Errors doom X's
By Terry Hersom, Journal sports editor | Posted: Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Opportunity knocked for the Sioux City Explorers and they dropped the ball.
And then they threw it away.
Costly errors spelled the difference Tuesday night at Lewis and Clark Park as the St. Joseph Blacksnakes prevailed 5-3 over the X's in a 14-inning American Association baseball marathon.
Knotting the game at 3-3 after Alex Llanos dropped a throw in the eighth inning, St. Joe pulled out the win after an errant throw by Nick McCoola paved the way to two unearned runs in the 14th.
A battle of bullpens spoke volumes for the much-improved relief corps X's Manager Ed Nottle has built in recent weeks. However, the pitching for St. Joe, saddled with a league-worst 21-46 record in spite of the win, was downright spectacular.
Trailing 3-1 after four innings, the Snakes went the 10 remaining innings without giving up a run as five pitchers combined to limit Sioux City to a meager two hits. Four relievers went the last 6.1 innings, surrendering just one hit.
It all added up to a loss that prevented Nottle's club from improving its second-half North Division lead to two games over second-place St. Paul, which dropped a 2-0 verdict Tuesday night in Lincoln, the first-half champ.
"It's tough when you've got a chance to pick up a game,'' said Nottle, whose team is 13-6 for the second half. "I've said it before about St. Joe, though, they've got enough pitching to come at you and they battle hard, God bless 'em.''
Lefthander Joel Schmal, working his fourth inning, appeared to have retired the first two St. Joe batters in the 14th, but McCoola's wide throw let Dylan Parzyk reach safely, opening the door to victory for the visitors.
The weary Schmal, then, punked Dustin Yount with a pitch before getting David Fowler to fly out deep to right field, letting Parzyk move over to third.
Curt Miaso and Carter McQuigg delivered back-to-back run-scoring singles to snap the 3-3 deadlock that had stood since another unearned run let the Blacksnakes tie it up in the eighth.
Fowler, following Yount's single to lead off the eighth, attempted merely to bunt his teammate into scoring position. Fowler, though, reached safely and Yount moved to third after newly acquired pitcher Robert Wooley, making his X's debut, had his toss to Llanos, covering first, glance off the veteran second baseman's glove.
Before Wooley struck out Miaso, Fowler stole second base. And, with a base open, the X's filled it with an intentional walk to McQuigg, setting up a double play possibility.
Closer Matt Wilkinson took over and would retire all eight batters he faced. However, the first of them was Chad Sosebee, whose sacrifice fly let Yount trot home with the equalizer.
Alec Sheppard, a tough righthander with a 4-1 record and a solid 3.53 ERA, was reached for three runs in the first four innings. However, they weren't that easy to come by as potential big innings in the third and fourth were reduced to single runs, each coming on double-play ground balls.
Jake Daubert doubled home a first-inning run while leadoff doubles by Billy Cox and Jorge Moreno set up the two additional runs. And, the X's didn't do much of anything after that, struggling against Tim Vasquez, Caleb Balbuena and Mark Goodman, who got credit for the win.
The 6-7, 240-pound Balbuena, a 30-year-old flamethrower, was especially dominant, mowing down nine of 10 batters he faced in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings as St. Joe ended eight straight losses to a Sioux City team the Snakes plagued with a 5-1 mark in the first half.
Cameron Cheek, making his second spot start, left with a 3-2 lead after six innings, working out of some trouble with help from three St. Joe baserunning blunders. Wooley, joining the team earlier in the day from Southern Illinois of the Frontier League, issued just one unearned run and the two runs charged to Schmal were also unearned.
"We wiped out a few pitchers for a few days, that's for sure,'' said Nottle, noting that Wilkinson, Schmal and, of course, Cheek wouldn't be among his bullpen options for the next couple of games.
X's AND OH's: Illness forced crew chief Mike Mazzarissi to miss the game (although he was in the seats all night), leaving a two-man crew that had an inordinate share of difficulties. Not the least of these was the costly call by Mike O'Leary, working the bases solo and ruling Tuttle out on a close play at first that ended the fourth inning, denying Tuttle of a run-scoring infield single that might have led to still more runs....
St. Joe had its share of complaints, as well, and one of those occurred when Moreno dumped a two-out looper into right field in the eighth, taking a major chance by trying for two bases. Casey Gordon appeared to have the inning-ending tag in plenty of time, but home plate ump Thomas Newsome, covering the play, ruled Moreno safe and a tirade by Gordon got the shortstop tossed....
With a depleted bullpen, the X's face a somewhat daunting task in tonight's series finale. That's because 38-year-old veteran Greg Bicknell gets the nod for the Snakes against rookie Rory James, who is 1-5 with a 5.49 ERA and is making just his fourth start in 21 appearances this season. Bicknell is just 1-2 with a 5.00 ERA, but he has fanned 30 batters in 27 innings, walking only four while making four starts since joining St. Joe....
Oddly enough, this wasn't the only 14-inning affair in the league Tuesday night. Shreveport, snapping an eight-game losing streak, won 8-6 in 14 innings at Sioux Falls, which had erased two-run deficits twice before finally falling....
Defending league champion Fort Worth, trying to reach the playoffs as the second-half champ in the South, swept a Tuesday doubleheader with Coastal Bend, 4-0 and 2-0. The back-to-back shutouts left Coastal Bend with 12 losses in a row while Fort Worth improved to 14-4, now 2.5 games ahead of El Paso, the first-half South winner....
Although both made late-inning appearances, first baseman Julian Benavidez and outfielder Paul Weichard, picked up last week from St. Joe, both had the night off. Benavidez, who drew a 14th-inning walk, is mired in a 0-for-17 slump. Weichard is under the weather due to an adverse reaction to a antibiotic injection in his right arm....
Nottle said Wooley, a starter all season in the Frontier League, would get the call Friday in the second of three games at St. Paul, where Alex Francisco pitches Thursday's series opener and Brian Buchanan will work the Saturday finale. After a second consecutive Sunday off, the X's will play four in a row in Sioux Falls, then start at three-game series at home with El Paso next Friday.
And then they threw it away.
Costly errors spelled the difference Tuesday night at Lewis and Clark Park as the St. Joseph Blacksnakes prevailed 5-3 over the X's in a 14-inning American Association baseball marathon.
Knotting the game at 3-3 after Alex Llanos dropped a throw in the eighth inning, St. Joe pulled out the win after an errant throw by Nick McCoola paved the way to two unearned runs in the 14th.
A battle of bullpens spoke volumes for the much-improved relief corps X's Manager Ed Nottle has built in recent weeks. However, the pitching for St. Joe, saddled with a league-worst 21-46 record in spite of the win, was downright spectacular.
Trailing 3-1 after four innings, the Snakes went the 10 remaining innings without giving up a run as five pitchers combined to limit Sioux City to a meager two hits. Four relievers went the last 6.1 innings, surrendering just one hit.
It all added up to a loss that prevented Nottle's club from improving its second-half North Division lead to two games over second-place St. Paul, which dropped a 2-0 verdict Tuesday night in Lincoln, the first-half champ.
"It's tough when you've got a chance to pick up a game,'' said Nottle, whose team is 13-6 for the second half. "I've said it before about St. Joe, though, they've got enough pitching to come at you and they battle hard, God bless 'em.''
Lefthander Joel Schmal, working his fourth inning, appeared to have retired the first two St. Joe batters in the 14th, but McCoola's wide throw let Dylan Parzyk reach safely, opening the door to victory for the visitors.
The weary Schmal, then, punked Dustin Yount with a pitch before getting David Fowler to fly out deep to right field, letting Parzyk move over to third.
Curt Miaso and Carter McQuigg delivered back-to-back run-scoring singles to snap the 3-3 deadlock that had stood since another unearned run let the Blacksnakes tie it up in the eighth.
Fowler, following Yount's single to lead off the eighth, attempted merely to bunt his teammate into scoring position. Fowler, though, reached safely and Yount moved to third after newly acquired pitcher Robert Wooley, making his X's debut, had his toss to Llanos, covering first, glance off the veteran second baseman's glove.
Before Wooley struck out Miaso, Fowler stole second base. And, with a base open, the X's filled it with an intentional walk to McQuigg, setting up a double play possibility.
Closer Matt Wilkinson took over and would retire all eight batters he faced. However, the first of them was Chad Sosebee, whose sacrifice fly let Yount trot home with the equalizer.
Alec Sheppard, a tough righthander with a 4-1 record and a solid 3.53 ERA, was reached for three runs in the first four innings. However, they weren't that easy to come by as potential big innings in the third and fourth were reduced to single runs, each coming on double-play ground balls.
Jake Daubert doubled home a first-inning run while leadoff doubles by Billy Cox and Jorge Moreno set up the two additional runs. And, the X's didn't do much of anything after that, struggling against Tim Vasquez, Caleb Balbuena and Mark Goodman, who got credit for the win.
The 6-7, 240-pound Balbuena, a 30-year-old flamethrower, was especially dominant, mowing down nine of 10 batters he faced in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings as St. Joe ended eight straight losses to a Sioux City team the Snakes plagued with a 5-1 mark in the first half.
Cameron Cheek, making his second spot start, left with a 3-2 lead after six innings, working out of some trouble with help from three St. Joe baserunning blunders. Wooley, joining the team earlier in the day from Southern Illinois of the Frontier League, issued just one unearned run and the two runs charged to Schmal were also unearned.
"We wiped out a few pitchers for a few days, that's for sure,'' said Nottle, noting that Wilkinson, Schmal and, of course, Cheek wouldn't be among his bullpen options for the next couple of games.
X's AND OH's: Illness forced crew chief Mike Mazzarissi to miss the game (although he was in the seats all night), leaving a two-man crew that had an inordinate share of difficulties. Not the least of these was the costly call by Mike O'Leary, working the bases solo and ruling Tuttle out on a close play at first that ended the fourth inning, denying Tuttle of a run-scoring infield single that might have led to still more runs....
St. Joe had its share of complaints, as well, and one of those occurred when Moreno dumped a two-out looper into right field in the eighth, taking a major chance by trying for two bases. Casey Gordon appeared to have the inning-ending tag in plenty of time, but home plate ump Thomas Newsome, covering the play, ruled Moreno safe and a tirade by Gordon got the shortstop tossed....
With a depleted bullpen, the X's face a somewhat daunting task in tonight's series finale. That's because 38-year-old veteran Greg Bicknell gets the nod for the Snakes against rookie Rory James, who is 1-5 with a 5.49 ERA and is making just his fourth start in 21 appearances this season. Bicknell is just 1-2 with a 5.00 ERA, but he has fanned 30 batters in 27 innings, walking only four while making four starts since joining St. Joe....
Oddly enough, this wasn't the only 14-inning affair in the league Tuesday night. Shreveport, snapping an eight-game losing streak, won 8-6 in 14 innings at Sioux Falls, which had erased two-run deficits twice before finally falling....
Defending league champion Fort Worth, trying to reach the playoffs as the second-half champ in the South, swept a Tuesday doubleheader with Coastal Bend, 4-0 and 2-0. The back-to-back shutouts left Coastal Bend with 12 losses in a row while Fort Worth improved to 14-4, now 2.5 games ahead of El Paso, the first-half South winner....
Although both made late-inning appearances, first baseman Julian Benavidez and outfielder Paul Weichard, picked up last week from St. Joe, both had the night off. Benavidez, who drew a 14th-inning walk, is mired in a 0-for-17 slump. Weichard is under the weather due to an adverse reaction to a antibiotic injection in his right arm....
Nottle said Wooley, a starter all season in the Frontier League, would get the call Friday in the second of three games at St. Paul, where Alex Francisco pitches Thursday's series opener and Brian Buchanan will work the Saturday finale. After a second consecutive Sunday off, the X's will play four in a row in Sioux Falls, then start at three-game series at home with El Paso next Friday.
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