Wed. 5/3 - 11:00 AM (Central) Shuckers and Timber Rattlers Contests

[Joseph Zarr]

Oh for crying out loud! INF Daniel Guillarte just injured his right arm/shoulder sliding into 2B and has now left the game injured. He was in a lot of pain. What. The. Heck!!! He's favoring his right shoulder. Awful. Can we get a break, please?!? We'll have to see if he returns to the field but that looks doubtful. He jammed it strangely in the dirt in a face first slide. An awkward slide at that. UGH. 1:03:25 on the MiLB.TV broadcast gives the full view. 

[Ro Mueller]

AAA Nashville looks to take a 2-0 series lead in St. Paul, with 29-year old LHP Thomas Pannone (0.00 ERA in 4.2 IP with 6 Ks) getting his 1st start in his 3rd appearance of 2023. DH/1B Jon Singleton (.225 AVG, .757 OPS in 102 PAs) comes in with a 21-game on-base streak. 

[Joseph Zarr]

OK. We may have dodged a serious bullet there. Guillarte is back manning the 2B dirt. Thank goodness. No more injury scares to these young men, please.🥴

[Joseph Zarr]

Delmarva has men on 2nd and 3rd with two down. I have no idea what was going on with LF Hedbert Perez taking an extremely odd route to a very routine high fly ball down the left field line. He appeared to get there on time. Looked to be a makable and, frankly, easy catch. But, he just stopped short and let it plop. Weird weird play. 

[Joseph Zarr]

And, now Hererra is clutching his lower right hamstring. What is going on? Whewwww. Someone send the Shaman, please. Well, after a full staff mound visit and some V-Sit-and-Reach he's staying in the game. Papa needs a timeout!😅

[Joseph Zarr]

Boy, Parra just failed to corral a lovely barehanded scoop and toss by Jadher Areinamo after a sublime lead-off bunt down the 3B line. The first base position, as a whole, continues to be an organizational issue defensively. Nobody (well, Luke Adams has been fantastic but he isn't a regular at 1B) appears to be stepping up to make those digs. That runner is now on 3B after consecutive very wild pitches by Herrera. And, that runner has now crossed on a 3-1 line drive poke to CF. 1-0 Shorebirds. Herrera is having major control issues at present. That's now three pitches that have reached the backstop through three batters in the 2nd frame. 

[Joseph Zarr]

That's now four wild pitches to the backstop for Herrera here in the 2nd inning alone. Wood hasn't had a chance on any of these - these are wild pitches. Whew. This could get gnarly quick if he can't settle down. Still nobody out. Runners on 2nd and 3rd. 1-0 Shorebirds. This is a Low-A special. And now the bases are juiced. So, that's 4 wild pitches, 2 BB, and a single rbi poke to CF. All of this after Parra failed to dig that bunt single. Sometimes when it starts sprinkling it leads to a downpour.

[wiguy94]

4 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Boy, Parra just failed to corral a lovely barehanded scoop and toss by Jadher Areinamo after a sublime lead-off bunt down the 3B line. The first base position, as a whole, continues to be an organizational issue defensively. Nobody (well, Luke Adams has been fantastic but he isn't a regular at 1B) appears to be stepping up to make those digs. That runner is now on 3B after consecutive very wild pitches by Herrera. And, that runner has now crossed on a 3-1 line drive poke to CF. 1-0 Shorebirds. Herrera is having major control issues at present. That's now three pitches that have reached the backstop through three batters in the 2nd frame. 

Definitely feels like he should be out of the game. 4 WP before he even gets a single out this inning is not a good sign. Clearly his leg is bothering him still.

[wiguy94]

5 WP this inning now from Herrera. Willy somebody please get this kid out of the game before he seriously hurts himself.

[Joseph Zarr]

1 minute ago, wiguy94 said:

5 WP this inning now from Herrera. Willy somebody please get this kid out of the game before he seriously hurts himself.

And, these pithces are literally 6' outside the batters zone. It's wild. Fresh off the best start of his career his last outing.

[Joseph Zarr]

What a stab and tag by C Matt Wood to prevent the Shorebirds third run. That was a huge out. And, that is how you pick your team up. Give me some of that defense. Thank you, Mr. Wood!!!

[wiguy94]

Just now, Joseph Zarr said:

And, these pithces are literally 6' outside the batters zone. It's wild. Fresh off the best start of his career his last outing.

I'm guessing this is because of his hamstring. All of these WP have been yanked away towards the glove side.

[Joseph Zarr]

Six wild pitches in a single inning from Herrera. SIX. Whewwww baby. This is nuts. 😂

[Joseph Zarr]

Just now, wiguy94 said:

I'm guessing this is because of his hamstring. All of these WP have been yanked away towards the glove side.

The first wild pitch of the inning went over the head of a righty bat. Just so we're covering all our wild pitch bases.😅

[wiguy94]

Thankfully they took him out before he seriously hurt himself. 6 WP and 3 walks this inning and night and day difference between the 1st and 2nd innings in terms of his control.

[Joseph Zarr]

Wow. 6 wild pitches. 3 walks. And a complete loss of command. He fought through that leg injury but, obviously, something was going on. He leaves with the bases juiced. Mudcats trail 2-0.

[Joseph Zarr]

"Hey Nick, you want to head to the Hill for us? We have bases juiced and our starter just walked three batters and threw 6 wild pitches in that inning. Shut her down and get us out of this, young man!"

[Joseph Zarr]

Well, a first pitch line drive single to RF drives in two more for Delmarva off RHP Nick Merkel. Runners now on 1st and 2nd. 4-0 Shorebirds. It sure looked like Nicasia's throw to 2B may have nabbed the runner rounding to 3B. 

[Joseph Zarr]

LHP Thomas Pannone is scoreless through 2 IP. BUT, let's call a spade a spade here: that's now four balls headed to the outfield at over 95 mph. The Saints are stinging deep balls just short of the wall. That doesn't bode well as a sustainable strategy.

[Joseph Zarr]

Two more hard hit balls find the deep warning track - ground rule double - and the high CF wall for another double (104 off the bat). It's 1-0 Saints.

[wiguy94]

I think Ethan Small will probably come back out for a 2nd inning but that was a very quality 1st inning from him. 1 hit (soft liner) and 3 strikeouts while consistently pounding the zone.

[Joseph Zarr]

OF Monte Harrison just ripped a 116 mph line drive single to LF. That's what we might call a rocket. Yowza.

[Joseph Zarr]

Meanwhile, with two down, RHP Shane Smith gets the strike them out throw them out to escape the jam! He now has 5 K and the Mudcats have been chipping away - they trail 5-2. Let's get a comeback brewin'!

[Joseph Zarr]

Sounds are threatening. OF Blake Perkins just hit his second poke of his evening with a double to the wall in RF. Harrison moves to 3B. Men on 2nd and 3rd for INF Eddy Alvarez. One down. Sound still trail 2-1.

[Joseph Zarr]

And OF Luis Lara rips a double to deep right center and we have the lead off man aboard in the 7th! Rally caps. ON.