River Cats Come Back Late Behind Vogt

Sacramento River Cats @ Las Vegas 51s

May 23, 2014

Marcus Walden @ Logan Verrett

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E	LOB
Sacramento	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	2	0		6	7	0	3
Las Vegas	1	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	0		5	7	3	8

W: Nieve (2-1, 6.75 ERA); L (BS): Carlyle (1-1, 1.56 ERA); S: McBryde (2)

MiLB.com boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Logan Verrett – 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 80 pitches, 50 strikes, 23 batters faced, 10 groundouts, 4 flyouts

Zack Thornton – 1.1 IP, HBP, 19 pitches, 10 strikes, 2 groundouts, fly out

Batters

Matt ∂en Dekker – 2-4, R, 3B (2), RBI

Josh Satin – 2-3, R, HR (1), 2 RBI, SO

Stephen Vogt – 2-4, 2 R, 3B (2), HR (1), 4 RBI

Astro’s Play By Play

Recap:

            Things were going so well for Logan Verrett Friday night, until they weren’t – sound familiar? He was once again burned by a big 6^th, though this time the defense behind him put him in a tough spot. The 51s would retake the lead with a run each in the 6^th and 7^th inning, though they wasted a bases loaded, nobody out situation in the 6^th. The River Cats would provide the final knockout punch in the 8^th, as Vogt provided his second huge hit of the night, hitting a two run bomb off Buddy Carlyle. Jeremy McBryde came on for his second save of the season, working around a two out walk to Allan DyBBstra. Cesar Puello was used as a pinch runner for Dykstra and stole 2B – I don’t care about the 40-man roster jam, I want him starting EVERY. DANG. NIGHT.

             ∂en Dekker led things off for the 51s with a triple in the 1^st, coming in on a Dykstra sac fly two batters later. The game was otherwise a pitching duel for the first half, as Verrett only saw one over the minimum through the 5^th, and the 51s could only scratch out one more hit before the bottom of the 5^th. Satin committed the first 51s error in the 5^th, booting a potential double play grounder. Verrett got the next batter, Daric Barton, to ground into a double play anyway, so it really wasn’t a big deal - it was a nice recovery from Verrett. Xorge Carrillo got things started for the 51s in the bottom of the 5^th with a soft liner down the RF line for a single. He would score on an RBI single from M∂D, and Satin would drive in another run with an RBI.

            Verrett gave up a leadoff single in the top of the 6^th, but got the next batter to pop out to the 1B Brandon Allen in foul territory. The River Cats leadoff guy Alden Carrithers was next, and he hit a sharp grounder at Allen that deflected off his glove as he fell down. Like in the 5^th, ‘you can’t assume the double play,’ especially with Carrithers running, but Allen should have been able to get the lead runner, and an important second out.  Andy Parrino followed with an RBI single lined into CF before Vogt delivered the big hit of the inning – a two RBI triple on a sharp groundball into the RF corner (can’t see the RF with the camera angle in Vegas, so I am not sure if Allen had a chance at the play but Langer said nothing that would suggest he did). The 51s immediately tied things in the bottom of the 6^th, as Andrew Brown led off with a hustle double on a ‘dunker’ into shallow RF, near the line - he would score on a Kirk Niewenhuis single towards the RF line. After Kirk’s at-bat, ex-Met Fernando Nieve came in and walked Carrillo to load the bases. He would get the next three batters however, as Omar Quintanilla popped out, Danny Muno struck out and M∂D grounded out weakly. Satin temporarily gave the 51s the lead back in the 7^th, with a HR to LF that got out in a hurry. Andrew Brown also hit a fly ball about 420 feet in the inning, but that’s an out to dead CF at Cashman Field.

            If Zack Thornton pitching in the 8^th was a test, he did not pass it. After a very strong 7-pitch 7^th, he left with one out and a runner on 3B in the 8^th. After allowing the leadoff batter Tyler Ladendorf to reach – gameday called it a walk but might have been a HBP – Thornton threw a wild pitch that allowed Ladendorf to advance to 2B. He’d get a weak groundout from the batter Carrithers, but it was able to advance the runner. Carlyle would come in and get Parrino to strike out looking before giving up the Vogt homerun. As a side note to the top of the 8^th – Carlyle hit Nate Freiman with a pitch following the Vogt homerun and the benches were warned, which is classic Wally. The River Cats threatened to add a run in the 9^th, but Kirk started an excellent relay play from the LF corner to get Barton at home – he was trying to score from 1B. Hard to see what’s going on in the corner, but Q was the relay man and he made a strong throw home, though it was high and on Carrillo’s right side. Carrillo caught the ball and dove for home plate, colliding with Barton just in time to record the out. Those few seconds leading up to a close play at a bag are among the most exciting moments in baseball for me.

            Looking ahead, it appears the 51s will give Joel Carreno a second start Saturday night opposite Dan Straily – scheduled start time is 10:05 PM ET. Carreno got stronger throughout his first start, and had made one ineffective relief appearance since. Straily is making his third start of the season for the River Cats, after making seven starts for the A’s earlier in the season (and 34 the past two seasons). His problems in the majors this season appear to be homerun related, as he gave up nine in just 38.1 IP (33 total hits allowed).

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