May 3rd
May 3rd
~ In the rubber match of the Scurvy/Phoenix showdown, Corey Seager walks and Jared Walsh doubles to open the game for the visiting Dogs. Shohei Ohtani hits a sacrifice fly to open the scoring and Kyle Schwarber nets an RBI with a groundout and Scurvy is off and running with a 2-0 lead to open the game. Phoenix takes no time striking back, taking advantage of Dogs starter Frankie Montas' wildness. Montas walks the first two hitters he faces, then uncorks a wild pitch to move them up to second and third. Kris Bryant plates the first run for Phoenix with a sac fly, Cedric Mullins hits a dribbler up the baseline that scores the second Miner run, and the teams are right back where they started.
From there, April Pitcher of the Month Aaron Nola shuts the door on Scurvy. After compiling a 4-0 record with a 1.19 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP in the opening month of the season, Nola picks up right where he left off. After the rocky first, Nola shuts out the Dogs over the next seven innings, allowing just one baserunner while K'ing nine Dog hitters. After a 40/4 K/BB ratio over the first month, his 9 K's to 1 walk today is a little behind his curve.
While Nola is twirling his gem, Scurvy pitching continues to struggle. After Montas exits after six innings having given up 8 hits and 5 runs, reliever Aaron Bummer comes in to start the seventh. He gives up a single, issues a walk, and serves up a 3-run homer to Bryant to open the inning. He then proceeds to bean Miners catcher Salvador Perez, which empties both benches after Perez charges the mound to say hello, sending both him and Perez to early showers.
The Miners finish off the Dogs 9-5 to take this first series of the year with their long time rivals.
~ In the third game of the Brooklyn/Windy City affair, the Rattlers look to sweep the Kraken and win their fifth straight game. Brandon Woodruff takes care of the pitching side for the KML Conference leaders (tied with Ann Arbor at 17-10), pitching into the ninth inning before tiring and giving way to Kendall Graveman. Graveman throws two pitches and induces a double play grounder to end the Rattlers 5-0 win.
On the offensive side, Windy City once again leans on April Player of the Month, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.. Guerrero continues his blistering hot start with three hits, including his 12th home run, scores three and drives in one. Just for good measure, and since it was about the ONLY thing he didn't do during the month of April, the 250 lb rock-of-a-man steals his first base of the season! All Guerrero did do over the first month of the season is lead the league with 39 hits and a .382 average, post a league leading .457 OBP, a .715 SLG, and an also league leading 1.212 OPS. He also drove in 20 RBI and scored . . . yes, another league leading 25 runs.
Quite the start for the Junior Vladdy, and one I'm sure his HOF father would be proud of.
Topic: May 3rd (Read 395 times)
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