Tigers Minor League Baseball Blog

Yorman Bazardo and the rest of the Hens pitching staff had a tough time in their 10-6 loss to the Knights.  Bazardo gave up three homers in five innings while Anastacio Martinez fell to 0-1 when he gave up four runs in just 1 1/3 innings of work.

Brent Clevlen belted a solo homer, walked twice and scored three runs in the loss.  Michael Hollimon went two for four with a homerun and three RBIs.

Jonathan Connolly was shelled for seven runs (five in the first two innings) on nine hits and three walks in six innings.  The loss dropped his record to 0-2 on the season.

Wilkin Ramirez was the hitting star in the win.  He went two for four with a double, a homerun, three RBIs and two runs.

Being demoted in any line of work is never fun, nor does it lend much room for confidence in any further hope for success. But in baseball whenever a player is hurt or gets sent down a level, it is especially hard because once again you are back at square one. For me I had to start from lower than scratch. With an injury right out of the gate into my pro career, I had to do more than get healthy, I had to prove that I was worthy of the opportunity I had been given. When you struggle because of something that is happening on the field, you are still on the field. When you don’t even get to throw or hit because of injury, it’s like taking the ability to lie from a lawyer; Your best assets are gone. The best metaphor I can think of for professional baseball is that it is like a highly functioning industrial machine. Sometimes parts of the machine break down and have to be thrown out or don’t work like they used to, and need to be tuned up. However, for the whole machine to work it has to be running at all times. So, whenever a part is taken out, a new one has to be brought in. Then once the machine is up and running smoothly again, the old part has to wait until another kink in the line appears where they can be put back in. For those who are promoted it’s a huge step forward because it means you are one step closer to the Major Leagues. However there is never any room to let up because once you are a key part of the machine, it is your job to make sure things keep running smoothly because there will always be another just like you, waiting in the wings to step up and take your spot in the line.

There’s only one sound in the universe that when you hear it, one is immediately taken back to their fifth grade cafeteria. This is the sound of 5,000 excited school kids all gathered in one place on a field trip. The field trip location today was Fifth Third Ballpark, also known to me as home field. The second I stepped out of the tunnel I said to myself, “God, I’m right back in my elementary school cafeteria.” My next thought was, “Is this a good, or bad thing?” Well we never really got the chance to find out because the game was rained out in the bottom of the first inning, when we were threatening I might add. I can sympathize with the little kids however because I can remember going to games that got rained out. So we all tried to do our part and have some fun and sign a few autographs to give them something to go home with. From inside the clubhouse though, I can’t say that there was all sad and sorrow going around. Like I said before any rest is good rest, but I have to admit, it would have been nice to take one back from Kane County.

Michael Hollimon belted a walk off homer in the bottom of the tenth as the Hens knocked Lehigh Valley 7-6.  It was Hollimon’s only hit of the game while Brent Clevlen went two for three with a double, a triple and three RBIs.

Jeremy Johnson gave up four runs in his five innings of work.  Preston Larrison picked up the win with three shutout innings to close out the game.

Brandon Timm had a nice day at the plate as the Flying Tigers doubled up Vero Beach 8-4.  He went three for four with a homerun, three RBIs and two runs.  Santo De Leon doubled twice and drove in three.

Jonah Nickerson improved to 3-2 with a good enough start.  He gave up four runs on eight hits and one walk with four strikeouts in seven innings of work.

Daniel Christensen fell to 0-4 on the season with a rough start in the SeaWolves 6-0 loss to the Thunder.  He gave up six runs (five earned) on nine hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. 

Four singles were all the SeaWolves managed.  There were no walks and no player had more the one hit.

Yorman Bazardo fell to 1-1 on the season with a rough start in the Hens 5-1 loss to Lehigh Valley.  He gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts in five innings of work. 

Jackson Melian provided most of the offense for the Hens.  He went three for four with a solo homer.

Erie lost to Trenton 5-2 and four of those hits came off the bat of two hitters.  Wilkin Ramirez went two for four with a double and a run while Dusty Ryan went two for three with a double and a solo homer.  Ryan’s one of the hitting stars on the team and he has a 1.001 OPS and he’s hitting .444 against left handed pitching.

Andrew Kown took the loss and he fell to 2-3.  He gave up three runs on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts in six innings.

The pen couldn’t get the job done as a solid start by Duane Below went to waste in a 6-3 loss to St. Lucie.  Below gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts in six innings but Derek Witt and Ed Clelland combined to give up four runs in the seventh and eighth and that cost the Flying TIgers the win.

Santo De Leon had a nice day at the plate. He went three for four with a double, a homerun and two runs. 

Lauren Gagnier fell to 1-3 on the season with a rough start in the White Caps 10-3 loss to Kane County.  He gave up five runs on eight hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings.  Gagnier has struggled this year although there’s some reason for optimism because he’s struck out 42 in 29 innings.  If he can stop giving up so many hits (32), then his last start when he threw six shutout innings is more of a glimpse of what’s to come.

Kody Kaiser was the hitting star in the loss.  He went three for four with a double and a run.

Noah Krol blew his first save of the season and he gave up a pair of runs in the ninth inning in a 2-1 loss to Kane County.  To his credit, a throwing error by Roger Tomas on a bunt in the ninth inning didn’t help things.

Kyle Peter went two for four with a walk, a double and a run.  Joseph Bowen singled, doubled, drew a walk and scored.

Rick Porcello improved to 2-4 on the season in Lakeland’s 9-2 win over St. Lucie.  He gave up three hits and three walks with two strikeouts in six innings.

Cale Iorg singled, homered and drove in three runs in the win.  Santo De Leon went two for five with a run and an RBI.

Jonathan Connolly fell to 0-1 with a tough start in the SeaWolves 9-5 loss to Trenton.  He gave up six runs on thirteen hits and a walk with two strikeouts in six frames.

Deik Scram went two for five with an RBI.  Freddy Guzman tripled, drew two walks and scored twice.

Timo Perez seemed to be hitting out of his slump as he was passed up for promotion after the release of Jacque Jones.  He went four for four with a triple, a homer, three RBIs and two runs in the Hens 11-7 win.  Mike Hessman belted his eleventh homer of the season and Jeff Larish hit his ninth and drove in three.

Virgil Vasquez picked up the win and he improved to 2-2.  He gave up three runs on four hits and a walk with six strikeouts in five innings.

Scott Sizemore had an impressive day at the plate as the Flying Tigers took care of the St. Lucie Mets 8-3.  He went two for four with a walk, a homerun, four RBIs and three runs.  Justin Justice went two for four with a walk and two runs.

Luis Marte picked up the win and he improved to 3-1.  He gave up three runs (two earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts in six innings.

The SeaWolves split their pair of games today with Altoona.  Game one was a 4-3, extra inning loss that saw Casey Fien give up a walk off solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning.  Benjamin Fritz didn’t get the decision and he gave up three runs (one earned) on eleven hits and one walk with four strikeouts in six innings.  Maxim St. Pierre and Jeff Frazier both had two singles and each drove in a run.

Game two was a 9-2 beatdown.  Dusty Ryan went two for four with a double, a homerun, three RBIs and two runs.  Diek Scram went three for five with a double, two RBIs and a run.  Lucas French improved to 2-2 and he gave up two runs on five hits and four walks with four strikeouts in the seven inning complete game.

The Hens beat Rochester 8-4 and it was Brent Clevlen and Nick Trzesniak who both drove in the bulk of the runs.   Clevlen doubled and drove in three while Trzesniak singled twice and drove in three.  Erick ALmonte was the only Mud Hen with two hits in the contest.

Eddie Bonine remained undefeated and he improved to 6-0 on the season.  He gave up four runs on six hits with four strikeouts.

Alfredo Figaro had one of the best starts of the season for the White Caps and he improved to an impressive 4-0 on the season.  He gave up just three hits with eleven strikeouts in the shutout win and his ERA is now down to a microscopic 0.46.  Opponents are hitting just .159 against him and if he continues at this pace, it’s not going to make a lot of sense keeping him down while he dominates Low-A hitting.

Roger Tomas had a pair of singles and a run in the 4-0 win.  Mark McBratney singled, tripled and scored a run.

Anyone who has ever gone to any minor league baseball game knows that there are endless festivities going on between innings. These games are usually created and thought up by the marketing staff to further entice the fans’ interest in the game. Before I go on, I have to give our staff credit for what they do; They provide additional entertainment (which is needed in some of our games) and also these present prime advertising opportunities. Plus our games are done pretty well and are even entertaining for the players. However, some of these things I have seen in the past couple of years gets a little out of hand. I am a fan of the traditional Milwaukee Brewers sausage race and any kind of video board animation, but when some of these gimmicks take four to five minutes to finish, it gets a little hard to focus on warming up. When you are worried about hitting a giant running corn stalk behind the catcher, or a kid who is lost trying to cross home plate, it does make you utter a few words to yourself. With that said, I have to tip my hat to a participant in today’s dizzy bat race. Now our staff does this event right: They pick two older folks, usually who are a little dizzy to begin with, and let them spin, and spin, and then spin some more. Rarely do either participants stay on their feet and it brings plenty of laughs and entertainment to us relievers in the bullpen. Today was no exception, and as I was throwing my warm up pitches, I caught a glance as the man was beginning to tumble towards what looked like the line of my throw. So I stopped and stared as he fell, hard, right on the baseline, on his face. I waited to see if he was okay and when he got up his face was covered in blood. I will have to say that was the first dizzy bat injury I have ever seen and hope the guy is okay. But whoever you are dizzy bat face plant man, I tip my hat because you provided us with one of the most memorable moments of 2008.