GorsKKKKKKKKKi Great but Bullpen Blows Big Lead for Las Vegas

Las Vegas 51s @ Tacoma Rainiers

July 21, 2014

Darin Gorski @ James Gillheeney

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Las Vegas	0	1	0	4	1	0	2	0	0		8	12	2
Tacoma	2	1	0	0	0	5	3	0	X		11	12	3

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Darin Gorski (4.56 ERA) – 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 9 SO, HR, 82 Pitches (54 Strikes), 3 GO: 3 FO

Batters

Matt ∂en Dekker – 2-4, R, 3B (7), RBI (39), BB

Wilmer Flores – 3-5

Taylor Teagarden – 1-4, 3 R, HR (9), RBI (20), HBP, SO

Daniel Muno – 2-5, 2 R, 2B (10), HR (11), 3 RBI (44), 3 SO

Cesar Puello – 3-3, R, 2B (10), 2 RBI (25), HBP

Recap with gifs:

            Las Vegas and Tacoma has been involved in a lot of high scoring games throughout the season, and this game would not be an exception, as things went back and forth all night.

           

GorsKKKKKKKKKi

1^st inning – 17 pitches, 13 strikes

            Gorski came out looking very strong Monday night, getting the first two batters to strikeouts swinging on eight pitches:

Abaham Almonte swinging.

Almonte goes down on 1-2

Chris Taylor struck out swinging on three pitches.

Taylor swung through this 0-1 pitch

This is not the same gif, the guy front row is wearing his hat now

            The third batter of the inning, Nick Franklin, would hit a routine grounder to to SS that Reynolds fielded cleanly, but he then airmailed his throw to 1B, and Franklin was awarded 2B. Gorski would start the next batter, Jesus Montero, off with a change-up at knees and on the outside corner for a swinging strike – he fooled Montero good. The next pitch was a fastball at the knees that ran back over the middle of the plate and Montero deposited well beyond the wall in left-center field. Gorski would bounce back for his third strikeout of the inning, getting Ji-Man Choi swinging at this slider.

Choi swinging at 2-2

2^nd inning – 14 pitches, 7 strikes

            This was just a sloppy inning from the 51s, but it ended early thanks to a silly play from the Rainiers catcher. Gorski got ahead of the leadoff hitter 0-1, but then threw four straight balls to walk him. The next batter, catcher Humberto Quintero, placed a sac bunt in a good spot down the 3B line, forcing Muno to attempt the bare hand catch-and-throw move. Unfortunately, his throw was into the 1B baseline too much for Satin, who made an awkward attempt at catching it, perhaps worried about a potential collision. The next batter would pop out to shallow left field, as Matt Reynolds raced out to make the catch – the runner at 3B did not attempt to tag up and score.

Reynolds showing the range

            With one out and runners on the corner, there was a chance for Gorski to get out of the inning with no damage done. Then he threw the next pitch at head level, which was too high for Teagarden to catch cleanly, allowing Ty Kelly to score from 3B anyway. Gorski bounced back in that at-bat to get Xavier Avery swinging for the second out of the inning.

Avery can't check his swing on 2-1

Then swings through 2-2

            The inning would unexpectedly end on the next pitch, as Humberto Quintero broke for 3B and was out by a good amount.

3^rd inning – 17 pitches, 10 strikes

            Gorski started the 3^rd much like he did the 1^st, by getting Abraham Almonte to look silly.

Almonte lost his bat swinging through 0-1

Lost his balance swinging through 0-2

            The next to batters would reach against Gorski, on a single from Taylor and a walk to Franklin. Montero was next, and Gorski’s approach was the same as in the 1^st inning – he made him look silly with a change-up at the knees on the outside corner, and then left a knee high fastball over the middle that Montero hit a long way. Fortunately for Gorski, the ballpark was able to hold this fly ball, though both runners were able to tag up and advance on the play – Puello made a strong, accurate throw to 2B, but Franklin was ruled safe (Wilmer disagreed and was waiting for the manager to ask for a replay when he remembered that he was no longer in the majors). Gorski would finish the 3^rd with his second strikeout of Choi.

Gorski evened the count at 1-1 here

Gorski made Choi look silly chasing here

4^th inning – 20 pitches, 14 strikes

            Gorski led off the inning with a strikeout for the third time in the game, getting Ty Kelly swinging with a full count.

That change-up was nasty all night

            Quintero would line a single that was just out of the reach of RF Cory Vaughn, who made a diving attempt. Gorski paid a little attention to Quintero at 1B, but not enough to distract him from the batter Bonilla, who he’d strike out with this high fastball.

Bonilla chases the high heat

            The inning would end with a fly out to RF.

5^th inning – 14 pitches, 10 strikes

            Gorski would have his only 1-2-3 inning in the 5^th, getting Almonte to strikeout for the third time at the end of a 10-pitch battle – close call.

His last strikeout was the only one that didn't end swinging

            He’d retire his last two batters of the night on four pitches combined – Taylor flied out to CF and Franklin grounded out to Muno.

The rest of the game

Cesar Puello got the offense stared with a two-out double into the LF corner in the 2^nd.

Puello roped this double into the LF corner

            M∂D would triple him in a few pitches later.

M∂D has been hitting everything hard since his demotion

            Taylor Teagarden led off the 4^th by reaching on an error by the 3B – he’d advance to 2B on the play and 3B on a wild pitch. Cory Vaughn followed with an infield single that was just beyond the reach of the Tacoma pitcher to put runners at the corners. Daniel Muno followed with this double off the wall to drive in Teagarden.

Muno just missed a homerun batting righty

Freeze frame of where it hit the wall

            Puello would follow with his second hit of the night, a two-run single into LF. M∂D kept the party going with a single through the 2B hole and into RF, but Puello was thrown out trying to advance to 3B – probably not the best time to try and push it, as Puello had to pause a step for the ball to pass in front of him between 1B and 2B. M∂D would come around to score when Flores lined this single into LF that slipped between Avery’s legs – oops.

Puello drives in two with a single that looked similar to his first hit

            Ryan Reid would come in to pitch the 6^th for the 51s and it wasn’t pretty. I was surprised Gorski came out of the game, as the 5^th was his only 1-2-3 inning of the game, and he had looked sharper in the 4^th-5^th innings. I think it had something to do with Montero leading off the inning, but he’d end up smacking a double off of Reid on the first pitch anyway. Choi followed with a hard hit single grounded into RF, and then Ty Kelly launched a three-run bomb to RF, which made it a 6-5 game. Reid recovered to get Quintero swinging, but then he walked Leury Bonilla. Avery would follow with an RBI double to LF. With Taylor batting and two outs, Reid threw two straight wild pitches, allowing Avery to go 2B -> 3B and then 3B –> Home. He’d recover to strikeout Taylor swinging as the inning finally came to an end, with the Rainiers lead 8-6. The 51s had one more burst of life in them though, thanks to the hot hitting Daniel Muno, who launched his 11^th homerun of the year to RF to tie the game up in the 7^th – Muno was behind 0-2 in the at-bat.

Muno does hit a homerun batting lefty

Wonder if that's a homerun at Citi?

            Puello came up next and had his third hit of the night – I hope this is the start of something big for Cesar!

Cesar reaches down and lines a single up the middle

            After hitting the refresh button on the game by tying it up in the top of the 7^th, the 51s turned to Ike Davis acquisition Zack Thornton for the bottom half. Unfortunately, he does not like pitching in Tacoma, as he’d have just his second 3-ER inning of the season, both of which have occurred in Tacoma. The big hit was a two-run homerun from Quintero, who clearly played a big role in this game. Todd Coffey came in from the Tacoma bullpen and looked very effective. He’s working his way back from his second Tommy John Surgery and I think he’ll be back in the majors before too long.

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