Tag Archives: Speakers

2016 First Period

Speakers vs. Lymebees

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Game 1 – Jake Arrieta meets expectations by hurling a 3-hit shutout. Justin Upton’s 6th-inning 3-run homer is more than enough, yet Eric Hosmer adds an exclamation point solo shot in the 7th. Lymebees win, 5-0.

W – Arrieta; L – Chris Archer (0-1)

Game 2 – Marwin Gonzalez and Christian Yelich doubles give the Lymebees a 1-0 3rd inning lead. Ryan Braun and Maikel Franco go back-to-back in the 4th, so the Bees have all they need to win 3-1.

Fun facts: Yelich leads off the bottom of the 1st with RP Board #24. The Fielding One Speakers roll 1 of the 5 necessary numbers (Fielding 2) to strike out Yelich and get him ejected. (There must have been history between Christian and the home plate ump.) The Speakers finally get their first runner to 3rd base (Woo-hoo!) in inning #15 of the series.

W – Sonny Gray; L – David Price (1-1); S – Carter Capps

Game 3 – The Speakers offense finally wakes up, but the consistent (and then some) Bees never stop hitting. As part of their double-digit hits, the Lymebees crush 3 more homers (Josh Reddick, Hosmer, Robinson Cano) and 3 more doubles. However, the Speakers ride Rajai Davis’ 2 triples and Andrelton Simmons’ 3 RBIs to a 6-5 squeaker. The Speakers require 3 9th-inning relievers, finally stranding the tying and winning runs in scoring position.

W – Matt Harvey (2-0); L – Kyle Hendricks; S – Tony Sipp (1)

Game 4 – The Lymebees crank out another 14 hits, adding safeties in every inning but a very rare 1-2-3 in the 2nd. Meanwhile, the Speakers make the most of their 8 hits, 3 of them leaving the park — all solos by Anthony Rizzo, Buster Posey and rookie Kyle Schwarber.

The big blow comes in the 5th when Schwarber bloops a ball into short right field. Cano, Hosmer and Reddick all collide while 2 runs score. Cano and Reddick leave for precautionary reasons while Hosmer stays to rack up his 9th hit of the series. (You read that correctly: 9-14, 2-D, 2-HR, 3-RBI, 5-R!)

At that point of the game, the Speakers have a 6-0 lead, yet require 5 relievers to get through the final 4 innings, allowing 5 ER on 8 hits. The Speakers barely gain a split with another 6-5 final.

W – Carlos Martinez (1-0); L – Noah Syndergaard; S – Jeurys Familia (2)

Ironically, 1 of the 5 outs that Hosmer makes in the series is the final out of Game 3 with the tying run at 3rd and go-ahead run at 2nd!

2016 First Period

Shooting Stars II vs. Speakers

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Game 1 – The Speakers finally open their season and score 3 early runs on RBI doubles against Lance Lynn. Manny Machado connects for the first Speakers’ homer of the season with Anthony Rizzo aboard in the 7th for a 5-0 lead.

The Stars finally break through with a sac fly in the 7th off Chris Archer. Then the bottom of the 8th features a walk, a Mookie Betts error, a wild pitch and 5 hits in 6 at-bats. When the dust settles, the Stars erase a 5-0 deficit and enjoy a 6-5 lead, which the pen preserves in the 9th.

W – Andrew Chafin; L – Jeurys Familia (0-1); S – Joe Smith

Game 2 – Buster Posey’s RBI double and CarGo’s solo match Todd Frazier’s 2-run homer for a 2-2 deadlock in the 2nd. Both David Price and Jake deGrom settle in to fire blanks until the 8th.

After Rizzo’s lead-off double, Aroldis Chapman takes over for the Stars. Machado flies to center, but Posey walks on a 65-35. Cespedes flies to left bringing rookie Kris Bryant to the plate with 2 outs. He strokes a 2-run double for a 4-2 Speakers’ lead.

After Price sets the Stars down in order in the 8th, Roberto Osuna has a shaky 9th. Familia comes on to strike out Sin-Shoo Choo with the tying runs on base to save the 4-2 final.

W – Price (1-0); L – deGrom; S – Familia (1)

Game 3 – Dallas Keuchel and Matt Harvey strand baserunners through 3. In the bottom of the 4th, Machado singles home Posey. In the 6th, Ender Inciarte, (who has both hits against Harvey), adds a solo HR to his boxscore to tie the game at 1-1.

Cespedes singles to start the bottom half. Choo bobbles the ball in right allowing Yoenis to reach 2nd. Chris Young follows one out later with a 2-run tater.

The Stars manage just one single in the final 3 innings as the Speakers win, 3-1. Harvey (7 IP) and Jeremy Jeffress hold the Stars to just 4 hits, 3 by Inciarte.

W – Harvey (1-0); L – Keuchel; S – Jeffress (1)

Game 4 – The Speakers collect candlesticks in the 3rd (Rizzo RBI single) and 5th (Andrelton Simmons RBI single). Other opportunities for both teams prove fruitless until the 8th.

With 1 out, Inciarte and Hunter Pence single. Cecil relieves Carlos Martinez and uncorks a wild pitch to score Inciarte. Matt Carpenter then rockets a single to score HFP. Again, we’re tied in the series: 2-2.

Both teams threaten in the 12th with a runner at 3rd and less than 2 outs, but cannot convert. In the 13th Simmons singles and Rizzo walks. Machado launches a 3-run walkoff HR for a 5-2 final.

W – Sipp (1-0); L – Mark Lowe

2015 Third Period

Speakers at Asian Tsunamis

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Game 1 – Andrelton Simmons drills a Johnny Cueto pitch for a 2-run home run, his 4th of the season, with 2-outs in the 2nd inning. Stephen Vogt adds his 4th, a solo in the 4th for a 3-0 lead.

Miguel Cabrera gets the ATs close with a 2-run shot off Jordan Zimmermann with 1 away in the 6th. However, the Tsunamis fail to get another baserunner, resulting in a 3-2 final. Each team registers just 5 hits.

W – Zimmermann (8-7, 3.34); L – Cueto; S – Jeremy Affeldt (3)

Game 2 – With 2-outs and no baserunners in the 1st, Buster Posey coaxes a walk off Wei-Yin Chen. Anthony Rizzo follows with his team-leading 14th HR. The Tsunamis use 4 walks, a pair of singles and a Yasmani Grandal sac fly to take a 4-2 1st inning lead against Jesse Hahn.

The Speakers storm right back in the 2nd with a 4-spot of their own. Kolten Wong’s RBI double and Mookie Betts’ (7) 3-run homer provide the firepower.

Both pens settle in early, putting up zeroes until the 9th. Yoenis Cespedes ropes a 2-out bases loaded triple off JP Howell, who then walks 3 consecutive batters to score a 4th run. The Speakers win, 10-4.

W – Alex Wood (5-5, 3.51); L – Chen

Game 3 – Felix Hernandez has this final chance to even his record in the Speakers’ final game of the season. Unfortunately for the King, he surrenders a tying HR to Khris Davis in the bottom of the 7th for a 4-4 tie. Following a single sandwiched between a pair of walks, Jeremy Jeffress has to retire Starling Marte on a fly to center.

After recording the first 2 outs of the 8th, Jeffress coughs up 5 straight hits, 3 for extra bases. Yoervis Medina doesn’t fare any better. After a walk, single and Dee Gordon bases loaded triple, the Tsunamis have a 7-run inning and pocket an 11-4 win to prevent the sweep.

Posey fittingly slugs the Speakers’ final homer of the season, a 5th inning 3-run blast, his 11th. Grandal lines a 2-run homer in the big 8th for the ATs.

W – Santiago Casilla; L – Jeffress (2-3, 5.03)

2015 Third Period

Speakers at Unhinged Wahoos

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Game 1 – Alex Cobb stifles the Speakers on 2-hits, never allowing a runner to 3rd base. His offense supports him just enough, thanks to a Leonys Martin home run and RBI groundouts by Wil Myers and Pedro Alvarez. Wahoos win 3-0.

W – Cobb; L – Jesse Hahn (1-5, 3.40)

Game 2 – The Speakers surprise themselves by blitzing Chris Tillman with a 3-run 1st. RBI singles by Buster “Hearts Buster” Posey, Stephen Vogt and Manny Machado supply the early lead.

Martin homers for the second consecutive game in the bottom half. Alvarez stings Bud Norris with a 2nd inning solo for a 3-2 score.

Yeonis Cespedes answers with his 6th HR of the season in the 4th for a 4-2 final. However, the Wahoos strand 4 additional runners in scoring position and “Big Fat” Pedro Alvarez gets nailed at the plate by Jason Heyward with an Andrelton Simmons relay.

W – Norris (4-7, 4.76); L – Tillman; S – Jeurys Familia (8)

Game 3 – Anthony Rizzo’s RBI double puts the Speakers ahead in the 1st for the second straight day. Rizzo’s solo, his 13th, in the 4th makes it 2-0. With 2 on and 2 outs in the bottom half, former Speaker Asdrubal Cabrera laces a 2-run single to tie at 2-2.

In the bottom of the 5th, Nolan Arenado lifts a windblown popup that falls in foul ground … along with Posey and Rizzo. Both leave the game and are day-to-day for the Speakers’ final series.

In the 7th with 2-outs and nobody on, Simmons singles. Mookie Betts squares up the next pitch that knuckles on Dexter Fowler. Simmons scores from 1st on the center fielder’s error to give the Speakers the lead.

The Wahoos load the bases with 2 away in the bottom of the 8th, but Yoervis “Funky Cold” Medina whiffs Travis d’Arnaud to snuff the threat. Although the Wahoos out-hit the visitors 10-8, the Speakers win 3-2.

W – Chris Archer (6-9, 3.82); L – Corey Kluber; S – Medina (2)

2015 Third Period

Lymebees at Speakers

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Game 1; Bumgarner vs Hernandez; Bees get lead-off HRs from Beltre in the 2nd and Upton in the 3rd. Speakers get 1 run in the 2nd, a solo HR by Van Slyke (7) in the 4th followed by a 3-run HR by Wong (1) in the 4th — all with 2 outs. Posey (10) hits a solo HR in the 5th, Wong (2) hits another 3-run HR in the 6th and Rendon (11) ends the scoring in the 8th with a 2-run HR. Speakers win 11-2.

W – Felix Hernandez (9-10); L – Madison Bumgarner

Game 2; Gonzalez vs Archer; Tulowitzki hits 2-run HRs in the 1st and 3rd for all the scoring in the game. Gonzalez pitches 6.1 innings and Holland and Kimbrel follow for a shutout. Bees win 4-0. The Speakers have now been shut out 13 times this season.

W – Gio Gonzalez; L – Chris Archer (5-9)

Game 3; Wheeler vs Zimmermann; Speakers get 1 run in the 2nd.  Bees plate 7 runs in the 7th and 2 runs in the 9th to win 9-1. As a recurring theme, the Speakers have scored one run in 18 innings.

W – Zach Wheeler; L – Jordan Zimmermann (7-7)