Continuing the tradition of Spokane and Vancouver being baseball
arch-rivals, last night’s game featured a bench-clearing donnybrook
that saw both teams shoving chests and yelling obscenities, before the
Canadians put the cleaners through the Indians with 11 unanswered runs.
Today, at the Sportsaction Nooner, Matt Sulentic (left) gets a start in right
field, which wouldn’t be notable if not for the fact that he was taken
out of yesterday’s game by A’s Farm Director Keith Lieppman.
See, when Jermaine Mitchell stole home and Happy Hunter Harrington
decided to Pierszynski him at the plate, Sulentic was standing on 1st.
As the benches cleared and the ball rolled free, however, Sulentic
didn’t move. No steal, no cruise to 2nd, so Lieppman put the call
downstairs to take Sulentic out of the game immediately, even though
the ’s had no replacement outfielders.
Presumably the kid has learned his lesson, but there can be little
doubt that while Authentic has all the talent in the world, he really
does have the game knowledge of a beer league softballer, so don’t
expect him to go up anytime soon, even if his batting average continues
to rise.
The line-ups for today’s Nooner:
VANCOUVER CANADIANS
Larry Cobb LF
Mike Affronti SS
Jermaine Mitchell CF
Matt Sulentic RF
Casey Myers DH
Alex Valdez 3B
Greg Dowling 1B
Jake Smith C
Wilber Perez 2B
Andrew Bailey RHP
SPOKANE LOLLYGAGGERS:
Nick ‘Funky Cold’ Cadena 3B
‘Hanging’ Chad TracyC
Steve ‘No Heart’ Marquardt DH
Thomas ‘Roster Fill’ Berkery SS
‘Loquacious’ Chris Davis LF
Joey ‘Cloven’ Hooft 2B
Chris ‘Sean’ Kemp 1B
Wally ‘Pacman’ Backman CF
‘Giant’ Joe Napoli Rf
Craig ‘Eating’ Crow RHP
We’re going to live-blog every inning of Andrew Bailey’s debut as a
starter, so be sure to check back often and hit the link below.
"LET’S GET READY TO FUMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE!"
TOP OF THE 1ST:
Andrew Bailey is a three-pitch guy, with a fastball, curveball and
change-up, and all three were working just fine as he struck out
Spokane lead-off man, Funky Cold Cedena, drew Hanging Chad Tracy into a
pop-up to shallow center, and then K’ed No Heart Marquardt on three
pitches.
BOTTOM OF THE 1ST:
If pressed for my favorite C’s player right now, I’d have to go with
Larry Cobb. It’s not that he has a great hairstyle (he doesn’t), or
that he’s the best hitter on the team (he isn’t), but that every time
he gets near the ball, he makes something happen. And that’s what he
did in the first at bat of the inning, drilling a double to left
center. A Mike Affronti sac pushed him along, and a Jermaine Mitchell
walk put men on the corners, but a Matt Sulentic ground-out left them
stranded on a double play.
TOP OF THE 2ND:
Bailey continues the pain for Spokane (which falls mainly on the plain), working through their line-up 1-2-3.
BOTTOM OF THE 2ND:
An error (shock) at 1st saw Casey Myers amble on to base, and then
amble off again as Alex Valdez GIDPed him, which is a shame, because
Greg Dowling, who really should be hitting clean-up right now, drilled
a deep double to right center which would likely have scored even the
ailing Myers.
TOP OF THE 3RD:
No sir, you may not come to first base. Andrew Bailey ensures he retains his perfecto with another 1-2-3 inning.
BOTTOM OF THE 3RD:
Another double, this time to Wilber Perez, opened the inning in style,
with a Larry Cobb sac bunt moving him along (with a little help from
Eating Crow, who somersaulted over the ball rather than picking it up),
before Mike Affronti knocked a hard grounder through the hole at short
to score Perez. That brought up Jermaine Mitchell, who positively
belted the ball into deep right center, scoring two as he slid hard
into third to beat the throw. But this is Spokane in defense, so of
course the throw went by the third baseman, allowing Mitchell to get
home on his own at bat, bringing the Canadians out to a 4-0 lead. Andre
Piper-Jordan replaces Casey Myers in the lineup at DH, leading some to
wonder if Myers had one again tweaked his hammy.
TOP OF THE 4TH:
Bailey, having mowed through nine hitters without incident, finally
gave up a hit – a double down the third base line. An Alex Valdez
throwing error put another runner on 1st, but Bailey is en feugo right
now and ended the inning without a problem.
BOTTOM OF THE 4TH:
Nothing doing here. 1-2-3.
TOP OF THE 5TH:
As Bailey began to tire, he was replaced with two on by Patrick Currin,
who proceeded to throw six straight balls, loading the bases and
falling 2-0 to the next hitter. But then, something clicked in Currin
and he turned into Barry Zito, throwing six straight strikes to K the
final two hitters and get out of a filthy jam unscathed. Beers are on
Andrew Bailey.
BOTTOM OF THE 6TH:
With two outs, Matt Sulentic drew a patient walk, and came home with a
wet sail when Andre Piper-Jordan nailed a 2-out double to center. C’s
lead 5-0 and Spokane just can’t catch a break.
TOP OF THE 7TH:
With Chad Lee on the mound for the C’s and a man on the bags, Roster
Fill Berkery knocked a hard shot up the middle that Wilber Perez dived
like Superman to spear, then threw off one knee to get the unlikely
(but most impressive) out at 1st. Perez then followed that bringing in
a tough chopper with eyes to close the inning like a veteran.
BOTTOM OF THE 7TH:
With one out, the light-hitting Vancouver catcher Jake Smith popped up
a scud that went straight up about 180 feet, then came down right on
the mound, with five Spokane players dancing around it. Funky Cold
Cadena would have got the error, if he’d touched the ball, that is, but
Smith will take the base hit. Wilber Perez followed that with a walk,
and with two outs down and a balk called against pitcher Austin Weilep,
Mike Affronti came to the plate with a great double-RBI opportunity.
Unfortunately, his groundball to third wasn’t what he was looking for.
Fortunately, he’s playing against Spokane, so Funky Cold Cadena’s throw
to 1st dragged Chris ‘Sean’ Kemp off the sack as Smith scored a run,
and as the Indians players sulked about yet another error, Wilber Perez
gunned it from 3rd and scored a second run on the play. C’s lead 7-0,
and the Spokane bullpen is too gassed to help out.
TOP OF THE 7TH:
Chad Lee is throwing well, but he’s not looking too unhittable, and
Chris ‘Sean’ Kemp put some cheese into a fastball as he rocked it long
over the right field wall. Popular concensus in the press box is that
it was perhaps the biggest moonshot hit at The Nat so far this year. So
long shut-out, but (shrug).
BOTTOM OF THE 7TH:
With the game all but won for the C’s, Spokane rolled out their old
tactics of trying to intimidate hitters by plunking them. New reliever
Brennan ‘Teri’ Garr nailed Jermaine Mitchell on the ankle with his
first pitch, then refused to look at Mitchell as the big man jawed off
at him. A walk and a base hit to right followed, showing Garr what
karma is all about as he loaded the bases with no outs and Alex Valdez
at the plate.
Sac fly to left, Mitchell scores - Greg Dowling fouled off a few huge
hits on his way to a full count before flying out to left, and Jake The
Rake hit a monster flyball to center to end the frame. 8-1 C’s.
TOP OF THE 8TH:
Lee still cruising, Spokane still losing. A nice backhand grab at 3rd from Alex Valdez serves as the highlight of the inning.
BOTTOM OF THE 8TH:
Wilber Perez is having a golden day today, and as he led off the frame
with a hard-hit double to right, it served as his second dub of the
day. A Corny Cobb flare to right center put men on the corners, as
Brennan Gar learned the pain of being the last healthy reliever in a
team’s bullpen during a blowout.
So, of course, he plunked Mike Affronti on the shoulder, loading the
bases with no outs. A fielder’s choice RBI for pinch-hitter Mike ‘The
Keg’ Klug followed, A Sulentic fly to short left registered the second
out of the inning, but a healthy knock to shallow left enter by Andre
Piper-Jordan scoed the 10th run for the C’s, and the hitter took 2nd on
a poor throw from left field.
So what do you do when you’re down by 9 with one inning left andyour
bullpen is spent? You bring on your spare catcher, Happy Hunter
Harrigan, to pitch mop-up.
Valdez flies out to right, and Happy Hunter Harrigan leads the spokane team in ERA.
TOP OF THE 9TH:
With Lee now in his fourth inning and clearly tiring, Pacman Backman
took a power pill and mashed one over the right field wall, bringing
the lead back to 8. But it’s all to no avail, as the C’s cruise to yet
another victory against the Spokane Plunkers.
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