Minor League Discussion & Boxes 6-1-2007

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IowaCubs.com[/url]"]Moore Blasts Beavers in Cubs Win

 

Scott Moore's solo homer in the top of the eighth inning lifted Iowa over Portland, 5-4, on Friday.

 

Moore launched his fourth long ball of the year with two outs in the eighth to snap a 4-4 tie. The 23-year-old third baseman also walked twice and scored on starting pitcher Les Walrond's sacrifice fly in the second.

 

Micah Hoffpauir went 2-for-4 with a two-run double in the first and Mike Fontenot had two doubles and scored twice for the Cubs (32-22).

 

Jim Henderson (2-0) picked up the win in relief by tossing a scoreless seventh and Cory Bailey pitched around a hit and a walk in the eighth.

 

Portland's Mike Sansoe drilled a one-out triple off Carmen Pignatiello in the ninth, but the left-hander got Vince Sinisi on a grounder to first. Rocky Cherry came on and uncorked a pitch that rolled away from the plate. Sansoe tried to score, but was cut down by catcher Geovany Soto, who flipped to Cherry for the final out.

 

Cherry recorded his fourth save. Walrond surrendered four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out five over six innings.

 

Sinisi blasted his ninth homer and smacked an RBI double for the Beavers (24-30).

 

Portland reliever Andrew Brown (2-3) took the loss after yielding a run on one hit and a walk in the eighth. Starter Jared Wells gave up four runs on eight hits and four walks in five innings.

 

SmokiesBaseball.com[/url]"]Gallagher baffles Diamond Jaxx

 

Sean Gallagher tossed seven strong innings as visiting Tennessee defeated West Tenn, 5-1, on Friday.

 

Gallagher (7-2) allowed one run on three hits and one walk with a season-high nine strikeouts. The 21-year-old right-hander won for the fifth time in six starts and lowered his ERA to 3.39.

 

Josh Kroeger went 3-for-4 with a two-run blast, his ninth, in the first for the Smokies (27-24). He has six homers and 13 RBIs in his last 10 games.

 

Jemel Spearman had two hits and scored twice, while Matt Craig was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Casey McGehee singled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.

 

Diamond Jaxx starter Douglas Fister (2-6) gave up four runs -- one earned -- on eight hits and four strikeouts in seven innings.

 

Marshall Hubbard slugged his third homer in the seventh for West Tenn (25-30). --Shane Figueroa/MLB.com

 

DaytonaCubs.com[/url]"]Rainy Night in Daytona

Dopirak Efforts Not Enough

 

By: Jeanine Jiannetti

 

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - On a rainy Friday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, the Daytona Cubs (25-28) dropped the final game of a four-game set (13-4) to the Brevard County Manatees (33-21), while Jeff Samardzija (0-5) took the loss.

 

The Cubs allowed a season high 13 runs on the Manatees’ 16 hits in the loss, including three doubles, a triple and two home runs.

 

In five complete innings, Samardzija allowed the most hits (10) and runs (8) in any of his outings for Daytona. Jesse Estrada and Joel Santo came in for two innings apiece to combine for five runs on six hits, while fanning two. Santo walked two and handed over back-to-back home runs in the top of the ninth.

 

Brian Dopirak (1-for-3) contributed three of the four Cubs’ runs with a two-run jack in the second inning and a sacrifice fly in the fourth to score Jesus Valdez (0-for-3), who led off with a walk.

 

The Cubs fourth and final run came in the fifth inning when Chris Amador (0-for-5) took home on a wild pitch from right-hander Ben Stanczyk.

 

The Cubs will continue with game two of a nine-game homestand at Jackie Robinson Ballpark Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. Get your tickets at the Cubs box office or by calling (386) 257-3172.

 

PeoriaChiefs.com[/url]"]Chiefs Wait Out Rain, Lose 5-3 at CR

 

Cedar Rapids, IA – The Peoria Chiefs waited 3 hours and 47 minutes to start the game and then waited seven innings to get the offense going in a 5-3 loss to the Cedar Rapids Kernels Friday afternoon. Two rain storms prevented the Noon game from starting until almost 4:00 pm.

 

After the Chiefs left two runners on base in their half of the third, Cedar Rapids came through against Jose Pina to take a lead. PJ Phillips led off with a single and Stantrel Smith doubled down the line to put two in scoring position with nobody out. For the third game in a row, leadoff hitter Ryan Mount came through with a big hit as he singled in both runners for a 2-0 lead.

 

Cedar Rapids added to their lead in the fourth when Pina again gave up a long homer. In his last start, Pina gave up what is likely the longest homer ever hit at O’Brien Field to Wisconsin ’s Carlos Peguero. In the fourth today the surrendered the longest homer on the road against the Chiefs this season to Kernels DH Mark Trumbo. The solo shot is the MWL-leading 10th allowed this season by Pina and put Cedar Rapids up 3-0.

 

Peoria had a great to chance to score in the sixth. Matt Camp led off with a single and stole second. He then stole third as Yusuf Carter struck out swinging for the first out of the frame. Kernels starter David Herndon buckled down and struck out Josh Lansford before getting Ryan Norwood to bounce out and leave Camp at third.

 

Pina responded by walking Chris Pettit to start the sixth. Pettit stole second and moved to third on a throwing error by Chiefs catcher Matt Canepa. Trumbo singled home Pettit for a 4-0 Kernels lead.

 

The Chiefs got back in the game against Herndon in the eighth. Ryne Malone led off with a double and went to third on a one-out single by Camp. Carter singled home a pair and stole second. Lansford followed with a RBI single down the left-field line to cut the lead to 4-3. Barrett Browning relieved Herndon and gave up a single to Norwood . Blake Lalli was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out and Jonathon Mota ran for Lalli at first. Browning got out of the jam when he induced an inning ending 1-2-3 double play off the bat of Jim Adduci.

 

Cedar Rapids added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth off reliever Marco Carrillo. With one out, Trumbo and Hank Conger connected on back to back doubles for a 5-3 lead.

 

Pina (1-5) allowed four runs on eight hits over six innings of work. He struck out a season high eight and walked one. He has allowed a homer in all but two of his starts this season and has surrendered three or more earned runs six times. Marco Carrillo stuck out two but allowed one run on two hits and a walk in two innings of work.

 

Gorman’s Pub Player of the game: Matt Camp (CF) – One day after his first day off in 2007, Camp singled three times and stole two bases. He is now third in the MWL in steals (17) and hasn’t been thrown since May 8th.

 

Notes…Ryne Sandberg received two standing ovations for signing autographs in the rain for approximately an hour…The Chiefs now return home for a crucial four game set with first place Beloit…Peoria has bounced into at least one double play in five straight games and in 11 of their last 13 games…Jonathon Mota, Russ Canzler, Alfred Joseph & Wellington Castillo were all given the day off though Mota did pinch run in the 8th…The Chiefs will throw RH Jake Renshaw (4-2, 3.50) against RH Alex Burnett Saturday at 6:30 PM…Saturday is Irish Night at O’Brien Field sponsored by Kelleher’s Irish Pub & Eatery…The Chiefs players will wear green pinstriped jerseys with the auction proceeds going to Boys & Girls Club…There will be fireworks after the game and a Boy Scout campout…The game can be heard live beginning with the pre-game show at 6:15 PM online at http://www.peoriachiefs.com or on WOAM 1350.