MVN - Most Valuable Network

Recap: Rain-outs and Losses

A pair of rain-outs and a pair of losses put a damper (excuse the awful pun) on the A’s affiliates on Wednesday. There’s probably a Noah’s Ark joke in there somewhere, but I’ll spare the reader…

AAA Sacramento

Rain forced the game to be postponed in Oklahoma. It will be made up as part of a double-header on Thursday night.

AA Midland

A misplayed ball by shortstop Justin Sellers resulted in a tough 4-3, extra-inning loss for Midland.

Andrew Bailey started for the RockHounds and went 5.1 innings with four strikeouts. Bailey allowed one run on four hits and three walks. The right-hander has walked at least two in six of his seven starts this season, and has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 26:17 in 30.1 innings.

Pat Currin finished off the sixth inning without allowing a hit, and threw a perfect seventh to lower his ERA to 2.84 in 19.0 innings with Midland.

Kristian Bell entered the game in the eighth, with the score tied at 1-1, but coulnd’t keep San Antonio off the board. Bell allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk to give the Missions a 3-1 lead and increase his ERA to 10.45 on the season. In addition, opposing batters are now hitting .408 off of the 23-year-old righty.

In the top of the ninth, Midland quickly regained the lead after Jesus Guzman led off with a walk and Jon Zeringue hit a two-run shot, his eighth homer of the year, to tie the game at three apiece.

The game would remain scoreless until the bottom of the twelfth, when shortstop Sellers made a two-out throwing error that allowed a runner to score from second on an infield grounder.

Sellers didn’t have a totally horrible day, though, since he hit his second home run of the year in the third inning. He’d surely give up the round-tripper if he could take back his error, though.

Midland drops to 18-15, in third place in the South division of the Texas League.

High-A Stockton

As so often happens the day after an offensive outpouring, Stockton was blanked by the team they whipped on Tuesday, losing 6-0.

Wednesday’s game saw the Ports record just five hits and two walks, with the lone extra-base knock coming on a Sean Doolittle double.

Archie Gilbert singled to extend his hitting streak to 21 games in a row, 14 games behind the Cal League record.

Josh Horton went 2-for-4 to raise his line to .314/.424/.407/.830 through 118 at-bats. Although Horton didn’t walk or strike out in Wednesday’s game, his season total is worth mentioning: 22 walks, 18 strikeouts.

On the mound, James Heuser was shaky in just his third start since moving back to the rotation. The left-hander gave up five runs on five hits and three walks, but struck out five, his highest K total in a start so far this year.

Keith Foulke made a relief appearance for the Ports, but managed to balk for the second game in a row. Perhaps he’s just not used to minor-league umpires’ balk criteria? In any case, the veteran reliever — who is two years older than Ports manager Darren Bush — allowed one run (on a solo homer) over two innings, walked none and struck out one.

The last time Foulke pitched in the Cal League was way back in 1995, for the San Jose Giants. To put that in perspective, all of the other Stockton pitchers that appeared in Wednesday’s game would have been 10 or 11 years old. Outfielder Matt Sulentic was just seven years old. Branden Dewing (who was born in my home state of Nebraska but raised in Modesto, Calif.) could have likely attended a Cal League game featuring Foulke when he was in elementary school.

With the loss, Stockton drops to 24-9, but still leads the North division of the Cal League by 3.0 games.

Low-A Kane County

For the seventh time this season, the Cougars were washed out of a game. It won’t be made up, since Kane County and West Michigan don’t meet again in the first half of the season.

— — —

Slate of Games for Thursday, May 8th

AAA Sacramento at Oklahoma (double-header), 4:05 p.m. PST

– Expected starters: Gio Gonzalez, Kirk Saarloos.
– Roster link.
– Pacific Coast League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

AA Midland at San Antonio, 5:05 p.m. PST

– Expected starter: James Simmons.
– Roster link.
– Texas League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

High-A Stockton vs. Visalia, 7:05 p.m. PST

– Expected starter: Brett Anderson.
– Roster link.
– California League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

Low-A Kane County at Quad Cities, 5:00 p.m. PST

– Expected starter: Craig Italiano.
– Roster link.
– Midwest League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

Recap: Stockton Ports Continue to Steam Forward

While Rich Harden dominated Class A hitters in a rehab start, as expected, Stockton proved they didn’t even need him by scoring more than a dozen runs to improve their record to the second-best in all of baseball.

A top prospect also returned to the field for Sacramento, while Kane County’s offense returned after a long slump at the plate. More on all that below…

AAA Sacramento

Carlos Gonzalez made his return to the field on Tuesday, but it was just as a ninth-inning defensive replacement in center field. Nonetheless, the return of Gonzalez from the DL is good news. He suffered a right ankle sprain last week, in his first game back from a bruised right thumb.

Sacramento’s bats were fairly quiet, with a homer by Justin Knoedler — his third of the year — providing the bulk of the scoring in a 5-3 loss to Oklahoma. Knoedler is hitting just .154 this season, but six of his eight hits are for extra bases.

Shortstop Gregorio Petit went 2-for-4 to raise his line to .311/.364/.402/.765, although he remains homerless. Still, a .765 OPS from a great defensive player is fine by me.

Travis Buck, rehabbing an injury in Sacramento, recorded just his second hit on this assignment, and is now 2-for-12 since resuming play last week.

Dan Meyer started for the River Cats, and he delivered another good start in a maddeningly inconsistent season. The lefty went 6.0 innings, allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk, and struck out six. His ERA is still nearly six, although he’s striking out almost a batter per inning and allowing batters to hit just over the Mendoza line.

With the loss, Sacramento falls to 17-15, one game back of division-leading Fresno.

AA Midland

Thanks to a flurry of hits early in the game, Midland was able to pull out a 5-4 win against Frisco on Tuesday. The RockHounds scored five runs in the first three innings, but were silent after that.

Cliff Pennington went 2-for-5 with a double, while Jesus Guzman homered for the seventh time on the season as part of a 2-for-4 day.

Justin Sellers and Todd Donovan continued Midland’s aggressive baserunning, stealing their fifth and seventh bases on the season, respectively. The RockHounds are tied for third in the Texas League in stolen bases, but have the third-worst success rate at 71%.

Vin Mazzaro got the win after pitching five innings and allowing two runs (zero earned) on four hits and two walks. Mazzaro struck out five, and lowered his ERA to 2.43 — sixth in the league among starters.

The increasingly dominant combo of Jay Marshall (1.23 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 3.42 GB/FB) and Andrew Carignan (1.23 ERA, .173 AVG, 12.9 K/P) finished off the game, combining to throw three shut-out innings. Carignan recorded his second save of the season with Midland, and sixth overall.

With the win over the division leaders, Midland moves into a second place tie with a record of 18-14.

High-A Stockton

Rich Harden took the mound in his second rehab start, and his first appearance in Class A since he pitched for Oakland’s then-affiliate Visalia. On Tuesday, Oakland’s current Cal League team, Stockton, faced Visalia. Harden dominated his old team, and the Ports slugged their way to a huge 14-0 blowout.

Harden, who is due to rejoin the Major League roster soon, threw six innings for the Ports, allowing nothing but three singles. The Canadian struck out nine, walked none (although he did hit three batters) — and most importantly, felt good afterwards. Harden’s dominance on the mound has never been in question, but his health often has. We’ll all be waiting to see how long he holds up in his latest return to the active roster next week.

Jared Lansford finished off what Harden started, throwing three innings of scoreless relief. Lansford allowed one hit, walked none, and struck out three.

At the plate, it was a parade of Ports all night. Archie Gilbert extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a single, as every player in the lineup had at least one safe hit. In fact, every player except Matt Sulentic reached base at least twice.

Jed Morris led all Ports with three hits, five RBI, two doubles and a walk. Morris is now hitting a clean .333/.400/.700/1.100 in 90 at-bats, and leads the Cal League in RBI with 32.

Sean Doolittle went 2-for-4 with his eighth homer of the season to lift his line to a very impressive .350/.418/.658/1.076 after 117 at-bats. The first-baseman is making good on his selection in the supplemental first round last year.

Stockton is now 24-8 on the season, a record that’s only topped by Salt Lake’s outstanding 25-6 start in the PCL. No other team at any level of pro baseball (outside of Salt Lake) has a better record than the Ports.

Low-A Kane County

After slumping badly in the last handful of games, the Cougar offense finally got something going on Tuesday. Kane County scored ten times on 11 hits and eight walks, topping West Michigan 10-3.

Larry Cobb had another hit, extending his streak to seven games in a row since being recalled from Stockton. Cobb powered his first home run of the season out of the park, breaking a 1-1 tie and giving Kane County a lead they would not surrender.

Christian Vitters had his first good day at the plate in many games, going 3-for-5 with a double. Shane Keough went 2-for-4 with a triple, two walks and three runs scored, bringing his line to .319/.420/.362/.782 on the season.

Greg Dowling also recorded a pair of hits, and drove in three runs. Dowling now has 12 doubles, good for second place in the Midwest League.

Infielder Matt Ray returned from the DL, going 1-for-3 with a pair of walks. To make room for Ray, outfielder Michael Lissman was placed on the DL with an unannounced malady — possibly nothing at all, just to make room.

Scott Hodsdon was credited with his first win of the season, and although he wasn’t outstanding (6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO), he was effective enough to get the W.

Lance Sewell struggled to find the zone, with three walks in as many innings, but allowed just one hit and struck out three without allowing a run to score. The left-handed San Diegan (San Diego-an? San Dieg-ite?) earned his first save of the year.

Kane County gets win number 20, and now stands two games back of division-leading Clinton with a 20-10 record.

— — —

Slate of Games for Wednesday, May 7th

AAA Sacramento at Oklahoma, 9:05 a.m. PST

– Expected starter: Gio Gonzalez.
– Roster link.
– Pacific Coast League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

AA Midland at Frisco, 5:05 p.m. PST

– Expected starter: Andrew Bailey.
– Roster link.
– Texas League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

High-A Stockton vs. Visalia, 10:35 a.m. PST

– Expected starter: James Heuser.
– Roster link.
– California League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

Low-A Kane County at West Michigan, 9:00 a.m. PST

– Expected starter: Scott Mitchinson.
– Roster link.
– Midwest League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

Recap: Baisley Hits Two Homers, Records Seven RBI

A lot of interesting things occurred in Monday’s action — as has so often been the case in games this season. A third-baseman hit a pair of round-trippers and recorded seven RBI, a trio of Venezuelan hurlers struck out 16 batters but lost, and one of the more bizarre offensive innings led to a Kane County win.

AAA Sacramento

Sacramento third-baseman Jeff Baisley thumped two homers on Monday, recording seven RBI with a three-run shot in the first inning, and a grand slam in the seventh. After a disappointing 2007 (.716 OPS at Midland), the 25-year-old Baisley is having a good start with Sacramento. He’s hitting .287/.374/.494/.868 through 87 at-bats.

Joe Gaetti also homered in the River Cats’ 16-7 stomping of Iowa, his third dinger since joining the team on April 30. The 26-year-old outfielder is 10-for-22 in six games with Sacramento, with six of those hits for extra bases.

Second-sacker Brooks Conrad singled three times and walked once, but is still hitting just .261/.320/.432/.752 on the season. He stole his first base of the season, too.

Rehabbing outfielder Travis Buck finally recorded a base hit, singling to lead off the bottom of the third.

Lenny DiNardo got the win for Sacramento, although his pitching line (6.0 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) could have been better. It was just his second minor-league start since 2006. The lefty has yet to walk a batter through 12.0 minor-league innings.

Keith Foulke threw two innings in a rehab assignment, and other than committing a balk to allow one run, he was very good. The veteran pitcher struck out three, walked none, and allowed just a single.

Brad Knox, bumped from the starting rotation to the bullpen, threw a scoreless ninth inning, allowing just a walk.

With the win, Sacramento moves to 17-14, and remains tied with Fresno for first place in the division. In a evenly balanced PCL, Sacramento is tied for the third best record in the league, with many of the other 15 teams hovering right around the .500 mark.

AA Midland

Henry Rodriguez just can’t handle Texas League hitting at this point. His dominant fastball and average slider worked to great effect in the Midwest and California Leagues, but he needs another quality pitch to advance any further. So far, he doesn’t have one.

On Monday, Rodriguez gave up four runs on six hits and three walks, getting chased after just two-and-one-third innings. H-Rod did strike out six of those seven outs, an impressive feat, but threw 74 pitches (43 strikes) to do so.

Jesus Silva took over for his fellow Venezeulan, but didn’t have any sort of luck in shutting down the Frisco hitters. Silva allowed four runs on four hits and two walks, but struck out all five outs he recorded in 1.2 innings.

Keeping the strikeout train rolling was another Venezeulan hurler, Jose Rojas. Unlike Rodriguez and Silva, though, the 25-year-old Rojas threw three hitless, scoreless innings. He walked one, and struck out five.

After Justin Dowdy pitched a perfect eighth, with one K, the Midland pitching staff had struck out 17 batters in just eight innings. They gave up eight runs, however, in the 8-5 loss.

At the plate, Todd Donovan, Aaron Cunningham and Justin Sellers each recorded a pair of singles.

Shortstop Cliff Pennington (who played second base on Monday) reached base five times — but only once via a base-hit. Pennington hit his fourth double — just his fifth extra-base hit of the season — and walked four times. His line now stands at an improbable .283/.417/.331/.747, with an on-base-percentage nearly one hundred points higher than his slugging percentage. Pennington has a gaudy 29:20 BB:SO rate in 31 games this season. The shortstop also swiped his team-leading 12th stolen base of the season.

With the loss, Midland drops back to 17-14, tied for second in the South division of the Texas League.

On a brighter note, James Simmons was named the pitcher of the week for April 28th to May 4th, after two strong starts in which he allowed just three earned runs in 14.0 innings. The 21-year-old struck out 13, while walking just two and allowing only eight hits.

On the season, Simmons has a 1.45 ERA, a 2-1 record, an impressive 28:4 strikeout-to-walk mark, and is allowing the opposition to hit just .205 off of him.

High-A Stockton

Stockton (and the entire Cal League) had Monday off.

The Ports look to continue their winning ways on Tuesday, when Rich Harden makes a rehab start against Visalia.

Stockton currently sits at 23-8, the second-best record in baseball.

Low-A Kane County

Although the Cougars didn’t have many problems getting on base with 14 base-runners, it took a bizarre ninth inning rally to score a pair of runs and win the game 2-1.

At the plate, Corey Brown went 2-for-4 with a double — the Cougars’ only extra-base hit — while Shane Keough and Larry Cobb also each had two hits. Brown is hitting .324/.398/.578/.977 on the season, while Cobb is 9-for-19 with four doubles since his return to the Cougars last week.

Travis Banwart took the mound to begin the game for Kane County, and although he pitched well (6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO), the Cougars’ badly slumping offense couldn’t tally a single run in support.

Scott Deal threw two scoreless for Kane County, striking out one while allowing a hit and a walk. The 21-year-old was credited with the win after a strange course of events in the Cougars’ last at-bat gave them the lead.

In the top of the ninth, down 1-0 on the road, Kane County looked like they were in trouble — until West Michigan closer Noah Krol walked the first two batters of the inning.

Walter Correa attempted a sac bunt to get the runners over to second and third, but was hit in the back by the throw down to first. Pinch-runner Michael Lissman scored from second on the error, while Correa was safe on first and Christian Vitters — the go-ahead run — stood on third with no outs.

Adam Klein was next up, and hit a groundball back to the pitcher. Vitters charged home, and was called out in a violent collision after failing to dislodge the ball from the catcher’s grasp. Correa moved up to third base, now with one out.

Shane Keough came to the plate, but missed the ball on a suicide squeeze bunt attempt, leaving Correa caught in a run-down between third and home. Correa was caught, and there were two outs. The speedy Klein stood on second, representing the go-ahead run with two outs.

Keough, still at the plate, redeemed himself by lacing a line drive up the middle that scored Klein and gave Kane County a 2-1 lead. Greg Dowling fouled out to the catcher to end the inning.

Justin Friend closed out the game after the odd top of the frame, although he walked a pair to make things a little more tense for the Cougars.

With the win, Kane County improves to 19-10, 2.5 games back of division-leading Clinton.

— — —

Slate of Games for Tuesday, May 6th

AAA Sacramento at Oklahoma, 5:05 p.m. PST

– Expected starter: Dan Meyer.
– Roster link.
– Pacific Coast League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

AA Midland at Frisco, 9:00 a.m. PST

– Expected starter: Vin Mazzaro.
– Roster link.
– Texas League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

High-A Stockton vs. Visalia, 7:05 p.m. PST

– Expected starter: Rich Harden (rehab).
– Roster link.
– California League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

Low-A Kane County at West Michigan, 3:35 p.m. PST

– Expected starter: Scott Hodsdon.
– Roster link.
– Midwest League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

Recap: Rallies Abound for Affiliates

Sacramento, Midland and Stockton all needed rallies to win on Sunday, and all got them. Kane County, on the other hand, suffered another loss due to a slumping offense and shaky pitching.

Chris Carter, who has been killing the ball lately, hit his organization-leading tenth home run of the season on Sunday, and it was a key dinger for Stockton. More below…

AAA Sacramento

Starting pitcher Danny Borrell wasn’t exactly dominant on Sunday (6.2 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO), but kept the River Cats in the game against the Iowa Cubs.

A fourth inning home run by Wes Bankston, his fourth of the year, broke a 2-2 tie and gave Sacramento a one-run lead. Bankston scored another run in the bottom of the sixth to pad the lead to two runs, but the lead didn’t last.

Brad Ziegler came into the game with two out in the seventh to try and get the Cats out of a jam. Matt Murton immediately singled, scoring a run to bring the Subs to within one. On the next play, a broken pickoff attempt, Sam Fuld stole home to tie the game. Both runs were credited to Borrell, while Ziegler got a blown save.

Ziegler bore down to finish the inning, and then got a 1-2-3 eighth to keep Sacramento in it. The River Cats were quiet at the plate in the seventh and eighth, with only a hit-by-pitch getting a runner aboard.

Jerry Blevins got three quick outs in the ninth before Casey Rogowski led off the bottom of the frame, the game tied 4-4. The 27-year-old lefty took the second pitch he saw the opposite way for a walk-off home run. Sacramento won 5-4.

Travis Buck remained hitless in his rehab assignment, going 0-for-3, although he has yet to strike out.

With the win, Sacramento moves to 16-14, and remains tied with Las Vagas and Fresno for the division lead.

AA Midland

Six-foot, six-inch Ryan Webb took the mound for Midland, looking to build upon his last start. The right-hander worked in the zone most of the day (88 pitches, 61 strikes), but the big man allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits and a walk. Webb struck out four.

Andy Shipman took over for Webb in the sixth, and threw two innings, giving up one run on one hit — a solo homer. The 26-year-old Missourian struck out two, and walked none.

Trailing 5-4 entering the top of the seventh, the RockHounds quickly made two outs before Jon Zeringue drew a walk. Singles by Tommy Everidge and Aaron Cunningham loaded the bases before Myron Leslie drew an RBI walk to tie the game. The next batter, Anthony Recker, broke the game wide open with his first homer of the year — a grand slam.

Pat Currin and Andrew Carignan closed out the game with a pair of scoreless innings, sealing Midland’s 10-6 victory.

At the plate, Todd Donovan, Zeringue, Cunningham and Recker each recorded two hits. The RockHounds went wild on the basepaths, stealing six bases on the night — without being caught once. Cliff Pennington nabbed two to increase hit team-leading total to 11, Cunningham and Zeringue stole one bag each, while Donovan swiped a pair. Donovan, who has been with the team for just seven games, already has six steals without being caught once.

Midland moves to 17-13 with the win, good for second place in their division.

High-A Stockton

Starter Graham Godfrey failed to strike out a single batter on Sunday, but things turned out well nonetheless. Godfrey allowed just one run on six hits and a walk over 6.0 innings. The 23-year-old left the game with a 3-1 lead, but a disastrous seventh frame put the Ports in a hole.

Jose Fragoso got the first two outs, but also walked two batters. Derrick Gordon entered, and issued another walk to load the bases. A single scored one run, a double steal of home and second scored another, and a double score two more. Gordon finally struck out Mike Paulk to end the inning, but Stockton trailed 5-3.

The Ports failed to score in the seventh, and Gordon got himself under control to get a 1-2-3 top of the eighth. In the bottom of the frame, Jed Morris homered for the second game in a row, his seventh on the season, to bring Stockton to within one run. Jermaine Mitchell doubled, and then scored on Frank Martinez’s RBI single to tie the game at five.

Sam Demel worked a perfect ninth to preserve the tie. Josh Horton hit a one-out double in the ninth, but Chris Carter grounded out before Morris struck out to send the game into extras. Demel walked one and struck out two in the scoreless tenth, but once again Stockton failed to get a base-runner aboard in the bottom of the inning.

Chris Farley entered the game in the 11th, and promptly walked the leadoff batter — who then stole second to put himself in scoring position with no outs. A groundout advanced the runner to third with one out, but sharp defense on two more groundouts kept the run from scoring, and preserved the tie.

After two quick outs, Horton doubled again to put the winning run in scoring position. Sean Doolittle was walked (for the second time) to get to red-hot Chris Carter. Bad decision. Carter hit his tenth homer of the season, an epic three-run walkoff that sent Stockton to a 8-5 victory.

Archie Gilbert extended his hitting streak to 19 games by going 3-for-6. Gilbert is now hitting .425 over his last ten games, and .361/.439/.538/.977 overall. It’s still a bit early, but the Cal League record of 35 is within sight for the East Bay native.

Darryl Lawhorn went 2-for-5 with his third homer of the season. Shortstop Josh Horton raised his line to .303/.422/.394/.817 with a 2-for-6 performance, with two doubles. Horton has an excellent 22:17 walk-to-strikeout ratio on the season.

With the win, Stockton moves to 23-8, first in the division and the second-best record in all of baseball.

Low-A Kane County

Jamie Richmond had a mediocre start for Kane County, giving up six runs (five earned) on eight hits over 6.0 innings. Richmond struck out three and walked none, but couldn’t keep the offensively slumping Cougars in the game. Kane County lost 11-4.

Second-baseman Larry Cobb led the Cougars with a 2-for-3 day at the plate with two doubles and a walk. Greg Dowling doubled and singled, while Walter Correa went 2-for-4. Leadoff hitter Shane Keough went 1-for-3, but walked twice and scored two runs.

After Richmond left the game before the seventh, Brad Hertzler threw a flawless frame. Chad Kerfoot, making his season debut after being added from extended Spring Training, allowed three runs on two hits before being ejected in the ninth for hitting a batter after a homer.

Leonardo Espinal, who didn’t give up a run in his first five outings, has now given up five in his last two. The 23-year-old Dominican gave up a pair of runs on two hits before getting the last out of the game.

Kane County, which won their first five series of the season, has now dropped each of their last four and stands at 18-10 on the season, in second place behind Clinton.

— — —

Slate of Games for Monday, May 5th

AAA Sacramento vs. Iowa, 11:35 a.m. PST

– Expected starter: Lenny DiNardo.
– Roster link.
– Pacific Coast League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

AA Midland at Frisco, 5:00 p.m. PST

– Expected starter: Henry Rodriguez.
– Roster link.
– Texas League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

High-A Stockton (off day, next game Tuesday vs. Visalia, 7:05 p.m. PST)

– Expected starter: Rich Harden (rehab).
– Roster link.
– California League scoreboard.
– Audio link.

Low-A Kane County at West Michigan, 3:35 p.m. PST

– Expected starter: Travis Banwart.
– Roster link.
– Midwest League scoreboard.
– Audio link.