Tag Archives: Speakers

2017 Third Period

Speakers at Unhinged Wahoos

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Due to a lack of Major League baseball last Monday (10/2), the Unhinged Wahoos suggested an impromptu OOTL series.

Game 1 – Carlos Martinez blanks the Wahoos on 3 hits. Yoenis Cespedes’ 2nd inning 2-run single brings home the only runs of the game. Roberto Osuna records the final out with the bases juiced, striking out Carlos Gomez on a hit number. Martinez (+33) turns back Wil Myers’ potential game-tying 2-run homer with 2 outs in the 9th. Speakers win 2-0.

W – Martinez (8-6); L – Junior Guerra; S – Osuna (9)

Game 2 – Stephen Strasburg’s ugly 1st inning allows 3 runs on 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 unearned on Brandon Crawford’s throwing error. That’s all David Price and Brad Hand would need. Price picks up where Martinez leaves off allowing 3 hits through 8 IP. Nolan Arenado’s RBI triple in the 4th scores the only Unhinged run. He’s stranded at 3rd with no outs following 2 pop ups and a liner back to Price. Speakers hang on, 3-1.

W – Price (4-4); L – Strasburg; S – Hand (3)

Game 3 – Mookie Betts slugs his team-leading 9th home run in the 3rd, good for 2 runs after Andrelton Simmons’ double. The Wahoos have 2 on with 1 out in the 6th when Edwin Diaz takes over for Jeremy Hellickson. Jose Altuve greets Diaz with a hard-hit RBI single (7). Diaz then retires Edwin Encarnacion and Arenado on deep fly outs.

With 2 away in the 7th, the Wahoos string together 3 more hits off Diaz, including Gomez’s RBI double (3-4, D, RBI, R). Adam Libertore strands runners at the corners by retiring Spanky Eaton on a hit number that became a fly out tailing away from Cespedes.

Altuve coaxes a lead off walk in the 8th. Encarnacion crushes a ball off Jeremy Jeffress that barely stays in the yard (+51 turn back). Betts wings the ball to Simmons who nails Altuve at the plate.

To break the 2-2 tie in the 9th, Anthony Rizzo doubles home Ian Kinsler, who singled with 2 outs. Jeffress sets down the Wahoos in order in the bottom half to earn his 5th win.

The Wahoos out-hit the Speakers 10-7, but come up short in the run column, 3-2. The Speakers out-score the Wahoos in the sweep, 8-3.

W – Jeffress (5-1); L – Justin Verlander

 

2017 Third Period

Shartlesville Browns at Speakers

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Game 1: Lester v Ross. Speakers get the lone run in the game on a Kinsler HR in the 2nd. Both pitchers go the distance. Speakers 1/4/1 Browns 0/4/0.

Game 2. Tanaka v Hellickson. Browns get 2 in the 1st on Seager solo shot and Reddick double. A Seager double in the 3rd made it 3-0 before a Cespedes solo homer in the bottom of the 3rd made it 3-1. The Sharts got an insurance run in the 6th when Ramirez doubled and was plated by an Abreu single. The Speakers kept coming though as Cespedis had a HR turned so a double in the 8th (he would be stranded) and the had 3 hits and a wild pitch in the 9th to make it 4-1. Brad Ziegler got a pinch hitting Kris Bryant to hit into a 4-6-3 to end the game. Browns 4/7/1 Speakers 2/10/0

Game 3: Cueto v Arrieta. This one was an old fashioned pitchers duel. And I mean like way old fashioned, like from the 60’s. Arrieta threw 11 shut out innings and Cueto had 10 1/3. The Speakers turned back 3 HR along the way and Ian Kinsler did it again for them in the 12th when he took Nate Jones deep for the game and series win. Speakers 1/6/0 Browns 0/7/0

The Browns fall to 31-35 and will play the Wahoos on Sunday.

2017 Second Period

Speakers at Browns

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The Speakers came downtown to face the Browns yesterday.

Game 1: Tanaka v Martinez. The Browns got out to an early lead when Peraza was hit by a pitch leading off the game and came around to score on an Abreu 2-out RBI single. The advantage was pushed to 3-0 in the second when Belt and Calhoun walked and were plated on RBI singles (once again with 2 outs) by Reddick and Dozier. Dozier added a solo homer in the bottom of the 8th and Cargo got one back in the top of the 9th with a dinger of his own off Donnie Hart. Tanaka got the win, Martinez took a CG loss. Browns 4/7/0 Speakers 1/4/0

Game 2: Cueto v Price. The Speakers got right to work in the 1st as Cespedis doubled followed by a Rizzo double and a Machado single to make it 2-0. It could have been worse for the Browns since Cargo was picked off first prior to Cespedis’ double and Machado’s rolled a homer which was turned back. The Brown got the 2 runs right back in the bottom of the 1st as Maybin led off with a double and Guyer got hit. Abreu drove in Maybin with a single and Guyer came all the way around to score on a Cespedis error. Then the bats went quiet as both teams combined for 3 hits over the next 4 1/2 innings. The Sharts got the next run with some small ball in the 6th. Ramirez worked a 1-out walk and moved to 3rd on Seager’s hit-and-run single. Belt brought Ramirez in with ground out to make it 3-2. Cueto improves to 4-5 while Price went the distance in the loss. Nate Jones got 5 outs for his 3rd save. Browns 3/5/1 Speakers 2/5/1

Game 3: Montgomery v Hellickson. The Speakers opened the scoring once again with a C. Young RBI single plating R. Davis in the 1st. Jose Ramirez got a gifted HR (vs a -12) in the 2nd and Reddick socked a solo shot in the 3rd to put the Sharts up 2-1. Cespedis doubled in the 4th and came around to score on a Seager error one batter later to tie things up at 2. The Browns pulled away with a Seager two-run double in the 5th and two more runs thanks to doubles from Dozier and Belt with a Ramirez triple sandwiched in between in the 7th. Montgomery (3-1) was the winner while Hellickson took the loss. Browns 6/12/1 Speakers 2/3/1

Notes:
Shartlesville slashed .261/.353/.435 in the series and batted .276 with 2 outs and .292 with RISP.

The Browns are now 17-13 in games started by right handers and 9-12 against southpaw starters.

A. Recker grounded out with the bases loaded in the 5th inning of game 3. The Browns are now 7-24 (.292/.333/.542) with the bases loaded including a HR, 2B and a 3B along with a walk, a HBP and 2 Sac Flies.

Manager Tony

2017 First Period

Speakers vs. Lemonheads

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In late May, the Lemonheads try to avenge last year’s 2-8 disastrous head-to-head record against the Speakers, including an 0-4 start in the 2016 1st period.

Game 1 – The Lemonheads start innocently enough, scoring an unearned run in the 3rd. Then the flood gates open.

Six straight ‘Heads reach in the 4th leading to a 5-spot (4 ER). They one-up that barrage in the 7th. The first 4 batters reach. After 2 whiffs, the next 5 go single (0), single (7), single (4), 3-run HR, double!

When the dust settles, the Lemonheads make a 14-2 statement. Only Ian Kinsler’s 7th inning 2-run triple prevents another Speakers’ shutout. Former Speaker Daniel Murphy and Charlie Blackmon each stroke 3 hits, including a homer.

W – Drew Pomeranz; L – Carlos Martinez (4-2)

Game 2 – The hitting shoes transfer to the other dugout as the Speakers pound out 13 hits in a 9-3 final. Bases-loaded triples are wild for both sides. Nelson Cruz clears the bases with 2 outs in the 5th. Carlos Gonzalez answers in the 6th with a sacs loaded 3-base hit of his own.

Mookie Betts (4-5, RBI, 3-R), Anthony Rizzo (3-4, 2-D, RBI, 3-R, BB), and CarGo (4-5, T, HR, 6-RBI, R) lead the offense. The Speakers score against all 3 Lemonheads pitchers.

W – Jake Arrieta (5-1); L – Jake Odorizzi

Game 3 – Gonzalez needed a double for the cycle yesterday. He gaps a 1st inning RBI variety 2-base hit in the 1st inning today. Rizzo deposits a 3-run homer in the 5th for a commanding 5-0 lead. 2 more runs in the 7th make it 7-0.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Hellickson has not allowed a base runner through 6. After the stretch, lead off hitter Blackmon grounds to short. Murphy steps in, argues about Strike One, and then ruins the perfect game, no-hitter and shutout with one swing!

That would be the only Lemonheads’ base runner in the 7-1 final. Hellickson pitches a gem (9 IP, 1-H, 1-ER, 0-BB, 11-K).

W – Hellickson (4-3); L – Dan Straily

Game 4 – Murphy homers again in the 1st off David Price. Machado matches that solo (5) in the 4th. CarGo smacks a solo (3) in the 6th for a 2-1 Speakers’ lead.

That slim margin holds until the pen for the Lemonheads falters in the 9th. After Will Smith walks Rizzo to start the inning, Joaquin Benoit gets Kris Bryant to fly to left. Then Benoit serves up a 2-run homer to Roughned Odor (4). Kinsler follows with a double and Javy Baez connects (1) to make it 6-1.

After the 1st inning homer, Price allows a walk to Murphy and 2-out Adam Duvall single in the 4th; and, a 2-out double to Cruz in the 6th. The Lemonheads go quietly the rest of the way (10 in a row) for a 6-1 final.

W – Price (1-2); L – Ian Kennedy; S – Jeremy Jeffress (3)

2017 First Period

The Plague vs. Speakers

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Last year’s championship contenders continued their rivalry in mid-May.

Game 1 – Each team uses 3 pitchers in the final inning to decide this close contest. Kris Bryant gets the Speakers on the board early with a 1st inning RBI ground out and a 3rd inning 2-run HR (his first of the season!). During both innings, Mookie Betts (3-4, 3-D, 3-R) scores.

The Plague score candlesticks in the 4th and 6th on ground ball RBIs by Francisco Lindor and Paul Goldschmidt. The Speakers answer in the 6th as Carlos Gonzalez legs out a lead off double. Bryant grounds to 2nd and Anthony Rizzo lifts a sac fly to center for a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom of the 8th, Betts doubles with 1 out to chase starter Tanner Roark. Lefty Kyle Ryan faces pinch hitter Yoenis Cespedes. Cespy singles home Betts. After Bryant lines out to 3rd, Rizzo doubles home Cespedes (turned back HR) to chase Ryan.

With a 6-2 lead, Carlos Martinez starts the 9th, but quickly finds himself pitching from the stretch. Lindor singles. Goldy grounds out. Max Kepler gets those 2 runs back with a 2-run home run.

Pinch hitter Alcides Escobar reaches 2nd on a Rizzo error. Jeremy Jeffress comes in and walks Alex Bregman, which puts the tying run on base. Billy Hamilton hits a fly ball to center (a turned back hit). Escobar tags and takes 3rd.

Enter Joe Blanton to face Carlos Santana representing the go-ahead run. Blanton gets Santana to chase strike 3 to end the game, 6-4.

W – C. Martinez (3-1); L – Roark; S – Blanton (2)

Game 2 – Aaron Sanchez is the star of the game, hurling a CG, 5-0 victory, and allowing just 4 singles.

The Plague score in the 2nd on Matt Wieters’ 2-out 2-run double. Jason Kipnis connects with a 2-run blast in the 3rd. Bregman triples home Wieters with the exclamation point in the 4th.

This marks Jake Arrieta’s first clunker of the year (11 H, 5 ER, HR). The shutout marks the 5th of the season (in 22 games) suffered by the Speakers, who never touch 3rd base.

W – A. Sanchez; L – Arrieta (4-1)

Game 3 – Another Speakers’ scoreless streak climbs to 18 innings as Marco Estrada pitches another 4-hit CG shutout. If you’re counting, that’s 6 times the Speakers have been blanked in 23 games.

Early RBI singles by Goldschmidt and Lindor are all that’s needed for The Plague to pocket a 2-0 win. Jeremy Hellickson scatters 8 hits and allows just 1 ER in the tough luck loss.

W – Estrada; L – Hellickson (3-3)

Game 4 – In a carbon copy of Game 3’s 1st inning, a Speaker error and Goldy RBI single give The Plague the early lead. Joe Ross battles to keep the margin to 1 run, (which would have been enough the past two days).

Manny Machado finally snaps the Speakers’ 21-innings without scoring, blasting a 4th inning 2-run HR, his first of the season. After Wieters ties it up with a sac fly in the bottom half, the Speakers rope 3 doubles to score another pair in the 5th.

Santana homers to start the bottom half. The 4-3 nail biter goes quickly in the late innings. Only the Speakers offer a 9th inning threat: 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Two pop ups leave the 1-run margin.

Blanton pitches a 1-2-3 9th to secure the 4-3 win and the series split.

W – Ross (1-1); L – Jose Fernandez; S – Blanton (3)