MVN: Most Valuable Network

With their parent team's playoff hopes sputtering, the Silver Hawks gave Diamondbacks fans some cheer when they swept the Dayton Dragons to reach the MWL Finals.  The Silver Hawks had to come back after falling behind early in both games to take the lead and then let their terrific bullpen shut the door on the opposition.

In Game 1, the Dragons scored single runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings off starter Josh Collmenter to take a 2-0 lead before the Silver Hawks tied it with solo homers by Matt Oxendine in the 4th and Ryne White in the 5th.  The Silver Hawks took advantage of a couple of errors in the 7th to score 3 times and the bullpen did the rest.  Jeff Dietz pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief for the win and Bill Spottiswood added another 2 scoreless inning for the save.

White 1B 2-5, HR (1), 2 RBI, R (.375)
Oxendine 2B 2-4, HR (1), RBI, R, K (.143)
Collin Cowgill LF 1-5, R (.353)

Collmenter 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2/1 K/BB (3.60)
Dietz (W 1-0) 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2/1 K/BB (0.00)
Spottiswood (SV 1) 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1/0 K/BB (0.00)

Like the first round of the playoffs, the 2nd game back in South Bend was postponed due to rain and manager Mark Haley decided to skip slated starter Jarrod Parker and give the start to Bryan Henry instead.  The move seemed to backfire early as Henry gave up 3 runs in the first 2 innings.  He settled down though to put up 3 zeroes on the scoreboard after that and the offense finally broke through in the 4th.  Jo Jo Batten doubled in a run and with 2 outs, Winston Linton walked to bring up Collin Cowgill.  Cowgill sent a pitch over the left field wall for a 3-run homer to give the Silver Hawks the lead.  That was all they needed as the bullpen shut down the Dragons in the last 4 innings, giving up just a single while getting 9 of their 12 outs via the strikeout.  Bryan Shaw struck out 4 in 2 innings, Daniel Schlereth followed with 2 Ks in a perfect 8th and Clay Zavada continued his terrific season by striking out the side in the 9th for his 3rd save in 3 chances in the playoffs.

Cowgill LF 3-5, HR (2), 3 RBI, R (.409)
Linton CF 2-4, BB, R (.316)
Batten DH 2-4, 2B, RBI, R, K (.200)

Henry (W 1-0) 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 6/0 K/BB (5.40)
Shaw 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4/0 K/BB (4.50)
Schlereth 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2/0 K/BB (0.00)
Zavada (SV 3) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3/0 K/BB (0.00)

The Silver Hawks will meet the Western Division champions, the Burlington Bees in a 5 game series.  The first 2 games will be in Burlington before the series moves back to South Bend for the last 3 games if needed.  Game 1 begins this evening.

The South Bend Silver Hawks knocked out the defending champion West Michigan Whitecaps using the same formula that won them the 2nd half division title and best overall record in the league, solid pitching and timely hitting. In Game 1, Jarrod Parker had a quality start, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings.  He gave up 4 hits and a walk while striking out 5.  He gave up 2 runs 2-out runs in the first and another run in the 2nd inning but the offense helped him out with a 4-run bottom of the 1st.  Parker put up zeroes after that and the bullpen wrapped things up from there.  Daniel Schlereth struck out 3 in 2 scoreless innings and Clay Zavada picked up the save with a scoreless 9th.  Catcher Sean Coughlin finished 4-4 with 2 RBIs.  LF Collin Cowgill had 3 hits while 1B Ryne White and CF... Read more

Missoula 7 - Helena 0 In the 2nd great pitching performance of the short season, Taylor Sinclair and Bayron Zepeda combined to 1-hit the Helena Brewers.  Sinclair walked the first batter he faced and then retired 20 of the next 21 batters with an error giving Helena their other baserunner.  The lefty took the no-hitter into the 8th inning before allowing a single.  Sinclair retired 2 more batters before Zepeda took over.  In his 7 2/3 innings, Sinclair gave up a hit and a walk while striking out 8.  Zepeda retired all 4 batters he faced, 2 via the strikeout. Sinclair, looking like a great find for an undrafted free agent, has won 3 straight starts without allowing a run in 19 2/3 innings.  It was a great achievement in a season where the Osprey have a terrible record but have seen their pitching staff throw a no-hitter and a... Read more

Tucson 12 - Salt Lake 3 Tim Raines drove in 4 runs and fell a single shy of the cycle in the Sidewinders' thrashing of the Bees.  They pounded out 17 hits with Raines finishing 3-5 with 3 runs scored.  Frank Curreri was 3-4 with 3 run scored.  Donny Kelly and Trent Oeltjen also had 3 hits each. Juan Gutierrez didn't need all those runs, allowing just an unearned run in 7 innings of work.  In his best start in almost a month, Gutierrez gave up just 4 hits and a walk while striking out 3. Raines DH 3-5, HR (17), 3B, 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R, K (.307) Curreri C 3-4, BB, 3 R, K (.278) Kelly 2B 3-5, RBI, R (.271) Oeltjen CF 3-6, 2 RBI, R (.306) Jamie D'Antona 1B 2-5, 2B, R, 2 E (19) (.356) Justin Upton RF 1-4, 2B, BB, R, K (.297) Gutierrez... Read more

Tucson 0 - Colorado Springs 0 (Game Postponed due to rain) Mobile 7 -  Mississippi 5 Cesar Valdez pitched his worst game in a BayBear uniform but Brandon Burgess hit a 2-run pinch-hit homer to break a 5-5 tie and give Valdez his 3rd win in Double A.  Valdez allowed 5 runs on 9 hits. He struck out 7 and walked 2.  Jose Marte pitched 2 scoreless innings for his 7th save. Burgess PH 1-1, HR (5), 2 RBI, R (.202) Yunesky Sanchez SS 3-5, RBI (.304) Javier Brito 1B 2-4, 2B, RBI, K (.265) Valdez (W 3-3) 6 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 7/2 K/BB (3.54) Matt Green 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0/1 K/BB (6.44) Marte (SV 7) 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2/0 K/BB (4.47) Visalia 10 - High Desert 2 The Oaks won their 3rd straight with another thrashing of the High Desert Mavericks. ... Read more

Tucson 5 - Colorado Springs 3 (Suspended after 3 innings) Mobile 7 - Mississippi 2 Tony Barnette gave up single runs in the first 2 innings but put up zeroes after that as his offense backed him up to give the RHP his 10th win of the season. Barnette gave up 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. He also had a good day at the plate, getting a single, drawing a walk and scoring twice. Yunesky Sanchez SS 2-5, 2B, 2 R (.301) Chris Rahl CF 2-5, 2 RBI, R, K, CS (12) (.224) Rusty Ryal 2B-3B 2-4, 2B, RBI, R, K (.277) Cyle Hankerd RF 2-4, 2B, RBI (.242) Javier Brito LF 1-3, HR (9), BB, RBI, R (.258) Barnette (W 10-7) 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 7/2 K/BB (3.85) Vince Bongiovanni 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2/1 K/BB (4.39) Visalia 9 - High... Read more

Tucson 6 - Oklahoma 1 Matt Torra pitched 8 shutout innings while Josh Whitesell provided the offense with 4 RBIs in the Sidewinders win.  Torra allowed 5 hits and no walks with 3 strikeouts in his longest stint so far for the Sidewinders.  He only threw 85 pitches and probably could have finished the game if not for Doug Slaten's need to pitch in rehab.  Slaten didn't do as well, allowing 3 hits including a solo homer while retiring just 2.  He did throw 19 of his pitches for strikes. Whitesell opened the scoring with a 2-out RBI single in the 1st and added a 3-run homer as part of a 5-run 5th inning outburst.  Whitesell leads the team with 22 homers and 91 RBIs. Whitesell 1B 2-4, HR (22), 4 RBI, R, K (.332) Jeff Salazar DH 3-5, 2B, 2 R, K (.363) Torra (W 3-3) 8 IP, 5... Read more

Tucson 6 - Oklahoma 3 Max Scherzer built on his last rehab start by tossing 4 more shutout innings against the Oklahoma RedHawks.  In his last start, he gave up just a hit in 3 scoreless innings with 7 Ks and a walk.  Last night, he gave up 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6.  He didn't stay in long enough for the win which went to Esmerling Vasquez who gave up 2 unearned runs in his 3 innings.  Vasquez improved his record to 3-5 by winning his last 2 games. The Sidewinders scored twice in the first inning and built a 6-0 lead with a 4-run 4th. Jeff Salazar DH 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R, K (.349) Josh Whitesell 1B 2-4, 2B, RBI, R, K (.330) Scherzer 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 6/2 K/BB (2.70) Vasquez (W 3-5) 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER,... Read more

Tucson 5 - New Orleans 3 Max Scherzer had his best rehab start yet, striking out 7 in 3 shutout innings.  He allowed a hit and a walk while throwing 50 pitches.  With Owings struggling and Petit being a flyball pitcher in Chase Field, Scherzer could play a part yet in the D-backs pennant race. Another pitcher coming back from injury, Esmerling Vasquez, got the win despite allowing 2 runs in his 3 innings of work.  Reid Mahon pitched a perfect 9th for this 4th save. 1B Josh Whitesell continued his strong season, hitting his 21st homer. Whitesell 1B 1-3, HR (21), BB, RBI, 2 R (.318) Scherzer 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K, BB (3.03) Vasquez (W 2-5) 3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 4 BB (7.23) Robertson 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 K (3.56) Mahon (SV 4) 1 IP, 0 H, 0... Read more

Tucson - Iowa (Postponed) Mobile 2 - Jacksonville 0 Cesar Valdez struck out 10 in 7 shutout innings to pick up his first win since being promoted to the Southern League.  Valdez allowed 4 hits and 3 walks.  Jason Urquidez struck out 2 in the 8th and Jose Marte pitched a perfect 9th for his 2nd save to complete the 5-hitter.  Valdez, who was 10-3 for Visalia with a 2.53 ERA, has a 2.54 ERA after 5 starts for the BayBears.  He has struck out 28 in 28 1/3 innings while walking just 10. Gerardo Parra hit a sac fly in the first for his 20th RBI in 42 games, and 1B Bryan Byrne doubled in the other run, his 44th RBI. Valdez (W 1-2) 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 3 BB (2.54) Urquidez 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 K (3.86) Marte (SV 2) 1... Read more

5th Round draft pick CF Collin Cowgill hit 3 homers and drove in 5 runs in the Bears' comeback win over the Spokane Indians.  After striking out in his first at-bat, Cowgill hit 2-run homers in the 3rd and 5th innings.  The Bears led 5-4 heading into the 9th but the Indians scored twice off Bryan Woodall to take a 6-5 lead.  Cowgill's 3rd homer of the day tied the game and forced extra innings.  The Indians seemed to have won it with 2 runs in the top of the 11th, but the Bears came back again with an improbable 2-out rally in the bottom of the inning.  A single, an error by the Indians and another single made it 7-8, and C Ryan Babineau became the hero with a walk-off 2-run double to right. Cowgill finished 4-6 with 5 RBIs and scored 4 times.  For the season, he has... Read more