El Paso Chihuahuas @ Las Vegas 51s
August 31, 2015
Teams
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
|
El
Paso
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
6
|
12
|
2
|
|
Las
Vegas
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
6
|
1
|
W: Mateo (3-0, 1.69
ERA); L: Church (6-3, 4.16 ERA); Save: Edwards (23, 1.23 ERA)
The Highlights:
Pitchers
Darin Gorski
(5.12 ERA) – 5 IP, 7 H, 2 R, BB, 3 SO, 2 HR, 90 Pitches (59 Strikes), 4 GO: 4
FO
Cody Satterwhite (4.61 ERA) – 2 IP, 3 H, R, 29 Pitches (21
Strikes), 2 GO: 2 FO
Vic Black (H, 3, 7.94 ERA) – 0.2 IP, H, BB, 1 FO
Scott Rice (H, 9, 1.91 ERA) – 0.1 IP, R, BB, SO, 2 IR – 0 S
John Church (BS, 1)(L, 6-3, 4.16 ERA) – 1 IP, H, 2 R (1 ER),
BB, SO, 2 GO, 1 IR – 1 S
Robbie Erlin (5.93 ERA) – 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, BB,
3 SO, HR, 70 Pitches (45 Strikes), 6 GO: 1 FO
Tayron Guerrero (5.06 ERA) – 1 IP, BB, SO, 2
GO
Frank Garces (H, 6, 2.91 ERA) – 0.1 IP, 2 R,
2 BB, 1 FO
Dale Thayer (BS, 1, 1.59 ERA) – 0.2 IP, H, R,
SO, HR, 1 GO, 2 IR – 2 S
Marcos Mateo – 1 IP, BB, 1 GO: 1 FO
Jon Edwards – 1 IP, H, 2 SO, 1 GO
Batters
Dilson Herrera – 2-4, 2 R, HR (8), 3 RBI (44), SB (11), SO
Matt Reynolds – 1-4, R, HR (6), RBI (60)
Johnny Monell – 1-3, 2B (15), RBI (49), BB, 2 SB (6)
Brandon Allen – 2-3, R, BB
Jake Goebbert – 1-4, 2
R, BB
Hunter Renfroe – 1-4,
2 R, HR (5), RBI (12), BB
Ramiro Pena – 2-3, R,
2B (21), RBI (52), BB
Will Middlebrooks –
1-5, 2B (5)
Hector Gomez – 3-5, R,
2B (9), 3B (4), HR (3), 4 RBI (21), SO
Rymer Liriano – 2-5,
2B (29), SAC, 2 SO
Rocky Gale – 2-4, GIDP
Recap
With
the calendar turning to September, and the minor league season entering its
final week of regular season play, the 1st place Las Vegas 51s began
a four game series with the 2nd place El Paso Chihuahuas Monday
night holding onto a tiny 1.5 game lead within the division. Unfortunately for
Las Vegas, although they will still be able to field a formidable PCL lineup,
the 51s lost a few regulars before the game Monday night, as Kevin Plawecki,
Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Eric Campbell, and Eric Young Jr. were on their way to Queens
to join the New York Mets march towards the postseason. Neither starter would
factor in the decision, although they both provided solid, if unspectacular,
5-inning performances in the game. It would come down to a game of bullpen
management, which has not always been Wally’s best attribute, and the 51s pen
would blow a 5-3 lead with just 3 outs to play.
The
two teams combined for four bombs in the game, scoring 6 of the 11 runs on
homeruns, and each blast created a bigger swing in the momentum of the game
than the last. Gorski tried to take advantage of the spacious outfields in the
1st inning, inducing 3 fly outs, but Hunter Renfroe hit one well
beyond the outfield to give El Paso an early 1-0. Matt Reynolds launched one in
the 3rd to give Las Vegas a 2-1 lead after two shutdown innings from
Gorski, which got the crowd really pumped up, as they know how big this game is.
Hector Gomez led off the 4th with a blast to tie the game back up as
quickly as possible, and settling the crowd down with one swing. Finally,
trailing 3-2 with two outs in the bottom of the 7th and recently
outrighted Dale Thayer on the mound, Dilson Herrera launched a majestic three
run blast to left center field to give Las Vegas a 5-3 lead – the first two run
cushion for either team in the game.
The
51s turned to Vic Black for the 8th inning, and his struggles
continued. He’d issue a one out walk to Cody Decker, and then allowed a double
to LF that put the tying runs in scoring position with just one out. Black was
able to induce a fly out to shallow RF for the second out, and then Wally
brought in Scott Rice for the lefty. Rice did his job by getting the lefty Alex
Dickerson to strikeout and end the threat in the 8th, but Wally
wasn’t done with him, which leads me to an aside.
There
are exceptions to every rule, but I don’t generally agree with the idea of
sending someone out there with the intention of bringing in another pitcher
after one or two batters. Usually it’s a starter that is past his limit, but
because he’s having a special start the
manager is sending him out there with a tight rope for one last inning, which
means the relievers are on call to come into a tougher situation if that
starter falters than they would be in if they just started the frame
themselves. In this case, I get why you’d want to leave the lefty in to face a
lefty in the 9th, but it doesn’t fit with Rice’s usage pattern for
the season – he’s only pitched in multiple innings during 15% of his
appearances coming in, and not since 7/4 – which makes him like the starter who
is past his limit, and he’s just not been reliable or good enough this year –
he had a 17.5% BB-rate against lefties coming in. I’ve seen some questions
online about a Scott Rice return throughout the season, especially lately, but
it’s not going to happen this year, and you wouldn’t want it to.
Wally
would bring in John Church after the leadoff walk from Rice in the 9th,
because Church is the hottest pitcher in the pen, having held opponents to a
.274 OPS over 49 PA during his previous 13 appearances (14.1 scoreless
innings). Church issued a walk to the first batter he faced, and then Zach Lutz
(who was playing for the first time since 8/11, while recently outrighted
Daniel Muno sat on the bench) made a throwing error on a sac bunt attempts to
load the bases with 0 outs. After Church induced a much-needed pop out for the
first out of the frame, Hector Gomez continued his scorching night by clearing
the bases with a triple, giving the Chihuahua’s a 6-5 lead. Church would induce
the final two outs of the frame, but Las Vegas could not tie it in the 9th,
and their division lead is now down to 0.5 games.
This
series continues Tuesday night at 10:05 PM, with Logan Verrett (4-2, 3.57 ERA)
scheduled to face-off with Jason Lane (10-9, 5.71 ERA), and looking to keep the
51s in 1st place.
Pitcher Coverage
Table 1 – Pitch stats by inning
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
5th
|
Total
|
|
Total
|
14
|
18
|
18
|
20
|
20
|
90
|
Strikes
|
10
|
13
|
11
|
13
|
12
|
59
|
Swinging*
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
1
|
11
|
*12.2% Swinging strike rate
Lunch with the Stars! Chandra Independently Determines Hubble Constant, for lunch reading: http://t.co/1JagEUMyUi pic.twitter.com/fnGI4AtmuF
— Chandra Observatory (@chandraxray) August 31, 2015
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