ArizonaLeague.com |
|
Arizona League Weekly Report Report No. Two Covering Sunday, July 8 to Saturday July 22
Royals Hurlers Nearly Perfect in 1-0 Loss. Surprise Royals pitchers Brent Fisher and Michael Hauff held the Mesa Cubs hitless on July 19 and the duo combined for nearly a perfect game. But the Royals lost the contest, 1-0. The Cubs scored the game's only run after a throwing error by Fisher. Cubs second baseman Valerio Heredia reached on Fisher's error with one out in the fourth inning. Heredia promptly stole second base and third base and then scored on catcher Carlos Perez's sacrifice fly. No other Cubs reached base in the contest. Fisher tossed six innings, faced 19 batters (one over the minimum), and struck out 11. Hauff faced only six batters in the final two frames with four strikeouts. Since the home team Cubs had the lead, there was no need to play the bottom of the ninth. Red Hot Padres. The Padres are the hottest club in the Arizona League in the month of July. Since July 1, the Padres are 13-5 and they have outscored their opponents 139 to 86. In contrast, the Rangers are only 5-13 in July with a 7.04 team ERA. Giants Plate Season-High 21 Runs. The Scottsdale Giants tallied 21 runs against the Maryvale Brewers on July 9, the most in the Arizona League this year. The Giants scored at least one run in each of the nine innings in route to a 21-8 victory. Third baseman Matt Downs led the Giants attack with three triples and six RBIs. The Giants' 21 runs in the most scored by a AzL team since 2003 when the Athletics and Royals-1 each plated 22 runs in different games. Eighteen Punch Outs. The Phoenix Athletics' pitchers recorded a league-high 18 strikeouts against the Cubs on July 8. RHP Jose Guzman led the strikeout barrage with 8 KOs in 4.1 innings. But lots of strikeouts do not assure victory. With the game tied 2-2 going into the ninth inning, the Cubs scored five times in the final frame for a 7-2 win. Schoeninger's Dominant Performance. Angels right-hander Tim Schoeninger was nearly perfect for six innings against the Surprise Royals on July 10. With one out in the first inning, Royals 2B Alwin Perez singled to right field but he was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double. Perez proved to be the only Royal to reach base against Schoeninger. In six innings, the 21-year-old Denver native faced only 18 batters (the minimum), yielded one hit, walked none, and struck out 8. The Angels won the contest, 4-0. Big League Rehabs. Several major leaguers have logged time in the Arizona League on rehab assignments. In a battle of big leaguer rehabbers, Brewers ace Ben Sheets started against Padres right-hander Dewon Brazelton on July 14. Sheets pitched 4.1 innings and gave up five hits and five earned runs while striking out eight batters. In two innings, Brazelton yielded one hit, two walks and no earned runs with two strikeouts. The previous day, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Tomo Ohka pitched three innings for Maryvale against the Athletics and was the losing pitcher. Ohka gave up seven hits and two earned runs. Five-Hit Days. In only his second professional game, Brewers leftfielder Andrew LeFave recorded five hits and scored three runs in the Brewers' 13-5 win over the Padres on July 14. LeFave's hits were all singles. Only two days later, LeFave's teammate Ulrich Snijders matched the effort with five hits against the Mesa Cubs. Snijders had a three singles, a triple, a home run and four RBIs to help lead the Brewers to a 12-7 win. In 2005, only three players had five hit games. AzL's Hardest Thrower. Brewers first round pick Jeremy Jeffress has opposing players talking. The 18-year-old from South Boston, Virginia regularly hits 97 mph on the radar guns and it is reported that he hit 101 mph on two different guns in a recent outing. Go To Report No. One (Week Ending Saturday, July 8) Posted Saturday, July 23, 2006 |