Monday, September 4, 2006

Baron pitcher hurls 1st 9-inning no-hitter in team history

Facing only 2 over the minimum, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons (Phillies) right-hander Jeremy Cummings tossed a no-hitter Sunday, blanking the Rochester Red Wings (Twins) 5-0.
“I wanted to go 8 1/3 innings and get my ERA under four,” the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons right-hander said.

Cummings did that and more. The eighth-year pro tossed the first nine-inning no-hitter in the Red Barons’ 18-year history, pitching to just two batters over the limit, in a 5-0 victory over the Rochester Red Wings.

“It was a masterpiece,” Red Wings manager Stan Cliburn said.

Cummings nailed down his piece of history by striking out Gil Velazquez swinging, as the crowd of 6,472 gave the Charleston, W.Va., native a standing ovation.

He threw a whopping 137 pitches, 84 for strikes.

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has qualified for the International League (Triple-A) playoffs.

Sunday, September 3, 2006

Two Complete-Game Shutouts Saturday

Las Vegas 51s (Dodgers) pitcher D.J. Houlton and New Britain Rock Cats (Twins) pitcher Colby Miller each threw complete game shutouts Saturday.

In Las Vegas, Houlton pitched his first complete game shutout since 2004.

The 51's scored all the runs they needed in the third inning scoring four times. With two out, and no one on, shortstop Sergio Garcia doubled to left. First baseman Eric Riggs followed with an RBI single to right scoring Garcia. After Riggs hit, right fielder Delwyn Young ripped an RBI single to right field scoring Riggs (who had taken second on the throw). The big blow of the inning was when third baseman Andy LaRoche came up, and hit a two-run homer (10) to left field to cap the inning.

Young would add an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to make it 5-0.

Fresno never threatened other than having runners at first-and-second in the top of the fourth. After the fourth inning, the Grizzlies had just two runners reach.

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Las Vegas and Fresno play in the Pacific Coast League (Triple A).

In an Eastern League (Double A) game, Colby Miller completed his comeback from last season's injury.
The 24-year-old Oklahoman took a big step in his comeback Saturday, throwing a two-hitter to lead New Britain to a 5-0 win over Harrisburg. He retired 18 batters in a row from the third through eighth innings and struck out seven.

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78 Outs, 1 Run

The Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) pitching staff held the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays) scoreless for 12-2/3 innings Saturday. Unfortunately for them, the Fisher Cats staff held the Sea Dogs scoreless for 13 innings.
LF Ryan Patterson delivered a two-out single in the top of the 13th inning, scoring RF Dustin Majewski from second base as the Fisher Cats defeated the Sea Dogs 1-0 Saturday night at Hadlock Field.

Majewski (2-for-6) singled to lead off the 13th, and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by CF Tony Miller. After DH David Smith grounded out, Portland reliever Mike Bumatay was summoned to face 1B Chip Cannon. Cannon walked, and Patterson followed with the game winning single.

Tracy Thorpe worked a perfect 13th to earn his 18th save in support of Brian Wolfe, who picked up his first win, working two shutout innings.

Starting pitchers Kyle Yates for the Fisher Cats and Thomas Hottovy for the Sea Dogs each worked seven innings, allowing just two hits.

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It was the longest game of the night in the Eastern League (Double-A)

15 Innings In New Jersey

While not the longest game of the day in either innings or time, Saturday night's matchup between the Lakewood BlueClaws (Phillies) and the Lake County Captains (Indians) went the most extra innings.

In a game scheduled for 7 innings, the 5,397 fans in attendance saw 8 extra innings played, as hometown Lakewood beat Lake County 5-4 on Avelino Asprilla's sacrifice fly.
Asprilla drove in three runs in the game. His sacrifice fly in the 15th off Mark Jecmen (2-4) drove home Mike Spidale, who led off the inning with a single, stole second and moved to third on a groundout by Jeremy Slayden.

It was the second longest game of the season for the Captains, who played 16 innings in a game at Greenville exactly one month ago.

Chris Raulinaitis (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the BlueClaws to earn the win. He issued a pair of walks with one out in the top of the 15th, but struck out Juan Valdes and got Matt Fornasiere on a groundout.

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The game was scheduled for 7 innings as part of a doubleheader. The 1:00 AM ending time meant the second game was delayed until Sunday night, weather and time permitting.

16 Innings Win For San Jose

It took 16 innings and 301 minutes, but the San Jose Giants scored 4 runs in the 16th to beat the Stockton Ports (A's) 7-4.

Tim Hutting led off the 16th with his 3rd hit of the game, a clean single to left off Stephen Obenchain (1-1), Stockton's sixth pitcher of the night. After Steve Holm sacrificed Hutting to second, Alex Requena delivered a flare to left field that dropped in front of a sliding Luis Perez, scoring Hutting with the go-ahead run, with Requena taking second on the throw home. Requena moved to third on a wild pitch. After John Bowker walked, Mark Minicozzi delivered an insurance RBI with a bloop single to center to score Requena. Carlos Sosa followed with a rocket to right to score Bowker. Right-fielder Myron Leslie bobbled the ball, allowing Minicozzi to advance to third -- from where he scored the 4th run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Julio Cordido.

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It was Stockton's 7th extra inning loss in the California League (Class A Advanced) this season.