Category Archives: 2015 First Period

Series Highlights

2015 First Period

Speakers vs. Devil Dogs

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Game 1 – James Paxton gets a surprise start when Stephen Strasburg requires a bit more rest from his first outing. Paxton twirls a 4-hit shutout against the Speakers, who have now been shut out five times in 29 games.

Chris Archer matches Paxton until the bottom of the 7th. With two outs and no base runners, Jacoby Ellsbury legs out an infield single and steals second. Former Speaker David Wright bounces a single through the infield for the game-winner. Brandon Phillips adds the exclamation point with an RBI double for a 2-0 final and the Dogs’ first win of the season!

W – Paxton (1-0), L – Archer (1-3)

Game 2 – Ellsbury’s 1st inning sac fly puts the Dogs ahead again. However, Strasburg’s additional rest doesn’t help. The Speakers put together a trio of doubles in the 2nd for a 2-1 lead.

In the 3rd, Strasburg faces a dozen Speakers yet still can’t finish the inning. After 6 hits, 3 walks and an Anthony Rizzo HBP, Strasburg departs with this tragic line: 2.2 IP, 10 H, 10 ER, 4 BB, 2 K.

Against the Dog pen, Rizzo later homers (4) as does Yoenis Cespedes (4) and Yasiel Puig (2). Felix Hernandez finally enjoys some offensive support in the 14-4 win.

W – Felix (5-3), L – Strasburg (0-2)

Game 3 – The Devil Dogs strike for 3 in the 2nd on Sal Perez’s gift 3-run HR off Bud Norris (8.10 ERA coming in to this start). Albert Pujols’ RBI single in the bottom half makes it 3-1 after 2.

Even though the Dogs collect 9 hits over the next 5 innings, they fail to score, thanks in part to a Cespedes 7-2 double play with the bases juiced in the top of the 7th.

After the stretch, the Speakers use that momentum at the plate. Manny Machado singles to start the inning against James Shields. Pujols (3-4, HR-2, 3-RBI, R) homers to tie at 3-3, but the Speakers aren’t finished. After Cespedes whiffs, Andrelton Simmons and Jason Heyward club back-to-back doubles. With 2-outs, Buster Posey singles home Heyward, and then Rizzo hits a 2-run HR, his 5th, to complete a 6-run inning.

The Speakers bat around for the second time in two days resulting in a 7-3 win. This despite Norris scattering a dozen hits and a gift HR through 6.1 shaky innings of work. The Dogs strand 11, but it seems like even more, on 13 hits.

W – Jeremy Jeffress (1-2), L – Shields (0-2)

Game 4 – Yovani Gallardo and Alex Wood begin with each turning in a quality start. Simmons’ RBI single follows Carlos Gonzalez’s 2-out double in the 2nd.

Wood coughs up that early lead as Hanley Ramirez homers to start the Dogs’ 3rd. Josh Hamilton solos in the 6th for a 2-1 Devil Dogs’ lead.

Howie Kendrick coaxes a walk to begin the bottom half. Stephen Vogt (2-4, T, RBI) triples him home for a 2-2 tie.

The Speakers feel as though they should be leading due to Vogt getting caught in a rundown at 3rd in the 4th, a bases loaded Pujols GIDP to end the 5th, and Sal Perez picking Vogt off 3rd after the no-out triple in the 6th.

The Dogs get only a Chris Carter (2-4, K) 2-out single in the 9th after Hamilton’s HR. The Speakers don’t fare much better against the Dog pen through regulation. However, Anthony Rendon doubles to start the bottom of the 10th. Rizzo’s 6th HR, his 3rd of the series, walks off with a 4-2 win, the Speakers’ first extra-innings victory of the season (1-5).

W – Jeurys Familia (1-0), L – Al Alburquerque

2015 First Period

Speakers vs. Lemonheads

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The Speakers hobble to Eliott Drive to continue the day’s torture. Fortunately, the GM is greeted by friends, a seat on the sunshine-filled deck and a much-needed brown, frothy beverage. After some soothing high-ABV suds, we’re in the perfect mindset for another disappointing series.

Game 1 – Buster Posey (3) solos in the bottom of the 1st, but Chris Archer says, “We can fix that.” He immediately walks Cole Calhoun to start the 2nd and surrenders an RBI double to Brayan Pena to relinquish the lead before recording an out.

For good measure, Archer gives away three singles and a walk in the 3rd (a 2-run single by Pena) for a 3-1 Heads’ lead. The Speakers continue their MO by recording two meaningless singles over the next three innings.

With 2-outs and no baserunners in the 8th, Erick Aybar triples for the Lemonheads. Naturally, James Loney comes through with a 2-out RBI single for a 4-1 advantage.

In the bottom of the 9th, Loney’s miscue at 1st leads to a pair of runs, but the Speakers strand the tying run at 3rd for a (yawn) 4-3 final. The Speakers are now 3-12 in 1- or 2-run games.

W – Zack Greinke, L – Archer (1-3), S – Fernando Abad

Game 2 – Felix Hernandez serves up a 2nd-inning HR to Calhoun. Ian Desmond’s error in the bottom half leads to Howie Kendrick’s RBI single for a 1-1 tie.

Loney doubles with 2-away in the Lemonheads’ 3rd. JD “Little Edgar” Martinez strokes a 2-run HR for a quick 3-1 lead.

The Speakers record one single over the next ten batters, but then the GM sips another frothy beverage. Anthony Rendon doubles to lead off the bottom of the 6th. Posey homers for the second time in the series to re-tie the score at 3-3.

Kendrick singles to lead off the Speakers’ half of the 7th to end Francisco Liriano’s day. Jordan Waldon walks two of the next three hitters. Rendon skies one to right to score Kendrick, giving the Speakers their first lead in 26 innings.

Felix inexplicably holds the one-run advantage through the next two innings for a 4-3 win, breaking a dismal 1-6 record over the last seven games.

W – Hernandez (4-3), L – Liriano

Game 3 – The Lemonheads haven’t had much to cheer about in 2015 either, and that trend continues in this contest. Wei-Yin takes one on the “Chen” in a lopsided 11-3 loss.

The Speakers pound 17 hits, but still manage a pair of 2nd-column singles, our specialty. Scott Van Slyke (2) and Yasiel Puig (1) each homer. Rendon (3-5, R), Anthony Rizzo (3-4, D, RBI, R, BB) and Posey (3-5, D, RBI, R) break out in a big way.

W – Jordan Zimmermann (4-2), L – Chen

Game 4 – Yan Gomes’ double and Loney’s sac fly get the Lemonheads started in the 2nd. In the 3rd, a leadoff walk to Neil Walker and Rajai Davis’ single start a threat. With 2-outs, those runners remain at 1st and 2nd, but Martinez comes through with a clutch 2-run triple. Gomes celebrates by cranking a 2-run HR for a 4-run inning, reducing Alex Wood.

Meanwhile, the Speakers produce a pair of weak singles through the first four innings. Yoenis Cespedes, who’s hitting a paltry .163, homers (2) to start the 5th. Puig and Rizzo drive back-to-back doubles to close the gap to 5-2.

Kendrick walks to start the Speakers’ 6th. With 2-outs, Cespedes takes Chris Young for another ride (3), resulting in a 5-4 score.

Puig’s leadoff walk in the 7th chases Young in favor of Darren O’Day. With one out, Rendon connects for his 3rd HR of the season, putting the Speakers up 6-5.

This time, the Lemonheads’ offense sputters. After their 4-run 3rd, Heads’ bats tally three singles and never get a runner past 1st base.

W – Wood (1-0), L – Young, S – Jeurys Familia (3)

Coming in to this series, the Speakers lost every series except a split with the Tsunamis. We obviously need to drink more beer.

2015 First Period

Speakers vs. Shooting Stars II

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The Christians and lions theme rolls on:

Game 1 – Mookie Betts singles to lead off the game. Buster Posey’s home run becomes an RBI double, and then he’s nailed at the plate after a deep fly out to Matt Kemp in right. Significant? Of course!

Coco Crisp coaxes a walk to lead off the 8th. After a pair of Stars ground out, Todd Frazier singles to tie the score at 1-1.

Since the Speakers only wait around for the opponent to score in extra frames, they go quietly (1-2-3) in the 10th. However, Angel Pagan walks with one out in the bottom half. Justin Morneau, who should immediately be enshrined in Cooperstown based on this series alone, smokes a 2-run HR for a 3-1 Stars’ win.

W – Dallas Keuchel, L – Chris Archer (1-2)

Game 2 – Anthony Rizzo’s solo (3) in the 2nd gives the Speakers another early lead. Rizzo’s 4th inning single (with two outs and nobody on) stands as the Speakers’ only other hit until the 9th.

Meanwhile, the Stars bunch three singles and a Morneau sac fly off Felix Hernandez in the 5th to tie. The second of those singles gets through Rizzo. Even the SABR-matricians have lost count as to how many “12” singles the Speakers’ 1B4s have coughed up already this season.

Morneau’s 2-out RBI single in the 7th should have been enough. However, the Speaker bats double their hit output in the 9th as Andrelton Simmons singles and Posey drives a game-winning 2-out 2-run HR (his 2nd) for a 3-2 lead.

Jeremy Affeldt walks Matt Carpenter with one out in the bottom half. Pinch-runner Brock Holt steals 2nd and 3rd, but is tagged out on a whiffed suicide squeeze. Morneau then grounds out to short to end it.

W – Hernandez (3-3), L – Doug Fister, S – Affeldt (1)

Game 3 – Anthony Rendon’s error scores Pagan for a 1st inning Stars’ lead. Morneau’s RBI double scores Crisp in the 3rd to make it 2-0.

In the bottom half, Rizzo singles home Howie Kendrick following a double to cut the lead in half. Kolten Wong’s 2-out RBI single scores Scott Van Slyke in the 4th for a 2-2 tie.

Van Slyke (3-4, 2B, HR, RBI, 2-R) homers in the 6th for a 3-2 Speaker advantage. The Speakers’ offense then decides that scoring 3-runs is too much work, so they take the rest of the game off.

Crisp waltzes home with the tying run in the 8th after his triple and Pagan’s fly out to left. Hunter Pence homers to start the 9th for the game-winner, since the Speakers traditionally go 1-2-3 in the bottom half.

W – Shawn Tolleson, L – Jordan Zimmermann (3-2), S – Zach Putnam

Game 4 – The Stars drub Bud Norris for 4 in the 1st, 2 more in the 2nd and 14 runs/18 hits overall. Following the 14-4 slaughter, Norris commented, “I feel more beat up than last year’s intruder at the Stars’ offices. Can’t recall when I’ve had this much fun.” I’m sure his 8.10 ERA is an indication. Not to mention a dozen HRs allowed in 5 starts.

Morneau (4-4, 2-HR, 4-RBI, 3-R, BB, sac fly) leads the way while Frazier plates 5, including a 1st inning bases loaded triple before Norris records a single out. Todd also homers in the 8th going back-to-back with Pence. Dioner Navarro also homers for good measure.

Piling on insult, Rendon is ejected in the 2nd following a called third strike, forcing Manny Machado to take the field, already down 6-0. He tried to tell the manager about his sore knee, but was refuted.

W – Lance Lynn, L – Norris (0-3)

Crisp’s series: 6-18, 4-0s rolled, D, 2-T, 2-BB. Morneau: 10-17, 5-0s rolled, D, 3-HR, 9-RBI, 5-R, 2-BB). Speakers hitters combined had less than 6 hits in two of the games.

2015 First Period

Brids of Pray vs. Shooting Stars II

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G-1 Scooter Gennett homered in the 1st, and the Birds got 2 in the 2nd on RBIs from Headley & Markakis to take 3-0 lead. Stars tied the game in the 3rd on an RBI from Frazier & a 2-run double by Pence. It remained tied until the 11th when the Birds got a leadoff walk from Carlyle, a stolen base, and an RBI double by Molina for a 4-3 win. Birds got 6 innings of no-hit ball from their pen.

G-2 Birds got a 6th inning solo from M. Cabrera, & the Stars tied it in the 7th on a Pence solo. In the 11th, the Birds again turned a leadoff walk, by Chapman, into a run, when S. Gennett doubled for a 2-1 win. Birds’ Worley 8 IP, 4 hits. Stars’ Lynn, 10 IP, 5 hits. This was the Stars 3rd consecutive extra-inning loss.

G-3 Stars got 3 RBIs from Kemp, 3 RBIs from Peralta, including a homer, & a 4-5 game with a homer & 4 RBIs from Frazier in an 11-0 rout of the Birds. deGrom 9 innings, 2 hits.

G-4 Stars got a 2-run homer from Morneau in the 5th to take a 4-0 lead, & Fiers threw a 3-hitter to give the Stars a 4-1 win & series split.

2015 First Period

The Plague vs. Speakers

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Game 1 – Yu Darvish blanks the hapless Speakers on four hits. The Plague, meanwhile, strike for 3 in the 1st, 2 in the 4th and another pair in the 7th for a 7-0 shellacking.

W – Darvish, L – Chris Archer (1-1)

Game 2 – Anthony Rendon leads off the game with a solo HR to score the Speakers first run of the series. In the 2nd, Carlos Gonzalez doubles following a Yoenis Cespedes triple. Andrelton Simmons connects off Jose Fernandez in the 5th, his 3rd yet first HR since Opening Day. Albert Pujols homers in the 6th.

The Plague finally reach Felix Hernandez in the bottom of the 6th. Jason Kipnis doubles, Denard Span triples him home and Billy Hamilton lifts a sac fly to center. In the 9th, Simmons singles home Gonzalez (who had doubled) to close out a highly unexpected 6-2 Speakers win.

W – Hernandez (2-3), L – Fernandez

Game 3 – Danny Santana’s 2-out RBI single breaks a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 5th. The Speakers hold that 1-0 lead until the inevitable 8th. With 1 out, Billy Hamilton walks (RP 28). After Hamilton swipes 2nd, Span doubles him home. With 2 outs, Torii Hunter singles home Span for a 2-1 win. The Plague moundsmen retire the final 11 Speakers consecutively.

W – Henderson Alvarez, L – Jesse Hahn (0-2)

Game 4 – Michael Brantley’s double play ground ball scores Span for The Plague to take a 1-0 1st inning lead. A strikeout/passed ball helps the Speakers score 4 (3 unearned) in the 2nd inning. Jason Heyward’s 1st HR, Gonzalez’s double, Rendon’s 2-run double and Yasiel Puig’s RBI single provide extremely rare highlights.

The Speakers’ much anticipated nightmare surfaces in the 5th as Jordan Zimmermann (+42) walks a pair. Hamilton naturally makes him pay with a 2-out 2-run double. Brantley rubs salt in the gaping wound with an RBI single to tie the score at 4-4.

Fast forward to the top of the 12th when Paul Goldschmidt hits a game-winning 2-run HR, 6-4. Following Heyward’s 2-out bases empty double in the 3rd, the Speakers total three weak singles over the next 9 innings.

W – Aaron Sanchez, L – Jeremy Affeldt (0-1), S – Jonathon Papelbon

Sad refrain: The Speakers scored in only 2 of 30 innings of these 3 losses, totaling 2 ER of “offense”, against 13, 12 & 10 starting pitchers. Through 1/5th of the season, the Speakers have been shut out 4 times, are 2-9 in games decided by 1 or 2 runs, and are 0-4 in extra innings. Our scouts are poised to research the first selection of the 2016 Rookie Draft.