Showing posts tagged “Joe Dillon”
Mike Potter ·
15 Sep 2009, 11:06 PM ·
4 Comments
DBAP/DURHAM Well good evening sports fans from beautiful Downtown Durham, where I am in what has become my regular spot covering the Governors’ Cup Finals ever since the Bulls joined the International League in 1998.
The Bulls are taking on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in the opener of the best-of-5 series for the title for the second straight year, after losing the series in four games in 2008. It is only the fourth rematch in Governors’ Cup Finals history and the first since 1997.
Durham is in the Governors’ Cup Finals for the third straight season and the seventh time in its 12 seasons in the league. The Bulls won back-to-back championships in 2002 and ‘03.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has been in the playoffs four times since 1992, with its only championship coming last season.
The series winner advances to the one-game Triple-A National Championship Game on Sept. 22 in Oklahoma City.
Tonight I - who covered the Bulls for The Incredible Shrinking Herald-Sun from May of 1985 to May of 2009, when they decided to start sending my former salary to the hard-working suits in Kentucky - am pinch-hitting for Adam Sobsey, who has been covering the team all season for Triangle Offense. Don’t worry, folks. Adam, who is expected back for Game 2 on Wednesday night, misses a good one as the Bulls win a 4-1 pitchers’ duel for ace Jeremy Hellickson (pictured).
I am also, incidentally, covering for the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.
There is, by Triple-A standards, a veritable media crush in the press box. By the time I fight through a traffic jam on West 40 to get to the park from Brier Creek, all the mashed potatoes that went with the glorified Salisbury steaks on the buffet are gone. Hello, kettle chips.
But enough about all that. Hard-nosed Carolina Hurricanes forward Erik Cole fires a solid ceremonial first pitch and it’s time to play ball!
The Bulls get to SWB’s Romulo Sanchez for a run in the first. Henry Mateo draws a one-out walk, takes third on Joe Dillon’s single to left and scores on Sean Rodriguez’s two-out single to left.
Durham adds to its lead in the sixth. Mateo leads off with a bunt up the third-base line, with Sanchez firing the ball past first and down the right-field line. Mateo winds up at third with a hit, an error on Sanchez and a fielding error on right fielder Colin Curtis on the play.Dillon then singles to right to make it 2-0 and chase the starter.
Matt Joyce continues the rally with a double to right off Zach Kronke, followed by a one-out intentional walk to Justin Ruggiano. Then with two out, Michel Hernandez strokes a two-run single to center to make it 4-0.
John Rodriguez, who played in Durham last season, gets the Yankees on the board in the seventh by blasting Hellickson’s two-out, 1-1 offering over the wall at the 375 mark in left center. Julio DePaula replaces Hellickson.
And that’s where the score stays, as DePaula and Winston Abreu shut the door.
Wednesday’s Game 2 will be the last game of the season in Durham, with the remainder of the series at PNC Field in Moosic, Pa.
Here’s what they said …
Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo: “Hellickson has been outstanding all year long. We knew we didn’t have much room for error tonight. Michel got a big hit for us in the sixth. He’s been swinging the bat good. When Joe (Dillon) was on third base, I told him (Hernandez) was going to do something good.”
Hellickson: “We were in a few tough spots. … I just bear down in those situations - throw good strikes and make good pitches. I had a better fastball tonight. I don’t think I mixed it up as much. Everything felt good though, I just had a better command of my fastball tonight.”
Dillon: “This team is a great team and we have been all year long. We got another great pitching performance from Hellickson.”
What does it all mean?
That the Bulls are two wins away from their third Governors’ Cup.
Stars of the game
1. Hellickson, for allowing one run in 6 2/3 innings.
2. Hernandez, for the two-run single in the sixth.
3. Rodriguez, for his homer and a single.
Play of the game
Hernandez’s two-run single in the sixth.
On deck
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Durham, Wednesday, 7:05 p.m.
Ian Kennedy (R, 0-0, 0.00) vs. Mitch Talbot (R, 4-4, 4.47)
Baseball, Carolina Hurricanes, Durham Bulls Charlie Montoyo, Colin Curtis, Erik Cole, Henry Mateo, Ian Kennedy, International League, Jeremy Hellickson, Joe Dillon, Julio DePaula, Justin Ruggiano, Matt Joyce, Michel Hernandez, Mitch Talbot, Romulo Sanchez, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, Winston Abreu, Zach Kronke
Adam Sobsey ·
11 Sep 2009, 4:00 AM ·
1 Comment
DBAP/ DURHAM—The luck bubbles were still blowing for the Durham Bulls in the first inning of last night’s 5-2 loss to the Louisville Bats. They had gotten a healthy spray of good fortune in Game One: four errors by the Bats, which helped score three Durham runs (plus, the Bulls’ three errors didn’t figure in any of Louisville’s four runs); and some well-placed, softly struck hits. The Bulls’ eight runs on Wednesday were somehow rather bubble-like—transparent, hollow, unmemorable—but they still won the game.
And in the first inning last night, the Bulls were lucky before anyone came to the plate: rehabbing Reds right fielder Jay Bruce was out with a sore groin. Then, both Desmond Jennings and Rashad Eldridge reached on infield singles, the latter when his dribbler down the third base line hit the bag. The third man to hit was Joe Dillon, and with the count 2-1, Charlie Montoyo put on a hit-and-run. Dillon’s little grounder found the precise first-base hole it needed to, and Jennings scored. Eldridge scored, too, on Matt Joyce’s subsequent double-play ball. Four batters, two runs.
Those were the only runs they’d get. The luck ran out. Or rather, it kept running, but it kept running in the way that water keeps running even after the hot water tank runs out. The proof of that was in the sixth inning. We cut to that soon after the jump.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Ben Jukich, Charlie Montoyo, Desmond Jennings, Elliot johnson, Enerio Del Rosario, Joe Dillon, John Jaso, Louisville Bats, Luck, Maximo Del Rosario, Mitch Talbot, momentum, pilaf, Rashad Eldridge, risotto
Adam Sobsey ·
28 Aug 2009, 5:00 AM ·
Comment
Five times this season, first on June 2 and most recently on Wednesday, the Bulls have gone 16 games over .500. Each time, they lost the next the game, and never reached the 17-games-over mark.
There’s nothing particularly special about 17; it’s just a number; but for whatever reason, it came to represent the ceiling of the Bulls’ success in 2009. Try as they might, they just couldn’t get there. They seemed doomed to be a 16-games-over team. Given that it’s mathematically impossible to finish a 144-game season 17 games over .500—and kids, don’t look now but the season is, in terrifying fact, 92.36% finished—maybe there was something appropriately chimerical about the mark.
Last night, they finally broke through. Their fourth straight win, a 3-1 margin delivered by Chris Richard’s three-run, ninth-inning home run, pushed the Bulls’ record to 75-58, and pulled them dead even for the IL South Division lead with the Gwinnett Braves, who lost their fourth straight to Charlotte.
Given how long it took the Bulls to pass 16 and to reclaim a share of first place (where they haven’t been since August 10), the way they crested those humps last night was appropriate.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls Baseball World Cup, Bob McCrory, Chris Lambert, Chris Richard, Gwinnett Braves, Jason Childers, Jason Cromer, Joe Dillon, Joe Nelson, Joey Gathright, Jon Weber, Josh Perrault, Justin Ruggiano, Melvin Dorta, Norfolk Tides, RISP, Runners In Scoring Position, Shawn Riggans, Team USA, Winston Abreu
Adam Sobsey ·
19 Aug 2009, 5:00 AM ·
1 Comment
DBAP/ DURHAM—I missed more than two innings of last night’s 5-2 Bulls win over Charlotte. I spent half an inning in the visitor’s clubhouse as part of the crowded media contingent interviewing the Knights’ Jake Peavy (pictured) following his four-inning, 67-pitch outing against the Bulls, his second rehab start for the Chicago White Sox, and another two innings waiting for that interview. It was much like the game that rehabbing Tampa lefty Scott Kazmir started for the Bulls a couple of months ago, when we were whisked down into the bowels of the DBAP for a mid-game interview with a pitcher.
Both times, I was happy to do this—it’s not every day that you get to talk to one of the dozen or so best active pitchers on planet Earth—but I have to say that I got very antsy in the administrative lobby while watching the ballgame on a television feed as Peavy threw a supplementary bullpen session. All that did was make me wish I was seeing the action firsthand rather than on a screen. I suppose that my reaction means that, for better or worse, I’ve become more interested in the fortunes of the Durham Bulls than I am about pretty much any other baseball being played.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls Akinori Iwamura, Carlos Hernandez, Carlos Torres, Charlie Montoyo, Charlotte Knights, Chicago White Sox, Craig Albernaz, Dale Thayer, Daniel Hudson, Elliot johnson, Fernando Perez, Gwinnett Braves, Henry Mateo, injury, Jake Peavy, Jeff Bennett, Joe Dillon, Jon Weber, Justin Ruggiano, Matt Joyce, RISP, Runners In Scoring Position, Wade Davis
Adam Sobsey ·
17 Aug 2009, 5:00 AM ·
1 Comment
DBAP/ DURHAM—Bulls’ manager Charlie Montoyo occasionally bemoans how much he’s forced to use his bullpen. It comes with the territory of managing a minor-league team, of course. Every parent club tends to be very, well, parental about its starting pitchers: limiting pitch counts, controlling innings pitched every year, giving extra rest to youngsters, etc. There is already chatter about how many more starts David Price will be permitted to make for Tampa before his workload is reduced; and in New York, Joba Chamberlain is getting extra days off between outings.
Starting pitchers are the child prodigies of baseball: rare and expensive, brilliant but sensitive, usually self-absorbed and easily disrupted, adept at something few mortals can even contemplate doing yet frequently unable to do it consistently themselves, the center of attention while they perform, sometimes arrogant or fussy, and often doomed to short careers. So they get babied.
In the case of Carlos Hernandez, a former hot prospect of the Houston Astros whom the Tampa Bay Rays are trying to rehabilitate at age 29, kid gloves have become essential. Hernandez has had a pair of major shoulder surgeries, and he was put back on a strict innings/pitch-count limit recently for fear of over-stressing his arm this year. Then the left-hander developed a mysterious wrist problem and has had to miss his last two starts, including last night’s.
That’s no big deal in the eyes of the front office—you want to protect your investment by whatever means necessary—but it is for Charlie Montoyo, who for the second time in five days had to fabricate a starter out of bullpen parts. A game like that is kind of like a bullfight with no matador: you can still kill the bull (or in this case the Yankee), but it will require much warier management of time and personnel, and the risk of someone getting gored is a lot higher.
Amazingly, the amalgamated-starter manufacture has worked swimmingly for the Bulls both times. On Tuesday, Calvin Medlock and Julio DePaula kept Gwinnett down for six innings before turning the game over to the Bulls’ late-inning mercenaries; but Jason Childers and Winston Abreu gave the game away. Then, last night at the DBAP, Medlock teamed with Joe Bateman (pictured)—who started his first game since 2004—to blank Scranton for five innings. Joe Nelson then played the Jason Childers role, sponsoring an unearned run (as Childers did on Tuesday) and then going Childers one better by chipping in an earned run of his own. It should be said in Nelson’s defense that the two hits he allowed were an infield trickler and an opposite-field bloop, and he was also cheated out of a pair of double plays: one on a blown call by the first base umpire, and the other on an error by Ray Olmedo. Nonetheless, Nelson departed with two outs in the seventh inning and the Bulls’ lead down from 5-0 to 5-2, i.e. from comfortable to sticky.
And then Winston Abreu came in. Abreu has been stepping on rakes all over the yard lately, allowing more runs in his last three appearances than he had given up all season before that, plus three home runs to the last eight batters he’d faced—after giving up just one homer all of 2009 before that. So there was every reason to be nervous when he spelled Nelson.
Abreu proceeded to retire the next seven Yankees in order for his 11th save of the year. The Bulls won, 5-2.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Austin Jackson, Calvin Medlock, Carlos Hernandez, Charlie Montoyo, Cody Ransom, Desmond Jennings, Elliot johnson, injury, Joe Bateman, Joe Dillon, Joe Nelson, Justin Ruggiano, Kei Igawa, Matt Joyce, Russ Ortiz, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, Shelley Duncan, sushi, Winston Abreu
Adam Sobsey ·
16 Aug 2009, 5:00 AM ·
1 Comment
DBAP/ DURHAM—This was one of those games that seemed like it was over early. In the third inning, down 1-0 on Juan Miranda’s second homer in as many nights (and hit to nearly the same place), five consecutive Bulls reached base against Scranton’s Kei Igawa before Igawa recorded an out. All five scored. No one scored again until the eighth, and in the mean time, the Bulls’ 5-1 lead seemed like 15-1.
That was because of Jeremy Hellickson (pictured). The young right-hander, who had beaten the Yankees at Scranton just over two weeks ago with six three-hit, shutout innings, was even better last night. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine him pitching much better against the Yankees’ sluggers. He allowed only two hits, both solo homers. He threw 108 pitches, 72 for strikes, and produced an eye-opening 21 swings-and-misses (11 of which came in his first 33 pitches). Nearly all of those whiffs were on Hellickson’s changeup, which the Yankees never came close to solving. The changeup was so good last night that Hellickson barely even bothered with his curveball, which he threw just a handful of times and which wasn’t very effective. Fastballs and changeups, fastballs and changeups. By the end of Hellickson’s outing, his excellent control had widened home plate umpire Derek Crabill’s strike zone, and the young Iowan was getting called strikes on anything close to the plate and around the knees.
When Hellickson departed, he received the loudest ovation I’ve heard for a player at the DBAP this year. “He earned it,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. And so he did. Reliever Jason Childers came on and nearly blew the game for Hellickson, but Dale Thayer gathered up the live wires Childers left dangling and snuffed them out. The Bulls won, 5-4.
Hellickson’s performance might have been even better had he come out of the game at the logical point. But Montoyo needed more from him, and it cost Hellickson a run—and almost cost the Bulls the game.
Meanwhile, a spaghetti junction of injuries, trades, demotions, slumps and collisions made this an especially busy night in the postgame clubhouse. Many loose ends to tie up, from the game itself and the extra-curricular surroundings. All of that follows. Length advisory.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Akinori Iwamura, Austin Jackson, Carlos Hernandez, Charlie Montoyo, Craig Albernaz, Dale Thayer, Damaso Marte, Desmond Jennings, Elliot johnson, injury, Jason Childers, Jeff Bennett, Jeremy Hellickson, Joe Dillon, John Rodriguez, Juan Miranda, Justin Ruggiano, Kei Igawa, Matt Joyce, Michel Hernandez, New York Yankees, Reegie Corona, Rhyne Hughes, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, Shawn Riggans, Shelley Duncan, Xavier Hernandez, Yurendell de Caster
Adam Sobsey ·
15 Aug 2009, 5:33 PM ·
Comment
The callup of Reid Brignac to Tampa was expected. Rays’ designated hitter Pat Burrell hurt his neck again, which means more time at DH for Jason Bartlett and Ben Zobrist, both of whom play a lot of middle infield. Chances are good that Brignac won’t be back this year, as he was likely to be promoted anyway when rosters expand on September 1. And as I wrote yesterday, the Bulls were about to have too many infielders with the arrival of Joe Dillon, who was outrighted to Durham and should be in uniform (and perhaps on the field) tonight.
Much more surprising was the trade of Rhyne Hughes (pictured) to the Baltimore Orioles. The move completed the deal that brought Greg Zaun to Tampa for a Player-to-Be-Named-Later (or at least that’s what I assume). Hughes was assigned to the Norfolk Tides, a division rival whom the Bulls play six more times before the season ends. Hughes will probably DH and share time at first base with Wade Davis’s least favorite player, Michael Aubrey.
Who really knows how these deals are consummated? It was easy enough to assume that the Orioles would wind up with a catcher in return for Zaun, less because Zaun is a catcher than because the Tampa Bay Rays have 149 catchers on their 40-man roster and need to move at least one of them. So much for that.
What does this mean for the Bulls? Well, for one thing, one of their best hitters is gone. Hughes was leading the team in batting average, slugging and OPS. His doubles rate was actually higher than that of teammate Jon Weber, who leads the league. Hughes played in 56 games for Durham and hit safely in 37 of them, including a recent team-high 13-game hitting streak. His big problem was plate discipline. He’d walked only 12 times in 230 plate appearances, with 69 strikeouts. Still, his big power bat will be missed.
Expect to see a fair amount of Joe Dillon at first base, where he’ll probably be Chris Richard’s main backup. Expect also to see more of Elliot Johnson at shortstop with Brignac gone. Ray Olmedo will see a good deal of time there, too. And as for Charles in Charge (I mean Bulls’ manager Charlie Montoyo, of course), the deletions of Brignac and Hughes actually make his life a bit easier. The “too many pieces” he was wondering what to do with last night just got resolved—for now, of course. His job will get harder again soon enough. The one thing you can count in Triple A, as in life, is change.
Bulls vs. Yankees in about 90 minutes. Finish your chores and get to the DBAP, stat!
Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Bulls on the Move, Greg Zaun, Joe Dillon, Reid Brignac, Rhyne Hughes, trade
Adam Sobsey ·
15 Aug 2009, 5:00 AM ·
1 Comment
DBAP/ DURHAM—The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees have some big dudes on their team. Shelley Duncan: 6-foot-5, 225 pounds. Chris Stewart: 6-foot-4, 210 (that’s really tall for a catcher). Their starter last night, Ivan Nova: 6-foot-4, 210. They have another starting pitcher who is 6-foot-8, 250, and two relievers who between them are nearly 13 feet tall and weigh 520 pounds. And these are all official, listed weights. You probably know what that means.
The Bulls, by contrast, got littler. Rehabbing second baseman Akinori Iwamura, who made his first appearance last night, is 5-foot-9, although he is deceptively stout at 200 pounds. Iwamura’s presence temporarily pushed Henry Mateo to left field. The Zampano-like Jon Weber (5-foot-10, 190; only one of those numbers is correct) usually plays there, but Mateo is much slighter. He’s listed, rather optimistically, at six feet tall. If that’s his actual height, and if Ray Olmedo, who played third base on Friday, is 5-foot-11, then I am pleased to discover that I’m 6-foot-2 and never realized it all these years. Cool!
The size contrast between the Yankees and the Bulls showed last night in more ways than one. For one thing, it seemed appropriate that the Sumo wrestling diversion between innings ended in the season’s first tie; you just couldn’t ignore those two fat-suited contestants. But the main evidence of the weight on the field was the score, and it wasn’t anything like a tie: the Yankees flattened the Bulls, 9-5. Durham fell two games behind Gwinnett, which beat Pawtucket.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls Akinori Iwamura, Andy Sonnanstine, Austin Jackson, Bulls on the Move, Calvin Medlock, Charlie Montoyo, Damaso Marte, Fernando Perez, Ivan Nova, Jeff Bennett, Joe Dillon, Jon Weber, Jonathan Albaladejo, Juan Miranda, Matt Joyce, Michel Hernandez, Ray Olmedo, Reid Brignac, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, triple play, Winston Abreu, Xavier Hernandez, Zach Kroenke, Zampano
Adam Sobsey ·
14 Aug 2009, 5:00 AM ·
1 Comment
Leave it to the Bulls to get their only win of this grim series against the Braves by overcoming a two-time major-league All-Star. Rehabbing Atlanta pitcher Tim Hudson wasn’t anything like the victim in last night’s 9-5 Durham win, but he didn’t shut the Bulls down either, permitting five hits and two runs in four innings before departing after reaching what I assume was a predetermined pitch-count limit. The Bulls then sloshed around for a while before finally deciding to unload on Gwinnett closer Luis Valdez, whom they bombarded for six runs in the ninth inning and handed his eighth blown save. Had they lost, the Bulls would have staggered home after a sweep at the hands of the Braves, two games back of the division lead. As it stands, they return just a game back, and coming off another electrifying comeback win. No matter how or when or for how long they struggle, this team never quits. You have to give them credit for that.
A few notes follow.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Bronson Arroyo, Bulls on the Move, Dale Thayer, Gwinnett Braves, Jason Childers, Joe Dillon, Joe Nelson, Jon Weber, Jonny Gomes, Kei Igawa, Luis Valdez, Tim Hudson
Adam Sobsey ·
13 Aug 2009, 5:00 AM ·
1 Comment
That ringing in your ears is the postman at the door, and the Bulls keep neglecting to answer. Actually, check that: the Bulls keep leaving the door open for the Gwinnett Braves, who respond each time by charging through it. For the second straight night, Durham took a one-run lead into the ninth inning; for the second straight night, their closer—Winston Abreu on Tuesday, Dale Thayer on Wednesday—let two runs score. Last night’s version was a 2-1 loss. Thayer had Gwinnett down to its final strike before giving up a game-winning, two-run single to Brandon Jones, who had the game-winning homer off Abreu the previous night.
So much about the tune is familiar. The Bulls left 11 men on base and were 2-13 with runners in scoring position; they had 13 baserunners but scored just a single run. Starter Jason Cromer had another excellent outing (it’s becoming almost routine for him), tossing six scoreless innings but getting no run support, as usual. He’s come away with a no-decision in nearly half his starts, even though all but one have been win-worthy. The first two Bulls to bat in the seventh inning reached on errors (both by Braves reliever Vladimir Nunez), but Reid Brignac botched a sacrifice bunt attempt—or so I gather from the play-by-play game recap—and the Bulls ultimately failed to score. Justin Ruggiano struck out again—nothing new there; he’s second in the league—but this time he went postal on home plate umpire James Thomas and was ejected for arguing balls and strikes (well, really just strikes, since he was probably happy with the balls). That forced Ray Olmedo and his .627 OPS to come in and hit cleanup in Ruggiano’s place. As it happened, Olmedo led off the sixth inning with a double. Jon Weber followed with a walk, but guess what? The Bulls failed to score.
Which is to say: the postman kept ringing, but it was the Bulls who couldn’t deliver, and they returned this victory to sender. The best position they can hope to be in when they return to Durham on Friday is a game behind Gwinnett. If they lose to rehabbing Braves stalwart Tim Hudson on Thursday, they’ll be three games back with North Division leader Scranton/Wilkes-Barre coming to the DBAP for a four-game wraparound weekend series. Yikes.
Meanwhile, more roster moves are in the mail. Details follow.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Akinori Iwamura, Brandon Jones, Bulls on the Move, Chad Bradford, Dale Thayer, ejection, Fernando Perez, Gwinnett Braves, Jason Cromer, Joe Dillon, John Meloan, Justin Ruggiano, Michel Hernandez, Mitch Talbot, Postman Always Rings Twice, R.J. Swindle, RISP, Runners In Scoring Position, Shawn Riggans, Winston Abreu
