Bowman's Blip in the Third Too Much for 51s to Overcome

Las Vegas 51s @ Fresno Grizzlies

April 10, 2015

Matthew Bowman @ Dan Straily

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

W: Straily (1-0, 5.40 ERA); L: Bowman (0-1, 13.50 ERA)

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Bowman – 4.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R, BB, 8 SO, 2 HR, 85 Pitches (61 Strikes), 1 GO: 2 FO

Hansel Robles (0.00 ERA) – 1.1 IP, H, SO, 1 GO: 1 FO, 1 IR – 0 S

Jack Leathersich (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, H, 2 SO

Cody Satterwhite (9.00 eRA) – 1 IP, 2 H, R, SO, 1 FO

Batters

Brandon Allen – 2-5, 3B (1), RBI (1), SO

Eric Campbell – 3-4, R, 2B (1), RBI (1)

Alex Castellanos – 1-3, 2B (1), RBI (1), BB, SO

Wilfredo Tovar – 1-1, R

Recap:

One of the benefits of losing for so long is that the Astros have built up a considerable farm system, and the top of the Fresno lineup reflects some of their depth. It was that top of the lineup that did the damage against Bowman Friday night, going 7-11 with a double and two homers for the first 7 runs of the game. Bowman owned the rest of the Grizzlies lineup, holding them to 1-10 with only a double allowed against 8 strikeouts, but gave up too much to the top of the lineup for the 51s bats to overcome. The offense showed some life tonight, but only 3 starters came through with hits, and the Tovar run in the 9^th was basically a gift from the Fresno center fielder. The 51s were known for their powerhouse lineup in 2014, and so far the 2015 version has looked like a shell of that team. A positive from the game was the 51s bullpen, which was sharp over 3.1 IP Friday night, as Robles, Leathersich and Satterwhite made their season debut – it was the 51s debut for Robles and Satterwhite. Lefty Darin Gorski gets the nod for the 51s Saturday night at 10, and he’ll look to finally put Las Vegas in the win column for 2015.

Highlights from the Offense

After Dilson Herrera was hit with one out in the 1^st inning, Brandon Allen brought him home with a triple, which is a rare feat for the big guy.

Eric Campbell hit a one-out ground-rule double in the top of the 4^th – he might’ve ended up on 3B if not for fan interference.

After a Monell groundout advanced Campbell to 3B and Muno was hit by a pitch, Alex Castellanos came through with a two-out RBI double, which made it 6-2.

With Reynolds on 1B after taking a walk and one out, Allen reached on a bunt single against the shift. The 51s would manage a double steal during Plawecki’s AB, and then Plaw drew a walk to load the bases. Campbell came through with another big hit, but his RBI single could only bring home one run.

Wilfredo Tovar came up to pinch-hit for Darrell Ceciliani, and his single up the middle was misread by the center fielder, which led to it rolling to the warning track while Tovar ran to 3B. Tovar would score on a sac fly from Matt Reynolds.

Bowman Coverage

1^st inning

Despite getting ahead of the leadoff hitter 0-1 and 1-2, Bowman would allow a leadoff single to the lefty Fontana on a curve lined into RF. Radio announcer Russ Langer talked about the Mets desire for Bowman to throw more fastballs early, but he was still throwing a lot of breaking balls in the 1^st Friday night. He’d get Singleton to chop a 2-1 slider to Dilson for the first out. He was throwing mostly curveballs to the third hitter Duffy before giving up an RBI single on a sinker – he had placed it on the outside corner at the knees, Duffy just reached out and pulled it down the line. Bowman was bailed out when Duffy was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double. He then got the next batter to pop out on the first pitch.

Drops in a 2-0 breaking ball

This made the count full

Total: R, 2 H, 16 Pitches, 10 Strikes

2^nd inning

Bowman was in control during the 2^nd, and it looked like he was settling in for a dominant game. He was aggressive with his fastball against the leadoff batter, but still fell behind 2-1 before turning things around for the strikeout. Domingo Santana stood there and watch 3 strikes go by, which was weird to see. Bowman got ahead of Dominguez 0-1, but Chris would foul off a few pitches before going down swinging.

Bowman's first K of the night

"This is a great place to stand and watch the game"

Total: 3 SO, 15 Pitches, 12 Strikes

3^rd inning

Bowman started the frame with his 4^th straight strikeout, getting Hoes on three pitches. The next batter was the 9-hitter Sclafani, and he would line a 1-0 sinker over Campbell’s head for a double – I think a good left fielder makes the catch. After getting ahead of the Fresno leadoff batter 0-2, Bowman made a big mistake by throwing 4 straight pitches out of the zone – so many breaking balls. Singleton then drilled an 0-1 sinker to RF for an RBI double that made it 2-1. Bowman would get ahead of Duffy 0-2, but Duffy came through with a 2-run single. After Viola came out to try and calm Bowman down, he would get ahead of the cleanup hitter Preston Tucker 1-2. Unfortunately, Tucker lined a homer into the RF stands to put an emphasis on the inning for Akron – he hit it off of a curveball, and the ball just got out while just staying fair. I thought Bowman might be done for the night at that point, but he’d bounce back to strike out Stassi and Santana again to end the inning.

Bowman looked fine to start the frame

This was one of several 3 pitch strikeouts Friday night

After all five runs scored, this would make it a full count with only one out

The bullpen stopped warming up at this point

Total: 5 R, 4 H, BB, HR, 3 SO, 34 Pitches, 23 Strikes

4^th inning

It was back to business as usual for Bowman in the 4^th, and he only needed 3 pitches for both of his strikeouts.

He would get a line out from the first batter

This made 7 of his last 8 outs recorded via the strikeout

Total: 2 SO, 10 Pitches, 9 Strikes

5^th inning

Bowman was due to face the top of the order as he reached his pitch limit in the 5^th, and things did not start well, as he gave up a leadoff homerun on a 2-1 pitch. He’d bounce back to get Singleton to pop out and Duffy to line out, but he reached his pitch limit after allowed a single to Tucker.

Total: R, 2 H, HR, 10 Pitches, 7 Strikes

Relief GIFs

Robles

Leathersich

Leather's first K of 2015

Plaw did not waste this perfect pitch to throw on

Satterwhite

Stars with the Chemical Clock on Hold http://t.co/0fglV4rzlV #astronomy #telescope pic.twitter.com/fAmMAZeGzL
— HubbleScience (@hubblescience) April 10, 2015

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