51s Continue Hot Streak as Rafael Montero Cruises to Third Victory | Astromets Mind

Friday, April 25, 2014

51s Continue Hot Streak as Rafael Montero Cruises to Third Victory


 

Tacoma Raniers @ Las Vegas 51s

4/24/14

Andrew Carraway @ Rafael Montero


Teams
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

R
H
E
Tacoma
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
1
0

4
10
2
Las Vegas
0
2
0
0
4
1
4
0
X

11
11
0


The Highlights:

Pitchers

Montero – W (3-0), 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 SO, 2 BB, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 LOB, 24 batters faced, 93 pitches, 54 strikes (58%).

Batters

Campbell – 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SO, CS
Dykstra – 2-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 SO
Lutz – 3-3, 2 HR, 4 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB

Recap:

            The Las Vegas 51s and their offense have been on a roll, winning their 4th in a row Thursday night, 3 of which have been by 7+ runs. They remain undefeated at 11-0 when Juan Centeno is catching – he contributed with a walk, stolen base, sac fly and run scored offensively and was 1 for 2 at getting runners trying to steal 2B. Zach Lutz hadn’t played in a game since Monday, when he had to leave the game with a cramp in his leg, but managed 2 HR’s to lead the way on a perfect night at the plate, his second and third HR’s of the season.
            For Tacoma, starting pitcher Andrew Caraway had some nice swing and miss off-speed stuff, but couldn’t keep getting away with a fastball that topped out in the high 80’s. Through the first 4 innings, Carraway was making many of the 51s look very uncomfortable against him, striking out 6 along the way. Fortunately for the 51s, back-to-back errors on double play balls to the middle infielders opened the door for a 4 run 5th that would knock Carraway out and lead to a 4 run inning, with the top of the order (Muno and Campbell) picking up the big hits.
The Rainiers would bounce back in the top of the 6th with a 2-out, 3-R HR for one-time stud prospect Jesus Montero, his fourth of the season, off Rafael Montero. This would be the only damage against the young Mets stud; he looked very good in the 3rd-5th innings. He was obviously just fine in the first two innings, but didn’t look as in control as he normally does – he got into 3 full counts in the second – and didn’t record his first strikeout until the 3rd.
After the Rainiers made it 6-3 in the top of the 6th, Zach Lutz hit his second bomb of the night to LF to lead off the bottom of the 6th. After a pretty unexciting Zack Thornton scoreless relief appearance in the top of the 7th, the first 4 batters would reach based and eventually scores for the 51s in the bottom of the 7th. Allen Dykstra and Matt ∂en Dekker would provide the big doubles in this inning, with Juan Centeno driving the final run in on a sac fly to LF.
Eric Goeddel would come in for the final two innings and did nothing to endear himself to the manager. It’s not that big of a deal to give up some hits or a run over 2 IP, but he walked back-to-back batters to walk in a run in the 8th, and that is just unacceptable with an 8 run lead.
Not a very good night for top Mets prospects Wilmer Flores or Cesar Puello, who combined for a 1-9 with 4 strikeouts. This series continues Friday night, with Thor pitching for Vegas! The B-Mets will also be available on TV some during the next week, so I will be looking to find the time to recap some of those games as well - Matt Bowman is currently scheduled to pitch for Binghamton Friday night.

Play By Play


1st inning

Top

1)   Xavier Avery hit a lazy fly ball to the LF corner. 7/F7L
2)   Chris Taylor hit a hard grounder up the middle for a single. S8/G4M
3)   James Jones hit a sinking liner that Puello snagged - ‘a well hit ball.’ 7/L7
*Taylor caught stealing – ball one hopped 2B.
Totals: 1 H, 1 CS

Bottom

1)   Daniel Muno hit a weak pop out behind 3B. 6/P5D
2)   Eric Campbell struck out looking at a big hook.
3)   Wilmer Flores fouled off a number of pitches with a full count before taking a called third strike on a close pitch, down and away.
Totals: 2 SO

2nd inning

Top

1)   Jesus Montero lined a single up the middle on a 3-2 fastball. S8/L4MD
2)   Julio Morban hit a soft liner into left-center field for a single. S7/L78S
3)   Endy Chavez showed bunt a few times before the count got full and then hit a hard grounder up the middle that Flores shuffled in front of, tossed to Muno, whose low throw was dug out of the dirt nicely by Eric Campbell. Montero to 3B. 643/G6M
4)   Ty Kelly hit a medium chopper to 1B on a full count fastball. 3/G3
Totals: 2 H, GIDP, 1 LOB

Bottom

1)   Andrew Brown hit a lazy fly ball to CF. 8/F8S
2)   Allen Dykstra lined a single into right-center field. S8/L89S
3)   Zach Lutz hit a line drive HR over the LF wall – a no doubter really.
4)   Matt ∂en Dekker hit a hard grounder at the 2B. 43/G4
5)   Cesar Puello struck out swinging at a breaking ball.

Totals: 2 R, 2 H, 1 HR, SO

3rd inning

Top

1)   Jesus Sucre struck out swinging on a 0-2 fastball.
2)   Gabriel Noriega hit a high fly ball to CF. 8/F8
3)   Avery hit a squibbler that got under the glove of 3B Lutz and Flores couldn’t get the throw to 1B in time. Seemed to wait back a step to see if Lutz would get it before fully committing to charging. S6/G56S
*Avery stole 2B – great jump.
4)   Taylor hit a high fly ball to right-center field. 8/F89
Totals: 1 H, 1 SB, 1 SO, 1 LOB

Bottom

1)   Juan Centeno struck out swinging on an outside change-up.
2)   Muno couldn’t check his swing on what would have been ball 4.
3)   Campbell lined one into RF for a single. 9/L9S
*Campbell was caught stealing on a close play, looked out.
Totals: 1 H, 2 SO, 1 CS

4th inning

Top

1)   Jones dragged a poorly placed bunt that Montero was able to barehand and throw onto 1B just in time. 13/G23
2)   Montero hit a high chopper towards 3B, handled easily by Lutz. 53/G5S
3)   Morban lined one out to deep CF that ∂en Dekker tracked down easily, though it was likely a 400+ ft out. 8/L8D

Totals: 5 pitches

Bottom

1)   Flores struck out swinging (flailing) on a breaking ball.
2)   Brown was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple on a deep fly ball off the base of the CF wall, 433 feet away. 865/F8D
3)   Dykstra hit a pop fly to shallow CF. 8/F8S
Totals: 1 SO, 1 2B

5th inning  

Top

1)   Chavez hit a hard grounder at the 1B. 3u/G3
2)   Kelly struck out looking a 92 MPH fastball at the knees.
3)   Sucre popped out to Muno. 4/P4
Totals: 1 SO

Bottom

1)   Lutz hit a soft grounder past a diving Montero into RF. S9/G3
2)   ∂en Dekker struck out swinging on a bouncing change-up.
3)   Puello hit a high, soft chopper over 2B that the SS couldn’t handle cleanly. E6/G6M
4)   Centeno hit a medium grounder to the right of the Kelly, but he dropped it and couldn’t get the force at 2B. E4/G4
5)   Muno hit a line drive past a diving SS and into LF to score 2. Runners would advance to 2nd and 3rd as the LF juggled the ball. 2B7/L56D
6)   Campbell hit a line drive over the head of the SS for a 2 RBI single. S7/L7S
7)   Flores pulled a groundball into LF for a single. S7/G56D
8)   Brown struck out looking on a 0-2 fastball at the knees.
(Substitution: LHP Nick Hill pitching for Tacoma)
9)   Dykstra saw a full count before hitting a high pop out to shallow right-center field. 9/F89S

Totals: 4 R, 4 H, 1 2B, 2 SO, 2 E, 2 LOB

6th inning

Top

1)   Noriega hit a double off the ‘x’ in the ‘COX’ ad on the CF wall - ∂en Dekker made a nice attempt jumping at the wall, but it was too high to be caught. 2B7/F8D
2)   Avery struck out swinging.
3)   Taylor hit a medium grounder to the right of Flores for an easy out. 63/G6
4)   Jones walked.
5)   Montero crushed a 2-1 fastball for a no-doubt 3 R-HR to LF.
6)   Morban walked on a 3-2 fastball, high and outside.
(Coaching visit)
7)   Chavez hit a medium grounder at Muno to end the inning.
Totals: 3R, 2H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 SO, 1 LOB

Bottom

1)   Lutz hit another no-doubter over the Verizon sign in LF.
2)   ∂en Dekker popped out to shallow LF. 7/F7S
3)   Puello shattered his bat on a groundball to the SS. 63/G6
4)   Centeno took 5 pitches before walking.
(Substitution: RHP Ramon Ramirez pitching for Tacoma)
*Centeno stole 2B
5)   Muno got hit in the foot.
6)   Campbell walked on a 3-2 fastball in the dirt.
7)   Flores hit a check-swing, soft bouncer that the SS flagged down in front of 2B. 63/G6M

Totals: 1 R, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SB, 3 LOB

7th inning

Top (Substitution: Zack Thornton pitching for Las Vegas)

1)   Kelly fouled off a number of pitches before making good contact on a deep fly ball to CF that M∂D tracked down. 8/F8D
2)   Sucre hit a medium grounder that Flores backhanded before firing onto 1B for the out. 63/G6
3)   Noriega chopped a medium single over the mound and into CF. S8/G4M
4)   Avery flied out to LF. 7/F7
Totals: 1 H, 1 LOB

Bottom

1)   Brown got hit with a pitch.
2)   Dykstra hit a line drive to left-center field that one-hopped the ‘COX’ ad for an RBI double. CF threw the ball over the cutoff mans head, otherwise it would have been a close play at the plate. 2B8/L8D
3)   Lutz walked.
4)   ∂en Dekker hit a 2 R double off the wall to the right of center field. 2B8/L8D
5)   Puello hit a fly ball to the warning track in CF. M∂D tagged and went to 3B. 8/F8D
(Substitution: Clay Rapada pitching for Tacoma)
6)   Centeno hit a sinking line drive that Avery ‘shoe-stringed,’ M∂D tagged and scored on the play (he’s fast). 7/L7
7)   Muno hit a pop fly to shallow RF handled by the 2B. 4/P34D

Totals: 4 R, 2 H, 2 2B, 1 BB, 1 HBP, SF

8th inning

Top (Substitution: Eric Goeddel pitching for Las Vegas)

1)   Taylor singled to LF.
2)   Jones hit a Baltimore chop to the 3B that was a guaranteed infield single. S5/G5S
3)   Montero struck out swinging on a 95 MPH fastball.
4)   Morban hit a high chopper to the 1B that he threw on to 2B for the force out. 36/G3
Morban took 2B on defensive indifference.
5)   Chavez walked on four pitches.
6)   Kelly walked in a run.
7)   Sucre struck out swinging on a breaking ball.

Totals: 1 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 SO, 3 LOB

Bottom (Substitution: Logan Bawcom pitching for Tacoma)

1)   Campbell walked on an inside fastball with a full count.
2)   Flores struck out swinging on a 93 MPH fastball.
3)   Brown hit a fly ball to right-center field. 8/F89
4)   Dykstra couldn’t check his swing.
Totals: 1 BB, 2 SO, 1 LOB

9th inning

Top

1)   Noriega hit a sharp groundball into LF. 7/G56D
2)   Avery struck out swinging.
3)   Taylor hit a hard grounder to the right of Flores. He got in front of it and made a strong throw for the second out.
4)   Jones struck out swinging on a nice curveball.
Totals: 1 H, 2 SO, 1 LOB
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