Mont. jury awards $850,000 in aluminum bat lawsuit

I'm sure opinions will vary, though most people I've talked to fall into two catagories. One being, what the hell was this jury smoking? And the other being that this will help get rid of "dangerous" aluminum bats in little league/high school/legion ball.

 "I'm just kind of using it just to try to have some contact in that spot, and maybe be able to move some runners and hit and run and that kind of stuff, get some at-bats for some guys," interim manager Jim Riggleman said. "It's not a classic DH spot where we're looking for our DH to give us 25 to 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, that's just not what we are. So I'm fine with it the way it is."

Eh...Riggleman is just toeing the line, right? He can't possibly believe that running Vidro out there is effective each day.

But wait...

"It's not a classic DH situation, but I feel good every time he walks up to the plate," Riggleman said. "The numbers may say otherwise, but I think he's going to give us good at-bats."

Kind of akin to saying, "yeah, doctors may say eating five pound bags of refined sugar is bad for you, but I feel good every time I do it."

*sigh*

If you dare...

28 homers and none on the Gold Ball.

What a jerk.

But seriously, 518 feet is a long, long way to hit a ball when it is coming in at ~50-60mph. Insanely impressive, even without the sappy story ESPN wouldn't shut the hell up about.

(Apparently, even I now have to meet the 75 word minimum. I want to go back to the old site. These rules just aren't very much fun.)

Awesome finish.

But it also finished my bracket.

After about a month of research and several hours of review reading, I decided to buy a Zune 80 (with intention of getting a Zune pass)

Does anyone else have one? Like it? Hate it?

Roommate has an iPod and I can't stand the idea of Apple's lack of subscription service.

Further, if you don't own a Zune, what DO you have and how do you like it?

What Drudge looks like right now: http://www.drudgereport.com

What I wish Drudge would look like on my browser: http://lookoutlanding.com/images/admin/wfb.JPG

Just a quick memo on this year's extremely exciting Blarch Badness competition, in which Lookout Landing has been rocking the socks off other blogs.

As many of you know, LL was busted when a few regulars around here decided to "stuff the box". While it's a great (albeit unsportsmanlike) strategy to actually score a W, it's not very nice and those running Metblogs weren't pleased. In fact, LL faced possible sanctions that zero of you would want to see implemented.

I've been asked to tell everyone to not get that urge again. It won't be taken lightly and doing so could run the risk of getting LL the boot from the competition.

With that out of the way, let's win this mother.

Jeff's note: HAHAHAHA WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

As Tim and MFaninAlaska pointed out, Eddie Guardado and cash has been dealt to the Reds for RHP Travis Chick.

Chick's star has faded markedly since the end of 2004 when most thought he would be a quality starter with just a bit more polish. Since then, Chick has been inconsistent and gets roughed up more than you'd like to see from someone who was held in such high regard. Still, he only just turned 22 and he there's no indication he's lost any velocity or nastiness off his slider, so there's hope.

As for Guardado, see you later. His role tailed off to near nothingness in Seattle after losing his job to the infallible JJ Putz and he wasn't going to get much of a chance to take it back. He's been bad and losing him doesn't hurt the pen any that I can see. It opens up a spot, so I'm sure we'll see some kind of follow-up move soon.

Just like to apologize for the horrible reliability of the wraps this season. I seem to have a lot of trouble getting to my machine between the hours of 9pm and 11am, which is the most logical span of time to post the wraps.

I'm working on it, I promise. Thanks for your patience, guys. Really appreciate it.

A bit under the weather today so we're going to fly with just boxes and notables. Back to regular wraps tomorrow.

Sacramento 11 - Tacoma 1

Notables:

Rich Dorman: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 5 K.
Adam Jones: 2-4.
Bryan LaHair: 1-2, 2 BB.
Jon Nelson: 1-3, 1 2B.
Scott(y) Youngbauer: 1-3, 1 BB.

San Antonio 6 - Midland 4 (11)

Notables:

Nate Mateo: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Sebastien Boucher: 1-4, 2 BB.
Erick Monzon: 2-6, 1 HR, 1 RBI.
Wladimir Balentien: 1-6, 1 HR, 2 RBI.
Jack Arroyo: 2-5.

Inland Empire 4 - Visalia 3

Notables:

Cibney Blows: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 2 HR.
Marshall Hubbard: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB.
Mike Wilson: 1-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 1-4.
Josh Freakin' Womack: 2-4.

Quad Cities 9 - Wisconsin 8

Notables:

Ruben Flores: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
Jeff Dominguez: 2-5.
Luis Valbuena: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI.
Ron Garth: 2-5, 1 2B.
Eddy Hernandez: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 BB.

On the docket:

Tacoma: Clint Nageotte at Sacramento. Game time is 1:05pm PDT.
San Antonio: Yorman Bazardo at Midland. Game time is 4:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: Aaron Jensen at Visalia. Game time is 1:35pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Paul Fagan at Quad Cities. Game time is 12:00pm PDT.

Farm system anti-sweep!

Sacramento edged Tacoma, 2-1. This was one of those games where you feel really, really bad for the starting pitcher. Not because he went totally Bello on your team, but because he was nearly flawless and came away with nothing to show for it. Cesar Jimenez had a excellent game going six shutout innings allowing only five hit and a couple walks while striking out five. After a Bryan LaHair RBI single in the sixth put the Rainiers up 1-0, Aaron Looper and Sean Green both surrendered runs to give the River Cats the lead and the game.

Notables:

Cesar Jimenez: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
Shin-soo Choo: 1-5, 1 2B.
Chris Snelling: 1-4.
Bryan LaHair: 2-4, 1 RBI.
Asdrubal Cabrera: 1-4.

Midland got by San Antonio, 9-7. If baseball had mulligans, I'm pretty sure Travis Blackley would have taken his after this performance. Blackley was smoked for four runs in the first inning and ended up somehow lasting five having given up six runs on nine hits (2 homers) while walking one and not recording a strikeout. San Antonio got all seven of their runs in ONE INNING:

Hey, Grover's kid managed a single. Way to go, Andy -- now that we've given your dad his favor, can we release you?

Notables:

Travis Blackley: 5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 2 HR.
Sebastien Boucher: 1-3, 2 BB.
Jesus Guzman: 2-5, 1 RBI.
Kevin Reynolds: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Gary Harris: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI.

Visalia handled Inland Empire, 8-5. This game hurts. It hurts to have a two run lead until the seventh and then give up a five-spot. It hurts even more to battle back and tie it only for something like this to happen in the bottom of the ninth:

Reid Brignac? Yeah, he's slugging .540 and such, but giving up a walkoff homer to a guy named Reid Brignac is up there with getting shot in the nuts with a potato gun loaded with BB's and rabid squirrels. Shawn Nottingham gave up a couple earned runs over 6.2 innings, but it was Ryan Rowland-Smith (remember him?) who gave up the bomb. Yung Chi Chen, Mike Wilson and Marshall Hubbard all went multi-hit on the offensive side.

Notables:

Shawn Nottingham: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.
Yung Chi Chen: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 RBI.
Marshall Hubbard: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI.
Mike Wilson: 2-4, 1 RBI.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI.

Quad Cities smoked Wisconsin, 7-1. Despite four errors on the evening, all seven runs were earned, so while you can blame the defense for some of this debacle, you can't lay it all on them. Marwin Vega continues to suck at pitching as he went only 2.1 innings and gave up three runs on five hits while walking three and fanning three. Despite eight hits and a walk, the T-Rats failed to do anything while runners were on and, as mentioned before, were ridiculous looking in the field. Not a good night for the A level club.

Notables:

Marwin Vega: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Luis Valbuena: 2-4.
Jeff Flaig: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Jairo Hernandez: 2-3, 1 2B.

Tacoma shut down Sacramento, 8-3. Could we finally be seeing a back-on-track Bobby Livingston? Let's hope so, for his sake and for the Mariners. Livingston went six strong innings allowing a couple runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out five. He's not totally back, it seems, but that's certainly an improvement from what we've seen this past month or so. The offense relied heavily on Rob Johnson and his triple and three RBI to help carry the team. Adam Jones, Shin-soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera and The Dobber all went multi-hit as well.

Notables:

Bobby Livingston: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
Shin-soo Choo: 4-5.
Adam Jones: 3-5, 1 RBI.
Greg Dobbs: 2-5, 1 RBI.
Rob Johnson: 2-4, 1 3B, 3 RBI.
Asdrubal Cabrera: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI.

San Antonio held off Midland, 6-5. Hoo-wee, what a ninth for Stephen Kahn and the Missions. Up 6-2, here's how it went down:

Had they lost, I would have blamed Andrew Hargrove, who went 0-4 with 3 K. Yeah. Anyway, Adam Pettyjohn had a nice little game going six innings giving up two runs on six hits while fanning five and walking only one. Since Grover's kid was busy sucking, Sebastien Boucher picked up the slack by smacking two baseknocks and picking up three RBI. Justin Ruchti also had three hits on the evening.

Notables:

Adam Pettyjohn: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
Sebastien Boucher: 2-4, 1 3B, 1 BB, 3 RBI.
Oswaldo Navarro: 2-5, 1 RBI.
Justin Ruchti: 3-4.
Gary Harris: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB.

Inland Empire blanked San Jose, 7-0. Justin Thomas is good. He showed he could hang in A ball, now he's proving the same point in high-A. Thomas went  six superb shutout innings scattering six hits and a couple walks while fanning eight. This makes two excellent starts for IE, we could potentially see him in San Antonio before the season is over. As for the sticks, a Marshall Hubbard homer and three hits apiece from Brent Johnson and Willie Ballgame Lite paved the way to the 66ers victory.

Notables:

Justin Thomas: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K.
Brent Johnson: 3-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI.
Marshall Hubbard: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 1-4, 1 RBI.
Ron Prettyman: 1-4, 2 RBI.
Josh Freakin' Womack: 3-4.

Wisconsin split their doubleheader, 2-1 and 1-2. Game one featured Harold Williams who was pretty good if you ignore his wildness. Williams walked four on the day but only gave up a run on two hits over six innings. He also struck out three. Wisconsin managed eight hits in the game, but all were singles.

Notables:

Harold Williams: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K.
Jeff Dominguez: 1-4.
Ron Garth: 2-3, 1 RBI.
Luis Valbuena: 1-2, 1 BB.

Game two was paired Jose Escalona and Jamie Garcia and while Escalona didn't embarrass himself, Garcia managed to escape allowing only the one run. Escalona went 5.1 innings and got the loss for giving up two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out three. Tough break.

Notables:

Jose Escalona: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.
Ron Garth: 1-3, 1 2B.
Luis Valbuena: 2-3, 1 RBI.
Robert Hudson: 1-2.

On the docket

Tacoma: Cesar Jimenez vs. Sacramento. Game time is 7:05pm PDT.
San Antonio: Travis Blackley at Midland. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: Shawn Nottingham at Visalia. Game time is 7:05pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Marwin Vega at Quad Cities. Game time is 5:00pm PDT.

Tacoma throttled Las Vegas, 18-8. Every blue moon you have one of these games where the offense can literally do no wrong. Every batter contributes something, and while the pitching wasn't anything to write home about, at least it didn't allow the 51s back into the game. Heading into the third with the Rainiers down 2-0, they strung together the following: reach on error, single, single, ground out, double, single, walk, walk, pop out, triple, hit by pitch, single, single, strike out. That would have been a lot of fun to watch at Cheney, especially after UnNomar performance, people would be freaking out. Clint Nageotte wasn't horrible ans stuck around for six innings allowing a pair of runs on eight hits. Despite Aaron Looper's best efforts, he only managed to give up four runs in the ninth and couldn't sabotage the team once again. Better luck next time, Aaron.

Notables:

Clint Nageotte:  6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
Shin-soo Choo: 1-5, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Adam Jones: 3-7, 3 2B, 5 RBI.
Hunter Brown: 2-4, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 RBI.
Jon Nelson: 3-5, 1 3B, 3 RBI.
Little Garciaparra: 3-4, 2 BB, 2 RBI. (.364/.474/.409. This is insanity.)

San Antonio fell to Frisco, 5-2 (11). Hats off to Jason Mackintosh who threw a great game before getting the hook. Mackintosh went six and two-thirds giving up a run on four hits while walking no one and fanning three. In the ninth, Stephen Kahn came in to close it out and just couldn't get it done as he allowed a game tying sacrifice fly. It could have been a lot worse too as he then loaded the bases with only one down but was able to slip out of it. In the 11th, Deadweight Pitcher of the Year Mike Flannery was craptacular:

Oh, and they scored three times too. Good one.

Notables:

Jason Mackintosh: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
Sebastien Boucher: 1-5, 1 BB.
Jesus Guzman: 2-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI.
Erick Monzon: 2-4, 1 2B.
Oswaldo Navarro: 2-5, 1 RBI.

Inland Empire smashed Lancaster, 12-3. After watching Tacoma's ten run inning, IE must have felt invigorated and attempted to match it with their own eight spot in the seventh. Everyone in the lineup managed at least one basehit and while together there were 16 hits, a grand total of one went for extra bases. Marinerific!

Notables:

Robert Rohrbaugh: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.
Brent Johnson: 2-4, 1 BB.
Reed Eastley: 2-5, 2 RBI.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 3-5, 2 RBI.
Josh Freakin' Womack: 2-3, 1 RBI.

Kane County beat Wisconsin, 5-1. Zzzz... With the T-Rats bats doing next to nothing all night, it was on Paul Fagan to keep it close. He got bit by a few defensive miscues and in the end got the loss after going seven inning and giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits while walking four and striking out one. With the exception of multi-single days from Casey Craig and Michael Saunders, the offense sucked. Plain and simple.

Notables:

Paul Fagan: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 K.
Jeff Dominguez: 1-4.
Casey Craig: 2-4.
Michael Saunders: 2-4, 1 BB.
Luis Valbuena: 1-4.

On the docket:

Tacoma: Francisco Cruceta at Sin City. Game time is 7:05pm PDT.
San Antonio: Ryan Feierabend vs. Frisco. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: Ivan Blanco vs. Lancaster. Game time is 7:11pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Harold Williams vs. Kane County. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.

LET'S GO MARINERS!

Quick wrap today, pressed for time. But hey, what else is new, right? I'll try to run down today's draft selections when I get back a bit later today.

Colorado Springs 8 - Tacoma 4

Notables:

Cha Seung Baek: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Shin-soo Choo: 2-5, 1 3B, 2 RBI.
Chris Snelling: 1-4.
Adam Jones: 0-4.
Guillermo Quiroz: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI.

Frisco 2 - San Antonio 1

Notables:

Travis Blackley: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. And takes the loss. Ouch.
Sebastien Boucher: 2-4.
Jesus Guzman: 1-2, 1 BB.
Ismael Castro: 2-4.
Erick Monzon: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI.

High Desert 4 - Inland Empire 3 (10)

Notables:

Cibney Bello: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
Brent Johnson: 3-5, 2 2B.
Mike Wilson: 0-2, 2 BB.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Matt Rogelstad: 1-4.

Wisconsin was rained out. Will be made up this evening.

On the docket:

Tacoma: Off.
San Antonio: Yorman Bazardo vs.Frisco. Game time is 4:05pm PDT. Game two follows.
Inland Empire: Aaron Jensen at High Desert. Game time is 7:05pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Ruben Flores vs. Kane County. Game time is 9:35am PDT. Game two follows.

With last year's #1 pick Jeff Clement riding the pine while nursing knee and elbow injuries, the Mariners system sure could use a new guy follow and analyze relentlessly. With weeks of speculation, the only conclusion everyone has come to is this: we don't know who's going where. So, today we find out. Thank God.

The draft beings at 10:00am PDT and can be heard on MLB Radio or followed pick-by-pick with Draft Tracker on MLB Draft Central.

Just like last year, I'll be following the draft real-time and posting the selections here. Use this thread to praise, berate, act ambivalent toward any picks the Mariners make. I'll be posting the selected player's statistics and scouting report (if available). If you have some pertinent auxiliary information on a pick, post it in the comments and chances are I'll throw it up on the main post. Feel free to discuss picks by other teams as well. If it's draft related, it can go into this thread.

Day One will finish at the conclusion of the 18th round.

Mariner selections:

Round 1 (5): Brandon Morrow - RHP, 6'3" 190, 21 y.o., University of California

2006 Season: 14 GS, 7-4, 96.2 IP, 72 H, 34 R, 22 ER, 97 K, 39 BB, 2.05 ERA

Thanks to the depressing fact that Andrew Miller and Tim Lincecum were both still on the board, I'm not even going to bother analyzing this pick right now. Early impression: dumb.

Round 2 (49): Christopher Tillman - RHP, 6'5" 195, 18 y.o., Fountain Valley HS (CA)

2006 Season: 10 G, 5-5, 67 IP, 53 H, 32 BB, 98 K

It's not going to make up for passing on Andrew Miller, but this isn't a bad pick at #49. He's a high schooler, yeah, but he's projectable and looks like he has the stuff that can turn him into a nice arm. Tillman possesses a good looping curve and a low-90's fastball. Should be fun to watch progress.

Round 3 (81): Anthony "Tony" Butler - LHP, 6'7" 205, 19 y.o., Oak Creek HS (WI)

2006 Season: Not currently available.

Staying with the high school trend, the Mariners go with a tall, lanky lefthander who apparently turns heads in the Milwaukee area. His school doesn't have a spring ball team, only a summer ball team that has won the state summer championship the past three years. His fastball has been clocked as high as 91 MPH and he mixes that in with a good curve and above average change. He's committed to Arkansas, so we'll see how easy he signs.

Round 4 (111): Enrique "Ricky" Orta - RHP, 6'2" 195, 21 y.o., University of Miami

2006 Season: 17 G, 5 GS, 2-2, 51.0 IP, 58 H, 38 R, 35 ER, 45 K, 22 BB, 6.18 ERA

A stud in high school, Orta hasn't been real impressive since suiting up as a Hurricane. Started in only five games this season but did manage nearly a strikeout per inning. Raw, rough and obviously not polished, Orta is said to have four pitches, one of them being a zooming fastball. He's a longterm project at this point.

Round 5 (141): Nathan Adcock - RHP, 6'5" 190, 18 y.o., North Hardin HS (KY)

2006 Season: 6-1, 48 IP, 89 K, 13 BB, 0.59 ERA

A young, hard-throwing righty who is beginning to develop an out-pitch to go along with his fastball. He's tied his high school record for strikeouts in a game of 17 - three times. He's also had a 16 K start this season. Looks like he could be something to keep an eye on if he doesn't attend Louisville.

Round 6 (171): Adam Moore - C, 6'3" 215, 22 y.o., University of Texas - Arlington

2006 Season: .350/.445/.563/1.008, 254 AB, 89 H, 22 2B, 1 3B, 10 HR, 50 RBI, 31 BB, 37 K, 3 SB

He can hit. He's proven that wherever he's gone and had a great campaign after not playing in 2005 and transferring from Nebraska to UT-A. He's not going to stay behind the plate, but I guess we'll see if his bat can carry him in the minors.

Round 7 (201): Douglas Fister - RHP, 6'8" 200, 22 y.o., Fresno State University

2006 Season: 24 G, 5 GS, 8-6, 116.1 IP, 118 H, 67 R, 53 ER, 108 K, 47 BB, 4.10 ERA

Taken last year by the Yankees in the sixth round, he looks like a mediocre arm at best. Only started five games, so he could be in mind as a potential reliever. He strikes a lot of guys out, but he get hit pretty well too. He's huge at 6'8", but that seems to be just a novelty that the M's are mysteriously attracted to this year. Meh.

Round 8 (231): Steven Richard - RHP, 6'3" 240, 21 y.o., Clemson University

2006 Season: 21 G, 0 GS, 0-1, 23 IP, 29 H, 12 R, 11 ER, 14 K, 9 BB, 4.30 ERA

Round 9 (261): Justin Souza - RHP, 6'1" 185, 20 y.o., Sacramento CC

2006 Season: 13 G, 12 GS, 6-4, 89.2 IP, 65 H, 35 R, 21 ER, 95 K, 20 BB, 2.11 ERA

Round 10 (291): Christopher Minaker - SS, 6'0" 195, 22 y.o., Stanford University

2006 Season: .363/.401/.598/.999, 251 AB, 91 H, 20 2B, 3 3B, 11 HR, 68 RBI, 17 K, 15 BB, 5 SB

Round 11 (321): Aaron Solomon - RHP, 6'2" 205, 20 y.o., Cumberland University

2006 Season: 9 G, 8 GS, 3-4, 39.1 IP, 35 H, 34 R, 25 ER, 53 K, 32 BB, 5.72 ERA

Round 12 (351): Gavin Dickey - CF, 5'11" 200, 22 y.o., University of Florida

2006 Season: .304/.366/.547/.913, 181 AB, 55 H, 7 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR, 41 RBI, 42 K, 6 BB, 8 SB

Round 13 (381): Joesph Kantakevich - RHP, 6'1" 195, 22 y.o., College of William and Mary

2006 Season: 25 G, 5 GS, 4-3, 70.1 IP, 71 H, 41 R, 35 ER, 61 K, 28 BB, 4.48 ERA

Round 14 (411): Jared Baehl - 3B, 6'2" 200, 18 y.o., North Posey HS (IN)

2006 Season: Not currently available.

Round 15 (441): Andrew Fiorenza - RHP, 6'2" 210, 21 y.o., Clemson University

2006 Season: 12 G, 0 GS, 0-0, 15 IP, 18 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 15 K, 5 BB, 6.60 ERA

Round 16 (471): Austin Bibens-Dirkx - RHP, 6'2" 190, 21 y.o., University of Portland

2006 Season: 26 G, 5 GS, 1-5, 68.2 IP, 64 H, 37 R, 32 ER, 61 K, 27 BB, 4.19 ERA

Round 17 (501): Daniel Runzler - LHP, 6'4" 210, 21 y.o., UC Riverside

2006 Season: 9 G, 0 GS, 1-0, 13 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 19 K, 7 BB, 5.54 ERA

Round 18 (531): Kameron Mickolio - RHP, 6'9" 256, 22 y.o., Utah Valley State College

2006 Season: 16 G, 15 GS, 6-6, 91.2 IP, 105 H, 75 R, 54 ER, 54 K, 35 BB, 5.30 ERA

And that's it for Day One of the 2006 Draft. We come away with twelve righthanded pitchers, two lefthanded pitchers, a catcher, a shortstop, a centerfielder and a high school infielder. I don't know what to make of it, but at face value, it looks pretty barren outside of Morrow. Rounds 19-50 are tomorrow, stop by and see if we nabbed anything worthwhile in the later rounds.

Big thanks to Jeff who filled in for me while I spent time traveling around the greater Northwest. On to the wrap!

Tacoma fell to Colorado Springs, 4-3. Remember this back on May 4th?

Well, they completed that game, finally. Rich Dorman went 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on two hits while walking eight (!), striking out four and allowing a homer. Up 3-2 in the ninth, Dave Brundage called on Emiliano Fruto to come in and close it out. Two hits, a walk, a very costly Adam Jones error and two runs later, the game went to the Sky Sox and Fruto had his first blow save of the season.

Notables:

Rich Dorman: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 8 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.
Adam Jones: 1-4, 1 BB. Huge error that handed the game to Colorado Springs.
T.J. Bohn: 2-5.
Scotty Youngbauer: 2-4.
Guillermo Quiroz: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI.

Tacoma blanked the Sky Sox in the nightcap, 9-0. John Asahina wasn't fooling anyone as Tacoma put up five-spot in the 4th to decide this one quickly. In addition to the offense, Cesar Jimenez was solid as he went five innings and gave up a couple hits while walking three and striking out the same number. It's no surprise that Jimenez had an easy time, though, Colorado Springs had Bo Hart LEADING OFF. You can't ask for nicer gift. T.J. Bohn, Adam Jones, Hunter Brown and UnNomar all went multi-hit to lead the way.

Notables:

Cesar Jimenez: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Shin-soo Choo: 1-5, 1 RBI.
T.J. Bohn: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI.
Chris Snelling: 0-4, 1 RBI.
Adam Jones: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI. Yee-haw!
Hunter Brown: 2-4, 2 RBI.
Little Garciaparra: 2-4, 1 2B. (.327/.453/.365...hmmm.)

San Antonio was off. We learn from J over at Mariner Minors that Bryan LaHair, Wladimir Balentien and Yorman Bazardo were all named to the Texas League's South Division All-Star Team. That makes me smile.

High Desert shutout Inland Empire, 6-0. A few weeks ago, Jeff and I attended that Baltimore game where Rodrigo Lopez silenced the M's for almost eight innings, allowing only two hits. Prior to the game, we walked from my car to the left field gate and joked that Lopez would likely stymie the M's and we'd go home pissed off. Both of us knew this wouldn't happen, which is why it was so funny -- at least until the walk back to the car. See, this same thing happened in High Desert tonight, only reversed. Two High Desert fans had some sarcastic conversation about how Luis Cota and his 7.69 season ERA would completely baffle the 66ers. Their walk back to the car was just as shocking, but it felt great. They drove home with smiles and conversed with no trouble. Here's the entire dialogue between the two of us in my car after the Baltimore game after which there was no speaking until Jeff finally mentioned something non-Mariner related about 45 minutes later:

Jeff: I'm pretty numb after something like that.

Devin: @#%!ing Rodrigo Lopez. Are you @#%!ing kidding me? Jesus. @#%! @#%! @#%!

Anyway, there's no moral to the story, I just felt it was appropriate given how bad Luis Cota is and how good he looked in this game. Cota went 7.1 inning and allowed just five baserunners and struck out seven. The guy who was supposed to be pitching well, Shawn Nottingham, was torched for four runs on seven hits in five and a third. You'd think with all his grittiness, Josh Womack would have collected all four hits, but he didn't. What a horrible game.

Notables:

Shawn Nottingham: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR.
Brent Johnson: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB.
Reed Eastley: 1-4.
Marshall Hubbard: 1-3, 1 BB.
J.B. Tucker: 1-4.

Wisconsin got past Clinton 9-6. Don't you love it when your starting pitcher gets his stuff smacked all over the yard but it ends up not mattering? That's what happened as Jose Escalona was lit up for 5.2 innings. He finished giving up six runs on seven hits while walking three, fanning five and serving up two dingers. Good thing for him that only one T-Rat failed to get on base (Bryan Sabatella) and only one T-Rat ended up not scoring at least once (Bryan Sabatella). Only one man could rival Escalona in suckfestness in this one (Bryan Sabatella), and for once it wasn't LL Certified Whipping Boy Cibney Bello.

Notables:

Jose Escalona: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 2 HR.
Jeff Dominguez: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Casey Craig: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI.
Jeff Flaig: 2-3, 1 2B.
Eddy Hernandez: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Bryan Sabatella: Knows why he's hitting .187.

On the docket:

Tacoma: Cha Seung Baek at Colorado Springs. Game time is 6:05pm PDT.
San Antonio: Travis Blackley vs. Frisco. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: LL Certified Whipping Boy at High Desert. Game time is 7:05pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Ruben Flores vs. Kane County. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.

I've been busy with things I wasn't previously notified about and Jeff's working, so we're going to send you over to J at Mariner Minors for the past two wraps.

Things back to normal for tonight's games.

It's about time.

The new six year deal includes a $100 a month across-the-board salary increase and some per diem modifications. All umpires should be back on the field by June 12th, some coming earlier.

Thank God.

Tacoma shutout Colorado Springs, 1-0. All hail King Francisco! Ok, that's a stretch, but man was Francisco Cruceta impressive today. This is the first time all season I've got to see Cruceta live and he didn't disappoint. He went eight simply fantastic innings giving up only two hits and striking out eleven. A few notes from the game:

• Cruceta's mechanics troubled Jeff a bit during his warmups. He had barely any forward extention and while he looked a bit better during the game, it wasn't a significant improvement. With such a release, Cruceta leaves a lot of balls up in the zone, which could lead to problems with good power hitters down the road.
• Can't argue with how unhittable he was though. He struck out eleven, finishing a few off with his sensational splitter and a couple with a devastating slider (?). He allowed two hits, but one of them was a little blooper into no-man's land down the right field line. Sky Sox hitters didn't stand a chance.
• He hit a batter, but can you really blame a pitcher for plunking Ryan Shealy?
• Cruceta's scouting report must read: "Will start off with fastball up in the zone. If a ball, he'll throw the same thing again and get it over."
• Jeff thinks it's time for Cruceta to sink or swim in the Majors. Given that we have guys like Gil Meche and Joel Pineiro throwing every five days, I'm inclined to agree.
• Snelling was 1-3 with a double. His first out was a line drive that was SMASHED into the left field corner but was somehow run down by (a presumably clean) Jorge Piedra.
• Both Scott(y) Youngbauer and Bo Hart appeared in the same game at the same time. The universe is coming to an end.
• Colorado Springs has some whack outfield shifts. They play almost every lefthanded hitter like he's going to go the other way with the ball and Snelling exploited this in his second at-bat. Either they have some very detailed advance scouting or they just aren't paying attention. Both of us felt it was the latter.
• Hats off to Mike Esposito. The guy went out there and, minus the strikeouts, was on Cruceta's heels all day. Tough loss for him.
• Adam Jones looked lost at the plate. He's now hitting under .230 and he hasn't developed much patience. Don't panic or anything, he's only 20, but he's certainly having some difficulty at this level.

There you have it. On to the notables!

Francisco Cruceta: 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K.
Chris Snelling: 1-3, 1 2B.
Greg Dobbs: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Todd Sears: 1-3, 1 2B.

Tulsa edged San Antonio, 1-0. Another low-scoring affair, but the M's affiliate came out on the losing side of this one. Ryan Feierabend only went two innings before being pulled as a precaution (got nailed by a line drive in the third) and Chad Fillinger came on to take his place. Fillinger went four innings and allowed the lone run (on a solo homer, no less) on four hits while walking three and striking out five. Ubaldo Jimenez kept the Mission batters off-balance all evening as they collected only two hits off of him while fanning eight times.

Notables:

Ryan Feierabend: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
Chad Fillinger: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR.
Jesus Guzman: 1-4.
Wladimir Balentien: 1-3.
Luis Oliveros: 1-3.
Oswaldo Navarro: 0-2, 1 BB.

Inland Empire was, in fact, off on Memorial Day. I'm not sure why I thought they were scheduled to play. I apologize for any confusion.

Wisconsin lost to Burlington, 3-2 (10). So, a grand total of three runs scored by the ENTIRE organization tonight. The T-Rats were a bit heartbroken after this one as they rallied back to tie it in the ninth only to watch Ruben Flores blow another one in the tenth:

Whoops. The guy who got the start almost three hours prior was Paul Fagan who pitched well and went 7.1 innings giving up a couple runs (one earned) on five hits while walking two and striking out no one. The bats were just dead - a theme that carried through every team in the minors and Majors tonight.

Notables:

Paul Fagan: 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
Ron Garth: 1-4.
Casey Craig: 1-3, 1 RBI.
J.B. Tucker: 1-4, 1 2B.
Michael Saunders: 1-4, 1 3B.

On the docket:

Tacoma: Bobby Livingston at Salt Lake. Game time is 5:30pm PDT.
San Antonio: Adam Pettyjohn vs. Tulsa. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: Ivan Blanco vs. Lake Elsinore. Game time is 7:11pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Harold Williams at Burlington. Game time is 5:00pm PDT.

It's about time we finally got a Rainier interview knocked out. After speaking with Rafael Chaves, Justin Leone, Chris Snelling, Clint Nageotte and Jesse Foppert last season, we wanted to speak with someone you haven't heard from a whole lot and was still a significant piece of the Seattle future. Meet Adam Jones.

If you want to hear a lot (and I mean a lot) of Adam Jones' voice, here's the audio from our little chat. If you'd like to read the transcript, click the "Read More" link below.

Enjoy.

Continue reading this post »

Tacoma fell to Colorado Springs, 6-4. Jeff and I contemplated going to this one and then decided to stay in and watch the Mariner game. Either decision was a bad one, it turns out. Clint Nageotte was roughed up going only four innings and giving up four runs on six hits while walking two and fanning six. Despite going down 6-0 in the fifth, the Rainier offense tried mightily to get back into the thick of things but ended up just short. Down 6-4 in the 9th, Cabrera and Quiroz quickly got aboard to make things interesting. After a Hargrovesque bunt popout from Michael Garciaparra, Scott Dohmann balked to move both runners up a base. This pissed off Sky Sox pitching coach Chuck Kniffin to no end and he was tossed. Choo ended up striking out and Bohn went 2-2 with Dohmann before this exhange between Jeff and I as we listened via webcast:

Jeff: Hm. It's Bohn.

Devin: Outside breaking ball will get him to whiff.

And Bohn went down swinging. On breaking ball that was a bit outside.

Notables:

Clint Nageotte: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K.
Shin-soo Choo: 1-4, 1 RBI.
T.J. Bohn: 1-4, 1 BB.
Chris Snelling: 0-4, 3 K. Ugh.
Asdrubal Cabrera: 2-3, 1 BB.
Adam Jones: 0-4.
Little Garciaparra: 1-3, 2 RBI.

Wichita got by San Antonio, 5-3. After winning the first game of this set, the Missions have dropped three straight against the Wranglers. To be honest, you can't really blame Jason Mackintosh too much as he only gave up three runs (two earned) over six and two-thirds innings. It's Stephen Kahn who ruined this one as he gave up two in the 9th to hand the win to Wichita. Sebastien Boucher and Ismael Castro both had three hits on the day to help lead the Mission offense.

Notables:

Jason Mackintosh: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 HR.
Sebastien Boucher: 3-5.
Oswaldo Navarro: 1-3, 1 3B.
Wladimir Balentien: 0-3, 1 BB.
Ismael Castro: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI.

Inland Empire hammered High Desert, 12-2. So, the 66ers sweep the series. Over the past three games, High Desert pitchers have been shelled for 38 runs on a ridiculous 52 hits and 9 homers. That's insane. In this one, Robert Rohrbaugh went seven solid innings giving up a run and scattering five hits while striking out five. The IE offense smashed four homers, one each from Reed Eastley, Mike Wilson, Omar Falcon and Chris Colton.

Notables:

Robert Rohrbaugh: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.
Brent Johnson: 1-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI.
Yung Chi Chen: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Reed Eastley: 1-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI.
Mike Wilson: 2-3, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 RBI.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 2-5, 2 RBI.
Omar Falcon: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 RBI.
Chris Colton: 3-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI.

Kane County throttled Wisconsin, 19-5. Ouch. Only one Rattler pitcher managed to escape his apperance without giving up a run and that was Robert Hudson, the team's shortstop. That's right, it got bad enough to just let an infielder and catcher (Chan Kwan Wu) try their luck -- and it partially worked.

I'm getting word that Robert Hudson has been moved to Inland Empire and will take over in place of Cibney Bello in his next scheduled start. Just kidding. Or am I?

Unnotables:

Justin Thomas: 1.2 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. Cougar'd!
Everyone else: 6.1 IP, 11 H, 9 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.
Casey Craig: 1-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI.
J.B. Tucker: 1-5, 1 3B.
Luis Valbuena: 2-5, 1 RBI.
Robert Hudson: 1.0 IP, 2-5, 1 RBI.

On the docket:

Tacoma: Francisco Cruceta vs. Colorado Springs. Game time is 1:35pm PDT.
San Antonio: Ryan Feierabend vs. Wichita. Game time is 2:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: Someone at Lake Elsinore. Game time is 7:05pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Paul Fagan at Burlington. Game time is 5:00pm PDT.

Tomorrow I'll be tossing up our first Rainier interview of 2006, so make sure you stop by. Today we're going with scores and notables with a full wrap coming tonight and some thoughts from our second annual LL Night.

Tacoma 10 - Colorado Springs 6.

Notables:

Cha Seung Baek: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR.
Shin-soo Choo: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
T.J. Bohn: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Todd Sears: 2-3, 2 2B, 1 BB, 3 RBI.
Asdrubal Cabrera: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI.

Wichita 5 - San Antonio 3.

Notables:

Nate Mateo: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Sebastien Boucher: 1-3, 1 BB.
Ismael Castro: 1-4, 1 2B.
Jesus Guzman: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI.
Wladimir Balentien: 1-3, 1 2B.

Inland Empire 6 - High Desert 4.

Notables:

Aaron Jensen: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
Mumba Rivera: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.
Yung Chi Chen: 2-5.
Mike Wilson: 2-5.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI.
Ron Prettyman: 2-3, 1 BB.
Robert Schweiger: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 BB, 4 RBI.

Wisconsin 8 - Kane County 6.

Notables:

Jason Snyder: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
Ron Garth: 2-5.
Casey Craig: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 BB.
Curtis Ledbetter: 1-3, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Nick Prosise: 2-5, 1 HR, 4 RBI.
Eddy Hernandez: 1-3, 1 BB.

On the docket:

Tacoma: Clint Nageotte vs. Colorado Springs. Game time is 1:35pm PDT.
San Antonio: Jason Mackintosh vs. Wichita. Game time is 2:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: Robert Rohrbaugh at High Desert. Game time is 3:05pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Justin Thomas at Kane County. Game time is 4:00pm PDT.

There have been a plethora of questions regarding LL Night and here is what's going on as of right now:

• LL Night is STILL ON. Yes, we know there is potentially going to be some rain in the area, but it looks minimal and likely won't wash out the game.
• The check-in procedure is the same. Buy a reserved ticket, perferably in Section D, and meet up with us. You really shouldn't have much trouble recognizing us/the group. We'll all be at the top of Section D.
• If the game ends up being rained out, we're still all going to go hang out and talk baseball. We'll be meeting up at The Ram on Ruston Way. We won't actually leave Cheney until it's an official postponement and we'll give you directions if and when we leave.
• For those driving a long way, I'd encourage you to check the website right before you leave for any updates. At this point, no news is good news. Expect to attend if there isn't anything new before 3pm posted here.
• If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to email me.

Tacoma got by Colorado Springs, 5-2. It's about time Cesar Jimenez had start he could look back on and at least not cringe at. Jimenez went six innings scattering eight hits and a couple runs while walking no one and fanning three. Given that it was a cold, rainy night the announced attendance of 3,575 surprised me a bit but the six total hits from the Rainier bats didn't. One person who's suddenly struggling is Chris Snelling who, while still walking, is striking out once every three ABs. As a frame of reference, his career average in the minors is once every 7.24 ABs. He struck out twice more in tonight's game. Jeff mentioned that he's dealing with replacement umps who are likely wildly inconsistent with their zone, but I'm not so sure it's that simple. It's not time to panic, or even fret at all, it's only been 34 ABs - just keep an eye on it. In anycase, Little Garciaparra led the way with two more hits, furthering the idea that he's the Mariners version of Nomahhhh or something and Adam Jones had a bases clearing triple.

Notables:

Cesar Jimenez: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
Shin-soo Choo: 1-3, 1 BB.
Chris Snelling: 0-3, 1 BB.
Greg Dobbs: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI.
Adam Jones: 1-3, 1 3B, 3 RBI.
Little Garciaparra: 2-4, 1 2B.

Wichita edged San Antonio, 7-6. Down two in the bottom of the ninth, the Missions did their best to let 5,038 rabid San Antonio fans drive home happy:

Alas, there were 67 instances of road rage later in the evening. If there's a silver lining, it wasn't Travis Blackley as he was lit up for six runs over five and two-thirds. It could be Ismael Castro, Erick Monzon or Luis Oliveros who all went multi-hit. But we'll go ahead and call the silver lining Wladimir Balentien who went 4-5, doubled and drove in two.

Notables:

Travis Blackley: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.
Sebastien Boucher: 1-4, 1 BB.
Ismael Castro: 2-3, 1 2B, 2 BB.
Wladimir Balentien: 4-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI.
Erick Monzon: 2-5, 1 2B.
Luis Oliveros: 2-4, 1 RBI.

Inland Empire smashed High Desert, 20-7. Uh, yeah. A few little tidbits from this game:

• The 66ers knocked out 27 hits in nine innings. The Major League record (since I can't find the minor league record) for hits in nine innings is 31, set by Milwaukee in 1992. More than 26 hits has been accomplished 15 times in ML history, two of those going into extras.
• IE and High Desert combined for 40 hits.
• In addition to the gaudy hit totals, the 66ers also walked five times. That makes 32 baserunners.
• Everyone in the starting lineup went multi-hit and six of nine had at least three hits in the affair.
• The 7-8-9 hitters went a collective 11-16 and all had a homer. How often does something like that happen?
• Nine hits went for extra bases meaning that 18 singles were smacked. That's Marinerific.
• On a night with so much offense, you'd think I'd forget about Cibney Bello. Hell no. He went 3.2 innings giving up seven runs on ten hits while walking three, striking out one and giving up two homers. You suck, Cibney, record-setting night or not.

Notables (entire lineup):

Cibney Bello: Horrible.
Brent Johnson: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 RBI.
Yung Chi Chen: 2-6, 2 RBI.
Reed Eastley: 2-4, 2 BB.
Mike Wilson: 4-6, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 3-6, 2 RBI.
Ron Prettyman: 3-6, 1 2B, 2 RBI.
Marshall Hubbard: 5-6, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI.
Omar Falcon: 3-6, 1 HR, 2 RBI.
Josh Freakin' Womack: 3-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI.

Holy Freakin' God.

Kane County held down Wisconsin, 5-2. Jose Escalona was cruising along just fine - then struck the fifth inning. Escalona ended up getting pulled before the inning was done and went in the clubhouse having given up five runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out three. The Wisconsin offense had trouble doing an IE impression as they only managed three baseknocks on the evening, one being a homer off the bat of Curtis Ledbetter.

Notables:

Jose Escalona: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
Luis Valbuena: 1-4.
Curtis Ledbetter: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI.
Bryan Sabatella: 1-3.

On the docket:

Tacoma: Cha Seung Baek vs. Colorado Springs. Game time is 6:05pm PDT. LL NIGHT!
San Antonio: Yorman Bazardo vs. Wichita. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: Someone at High Desert. Game time is 7:05pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Jason Snyder at Kane County. Game time is 4:00pm PDT.

One more day of just boxes and notables. Things should be back to normal tomorrow.

Tacoma 5 - Memphis 2.

Notables:

Clint Nageotte: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K.
Shin-soo Choo: 2-5.
T.J. Bohn: 2-4, 1 BB.
Chris Snelling: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 K.
Little Garciaparra: 2-4, 2 RBI.

San Antonio 7 - Tulsa 3.

Notables:

Jason Mackintosh: 7.1 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.
Sebastien Boucher: 1-3, 2 BB.
Jason Bourgeois: 2-5, 1 2B.
Bryan LaHair: 4-5, 3 RBI.
Erick Monzon: 2-5, 1 2B.
Gary Harris: 2-4, 2 RBI.

Inland Empire 2 - Lake Elsinore 1.

Notables:

Robert Rohrbaugh: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.
Reed Eastley: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI.
Mike Wilson: 2-4, 1 2B.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 2-3.
Robert Schweiger: 1-3, 1 RBI.

Burlington 10 - Wisconsin 3.

Paul Fagan: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 1 K.
Luis Valbuena: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB.
Ron Garth: 1-3, 1 RBI.
Robert Hudson: 1-3, 1 2B.
Eddy Hernandez: 1-3, 1 RBI.

On the docket:

Tacoma: Francisco Cruceta at Memphis. Game time is 11:10am PDT.
San Antonio: Ryan Feierabend at Tulsa. Game time is 10:35am PDT.
Inland Empire: Someone vs. Lake Elsinore. Game time is 7:11pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Off.

Just boxes and notables today.

Memphis 3 - Tacoma 1.

Notables:

Cha Seung Baek: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 HR.
Shin-soo Choo: 1-4, 1 2B.
Adam Jones: 1-4.
Chris Snelling: 0-3, 1 BB.
Little Garciaparra: 0-3.

Tulsa 6 - San Antonio 5 (12).

Notables:

Yorman Bazardo: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
Sebastien Boucher: 0-3, 3 BB.
Wladimir Balentien: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Jason Bourgeois: 2-6, 2 RBI.
Oswaldo Navarro: 1-3, 1 BB.

Inland Empire 5 - Lake Elsinore 3.

Notables:

Aaron Jensen: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR.
Brent Johnson: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 1-4.
Omar Falcon: 1-4, 1 2B.
Jack Arroyo: 3-4, 1 RBI.

Burlington 12 - Wisconsin 5.

Justin Thomas: 5.0 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HR.
Luis Valbuena: 2-5, 1 RBI.
Curtis Ledbetter: 2-4, 1 RBI.
Eddy Hernandez: 2-4, 1 RBI.
Casey Craig: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI.

On the docket:

Tacoma: Clint Nageotte at Memphis. Game time is 5:10pm PDT.
San Antonio: Jason Mackintosh at Tulsa. Game time 5:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: Beat Lake Elsinore 2-1.
Wisconsin: Paul Fagan vs. Burlington. Game time is  4:35pm PDT.

Season lines included through 5/20.

Nashville throttled Tacoma, 10-1. Not a good day for either Cesar Jimenez or Rich Dorman as both got their collective asses handed to them. Jimenez only went two and a third and was hammered for for five runs on five hits while walking five, striking out one and serving up a homer. Dorman didn't fare a whole lot better as he gave up three runs (one earned) over the next three innings. Jimenez has seemed completely overmatched since being called up to Tacoma, so expecting him to just figure it out might take awhile. As for the offense, well, there wasn't much. The Dobber once again went multi-hit and that was about it.

Notables:

Cesar Jimenez: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 1 K, 1 HR.
Shin-soo Choo: 1-3, 1 BB. (.283/.353/.421)
Adam Jones: 0-3, 1 BB. (.243/.278/.448)
Greg Dobbs: 2-4. (.275/.322/.435)
T.J. Bohn: 1-4, 1 RBI. (.242/.301/.362)

San Antonio smoked Corpus Christi, 11-3. A good day for just about everyone wearing a Mission uniform. Travis Blackley struggled a bit more than we've seen thus far this season by allowing three runs over five innings, but if that's struggling, then things are going well for the Aussie. People should be pretty excited that Blackley has looked as good as he has since a season ago many of us were sure he'd never materialize and was doomed to flame out. Now it's looking more and more like he'll get a call to Tacoma soon and perhaps back in Safeco by September. Knock on wood, but his arm is looking strong and for a guy coming off of labrum surgery, impressive is the only word to describe him. When it came to the bats in this one, Gary Harris and Justin Ruchti should be ashamed as everyone else in the starting nine went multi-hit. This included another homer from Wlad! and bombs from Jesus Guzman and Bryan LaHair.

Notables:

Travis Blackley: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR.
Sebastien Boucher: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI. (.203/.299/.237)
Jesus Guzman: 2-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI. (.256/.313/.406)
Bryan LaHair: 3-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI. (.322/.407/.507)
Wladimir Balentien: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI. (.245/.335/.510)
Erick Monzon: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI. (.262/.331/.392 with Inland Empire)

Inland Empire handled Rancho Cucamonga, 5-4. The first inning of this game was bizarre:

So, Mark Lowe comes in and walks three straight, gets yanked and Cibney Bello is called on to make sure everyone scores and it's all charged to Lowe. Wait, wait! It gets better. After this, Bello went on and retired all but two of the next seventeen batters and struck out ten (10!) giving him his best "start" of the season and only furthering the idea that he's worth something. The 66ers had an efficient day at the plate as they pounded out eight hits as a squad with five of them going to Robert Schweiger and Marshall Hubbard.

Notables:

Mark Lowe: 3 batters, 3 walks.
Cibney Bello: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K. WTF.
Brent Johnson: 1-4, 1 RBI. (.264/.370/.328)
Matt Tuiasosopo: 1-4, 1 RBI. (.306/.344/.387)
Marshall Hubbard: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI. (.257/.336/.412)
Chris Colton: 1-3, 1 RBI. (.218/.254/.274)
Robert Schweiger: 3-3, 1 RBI. (Insufficient sample size)
Josh Freakin' Womack: 0-2, 1 RBI. (.315/.380/.419)

Wisconsin beat Burlington, 4-3 (11). Ron Garth doesn't appreciate being held out of the starting lineup. Garth was slotted in for Eddy Hernandez to lead off the 11th and wasted no time sending the T-Rats to the mound to shake hands after launching one over the left field fence. Three hours and forty three minutes earlier, Jason Snyder took the mound and was effective if not sparkling going six innings and giving up two runs on seven hits while walking four and fanning four. In addition to Garth's heroics, Jeff Dominguez had four hits on the night and Bryan Sabatella finally began contributing with three of his own.

Notables:

Jason Snyder: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K.
Jeff Domniguez: 4-6, 1 RBI. (.304/.370/.341)
Luis Valbuena: 1-5, 1 BB. (.224/.340/.306)
Curtis Ledbetter: 2-6, 1 BB. (Only a handful of AB's)
Ron Garth: 1-1, GW HR. (.270/.348/.402)
Casey Craig: 1-4, 1 BB. (.266/.348/.427)
Bryan Sabatella: 3-5. (.150/.225/.215)
Jairo Hernandez: 2-5. (.193/.207/.298)

On the docket:

Tacoma: Cha Seung Baek at Memphis. Game time is 5:10pm PDT.
San Antonio: Yorman Bazardo at Tulsa. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: Someone vs. Lake Elsinore. Game time is 7:11pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Justin Thomas vs. Burlington. Game time is 9:35am PDT.