - his 2nd RBI of the night.
From there, the Jackals began to claw back. They chased Joey Siak by putting a pair of runs up in the bottom of the 5th when Clay Kuklick got an RBI triple and Joe Mihalics brought him home with a single to center.
Brandon Martin came in to pitch the 6th and didn't get off to the best start, giving up an RBI double to Wilton Veras to tie the game. He was aided by some poor baserunning, though, as Veras ran into the second out of the inning trying to stretch his hit into a triple. The next man popped up to end the inning.
Martin settled down after that, keeping the Jackals quiet through the 7th and 8th and setting the stage for Josue Lopez's blast off of losing pitcher (and former Elmira legend) Kyle George in the 9th.
W) Martin
L) George
SV) Drage
...........
The Spirit have signed pitcher Luis Arroyo, who made the All-Star team in the United League this year pitching for the Laredo Broncos.
18 starts
8-4
3.55 ERA
4 CG
124.1 IP
126 H
58 R/49 ER
128 K/63 BB
.259 avg against
Not bad at all, but who knows how these numbers translate.
He has 3 years of experience in the Atlantic League from 2002-2004.
.........................
I'll be tracking the big 'magic numbers' on the left-hand side of the blog.
Derek Drage picked up another heart-attack save, putting on the first two men before escaping the jam with the help of a huge strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play when Dustin Yount whiffed. He got Joe Mihalics to pop out to (who else?) Nilson Teilon to end game 1 of a 4-game set that could very well be a preview of the championship series in a few weeks.
Joey Siak got the start for the Spirit. He pitched five decent innings, giving up three runs, and earned a no-decision.
The Spirit gave Joey an early lead off of Isaak Pavlik, putting up a 3-spot in the 2nd inning. Teilon (woo!) walked and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Josue Lopez. After Jerson Perez reached, John Welch hit his 3rd home run in the last 5 games, increasing the lead to 3-0.
With the score 3-1 in the 4th, Josue Lopez got another RBI on a fielder's choice - his 2nd RBI of the night.
From there, the Jackals began to claw back. They chased Joey Siak by putting a pair of runs up in the bottom of the 5th when Clay Kuklick got an RBI triple and Joe Mihalics brought him home with a single to center.
Brandon Martin came in to pitch the 6th and didn't get off to the best start, giving up an RBI double to Wilton Veras to tie the game. He was aided by some poor baserunning, though, as Veras ran into the second out of the inning trying to stretch his hit into a triple. The next man popped up to end the inning.
Martin settled down after that, keeping the Jackals quiet through the 7th and 8th and setting the stage for Josue Lopez's blast off of losing pitcher (and former Elmira legend) Kyle George in the 9th.
W) Martin
L) George
SV) Drage
...........
The Spirit have signed pitcher Luis Arroyo, who made the All-Star team in the United League this year pitching for the Laredo Broncos.
18 starts
8-4
3.55 ERA
4 CG
124.1 IP
126 H
58 R/49 ER
128 K/63 BB
.259 avg against
Not bad at all, but who knows how these numbers translate.
He has 3 years of experience in the Atlantic League from 2002-2004.
.........................
I'll be tracking the big 'magic numbers' on the left-hand side of the blog.
Spirit Take 3-out-of-4 From Can-Am Grays
In a day in which the Spirit once again played host to the home team,they were able to hold onto the 8 runs they compiled in the early innings for a 9-7 win over the home team,the Can-Am Grays.
Here's a few semi-non-game related notes before I being:
** It is funny to note that the first thing I heard today was Willy. As I walked over to him he was wearign something i never thought I'd see......a Red Sox t-shirt. I immediatly thought he bumped his head a little to hard,as he was finnaslly wearing a winnign team's apppearal,but then saw the Yankee cap in front of him....and he walked aroudn with both on as the most mis-matched person in the ballpark.
** It was also funny to note we had Cosmo Macero of Fox25 "Heavy Hitters" fame atthe ballpark today. I attemtped to get him to sign a ball ("You;re kidding,right kid") and failed,but DID get his buisness card. =]
** I signed upa nd did the Rent-all on-field trivia game and won a t-shirt and the afore-mentioned foam ball.
NOW,to the story:
Today Matt Bishop faced off against Richard Bartlett and the Grays. Bishop was outstanding today through 6 innings,giving up only 2 runs on 7 hits aginst a good-hitting traveling team.
Bartlett wishes he had even half-as-good an outing through the 5 innings he worked. He gave up 12 hits,at least one to every member of the Spirit but Josue. He also gave up 8 runs which included a two-run homer from Welch and two rbi-singles to Roche. With a 8-2 lead the Spirit seemed to finally be beating a team they SHOULD be beating.
Then came the bottom of the 7th. That inning saw the leave of Bishop who allowed the bases to get loaded on three consecutive singles then let up a double to 3B Ben Tinius that scored two to make it 8-4 Spirit. Out goes Bishop,In comes Jamie Baker. He automatically lets up a sac fly which scores another Gray run then allows back-to-back singles thast score one run and then induces a fly out to BJ. After 2/3 an inning it was time to say adios to Baker and hola to Donny "The Kid" Langdon who got the final out on the first batter he faced.
SO,after 1 inning,the leaving of the starter,and two relievers teaming up to get the 3 outs.....the Spirit held onto the lead,but it was close as it was now 8-6 Spirit after 7. After that the Spirit bullpen of Langdon and Derek Drage combined to hold down the Grays offense the final two innings. The Spirit would strike once more in the 8th inning as Luis Lopez came through with an rbi-double to give the Spirit a little bit of breathing room with a 9-6 lead.
The other run for the Grays came on a weird play. C JB Tucker and DH Sean ''Don't-call-me-a-convict'' Gamble lead off with singles. They then would go on to succedd in a double-steal. First Gamble went to second and was ruled safe. As Roche looekd doubtfully at second Tucker was able to make it safely home.
But it was then 9-7 Spirit at the end of 8,and the Grays would not score in the next inning,and the score stayed. Bishop would get his 9th win,Bartlett his 8th loss and Drage would pitch well to pick up his 11th save of the year. The Spirit would gain a half game on Atlantic City due to a cancelation and the Grays would remain in 4th.
One thing I should mention that i didn;t above was the fact that Jerson Perez started the game,and left in the third. According to Alan it appeared as though he may have hurt himself somehow in the 2nd on a routine ground-out and was replaced in the 3rd with Gilbert Gil. Gil immediately showed the hustle that Perez seemed to lack the past day or so.....and it seemed to me like Perez needs some time off,and Gil is an excellent replacment for Perez as he gets some time off that I believe he needs and earned.
If there's one thing I'm happy about after finishing this series, besides taking 3-out-of-4, is the fact that a few players have started to perform a little better.....most notably Gary Roche. He;s been an offensive jugarnaut the last couple games,going a total of 8-10 with one walk,3-rbi singles and a 2-run homer. He's also been fielding the ball pretty well. Another person who hjas impressed me is John Welch,who has been hitting the ball a little better and hustling pretty well lately.
SO....for the first time in a while i'd like to announce a player of the game: Gary Roche. He played well again today,drawing in 1/3 of our runs while playing good defense.
ALSO: I would like to add something in this post.
Mr Leahy thanked us for not doing updates until after the tape delay was done. If anyone deserves thanks it's actually the staff at 1510 The Zone.
I would like to personally comend him and the entire 1510 staff for doing outstanding work this season. For them to do these tape delayed broadcasts & live internet streaming (on tape delayed games) to catter both to the fan and the station's live shows is an act that deserves a standing o.
Keep up the good work 1510.
Here's a few semi-non-game related notes before I being:
** It is funny to note that the first thing I heard today was Willy. As I walked over to him he was wearign something i never thought I'd see......a Red Sox t-shirt. I immediatly thought he bumped his head a little to hard,as he was finnaslly wearing a winnign team's apppearal,but then saw the Yankee cap in front of him....and he walked aroudn with both on as the most mis-matched person in the ballpark.
** It was also funny to note we had Cosmo Macero of Fox25 "Heavy Hitters" fame atthe ballpark today. I attemtped to get him to sign a ball ("You;re kidding,right kid") and failed,but DID get his buisness card. =]
** I signed upa nd did the Rent-all on-field trivia game and won a t-shirt and the afore-mentioned foam ball.
NOW,to the story:
Today Matt Bishop faced off against Richard Bartlett and the Grays. Bishop was outstanding today through 6 innings,giving up only 2 runs on 7 hits aginst a good-hitting traveling team.
Bartlett wishes he had even half-as-good an outing through the 5 innings he worked. He gave up 12 hits,at least one to every member of the Spirit but Josue. He also gave up 8 runs which included a two-run homer from Welch and two rbi-singles to Roche. With a 8-2 lead the Spirit seemed to finally be beating a team they SHOULD be beating.
Then came the bottom of the 7th. That inning saw the leave of Bishop who allowed the bases to get loaded on three consecutive singles then let up a double to 3B Ben Tinius that scored two to make it 8-4 Spirit. Out goes Bishop,In comes Jamie Baker. He automatically lets up a sac fly which scores another Gray run then allows back-to-back singles thast score one run and then induces a fly out to BJ. After 2/3 an inning it was time to say adios to Baker and hola to Donny "The Kid" Langdon who got the final out on the first batter he faced.
SO,after 1 inning,the leaving of the starter,and two relievers teaming up to get the 3 outs.....the Spirit held onto the lead,but it was close as it was now 8-6 Spirit after 7. After that the Spirit bullpen of Langdon and Derek Drage combined to hold down the Grays offense the final two innings. The Spirit would strike once more in the 8th inning as Luis Lopez came through with an rbi-double to give the Spirit a little bit of breathing room with a 9-6 lead.
The other run for the Grays came on a weird play. C JB Tucker and DH Sean ''Don't-call-me-a-convict'' Gamble lead off with singles. They then would go on to succedd in a double-steal. First Gamble went to second and was ruled safe. As Roche looekd doubtfully at second Tucker was able to make it safely home.
But it was then 9-7 Spirit at the end of 8,and the Grays would not score in the next inning,and the score stayed. Bishop would get his 9th win,Bartlett his 8th loss and Drage would pitch well to pick up his 11th save of the year. The Spirit would gain a half game on Atlantic City due to a cancelation and the Grays would remain in 4th.
One thing I should mention that i didn;t above was the fact that Jerson Perez started the game,and left in the third. According to Alan it appeared as though he may have hurt himself somehow in the 2nd on a routine ground-out and was replaced in the 3rd with Gilbert Gil. Gil immediately showed the hustle that Perez seemed to lack the past day or so.....and it seemed to me like Perez needs some time off,and Gil is an excellent replacment for Perez as he gets some time off that I believe he needs and earned.
If there's one thing I'm happy about after finishing this series, besides taking 3-out-of-4, is the fact that a few players have started to perform a little better.....most notably Gary Roche. He;s been an offensive jugarnaut the last couple games,going a total of 8-10 with one walk,3-rbi singles and a 2-run homer. He's also been fielding the ball pretty well. Another person who hjas impressed me is John Welch,who has been hitting the ball a little better and hustling pretty well lately.
SO....for the first time in a while i'd like to announce a player of the game: Gary Roche. He played well again today,drawing in 1/3 of our runs while playing good defense.
ALSO: I would like to add something in this post.
Mr Leahy thanked us for not doing updates until after the tape delay was done. If anyone deserves thanks it's actually the staff at 1510 The Zone.
I would like to personally comend him and the entire 1510 staff for doing outstanding work this season. For them to do these tape delayed broadcasts & live internet streaming (on tape delayed games) to catter both to the fan and the station's live shows is an act that deserves a standing o.
Keep up the good work 1510.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Galvez, Spirit cruise
Since coming to the Spirit at the start of the 2nd half, Gary Galvez has been an entirely different pitcher than he was during his time with Brockton. That trend continued tonight as Galvez got his 4th win in dominating fashion, shutting out the Grays in 7 innings of work en route to a 6-0 Spirit victory.
Gary Roche hit a two-run homer as the Spirit jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. The score stayed that way until the 6th, when BJ Weed and Mike Torres picked up RBIs to increase the cushion to 6-0. Roche went 4-for-4 on the night, his first solid game since changing his at bat music from 'Salio El Sol.'
Donny Langdon and Derek Drage teamed up to get through the last two innings, although Drage did put two men on in the 9th before ultimately closing the door.
The series wraps up tomorrow.
File under "Speak of the Devil": Rumor has it that Nilson Teilon will be on his way back to Lynn within the next few weeks. Maybe my postings have bizarre psychic powers? We could certainly use him - I could see an arrangement of Teilon at 3rd, Luis at 1st, Josue to DH, and Mottram strictly as a backup catcher. I'd be pretty darn happy with that setup.
Gary Roche hit a two-run homer as the Spirit jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. The score stayed that way until the 6th, when BJ Weed and Mike Torres picked up RBIs to increase the cushion to 6-0. Roche went 4-for-4 on the night, his first solid game since changing his at bat music from 'Salio El Sol.'
Donny Langdon and Derek Drage teamed up to get through the last two innings, although Drage did put two men on in the 9th before ultimately closing the door.
The series wraps up tomorrow.
File under "Speak of the Devil": Rumor has it that Nilson Teilon will be on his way back to Lynn within the next few weeks. Maybe my postings have bizarre psychic powers? We could certainly use him - I could see an arrangement of Teilon at 3rd, Luis at 1st, Josue to DH, and Mottram strictly as a backup catcher. I'd be pretty darn happy with that setup.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Comfortable win
It was one of those comfortable nights at the ballyard - a night when the Spirit basically controlled the entire game. There were no intense nail-biting moments. This game was what it was - fairly boring, for the most part, but it got the job done.
There was only one really frustrating moment, and that came early on in, in the top of the 2nd. With the score tied 1-1, the Spirit managed to put together an inning where they got four hits and no runs. Jerson Perez led it off with a single but was caught stealing 2nd (don't they read the blog? Sheesh); the Spirit got three more singles in the inning, but couldn't bring anyone around to score.
But it wasn't really that troubling, because the game always felt like it was under control. Bicondoa was, as usual, solid, and gave up 2 runs on 7 strong innings to earn the victory.
The Spirit only needed one more inning after that aggravating 2nd to bust out. In the top half of the 3rd, Luiz Lopez ripped an RBI double to left field which scored Alex Trezza and gave North Shore a 2-1 lead. Later in the inning, Josue got his first 2 RBI on the night when he laced a double to right-center that made it 4-1 Spirit.
Things just kind of churned along with Bic in control and Fontella Jones, the Grays starter and loser, settling down, until the 6th, when John Welch smoked a solo homer to left to increase the lead to four.
In the bottom half of the 6th, Ben Tinius got one back for the Grays on a disputed inside the park home run. He hit a hard smash to deep center but BJ Weed appeared to have tracked it down and caught the ball in spectacular fashion, banging into the CF wall in the process. Evidently, he didn't have the ball long enough and it popped out of his glove, because while the Spirit sort of inched their way toward the dugout, Tinius busted around the bases and was ruled safe by the umps.
We booed, mainly out of obligation; but to be honest, it wasn't all that troubling.
The Spirit, as I figured they would, got the run right back on a Jerson Perez solo home run in the top of the 7th to make it 7-2.
Josue Lopez added one last blast of fun into the night, hammering a two-run homer in the 9th to give us our final score of 9-2.
3 home runs in one game has been an extreme rarity this season in the CanAm League, and especially for the Spirit - so this was a moment to enjoy.
Donny Langdon and Derek Drage tag-teamed to pitch a scoreless final two innings for North Shore, nailing down what proved to be an easy victory from start to finish.
There was only one really frustrating moment, and that came early on in, in the top of the 2nd. With the score tied 1-1, the Spirit managed to put together an inning where they got four hits and no runs. Jerson Perez led it off with a single but was caught stealing 2nd (don't they read the blog? Sheesh); the Spirit got three more singles in the inning, but couldn't bring anyone around to score.
But it wasn't really that troubling, because the game always felt like it was under control. Bicondoa was, as usual, solid, and gave up 2 runs on 7 strong innings to earn the victory.
The Spirit only needed one more inning after that aggravating 2nd to bust out. In the top half of the 3rd, Luiz Lopez ripped an RBI double to left field which scored Alex Trezza and gave North Shore a 2-1 lead. Later in the inning, Josue got his first 2 RBI on the night when he laced a double to right-center that made it 4-1 Spirit.
Things just kind of churned along with Bic in control and Fontella Jones, the Grays starter and loser, settling down, until the 6th, when John Welch smoked a solo homer to left to increase the lead to four.
In the bottom half of the 6th, Ben Tinius got one back for the Grays on a disputed inside the park home run. He hit a hard smash to deep center but BJ Weed appeared to have tracked it down and caught the ball in spectacular fashion, banging into the CF wall in the process. Evidently, he didn't have the ball long enough and it popped out of his glove, because while the Spirit sort of inched their way toward the dugout, Tinius busted around the bases and was ruled safe by the umps.
We booed, mainly out of obligation; but to be honest, it wasn't all that troubling.
The Spirit, as I figured they would, got the run right back on a Jerson Perez solo home run in the top of the 7th to make it 7-2.
Josue Lopez added one last blast of fun into the night, hammering a two-run homer in the 9th to give us our final score of 9-2.
3 home runs in one game has been an extreme rarity this season in the CanAm League, and especially for the Spirit - so this was a moment to enjoy.
Donny Langdon and Derek Drage tag-teamed to pitch a scoreless final two innings for North Shore, nailing down what proved to be an easy victory from start to finish.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
And that's why you stay 'til the end of the game
It's cliche, I know - but the reason why it's worth it to wait in line for 2 hours, or get ripped off by some lowlife scalper, is because you never know what you're going to see at the ballpark.
So, the Red Sox are now 2-41 when trailing after 8 innings. Thank you Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek and Coco Crisp! Oh, and don't forget Lester, Timlin and Gagne.
The ovation for Lester when he came out of the bullpen before the game gave me the chills, and being part of the crowd as we all stood for the ENTIRE 9th inning was amazing. Belief is back!
Video from Fenway as Timlin gets a big K with the bases loaded in the 8th, the crowd sings Sweet Caroline, and Lugo gets a big ovation to start the bottom of the 8th:
In Brockton we had another nailbiter:
(from the Spirit site)
By John Leahy Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Jerson Perez went 3-for-4 and Julio Soriano fanned Brockton's Lee Rubin with the tying run on in the bottom of the ninth as the North Shore Spirit held off the Brockton Rox for a 6-5 victory at Campanelli Stadium in game two of their three game series.
The Spirit broke on top 2-0 in the second against Rox lefthander Bryan Morse, who had one-hit the Spirit in his last start. Luis Lopez singled and and one out later moved to third on a Jersen Perez single. Josue Lopez delivered a clutch two-run single for the 2-0 Spirit advantage.
Brockton took the lead in the bottom of the fifth against Spirit starter Matt Bishop (8-4) with a four-run inning. Three straight hits opened the inning, with Jared Edmonson's infield hit scoring the first run. Lee Rubin blasted a three run homer later on in the inning for a 4-2 Rox lead.
The Spirit rallied right back in the top of the sixth. Mike Torres and Luis Lopez cracked back to back doubles to open the inning for a run to make it a 4-3 game. One out later, Jerson Perez singled and was doubled in by Allen Mottram to tie things up at 4-4.
North Shore then plated a pair of runs in the seventh, on an RBI double by Jerson Perez and a wild pitch by Rox reliever Jon Koch ( 0-3) for the sixth run.
The Rox were not done, as they rallied in the bottom of the ninth for the second straight evening. With one out, Melvin Falu doubled off of Spirit reliever Brandon Martin and then scored on a Jared Edmonson single to make it 6-5. Martin fanned Jorge Mejia for the second
out, and Soriano came out of the pen and struck out Rubin swinging.
Very nice.
So, back to Fraser tomorrow - time to finish off the sweep. Bring your brooms and hawaiian shirts!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Wow
Christ on a Cracker, that game got DRAMATIC. Wow. My pulse is still returning to normal after that one. DAMN those Rox are a FEISTY bunch.
The live-blog below this post is pretty much an accurate stream-of-consciousness rambling of what I was feeling in the 9th.
The Spirit took a fairly comfortable 6-3 lead into the 9th inning, but Derek Drage continued to be a 'heart attack closer' tonight, letting the Rox crawl right back into the game.
Rox slugger Francisco LeBron came up to bat with the bases loaded and 2 out and drew a four-pitch walk to make it 6-4.
Then, John Allen hit a ground ball up the middle that was booted by Gary Roche, continuing the game and allowing a run to score.
Tony Gonzalez came to the plate with the bases loaded and a chance to win the game. After a nail-biting at bat, Drage reared back and whiffed Gonzalez to finally end the game and give Gary Galvez a well-deserved victory.
Gary Galvez (is it bad that I want to write Gary Glitter?) gave up 2 runs on 6 hits in 6.2 strong innings of work.
Donny Langdon came in and got the last out in the 7th, but gave up a leadoff single in the 8th. He was then replaced by Jamie Baker, who came in to face Francisco LeBron.
Baker walked LeBron, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out, but Baker escaped the jam and got three huge outs to maintain the 6-3 lead --- every bit of which would be needed.
At the plate, Mike Torres and Anton French starred with 3 hits apiece. Torres also had 2 RBI on the day, including an RBI triple in the 8th.
Luis Lopez added an RBI double in the 8th inning to score Torres with what would end up being the winning run.
Nice.
The live-blog below this post is pretty much an accurate stream-of-consciousness rambling of what I was feeling in the 9th.
The Spirit took a fairly comfortable 6-3 lead into the 9th inning, but Derek Drage continued to be a 'heart attack closer' tonight, letting the Rox crawl right back into the game.
Rox slugger Francisco LeBron came up to bat with the bases loaded and 2 out and drew a four-pitch walk to make it 6-4.
Then, John Allen hit a ground ball up the middle that was booted by Gary Roche, continuing the game and allowing a run to score.
Tony Gonzalez came to the plate with the bases loaded and a chance to win the game. After a nail-biting at bat, Drage reared back and whiffed Gonzalez to finally end the game and give Gary Galvez a well-deserved victory.
Gary Galvez (is it bad that I want to write Gary Glitter?) gave up 2 runs on 6 hits in 6.2 strong innings of work.
Donny Langdon came in and got the last out in the 7th, but gave up a leadoff single in the 8th. He was then replaced by Jamie Baker, who came in to face Francisco LeBron.
Baker walked LeBron, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out, but Baker escaped the jam and got three huge outs to maintain the 6-3 lead --- every bit of which would be needed.
At the plate, Mike Torres and Anton French starred with 3 hits apiece. Torres also had 2 RBI on the day, including an RBI triple in the 8th.
Luis Lopez added an RBI double in the 8th inning to score Torres with what would end up being the winning run.
Nice.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Spirit lose game three
So, the Skyhawks salvaged game three of the series today with a 6-5, 10 inning win. Derek Drage took the loss for the Spirit.
No biggie - we won 2 out of 3 on the weekend, so mission accomplished.
Off to Brockton now to start a big series. Well, who am I kidding - they are ALL big series from here on out. It's crunch time, baby. Gotta love pennant races...even if they leave you lacking for fingernails from time to time.
Sorry for the sparse updates this weekend - I've been out and about and away from the computer.
Among other things, I attended a mind-blowingly awesome concert on Saturday night in Boston by the one and only Muse:
No biggie - we won 2 out of 3 on the weekend, so mission accomplished.
Off to Brockton now to start a big series. Well, who am I kidding - they are ALL big series from here on out. It's crunch time, baby. Gotta love pennant races...even if they leave you lacking for fingernails from time to time.
Sorry for the sparse updates this weekend - I've been out and about and away from the computer.
Among other things, I attended a mind-blowingly awesome concert on Saturday night in Boston by the one and only Muse:
I'm not a big concert guy, but Muse kicks ASS... I will always make sure to get tickets whenever they are in town.
I also took the T back home to Revere to attend our annual neighborhood block party.... it's a municipal election year, so needless to say, every politician in the universe was there gladhanding. It was kind of sad. You can always count on the local politicos to turn out in force at any community gathering.
Surprise, surprise.
All in all, I'm pretty glad I spent the weekend away from baseball -- the results down in Baltimore weren't good at all, and I think that if I had watched Kentucky Fried Kevin hit a walkoff home run against the Sox, and then listened the Spirit lose to Sussex in extra innings all within a short span, I would have been pretty ticked off.
Looking at it from the macro perspective, however, the Spirit got the job done this weekend. But I'm not sure you can say the same for the struggling boys in Boston.
It should be an interesting week in the world of baseball. But isn't it always?
Friday, August 10, 2007
SUSSEX PULLS A SUSSEX
Anton French, making his Spirit debut in a pinch-hitting role, lined an RBI single into right-center to score Gilbert Gil and give the Spirit a 1-0 lead in the 8th inning. That would be all the scoring the Spirit would need as Dennis Robinson pitched a complete game shutout (!!!) to give North Shore the victory.
The game had been an epic pitcher's duel between Dennis Robinson and Jamie Merchant. Merchant retired 12 Spirit batters in a row from the 4th to the 7th. He had given up no runs on just 3 hits.
So, naturally, the Skyhawks took him out in the 8th in favor of Dayle Campbell. Campbell served up a pair of hits in the 8th, including the RBI single by French, to break the game's long deadlock.
The game had been an epic pitcher's duel between Dennis Robinson and Jamie Merchant. Merchant retired 12 Spirit batters in a row from the 4th to the 7th. He had given up no runs on just 3 hits.
So, naturally, the Skyhawks took him out in the 8th in favor of Dayle Campbell. Campbell served up a pair of hits in the 8th, including the RBI single by French, to break the game's long deadlock.
Spirit Swept By Rox In DH ; Onwards To Sussex!
Tonight Joe won't make it back till late--so he asked me to do the update tonight.
So here it goes:
FIRST OFF: I want to state that Josue finally got hte recognition he deserves....as he and Joey Siak recieved Player of the Month honors from the Spirit. Congrats on continuing to pitch great Joey and it's nice to know Josue was recognised for a month in which he proved why we should start the official "I ♥ Josue" fan cluib. ^_^
Back to buisness.....
For starters: I want Morse back. :'-[
He was a good guy (from what we saw,at least) and is STILL a damn good pitcher. We were on a 5-game winnign streak going into today,and he derailed us......he is still an awesome pitcher in my opinion.....but too bad we traded him. =[
ANYWAYS--In game one former Spirit Bryan Morse went aginst current Spirit Matt Bishop as the Rox came up to Lynn to finish their weirdly-scheduled series against us. Both pitchers were brilliant in this game,but Morse proved that he is still one of the best pitchers in this league as he went the distance in the 1-0 shutout victory for the Rox.
It was vinatge Morse out there for Brockton. He went the complete game for the Rox pitching a one-hit shutout for the Rox. The Sprit would only come close to scoring once in the 7th. After two straight outs and a Torres walk Luis Lopez came up. He hit a deep ball out to right center......and we all thought it was gone as Brockton CF Matt Maloney chased it down. Then we saw him jump up and reach his glove out......AND ROB LOPEZ OF A 2-RUN BLAST! That was the closest the Spirit came all night....and it was shot down with an amazing catch by the Center feidler.
Bishop only allowed (including last night) 8 hits the entire game to Brockton while striking out 4 and walking 4. Even though Brockton got runners on they didn;t get past second until the 9th. In that inning Matt Maloney,with one out,got a single. That was the end of bishop's night and the start of Derek Drage's. Drago came in and Maloney stole a base, and Andre Alvarado followed that with an rbi single to right. But some bad baserunning lead to a 9/2/4 out. Then Lee Rubin poped up to end the 9th for the Rox.
As you can tell,it was a pretty good pitcher's duel....but in the end only one could prevail,and it's the one we all thought would in this situation.
Now onto game 2:
This game sped by quick,lasting only 1 hour,42 minutes. Game 2 featured former Rox Gary Galvez going against current Rox Mike McTamney. This one wasn't really a pitcher's duel,but the Spirit were still held to little offense as the Rox went on to win 3-1 in this 7-innign affair.
Mike McTamney also went the distance for Brockton,throwing a complete game and allowing only 1 run on 5 hits. The Spirit got their onyl run on an Alex Trezza homer in the 2nd,his 9th of the year. the Spirit got close again the next innign with runners on 2nd and 3r and Trezza up again,but he couldn't come through again-strikign out to end the inning and any threat of scoring from the Spirit.
Galvez almost went the distance for the Spirit,going 6 2/3 innings,but didn't pitch well enough afor a win. In that time he gave up 3 runs on 4 hits while strikign out 5 and walking 3. The Rox got on the board first in the 2nd. The first two batters got on via a walk and getting hit,then Maloney came up and once again helped his team--hitting a three-run bomb,his 2nd of the year,to put the Rox up 3-0. The 7th would be the closest they would come to scoring again,as Julio Soriano c ame in to relieve Galvez in the 7th with runners on 2nd and 3rd to strike out Rubin to end the Rox 7th,and any more scoring.
I also want to add i saw quite a few DeVries Jrs out there today. Not much hustle today.....I felt like chanting run it out a few tiems today. We need a hustle coach--maybe BJ? XD
But,in the end the Spirit came out scoring only 1 hit in 16 innings of baseball on 6 hits,and 2 straight loses.
Now the Spirit move on to a 3-game series in Augusta,NJ aggainst the suckit Skyhawks. This should be an easy couple of wins for us,so let's hope that we can keep up what we've been doing and also cheer them on during this final couple of weeks.
NOW,here's a treat for you all....a post-game wrap-up featuring Joe & Jonathan....
SCORES FROM TONIGHT:
Worcester 4, New Jersey 3
New Haven County 6, Grays 4
Atlantic City 6, Quebec 5
So here it goes:
FIRST OFF: I want to state that Josue finally got hte recognition he deserves....as he and Joey Siak recieved Player of the Month honors from the Spirit. Congrats on continuing to pitch great Joey and it's nice to know Josue was recognised for a month in which he proved why we should start the official "I ♥ Josue" fan cluib. ^_^
Back to buisness.....
For starters: I want Morse back. :'-[
He was a good guy (from what we saw,at least) and is STILL a damn good pitcher. We were on a 5-game winnign streak going into today,and he derailed us......he is still an awesome pitcher in my opinion.....but too bad we traded him. =[
ANYWAYS--In game one former Spirit Bryan Morse went aginst current Spirit Matt Bishop as the Rox came up to Lynn to finish their weirdly-scheduled series against us. Both pitchers were brilliant in this game,but Morse proved that he is still one of the best pitchers in this league as he went the distance in the 1-0 shutout victory for the Rox.
It was vinatge Morse out there for Brockton. He went the complete game for the Rox pitching a one-hit shutout for the Rox. The Sprit would only come close to scoring once in the 7th. After two straight outs and a Torres walk Luis Lopez came up. He hit a deep ball out to right center......and we all thought it was gone as Brockton CF Matt Maloney chased it down. Then we saw him jump up and reach his glove out......AND ROB LOPEZ OF A 2-RUN BLAST! That was the closest the Spirit came all night....and it was shot down with an amazing catch by the Center feidler.
Bishop only allowed (including last night) 8 hits the entire game to Brockton while striking out 4 and walking 4. Even though Brockton got runners on they didn;t get past second until the 9th. In that inning Matt Maloney,with one out,got a single. That was the end of bishop's night and the start of Derek Drage's. Drago came in and Maloney stole a base, and Andre Alvarado followed that with an rbi single to right. But some bad baserunning lead to a 9/2/4 out. Then Lee Rubin poped up to end the 9th for the Rox.
As you can tell,it was a pretty good pitcher's duel....but in the end only one could prevail,and it's the one we all thought would in this situation.
Now onto game 2:
This game sped by quick,lasting only 1 hour,42 minutes. Game 2 featured former Rox Gary Galvez going against current Rox Mike McTamney. This one wasn't really a pitcher's duel,but the Spirit were still held to little offense as the Rox went on to win 3-1 in this 7-innign affair.
Mike McTamney also went the distance for Brockton,throwing a complete game and allowing only 1 run on 5 hits. The Spirit got their onyl run on an Alex Trezza homer in the 2nd,his 9th of the year. the Spirit got close again the next innign with runners on 2nd and 3r and Trezza up again,but he couldn't come through again-strikign out to end the inning and any threat of scoring from the Spirit.
Galvez almost went the distance for the Spirit,going 6 2/3 innings,but didn't pitch well enough afor a win. In that time he gave up 3 runs on 4 hits while strikign out 5 and walking 3. The Rox got on the board first in the 2nd. The first two batters got on via a walk and getting hit,then Maloney came up and once again helped his team--hitting a three-run bomb,his 2nd of the year,to put the Rox up 3-0. The 7th would be the closest they would come to scoring again,as Julio Soriano c ame in to relieve Galvez in the 7th with runners on 2nd and 3rd to strike out Rubin to end the Rox 7th,and any more scoring.
I also want to add i saw quite a few DeVries Jrs out there today. Not much hustle today.....I felt like chanting run it out a few tiems today. We need a hustle coach--maybe BJ? XD
But,in the end the Spirit came out scoring only 1 hit in 16 innings of baseball on 6 hits,and 2 straight loses.
Now the Spirit move on to a 3-game series in Augusta,NJ aggainst the suckit Skyhawks. This should be an easy couple of wins for us,so let's hope that we can keep up what we've been doing and also cheer them on during this final couple of weeks.
NOW,here's a treat for you all....a post-game wrap-up featuring Joe & Jonathan....
SCORES FROM TONIGHT:
Worcester 4, New Jersey 3
New Haven County 6, Grays 4
Atlantic City 6, Quebec 5
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
5-1 FINAL in Brockton
The Can-Am Alert Scale has been raised to Red:
The Spirit have been upgraded from "On a roll" to "On a FREAKIN' UNSTOPPABLE roll."
Nothing can stop these guys right now - not a psycho, ball-chucking rightfielder, not 2004 all-star closer John Koch, not even the great John Kelly can derail the Spirit.
Joey Siak's 8 strong innings were certainly the story of the night, but not to be overlooked is the great performance of Alex Trezza. Trez had 4 hits on the night, including an RBI double in the 10th which scored Mike Torres and gave the Spirit a 3-1 lead.
Jamie Baker pitched a scoreless 9th to earn his 3rd win.
Back to Lynn tomorrow...
The Spirit have been upgraded from "On a roll" to "On a FREAKIN' UNSTOPPABLE roll."
Nothing can stop these guys right now - not a psycho, ball-chucking rightfielder, not 2004 all-star closer John Koch, not even the great John Kelly can derail the Spirit.
Joey Siak's 8 strong innings were certainly the story of the night, but not to be overlooked is the great performance of Alex Trezza. Trez had 4 hits on the night, including an RBI double in the 10th which scored Mike Torres and gave the Spirit a 3-1 lead.
Jamie Baker pitched a scoreless 9th to earn his 3rd win.
Back to Lynn tomorrow...
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Fireworks disrupt a quiet Sunday at the ballyard
Today, the crowd at Fraser Field was treated to a breathtaking game which the Spirit won 3-2 to sweep their 3-game series against the Worcester Tornadoes. But an ugly bench-clearing incident in the fourth inning stole the headlines from Ryan Bicondoa's oustanding victory.
In the middle of the fourth inning, seemingly out of nowhere, a brawl broke out. There is still confusion as to what actually set off the fight, but by most accounts, Carlos Rodriguez tossed a baseball either at Worcester pitcher Alex Pena on his way out of the dugout, or into the Worcester dugout in general. If this is the case, Rodriguez should never play another game in a Spirit uniform again, no matter what his official punishment is from the league. Carlos Marley has already had some off the field issues, but personal issues are one thing, endangering people on the baseball field is another thing entirely.
Rodriguez had been plunked by an 89 mph fastball earlier in the game, but that is no excuse for what he evidently did today.
According to numerous sources after the game, including one player, Worcester's Keith Beauregard had been 'getting into it' verbally with several Spirit players, including Dennis Robinson, throughout the weekend, which set up today's tensions.
In the actual fracas, Josue Lopez bulldozed three Tornadoes players, Rodriguez charged like a bull at a few players but came empty, and Beauregard and Robinson squared off head to head at around the second base bag.
Beauregard got Robinson into somewhat of a headlock and grabbed his hair, and Andy Theriault came flying out of the bullpen to smash Beauregard off of D-Rob.
One has to wonder what Rich Gedman --- absent for the second consecutive game --- would have thought about this ugly incident. I'm guessing he was not happy to hear the news.
Beauregard and bench player Greg Smith were tossed out of the game for Worcester.
On the Spirit side, Josue Lopez and Carlos Rodriguez were tossed. Rumor has it Robinson could be facing league sanctions at some point.
No coaches were ejected.
The most significant event to occur, though, as far as the game was concerned, was the fact that Worcester starter Alex Pena - who at the time had a no-hitter through three innings - hurt his wrist in the fracas and had to leave the game in favor of Reed Willets.
The Spirit responded immediately, as Luis Lopez ripped an RBI single to score Gary Roche to give North Shore the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 4th.
The lead held up until the 8th inning as Bicondoa was simply masterful, baffling Worcester hitters with a solid fastball at around 85-86 MPH and unhittable backdoor breaking balls in the low 80s.
After 7 innings of shutout, 2-hit ball, however, Bicondoa yielded the 1-0 lead in the 8th. Mike DeCarlo blasted a solo homer to deep left to tie the game at 1.
The Spirit rallied around their starter, however, and gave him the victory he deserved with a few clutch runs in the bottom of the 8th.
BJ Weed got it started off of Worcester reliever PJ Bevis with a 1-out single up the middle. Gary Roche followed with his 2nd hit of the day, which advanced Weed to 3rd base; Roche was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double.
With 2 out, Mike Torres hit a high chopper to the second baseman who tossed it toward first, but the ball scooted away from first baseman Yohanny Valera, allowing Torres to reach and Weed to score the go-ahead run.
Alex Trezza added an RBI single later on in the inning to score Torres and give the Spirit a 3-1 lead.
Worcester would not go quietly in the 9th. After Bicondoa got the first two men to go down easily, Omar Pena smashed a 2 out double, which prompted Vic Davilla to make the move to bring in Derek Drage.
As Bicondoa walked off the field, he of course received the rousing standing ovation he deserved for 8.2 excellent innings of work ----------- NOT. Needless to say, Fraser Church remained just that as one of the best pitching performances of the year came to an end.
Bicondoa's final line was very impressive: 8.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 7 K.
Derek Drage had a heart attack moment, giving up a double to Patrick Perry to make it 3-2, but he got Yohanny Valera to pop up to end the game and send the fans home happy.
It was North Shore's 7th straight victory over Worcester and second consecutive series sweep against our Commonwealth Cup rivals.
It should be an interesting off-day tomorrow - hopefully we can get the scoop about potential punishments (either from the league or from the team itself) that come down in response to todays extracurricular activities.
What shouldn't be lost in this, however, is the fact that Bic did an amazing job out there on the hill today. On to Brockton.
In the middle of the fourth inning, seemingly out of nowhere, a brawl broke out. There is still confusion as to what actually set off the fight, but by most accounts, Carlos Rodriguez tossed a baseball either at Worcester pitcher Alex Pena on his way out of the dugout, or into the Worcester dugout in general. If this is the case, Rodriguez should never play another game in a Spirit uniform again, no matter what his official punishment is from the league. Carlos Marley has already had some off the field issues, but personal issues are one thing, endangering people on the baseball field is another thing entirely.
Rodriguez had been plunked by an 89 mph fastball earlier in the game, but that is no excuse for what he evidently did today.
According to numerous sources after the game, including one player, Worcester's Keith Beauregard had been 'getting into it' verbally with several Spirit players, including Dennis Robinson, throughout the weekend, which set up today's tensions.
In the actual fracas, Josue Lopez bulldozed three Tornadoes players, Rodriguez charged like a bull at a few players but came empty, and Beauregard and Robinson squared off head to head at around the second base bag.
Beauregard got Robinson into somewhat of a headlock and grabbed his hair, and Andy Theriault came flying out of the bullpen to smash Beauregard off of D-Rob.
One has to wonder what Rich Gedman --- absent for the second consecutive game --- would have thought about this ugly incident. I'm guessing he was not happy to hear the news.
Beauregard and bench player Greg Smith were tossed out of the game for Worcester.
On the Spirit side, Josue Lopez and Carlos Rodriguez were tossed. Rumor has it Robinson could be facing league sanctions at some point.
No coaches were ejected.
The most significant event to occur, though, as far as the game was concerned, was the fact that Worcester starter Alex Pena - who at the time had a no-hitter through three innings - hurt his wrist in the fracas and had to leave the game in favor of Reed Willets.
The Spirit responded immediately, as Luis Lopez ripped an RBI single to score Gary Roche to give North Shore the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 4th.
The lead held up until the 8th inning as Bicondoa was simply masterful, baffling Worcester hitters with a solid fastball at around 85-86 MPH and unhittable backdoor breaking balls in the low 80s.
After 7 innings of shutout, 2-hit ball, however, Bicondoa yielded the 1-0 lead in the 8th. Mike DeCarlo blasted a solo homer to deep left to tie the game at 1.
The Spirit rallied around their starter, however, and gave him the victory he deserved with a few clutch runs in the bottom of the 8th.
BJ Weed got it started off of Worcester reliever PJ Bevis with a 1-out single up the middle. Gary Roche followed with his 2nd hit of the day, which advanced Weed to 3rd base; Roche was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double.
With 2 out, Mike Torres hit a high chopper to the second baseman who tossed it toward first, but the ball scooted away from first baseman Yohanny Valera, allowing Torres to reach and Weed to score the go-ahead run.
Alex Trezza added an RBI single later on in the inning to score Torres and give the Spirit a 3-1 lead.
Worcester would not go quietly in the 9th. After Bicondoa got the first two men to go down easily, Omar Pena smashed a 2 out double, which prompted Vic Davilla to make the move to bring in Derek Drage.
As Bicondoa walked off the field, he of course received the rousing standing ovation he deserved for 8.2 excellent innings of work ----------- NOT. Needless to say, Fraser Church remained just that as one of the best pitching performances of the year came to an end.
Bicondoa's final line was very impressive: 8.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 7 K.
Derek Drage had a heart attack moment, giving up a double to Patrick Perry to make it 3-2, but he got Yohanny Valera to pop up to end the game and send the fans home happy.
It was North Shore's 7th straight victory over Worcester and second consecutive series sweep against our Commonwealth Cup rivals.
It should be an interesting off-day tomorrow - hopefully we can get the scoop about potential punishments (either from the league or from the team itself) that come down in response to todays extracurricular activities.
What shouldn't be lost in this, however, is the fact that Bic did an amazing job out there on the hill today. On to Brockton.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Another exciting win
Carlos Rodriguez continued his hot return tonight, chipping in a 2-run homer, a triple, and an outfield assist as the Spirit downed the Worcester Tornadoes 6-3 in front of a packed house at Fraser Field.
Dennis Robinson had an outing very similar to his last one in New Haven. He wasn't dominant - he gave up 7 hits and 4 walks in 6.2 innings pitched - but he worked his way out of a lot of jams and was only charged with 3 earned runs as he picked up his third victory of the season. His fastball was consistently in the 85-86 mph range, and he ratcheted it up to 88 and 89 to earn a few outs in big spots. He stayed strong throughout, hitting his high of 89 mph in the 6th inning.
Much like last night, the Spirit rattled Worcester's starter early. Matt Weagle fell to 2-4 for the Tornadoes as he got knocked around for 6 runs in 6 innings of work.
In the 2nd inning, Carlos Rodriguez opened the scoring with a smoked 2 run homer to right field.
One inning later, Worcester threatened to bounce right back. Andrew Wishy blasted a fat one over the rightfield fence to halve North Shore's lead. Then, Robinson walked a man and gave up a single to Dom Ramos to put runners on the corners with 1 out. A stroke of good fortune rescued D-Rob after that. Keith Beauregard smashed one toward short, and Jerson Perez made a NICE leaping catch. He tossed it over to first to double off Ramos - one of many hard-hit double (and triple) plays on the day.
After escaping that jam in the top of the 3rd, the Spirit extended their lead and got all the runs they would need to win. Jerson Perez followed his stellar defensive display in the top half of the inning with a leadoff double in the bottom half. BJ Weed then chopped one at the second baseman Ramos, who made a stupid decision, throwing the ball to 3rd in an attempt to throw out Perez. He overthrew the 3rd baseman, Perez jogged home with the 3rd Spirit run, and Weed moved up into scoring position.
After Gary Roche legged out a bunt single, Mike Torres brought home Weed to make it 4-1 Spirit.
Then, we stepped into bizzaro world. Luis Lopez hit a liner at the shortstop, Omar Pena. Pena dropped the liner, but obviously neither Roche nor Torres left their bases. Pena stepped on 2nd, retiring Torres, tagged out Roche for the 2nd out, then threw to first where Lopez was retired. Bing-bing-bing --- triple play.
Luckily, that wound up not being a big factor in the game, as Carlos Rodriguez's triple in the
4th followed by a wild pitch netted another insurance run.
There was some more scoring in what amounted to the baseball equivalent of 'garbage time,' but Jamie Baker (1.1 IP, 0 ER) and Derek Drage (1.0 IP, 0 ER, SV) paved the way to North Shore's 3rd straight victory and 5th in the last 6 games.
The Spirit go for the sweep at 1 PM tomorrow and Bic will be on the hill.
Dennis Robinson had an outing very similar to his last one in New Haven. He wasn't dominant - he gave up 7 hits and 4 walks in 6.2 innings pitched - but he worked his way out of a lot of jams and was only charged with 3 earned runs as he picked up his third victory of the season. His fastball was consistently in the 85-86 mph range, and he ratcheted it up to 88 and 89 to earn a few outs in big spots. He stayed strong throughout, hitting his high of 89 mph in the 6th inning.
Much like last night, the Spirit rattled Worcester's starter early. Matt Weagle fell to 2-4 for the Tornadoes as he got knocked around for 6 runs in 6 innings of work.
In the 2nd inning, Carlos Rodriguez opened the scoring with a smoked 2 run homer to right field.
One inning later, Worcester threatened to bounce right back. Andrew Wishy blasted a fat one over the rightfield fence to halve North Shore's lead. Then, Robinson walked a man and gave up a single to Dom Ramos to put runners on the corners with 1 out. A stroke of good fortune rescued D-Rob after that. Keith Beauregard smashed one toward short, and Jerson Perez made a NICE leaping catch. He tossed it over to first to double off Ramos - one of many hard-hit double (and triple) plays on the day.
After escaping that jam in the top of the 3rd, the Spirit extended their lead and got all the runs they would need to win. Jerson Perez followed his stellar defensive display in the top half of the inning with a leadoff double in the bottom half. BJ Weed then chopped one at the second baseman Ramos, who made a stupid decision, throwing the ball to 3rd in an attempt to throw out Perez. He overthrew the 3rd baseman, Perez jogged home with the 3rd Spirit run, and Weed moved up into scoring position.
After Gary Roche legged out a bunt single, Mike Torres brought home Weed to make it 4-1 Spirit.
Then, we stepped into bizzaro world. Luis Lopez hit a liner at the shortstop, Omar Pena. Pena dropped the liner, but obviously neither Roche nor Torres left their bases. Pena stepped on 2nd, retiring Torres, tagged out Roche for the 2nd out, then threw to first where Lopez was retired. Bing-bing-bing --- triple play.
Luckily, that wound up not being a big factor in the game, as Carlos Rodriguez's triple in the
4th followed by a wild pitch netted another insurance run.
There was some more scoring in what amounted to the baseball equivalent of 'garbage time,' but Jamie Baker (1.1 IP, 0 ER) and Derek Drage (1.0 IP, 0 ER, SV) paved the way to North Shore's 3rd straight victory and 5th in the last 6 games.
The Spirit go for the sweep at 1 PM tomorrow and Bic will be on the hill.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Game over before it starts: Spirit crush Worcester 12-2
Gary Galvez had his most impressive outing of the season tonight, going the distance and giving up only two runs as the Spirit beat Worcester 12-2 in front of a good crowd on Doug Flutie night at Fraser Field.
The game also featured the glorious return of Carlos Rodriguez, who picked up two hits, drove in two runs, and got one of his trademark outfield assists.
Galvez had good velocity and consistency with his fastball tonight, hitting 91 at a regular basis and topping out at 94 MPH in the 4th inning. He added in a few breaking pitches at around 72-75 MPH to keep hitters off balance.
He gave up a leadoff triple in the 3rd inning to Greg Smith, who came around to score on a sacrifice fly, then was hit pretty well in the 4th but escaped a jam. The first batter, Keith Beauregard, lined one back toward Galvez, who stuck out his glove and caught the ball. The 2nd batter of the inning reached with a base hit, which was followed by another hit by Patrick Perry. Perry got greedy on the play, however, and was gunned out running to 2nd base by Carlos Rodriguez.
From that point on, Galvez was almost untouchable, save for a 2nd Worcester run scored on an E5 in the 6th.
Galvez's counterpart, Mike "Don't call me mee-ger, don't spell it Ma-Ha" Meagher, did not have the same success - he was hung out to dry by Rich Gedman, iving up 10 runs on 7 hits and 6 walks in 3 1/3 innings.
The Spirit offense ripped it open early on, batting around in the first inning. In Carlos Rodriguez's first at-bat back with the Spirit, he ripped an RBI double. Josue Lopez and Luis Lopez also had RBIs in the first as the Spirit jumped out to a 4-0 lead.
After Carlos Rodriguez, Alan Mottram, and Alex Trezza added RBI hits in the 4th, Jerson Perez absolutely nailed it down with a 3 run homer to right which made it 10-1.
North Shore added two more in the 8th to make it 12-2, which would be the final score.
*
I, for one, think it's great to have C-Rod back --- for all his faults (such as his .212 average and his off the field 'issues') the guy is a beast with a cannon arm and great power. We badly needed another power threat in the lineup in the absence of Vic Davilla. The lack of power is a great flaw on the '07 Spirit - as evidenced by the fact that Blakely is still 2nd on the team in homers.
Welcome back, C-Rod.
The game also featured the glorious return of Carlos Rodriguez, who picked up two hits, drove in two runs, and got one of his trademark outfield assists.
Galvez had good velocity and consistency with his fastball tonight, hitting 91 at a regular basis and topping out at 94 MPH in the 4th inning. He added in a few breaking pitches at around 72-75 MPH to keep hitters off balance.
He gave up a leadoff triple in the 3rd inning to Greg Smith, who came around to score on a sacrifice fly, then was hit pretty well in the 4th but escaped a jam. The first batter, Keith Beauregard, lined one back toward Galvez, who stuck out his glove and caught the ball. The 2nd batter of the inning reached with a base hit, which was followed by another hit by Patrick Perry. Perry got greedy on the play, however, and was gunned out running to 2nd base by Carlos Rodriguez.
From that point on, Galvez was almost untouchable, save for a 2nd Worcester run scored on an E5 in the 6th.
Galvez's counterpart, Mike "Don't call me mee-ger, don't spell it Ma-Ha" Meagher, did not have the same success - he was hung out to dry by Rich Gedman, iving up 10 runs on 7 hits and 6 walks in 3 1/3 innings.
The Spirit offense ripped it open early on, batting around in the first inning. In Carlos Rodriguez's first at-bat back with the Spirit, he ripped an RBI double. Josue Lopez and Luis Lopez also had RBIs in the first as the Spirit jumped out to a 4-0 lead.
After Carlos Rodriguez, Alan Mottram, and Alex Trezza added RBI hits in the 4th, Jerson Perez absolutely nailed it down with a 3 run homer to right which made it 10-1.
North Shore added two more in the 8th to make it 12-2, which would be the final score.
*
I, for one, think it's great to have C-Rod back --- for all his faults (such as his .212 average and his off the field 'issues') the guy is a beast with a cannon arm and great power. We badly needed another power threat in the lineup in the absence of Vic Davilla. The lack of power is a great flaw on the '07 Spirit - as evidenced by the fact that Blakely is still 2nd on the team in homers.
Welcome back, C-Rod.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Three runs in the eighth give the Spirit a huge, huge win
I just got back to my room in time to listen to the bottom of the 9th inning, where Derek Drage closed the door on the Cutters.
After giving up single runs in the 3rd and the 5th, the Spirit roared back to score three runs in the 8th inning to win the game 3-2.
Mike Torres blasted a 2 run homer to tie the game. Luis Lopez followed Torres with a double. Then, Alex Trezza brought him home with a game-winning triple.
The win gives the Spirit a 3-1 record on their trip to New Haven.
We start another tough series against Worcester at Fraser Field tomorrow.
NSS 3 9 1
NHC 2 8 1
W) J Baker 3-1
L) A Weimer 2-4
S) D Drage 7
After giving up single runs in the 3rd and the 5th, the Spirit roared back to score three runs in the 8th inning to win the game 3-2.
Mike Torres blasted a 2 run homer to tie the game. Luis Lopez followed Torres with a double. Then, Alex Trezza brought him home with a game-winning triple.
The win gives the Spirit a 3-1 record on their trip to New Haven.
We start another tough series against Worcester at Fraser Field tomorrow.
NSS 3 9 1
NHC 2 8 1
W) J Baker 3-1
L) A Weimer 2-4
S) D Drage 7
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