Wed. 6/25 - Nashville and Wisconsin Play Matinees Fighting for Attention Opposite Miz/Skenes

[Joseph Zarr]

Misses high again - inside this time. An 0-2 count is now full. He is risking putting another runner aboard. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Root walks the bases full. Tying runs on base. Now Estevez comes to the mound. Ugly ugly outing from Root. 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 1 HB. That's his second outing in a row where he had no command of his stuff. 

Aquino will come aboard who has been good all season inheriting runners. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Aquino falls behind 3-1. He gets a couple foul balls. He walks a run in on a low change-up. It's now 6-4. Bases still juiced. One down. Man, I tuned into some ugly ugly T-Rats baseball. 😅

[Joseph Zarr]

Hard hit sac fly liner to right CF. Garcia corrals it. Tying run at 3B. Men on the corners. Two down. 6-5 game. T-Rats led 5-0 early. Let's see if Aquino can escape Root's jam.

[Joseph Zarr]

AND, Aquino gives up a two-run double. 7-6 Quad Cities. Another hanger. Just extremely poor stuff from both Root and now Aquino. Hard contact on everything Aquino is throwing up there. Everything hanging from both arms. And now Aquino risks walking the 4th runner of this 8th behind 3-1. Whewwww. Give me strength. 😅

[Joseph Zarr]

Boy, when the T-Rats bullpen is bad? They are really bad. LOL. Thankfully, Aquino gets the groundout to SS to end the threat. That was a classic four runs on two hits inning. Let's see if the bats can get the lead back.

[Joseph Zarr]

Areinamo chops a first pitch 96 mph high heater for a single into CF. Line drive. Burke broken bat line bloop line out to shallow CF. Areinamo steals 2B. Yhoswar called out on a questionable inside heater looking (looked just off the plate). Two down. Alastre will try to make contact. He does but he grounds out directly to the SS shading toward 2nd base. ON to the 9th. T-Rats trail 7-6.

[Joseph Zarr]

Well the bad gets badder. Aquino is coming out of the game after looking all sorts of uncomfortable after a second pitch foul strike down the 3B line. Not good for a young man who has been a bedrock in this pitching staff despite today's rougher appearance. Right away after that pitch he clearly felt something. Dang. This is a truly tough blow to a pitching staff hanging on by thin threads.

[Joseph Zarr]

Really nice work by RHP Jeferson Figueroa in a very unfortunate spot. He goes 3-up and 3-down. Fly out to shallow left CF for a Yhoswar sliding grab. Swinging K via sword. Ground out. The T-Rats have three outs to try to tie or win this game.

[Ro Mueller]

The AA Shuckers were shut out yesterday, so need to do better today in support of RHP KC Hunt (still scuffling - 3 IP, 2 R, 4 Ks in 75 pitches last week) to even their series at Columbus 1-1. 3B Ethan Murray’s last 7 games: 10-for-24 with 5 extra-base hits.

[Joseph Zarr]

AND, T-Rats lose 7-6. It's very tough to make a comeback attempt with Guilarte and Nicasia leading the bottom-of-the-order charge. They go ground out and swinging K. Diaz hits a single into LF. Eduardo Garcia almost sneaks a bloop into shallow right CF but the ball is snagged via diving catch. The T-Rats are now 1-4 in the second half. 

[biedergb]

I will take 2 IP by M. Rodriguez back from his IL stint and the offensive production from the top 5 in the TRats lineup.  I will ignore the bullpen implosion (Root was very dependable last year if I remember correctly)

And Nashville, not the sharpest outing by Henderson, but he got to the 6th with a lead, and the offense did get 10 hits. A normally reliable bullpen was atypical today, but still eked out a win.

Oh and a couple of young pitchers faced off in Milwaukee, wonder if anyone followed that game 😁 So is 19 K and only 2 runs and 3 hits allowed (sure 7 BB) in your first 16 IP over 3 starts OK? Asking for a friend...

[Ro Mueller]

The Low-A Mudcats trail their series at Delmarva 1 game to 0, so need to turn it around today in support of LHP Wande Torres (6.63 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 8.8 K/9 in 38 IP). After 6 hits and 4 RBIs over his past 3 games, 2B Luis Pena comes in carrying a cool .500 SLG thru 209 PAs.

[Joseph Zarr]

Made's current room for growth? Unnecessary outs on the base paths. He has a starting pitcher struggling to command his arsenal. He gets picked off leading too far off 2B caught in a run down. Peña then singles to LF. He has made several bad outs on the basepaths over the past several weeks. He's going to have to shore that up - hopefully as this season progresses.

[Joseph Zarr]

I get the Anderson swinging K on a high heater (ball) and the Pratt swinging K on a slider low and away - couldn't stay off that pitch the entire AB. 

[Joseph Zarr]

LHP Wande Torres works around a two out bloop single over 2B Luis Peña for a 1,2,3,4 first frame. He grabbed a swinging K in there as well. 0-0 as the Mudcats look to bat in the 2nd. 

[Joseph Zarr]

You take Luke Adams out of that lead-off and Brock Wilken out of that clean-up spot and suddenly this is a very very pedestrian Shuckers offense. They are swinging and missing at a bevy of low off-speed offerings or they are popping up weakly. Zero knocks and so far scoreless through 11 innings @ Columbus.

[Joseph Zarr]

Two hard hit line outs (to Warren @ 1B and Murray @ 3B) surround a swinging 3-2 K for Hunt's second scoreless frame. 0-0 as the Shuckers look to get something going in the third frame. We are also 0-0 as the Shorebirds look to bat in their third frame. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Rodriguez misplays a looping liner to RF - playing in he had a slow turn and then never quite got to the ball and then failed to corral it as it dribbled to the wall. A lead-off triple to start the Shorebirds 3rd. It was well hit but that was also poorly played by Rodriguez from the looks of it. Really poor jump and turn around to chase it down. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Another K on a Lucas Braun off-speed pitch 5 K (all swinging) through 2 1/3 Shuckers innings. Just overmatched AB's. 

Di Turi makes his second fantastic charging barehanded grab of this series. Successful sac bunt but Di Turi gets the runner at 1B. 1-0 Mudcats trail.

[biedergb]

29 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

You take Luke Adams out of that lead-off and Brock Wilken out of that clean-up spot and suddenly this is a very very pedestrian Shuckers offense. They are swinging and missing at a bevy of low off-speed offerings or they are popping up weakly. Zero knocks and so far scoreless through 11 innings @ Columbus.

Yeah it’s really Lara and Pratt. Murray has been good recently. But boy would it be nice to se Boeve start to hit.

Kinda like Carolina with two 18 year old trying to keep the offense going, two 20 year old are now the main offensive focus of the Biloxi line up. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Back from Farm chores in the third frame at Delmarva and I am greeted by a spiked LHP Wande Torres heater to the backstop. Ahhhhh, yes. We're back!

[Ro Mueller]

Nice time for Wande Torres to deliver his best start of the year. 73 pitches and 6 Ks are both season highs. He may even pick up his first stateside win :)

[Joseph Zarr]

Hey now! Back-to-back swinging K's strands the Shorebirds runner at 3B. Atta way, Wande! Great escape. Muddies trail 1-0. Got em on a perfectly placed sinker down and in and then a 2-2 slider tailing away. Good stuff.

[biedergb]

Wow. Walked away for 20 minutes and Hunt went from cruising to not

And Muddies got some offense going.