4/14 MiLB Gameday: Drive for 6

JBJ_HOF

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Apr 5, 2014
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Ranaudo is starting for Workman in case Koji needs to go on the DL.
 
Owens and Kukuk go in the other games tonight. boxscores
 

ivanvamp

captain obvious
Jul 18, 2005
6,104
Owens:  12.2 ip, 6 h, 0 r, 0 er, 2 bb, 18 k
 
Obviously just two starts, but how long does he stay in AA?  
 
FWIW, here are his 8 total career starts in AA (totals):  43.0 ip, 24 h, 8 r, 6 er, 17 bb, 64 k, 1.26 era, 0.95 whip, 13.4 k/9
 
I mean, good grief.
 

Cuzittt

Bouncing with Anger
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Sinister Funkhouse #17
Salem now can't win, losing 9-6.

Boxscore

Kyle Kraus went 5 innings, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits (2 HRs) and a walk; striking out 4. Madison Younginer went 2 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. Kyle Stroup pitched an inning and a third, allowing a run on a hit and a HBP; striking out one.

Jonathan Roof went 3/5 with a double. Kevin Heller went 2/3 with a double and 2 walks. Carson Blair went 2/4 with a walk. Aaron King went 2/4. Matty Johnson went 2/5 with a double. Ryan Dent went 1/5 with a double. Dreily Guerrero went 0/2 with 2 walks. David Chester went 0/4 with a walk. Matt Gedman went 0/5.
 

Cuzittt

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Sinister Funkhouse #17
Seadogs score 6 in the 6th, win 9-4.

Boxscore

Henry Owens went 5 innings, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits (2 HRs), 3 walks and a WP; striking out 4. Robby Scott went 2 1/3 innings, giving up a hit and striking out 3. Miguel Celestino went 1 2/3 innings, giving up a hit and a WP; striking out one.

Sean Coyle went 3/4 with a HR and 2 SBs. Peter Hissey went 2/4. Mookie Betts went 2/5 with a double. Stefan Welch went 1/3 with a double and a walk. Blake Swihart went 1/4 with a SB. Travis Shaw and Deven Marrero each went 0/3 with 2 walks. Carlos Rivero went 0/3 with a SF. Henry Ramos went 0/3 with a walk.
 

Plympton91

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SoSH Member
Oct 19, 2008
12,408
Cuzittt said:
Salem now can't win, losing 9-6.

Boxscore

Kyle Kraus went 5 innings, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits (2 HRs) and a walk; striking out 4. Madison Younginer went 2 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. Kyle Stroup pitched an inning and a third, allowing a run on a hit and a HBP; striking out one.

Jonathan Roof went 3/5 with a double. Kevin Heller went 2/3 with a double and 2 walks. Carson Blair went 2/4 with a walk. Aaron King went 2/4. Matty Johnson went 2/5 with a double. Ryan Dent went 1/5 with a double. Dreily Guerrero went 0/2 with 2 walks. David Chester went 0/4 with a walk. Matt Gedman went 0/5.
 
I am the world's greatest contrarian indicator.
 

Cuzittt

Bouncing with Anger
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Sinister Funkhouse #17
Pawsox win 9-5. Game ended in the 9th due to rain.

Boxscore

Anthony Ranaudo went 5 innings, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits, 3 walks and a WP; striking out 5. Rich Hill went 2 2/3 innings, giving up a hit and striking out 3. Alex Wilson picked up the final out via the strikeout.

Ryan Lavarnway and Bryce Brentz each went 3/5; Brentz with a HR. Alex Hassan went 2/4 with a double and a walk. Mike McCoy went 2/4 with a double. Justin Henry went 1/2 with 3 walks. Heiker Meneses went 1/3 with a triple and a walk. Garin Cecchini went 1/4 with a double and a walk. Brandon Snyder and Christian Vazquez each went 1/5; Snyder with a double.
 

Cuzittt

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Drive lose 11-3... as their relievers give up 10 in the last 4 innings.

Boxscore

Cody Kukuk went 5 innings, allowing a run on 4 hits, a WP and a walk; striking out 8. Jacob Dahlstrand went 2 1/3 innings, allowing 7 runs on 7 hits (2 HRs), 3 walks and a WP; striking out one. Jonathan Aro went 1 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits and 3 walks; striking out one.

Wendell Rijo went 2/3 with a double and a walk. Jantzen Witte went 1/2 with a double, walk and SF. Zach Kapstein went 1/2 with a walk and a HBP. Jake Romanski went 1/3 with a triple, walk and SB. Carlos Asuaje went 1/4. Bo Greenwell went 0/4 with a SF. Tzu-Wei Lin, Tim Roberson and Manuel Margot each went 0/4.
 

Cuzittt

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Sinister Funkhouse #17
STORIES

PAWSOX

Game Story

Pawtucket pounded out 15 hits and scored seven of the final eight runs in the contest to erase an early deficit as the PawSox topped the Rochester Red Wings, 9-5, in a rain-shortened game Monday night at soggy Frontier Field in the opener of a four-game series.

Every batter in the Pawtucket lineup recorded at least one hit and the PawSox (7-5) scored in every inning except the first and fourth in the eight-inning affair. The game was halted after persistent rain caused standing water to form around the infield.

After Rochester scored three times in the second against Pawtucket starter Anthony Ranaudo (1-1) to take a 4-2 lead, the PawSox plated one run in the third and three more in the fifth to take the lead for good. Ryan Lavarnway and Bryce Brentz each collected three hits while Justin Henry reached base four times.

Lavarnway's RBI single against Red Wings starter Trevor May cut the deficit to 4-3 in the third. May was lifted with one out in the fifth after walking Henry, and the new pitcher Brooks Raley (0-1) was greeted by Alex Hassan's game-tying RBI double to left center.

Hassan came in to score the go-ahead run on the play when the relay throw from shortstop Danny Santana slipped into the third-base dugout. Garin Cecchini's RBI double with two out capped the three-run rally and put the PawSox ahead 6-4.

After Ranaudo allowed a run in the fifth, Pawtucket plated single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth to provide the final margin. Brentz's solo homer in the seventh highlighted the scoring.
SEADOGS

Game Story

Nearly every adjective has been used to define Owens in three years of professional baseball.

Henry Owens is also mortal.

When he looked to be breezing to another top-notch performance with the Portland Sea Dogs, Owens suddenly lost his command, giving up a pair of two-run homers in the third inning.

Owens still kept his team in the game, and the Sea Dogs eventually rallied for a 9-4 win over the Binghamton Mets at Hadlock Field on Monday night.

Owens did not get the decision for his five innings of work: six hits, four runs, three walks and four strikeouts.

Reliever Robby Scott (1-0) got the win after Portland pounced for six runs in the sixth inning for an 8-4 lead. Sean Coyle led the offense with three hits, including a home run, and three RBI.

So Owens is still 2-0 and after his worst start with the Portland Sea Dogs, his ERA is only 2.04. But Monday was a sign of a still-developing pitcher.

“In the days between (the next start), I’ll work on anything mechanical I need to work on to get back my rhythm and timing, and go from there,” Owens said.

Owens began the season with a 0.00 ERA in two starts (one a six-inning no-hitter). That was coming off 2013 when he finished the season with six starts in Portland (a total of six earned runs).

Owens combines a 90 mph fastball with a plus change-up and solid curve.

“He has an exceptional change-up,” pitching coach Bob Kipper said. “But without the fastball, the change-up becomes less exceptional.”

If Owens is not putting the fastball where he wants it, there can be trouble.

“The ability to control the delivery to the extent he can command his fastball – that is the biggest area in his development,” Kipper said. “Last year it was suspect at times.”

Owens looked improved this year, including the early innings Monday. He allowed one hit and no walks through the first two innings. He retired the first two batters in the third, on five pitches.

But Owens followed that with four elevated fastballs for a walk. Brian Burgamy homered to left. Kevin Plawecki doubled. Matt Clark homered to right center.

Portland trailed 4-2.

“He had difficulty getting the ball down,” Sea Dogs Manager Billy McMillon said. “Hopefully he can learn from it and make some adjustments … Still, he gave up two two-run home runs, and he’s still able to get five innings.”
Billy McMillon

McMillon’s edition, then affiliated with the Florida Marlins, was the first to deliver a winner. The inaugural Sea Dogs of ’94 finished 21 games under .500. McMillon & Co. ran away with the first of three consecutive Eastern League North titles, finishing 30 games over .500.

Now he’s back at Hadlock, the first former player to return as manager of the Sea Dogs, with an opportunity to deliver a winning season for the first time since 2008.

In his playing days, McMillon was a smooth-swinging left fielder who rarely showed extremes of emotion and always seemed to make solid contact at the plate. In his one season in Portland, his 162 hits led the league. He was also a solid fielder, with 14 outfield assists good for third in the league.

Post-Portland, he saw big-league action with the Marlins (1996-97), Phillies (1997), Tigers (2000-01) and Athletics (2001-04), usually as a fourth outfielder. He batted .248 in 269 games and spent one full season in the bigs, split between Detroit and Oakland in 2001.

As a manager?

Only time will tell. Outwardly, he remains the same friendly guy, a little thicker around the middle and thinner on top. For Thursday’s chilly home opener, he left his warm-up jacket in the dugout to coach third base and, when arguing two calls (one a possible trap in center field, the other an apparent hit-by-pitch on a bunt attempt) never lost his cool.

“I try to give reasonable arguments out there,” said McMillon, who figures he averaged half a dozen ejections per season in previous two-year managerial stints in Class A Greenville, S.C. (South Atlantic League) and Salem, Va. (Carolina League).

“He’s definitely very low-key and even-keeled,” said Sea Dogs pitcher Mike Augliera, who played for McMillon last season in Salem. “He makes it a lot more relaxed than other managers might. You can approach him for anything, baseball-related or not.”
SALEM

Boxscore

KINGS OF THE ROAD: The Salem Red Sox can be comforted by this: They won’t have to host Myrtle Beach for a while.

The Pelicans set a club record by winning their seventh consecutive road game Monday, outslugging the Sox 9-6 in front of a matinee crowd of 1,536 at Salem Memorial Ballpark.

The Sox (6-5), who swept a four-game series in Myrtle Beach to open the season, got swept in these four home games by an aggregate score of 28-16.

“I still feel pretty good about my club,” Salem skipper Carlos Febles said. “We’re going to pitch well. We are going to hit. It’s a matter of time.”

SPICY OR MILD? Salem right-hander Kyle Kraus got a spot start in place of William Cuevas, who was skipped after experiencing some arm soreness. He gave the Sox a chance, pitching five innings. He departed in the sixth with a 6-3 lead, with the only major blows being homers by Jorge Alfaro and Joey Gallo.

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Gallo hit his fifth homer in five games, driving an outer-half fastball the opposite way for a two-run homer in the third.

“We have a spray chart on him, and he’s got two balls going the other way,” Kraus said. “And then he hits an Oppo Taco. It was surprising, but with his pop, he can hit it out anywhere.”
DRIVE

Game Story

Charleston ended its five-game losing streak by stopping Greenville’s winning streak at five games.

The RiverDogs scored 10 runs over the last four innings to roll past the Drive 11-3 on a rainy Monday night at Fluor Field with an announced attendance of 3,552.

“These guys have a lot of learning to do,” said Drive manager Darren Fenster. “We’re going to have some nights like we had tonight where things don’t fall into place the way they did the previous five days.

“It’s not going to affect the way that we go about our business when we come to the ballpark tomorrow.”

Early on, the game appeared to be a pitcher’s duel between Drive starter Cody Kukuk and Rookie Davis of Charleston. The starters combined to surrender just three runs.

A single followed by a double – both with two outs – produced a run for Charleston (4-7) against Kukuk in the third. Otherwise, Kukuk was effective in his five innings of work. He allowed four hits and that one run while striking out eight and walking one.

“He was great tonight,” Fenster said of Kukuk. “Really attacked the zone. Was in control of the game, leaving after five innings game tied 1-1. A real good outing from him.”

Greenville (7-4) evened the game at 1-1 in the fourth. Jake Romanski tripled with one out. The next batter, Jantzen Witte, delivered a sacrifice fly to drive in Romanski.

Drive reliever Jacob Dahlstrand immediately encountered trouble in the sixth. Two walks, a throwing error by Romanski, a wild pitch, and one hit equaled two RiverDogs runs. Greenville trailed 3-1.

In the last half of that frame, the Drive cut their disadvantage to 3-2. Zach Kapstein, seeing his first action at Fluor Field this season, led off with a single. Back-to-back groundouts moved him to third, and he scored on a wild pitch.