Wow! What a night. After the teams traded solo home runs in the fifth, there were no runs for nine innings. Finally in the bottom of the 15th, Greeneville walked off without the benefit of a hit. Tanner Mathis walked, and was moved to second on a sac bunt by Jack Mayfield. Darwin Rivera then hit a ground ball to first which should have just moved over Mathis to third but the K-Mets first baseman booted the ball. It rolled to the edge of the grass and Josh Bonifay took a risk and sent Mathis home. The throw was slightly up the line and the catcher had to stretch to take Mathis as he zoomed by. The glove appeared to hit Mathis shoulder and the ball dropped free allowing the winning run to score.
Here are my observations from the game.
On The Mound:
A great deal went right here. Just one run allowed in 15 innings with a team record 25 strike outs. Let's take a quick look at each pitcher.
Frederick Tiburcio had a solid start to the game. He fanned seven and gave up just two hits and walked one in five innings. The lone damage given up was a solo home run to left by 17 year old, Ahmed Rosario, whom the Mets signed for 1.7 million in the 2012 international signing period. It was his first professional home run.
Tiburcio threw an unofficial 67 pitches in five innings. To have that low of a pitch count with that many strike outs is impressive.
Tyler Brunnemann pitched the next two frames. This was my first time to see Brunnemann pitch. He has an extreme follow through. When he finishes his pitch his glove hand (left) and his left foot are both touching the ground as he falls toward first base. It is a violent motion that I didn't see him repeating very well. It was effective when repeated as evidenced by the four strike outs in two innings. But he also gave up two walks, both on full counts.
Ryan Connelly pitched the eight inning. The submarine pitcher was the only pitcher of the night not to record a strike out.
Gonzalo Sanudo came in for the next two innings. He pitched out of a jam in the ninth. After a lead off double and a ground ball to 2nd to move the runner over, he was faced with a runner at third and one out. He got Michael Bernal to strike out in a seven pitch at bat for the second out of the inning.
That at bat got circled in my score book as a key out of the game. Bernal had a rough night at the plate. He accounted for 20% of the teams strike outs, going 0-5 with 5 Ks. Sanudo ended the night with three Ks in his two innings.
Gerado Ramirez came in and may have had the outing of his life time. He pitched a career high four innings allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out nine K-Mets.
The final pitcher of the night was Christian Garcia. Garcia pitched the 14th and 15th innings fanning two batters in each inning. In each inning the lead off runner reached but never made it past first base.
At The Plate:
Tanner Mathis reached base in five of his six plate appearances: E1, single, and three walks. This is exactly what you want out of a lead off batter. Also my 13 year old son observed he has the best walk up music this season. He is going old school with some Run DMC - It's Tricky.
Wallace Gonzalez hit a towering home run in the fifth. They had success pitching him away but they left that pitch over the inner half of the plate and he made them pay. Gonzalez appears to be pulling out when he swings so outside pitches are going to be an issue for him. Gonzalez added a single later in the game.
Ariel Ovando and Jack Mayfield also had two hits.
In The Field:
Parker Hipp made a great play snagging a soft liner to start the game. I was sure that ball was going to fall for a hit.
Wallace Gonzalez had a nice outfield assist on a shallow fly ball to left. The runner was moving on the play and Gonzalez throw beat the runner back to first for a double play.
Jack Mayfield made an outstanding diving stop on a ball in the hole at shortstop. He popped up and made a good throw to first that Angel Ibanez made a nice stretch to complete the put out.
The defensive star of the night was Cristian Moronta. He was three for three in throwing out runners stealing second. Two of those were on balls that he blocked and runners broke when he had trouble locating them. Those three outs were huge in a ballgame this tight. One ended an inning and two were to nab the hitter who had reached to start the inning.
Final Thought: After the 25 game strike out performance, the G-Stros now lead the Appy League with 104 strikeouts in just nine games. That puts them 16 Ks above second place Johnson City.
Welcome to Appy Astros, a blog dedicated to following current & former Greeneville Astros, the Appalachian League affiliate of the Houston Astros. Here you will find reports on current G-Stros, updates on the development of former G-Stros and occasionally an update on what has happened to the guys who have hung up their spikes.
Showing posts with label Parker Hipp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parker Hipp. Show all posts
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Eyewitness Report: 6/25/13 Elizabethton 8 Greenevillle 4
Finally made it to Pioneer Park for my first game of the season. What was a pretty good game for six innings dissolved in the seventh into a rout. Here are some of my observations from the game:
On The Mound:
Starter Enderson Franco did not get off to a great start. A four pitch walk to the lead off batter is not the way to start a game. After a stolen base and a ground out, the runner scored on a two out single to give the E-Twins an early lead. Lead off walks will kill you every time.
The second inning was when Franco impressed me the most. After the third baseman booted the first batter's attempt. The next batter hit a tailor made 5-4-3 double play ball that was dropped by the second baseman. So instead of two outs. It was runners at first and second with no outs. Franco induced a 3-1 ground out before walking a batter to load the bases. He then got a pop to third in foul territory and a strike out to avoid any damage. However the side effect of giving a team two extra outs in the inning is Franco threw 18 pitches that inning instead of just seven.
In the third, he only faced three batters but threw 20 pitches. The inning went three pitch strike out looking, eight pitch F8 and nine pitch strike out swinging.
In the fourth, Franco got a lead off strikeout and then allowed three straight singles to the bottom of the line up. He still got out of the inning with just one run scoring. His night was done after four innings. By my count, he threw 71 pitches, with 50 of the going for strikes. He fanned five batters and allowed four hits and two walks.
Franco needs to work on keeping base runners closer. In the first inning both runners who reached stole second and the throw never had a chance. He has a pretty good size leg kick in his stretch and it allows runners to get a good jump on him.
He was relieved by Edison Frias. Frias didn't pitch badly, he just doesn't have an out pitch. He faced five batters who fouled off at least one ball after a two strike count. None of those at bats ended in a strike out. Most of them ended up in base hits. His breaking pitch was in the dirt and the E-Twins were not swinging at it. He needs an out pitch. He threw 74 pitches in 3 2/3 innings with 49 of the pitches for strikes. He struck out two batters and walked one. He allowed nine hits with five going for extra bases.
Ryan Connolly got the last four outs for the G-Stros. He is an extreme side arm pitcher. No balls got out of the infield off him. One was hit well but a nice play by Borchering at first took care of it.
At The Plate:
Tanner Mathis did what you want a lead off to do. He got on base. He went 1-3 but also reached on a walk and a HBP.
Edwin Gomez had the two big hits for the night for Greeneville. A RBI triple in the 4th and a two run homer in the 8th. The home came on the seventh pitch of the at bat with a full count. Both hits were to right center.
Ricky Gingras had two hits, including a double to lead off the fourth.
Juan Santana added two singles.
Ariel Ovando looked very off balance at the plate. He has a big step in the load of his swing and I believe it makes it hard for him to adjust to off speed pitches. He was getting a heavy diet of breaking balls. He struck out swinging twice and hit two grounders to first. The only good contact was on a couple of foul balls.
Bobby Borchering looked out of sorts as well. He had one good hit that was smothered by the E-Twins 6'7" first baseman. But otherwise, it was strikeouts and a pop out to short.
In The Field:
Other than the nice snag by Borchering on a line drive at first, there weren't too many stand out plays. Gingras did a nice job behind the plate keeping the ball in front of him on several balls in dirt from Frias.
For the second straight night defense at third was an issue. Angel Ibanez made two errors at third. One on a well hit but routine grounder that got in on him. The other was a throw on a tough play coming in. The throw sailed on him and ended up in the seats.
The other error came on a missed catch by second baseman Parker Hipp. The throw was low to start the 5-4-3 double play but it appeared to catch him in the palm of the glove and he couldn't squeeze it.
The outfield got lots of practice chasing after balls over their head. Cut off throws were pretty effective and defensive position of cut off men looked sound.
I hope to make it out to another game this week if life doesn't get in the way.
On The Mound:
Starter Enderson Franco did not get off to a great start. A four pitch walk to the lead off batter is not the way to start a game. After a stolen base and a ground out, the runner scored on a two out single to give the E-Twins an early lead. Lead off walks will kill you every time.
The second inning was when Franco impressed me the most. After the third baseman booted the first batter's attempt. The next batter hit a tailor made 5-4-3 double play ball that was dropped by the second baseman. So instead of two outs. It was runners at first and second with no outs. Franco induced a 3-1 ground out before walking a batter to load the bases. He then got a pop to third in foul territory and a strike out to avoid any damage. However the side effect of giving a team two extra outs in the inning is Franco threw 18 pitches that inning instead of just seven.
In the third, he only faced three batters but threw 20 pitches. The inning went three pitch strike out looking, eight pitch F8 and nine pitch strike out swinging.
In the fourth, Franco got a lead off strikeout and then allowed three straight singles to the bottom of the line up. He still got out of the inning with just one run scoring. His night was done after four innings. By my count, he threw 71 pitches, with 50 of the going for strikes. He fanned five batters and allowed four hits and two walks.
Franco needs to work on keeping base runners closer. In the first inning both runners who reached stole second and the throw never had a chance. He has a pretty good size leg kick in his stretch and it allows runners to get a good jump on him.
He was relieved by Edison Frias. Frias didn't pitch badly, he just doesn't have an out pitch. He faced five batters who fouled off at least one ball after a two strike count. None of those at bats ended in a strike out. Most of them ended up in base hits. His breaking pitch was in the dirt and the E-Twins were not swinging at it. He needs an out pitch. He threw 74 pitches in 3 2/3 innings with 49 of the pitches for strikes. He struck out two batters and walked one. He allowed nine hits with five going for extra bases.
Ryan Connolly got the last four outs for the G-Stros. He is an extreme side arm pitcher. No balls got out of the infield off him. One was hit well but a nice play by Borchering at first took care of it.
At The Plate:
Tanner Mathis did what you want a lead off to do. He got on base. He went 1-3 but also reached on a walk and a HBP.
Edwin Gomez had the two big hits for the night for Greeneville. A RBI triple in the 4th and a two run homer in the 8th. The home came on the seventh pitch of the at bat with a full count. Both hits were to right center.
Ricky Gingras had two hits, including a double to lead off the fourth.
Juan Santana added two singles.
Ariel Ovando looked very off balance at the plate. He has a big step in the load of his swing and I believe it makes it hard for him to adjust to off speed pitches. He was getting a heavy diet of breaking balls. He struck out swinging twice and hit two grounders to first. The only good contact was on a couple of foul balls.
Bobby Borchering looked out of sorts as well. He had one good hit that was smothered by the E-Twins 6'7" first baseman. But otherwise, it was strikeouts and a pop out to short.
In The Field:
Other than the nice snag by Borchering on a line drive at first, there weren't too many stand out plays. Gingras did a nice job behind the plate keeping the ball in front of him on several balls in dirt from Frias.
For the second straight night defense at third was an issue. Angel Ibanez made two errors at third. One on a well hit but routine grounder that got in on him. The other was a throw on a tough play coming in. The throw sailed on him and ended up in the seats.
The other error came on a missed catch by second baseman Parker Hipp. The throw was low to start the 5-4-3 double play but it appeared to catch him in the palm of the glove and he couldn't squeeze it.
The outfield got lots of practice chasing after balls over their head. Cut off throws were pretty effective and defensive position of cut off men looked sound.
I hope to make it out to another game this week if life doesn't get in the way.
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