Pro baseball update

Brandon Crawford Hits Grand Slam in MLB Debut
Crawford Drives in Four in Giants Road Win
(Rochester, Minn.) Former Mankato MoonDog infielder Brandon Crawford was called up to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, May 26th and made a big impact his Major League debut on Friday night. Crawford, a former 4th round MLB draft pick, was promoted from Single-A San Jose and hit a grand slam off Brewers starting pitcher Shaun Marcum in his third MLB at-bat.
The 6'2'' 215 pound twenty-four year old began the 2011 season at Single-A San Jose due to a broken finger in Spring Training. Crawford made his debut at shortstop for the 2010 World Series Champions at Miller Park on Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers. The former UCLA standout went 1-3 with a base on balls from the seven-hole in his debut in a Giants 5-4 victory.
The Mountain View, CA native has spent the past four seasons in the Minor Leagues and had reached as high as Double-A in 2010 before his promotion. Crawford has a career .270 Minor League batting average with 20 home runs and 89 RBI's. As a member of the San Jose Giants in 2011 the infielder was having an outstanding spring. Crawford was hitting .332 with 15 RBI's in 14 games before his promotion.
Crawford played for the Mankato MoonDogs in 2005 and hit .274 in 42 games played. Crawford was a three-year starter at Pac-10 power UCLA from 2006-08 and started in all 179 games of his career. The Bruin infielder had a career .319 batting average with 20 home runs, 13 triples, 44 doubles, 136 RBI's and 145 runs scored. The consistent Crawford helped the Bruins make three consecutive NCAA Regionals. Crawford is the 1st Bruin position player under current head coach John Savage to make it to the Major Leagues.
Crawford is the 78th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major Leagues.
WHITECAPS WIN ONE, LOSE ONE IN LAKE COUNTY

EASTLAKE, OH – The West Michigan Whitecaps finished a busy day of baseball with both a win and a loss on Saturday night, picking up a 5-2 victory in a seven-inning nightcap after losing the completion of a suspended game, 3-1, in the first contest of the evening against the Lake County Captains at Classic Park.

West Michigan (20-28) and Lake County (21-27) are now halfway through a busy Memorial Day Weekend series in which six games are scheduled to be completed over a four-day span.

After taking a loss in the early game on Saturday, the Whitecaps jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second contest thanks to a bizarre top of the second inning against Captains’ knuckleballer Steven Wright.

An error and two hit batsmen loaded the bases with one out and Jimmy Gulliver followed with a bouncer to the right side of the infield. First baseman Jesus Aguilar fielded the ball on the move to his right, but fired wildly to the plate and bounced the ball past the catcher as two runs crossed home. After a sacrifice fly made it 3-0, Hernan Perez sent a bouncer towards third that was fielded by a charging Giovanny Urshela, but his throw to first bounced away as Gulliver scored and Perez wound up all the way at third. Moments later, Rob Brantly capped the rally by blasting a knuckleball off the wall in right field for an RBI-double and a 5-0 lead.

When the dust had settled, the Whitecaps had sent nine men to the plate to pick up five runs – all unearned – on three errors, two hit batsmen and just one hit. The first four runs crossed the plate without the benefit of a hit before Brantly’s double put an exclamation point on the inning.

Lake County scratched across single runs in the second and third frames, but that was all that Patrick Cooper (2-3) allowed in an excellent spot start. Helping to eat up innings for a pitching staff essentially dealing with three doubleheaders over a five-day span, the long reliever contributed five strong innings on 73 pitches. He struck out six without issuing a walk, allowing two runs on five hits to earn the victory.

After Cooper’s valiant outing, Logan Hoch (1) came out of the bullpen to pitch the final two innings for his first save of the year.

The loss went to Wright (1-1), a 26-year-old with significant Triple-A experience who is spending time with the Captains while reinventing himself as a knuckleball pitcher. He allowed five runs – all unearned – on six hits over four innings of work.

Saturday’s action began with the completion of a suspended game from May 14. Two weeks ago to the day, the Captains held a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth when the game was halted due to rain, and a washout one day later forced the game’s suspension to extend until Saturday.

Brennan Smith (1-2) started the game for the Whitecaps on May 14 and came back out to the hill to pick up where he left off on Saturday. He retired the first nine batters he faced in order, making it 15 in a row when combined with the first portion of the ballgame. He ended up taking the complete-game loss despite eight solid innings of work, allowing three runs – two earned – on eight hits.

The only run of the resumed ballgame crossed the plate in the seventh. Anthony Gallas reached base on an error to start the seventh inning, and Alex Lavisky drove him in with a double to give Lake County a 3-1 cushion.

West Michigan mounted a rally in the ninth, getting singles from Hernan Perez and Billy Nowlin before a sacrifice bunt pushed the runners to second and third with one out. With the potential game-tying run in scoring position, however, Captains’ flame-thrower Trey Haley struck out both Nick Castellanos and Steven Moya swinging to end the ballgame.

Haley (1) earned his first save of the year with two scoreless innings, while Jordan Cooper (1-1) earned the victory. Cooper picked up the action when the Captains took the field in the fifth, tossing three scoreless innings of relief and stranding four baserunners to hold the lead


The longest game of the season continues tonight in Winnipeg...The RailCats and Goldeyes are tied 6-6 in the bottom of the 13th...Trailing 4-2, the RailCats netted single runs in the eighth and ninth to tie the game, taking advantage of errors in each inning...Both teams scored two runs in the 12th with Mike Rohde driving in the go ahead run, his second RBI of the game, and Mike Valadez dropping down a squeeze...Winnipeg countered against Brian Grening in the bottom of the inning, tying the game on a two-out two run single from Alan Rick...There are a combined 30 hits, 16 for Winnipeg and 14 for the RailCats...All but one RailCat has a hit...Nolan Nicholson allowed three runs in 6.1 innings as the starter for the RailCats...Adam Klein is 3-for-5 with a walk...Chris Carrara has scored three runs...The RailCats have used six pitchers in the game...=



Evansville comeback falls short in 10-7 loss
(EVANSVILLE, Ind.) - The Gateway Grizzlies defeated the Evansville Otters 10-7 on Saturday night at Bosse Field.
Gateway has now won back to back games in this series and will try for a sweep on Sunday afternoon.
The Otters started with the 1-0 lead on an RBI groundout from catcher Billy Killian but the Grizzlies surged back.
Gateway took advantage of an error in the field as catcher Landon Hernandez walked with the bases loaded to tie the game. Outfielder Joe Agreste then hit a grand slam off Evansville starter Mike Anton to right field as the Grizzlies pulled ahead 5-1.
Billy Killian then plated another run on a groundout again as Evansville cut the deficit down to three runs but Gateway rallied once again.
The Grizzlies scored four more runs in the 6th inning on their way to the victory.
Evansville clawed back for a few runs over the final innings before losing 10-7.
Catcher Billy Killian finished 1 for 4 with three runs batted in as outfielder Greg Alexander recorded two hits and had two runs scored as well.
Grizzlies starter Josh Whitlock (1-1) received the win after allowing 5 runs (2 earned) over 6 2/3 innings. The loss goes to lefty Mike Anton (0-1), who gave up 7 runs (2 earned) in his first start of the season.
Gateway is now 4-4 following the win as Evansville falls to 1-7.
The Grizzlies and Otters will close out the three game series tomorrow afternoon at Bosse Field. Right-hander Kyle Barry (1-0, 3.00 ERA) starts for Evansville as he will be opposed by fellow righty Adrian Garza (0-1, 14.55 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. as the weekend of games are sponsored by Eastland Mall and G.D. Ritzy's. Stop by any location tomorrow for a free ticket to the game.

INDIANS RALLY FROM 7-0 DEFICIT TO DEFEAT PAWSOX 9-7
SS Josh Harrison Goes 5-for-5, Bullpen Tosses Seven Scoreless

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Indianapolis rallied back from an early 7-0 deficit with nine unanswered runs led by shortstop Josh Harrison, who went 5-for-5 with three runs and two RBI, while four Tribe relievers combined for seven innings of scoreless relief to seal the Indians 9-7 victory over the Pawtucket Red Sox on Saturday night at McCoy Stadium.

With the win Indianapolis improves to 23-27 on the season, while the loss drops Pawtucket's record to 24-24. The victory also gives the Indians a 3-0 series lead over the Red Sox, while the Tribe has also now won 13 of their last 15 contests against the PawSox dating back to 2009.

Indianapolis looked to be well on their way to defeat when Pawtucket jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a run in the first and six more in the second. However, with a huge night from Harrison and some excellent efforts out of the Tribe bullpen the Indians were able to come away with the victory.

The Tribe began the comeback trail in the fourth when Harrison lifted a two-out double to left and then traveled along when C Dusty Brown followed with a home run to center. The longball from Brown tied him with OF Alex Presley for the team lead with six homers so far this season.

Then in the sixth the Indians continued to chip away at the PawSox lead as they tacked on two more tallies. After collecting singles earlier in the frame, 3B Andy Marte and Harrison trotted home on sacrifice fly by 2B Brian Friday and a Red Sox wild pitch to cut the deficit to 7-4.

The late inning magic continued in the eighth when Marte led off the frame with a single before a walk by 1B Matt Hague set the stage for Harrison. The right handed slugger did not disappoint as he lined a double to center to score Marte, before a Pawtucket throwing error allowed another run to cross the plate and bring the Indians with-in one at 7-6.

Later in the eighth, Harrison evened the score at 7-7 when he crossed home on a close play at the plate off a fielder's choice by Friday. Then for the second straight night the Indians put together an exciting ninth inning rally to come away with the victory.

As he has so many times this season, Presley came through with a key base hit as he roped a single to center with one out in the ninth. Then after a base hit by the red hot Marte moved Presley to second and a groundout pushed him to third, the International League hits leader sped home on a passed ball to give the Indians their first lead of the night at 8-7.

For good measure, Harrison would tack on an insurance run with his third double of the night that scored Hague and pushed the Tribe lead to 9-7. Overall, Harrison finished the night a perfect 5-for-5 from the dish, becoming the first Tribe batter to collect five base knocks since Presley accomplished the feat twice last season.

Joining Harrison with multi-hit efforts were Presley (2-for-5, 1 R), who extended his IL best hits total to 65 with two base knocks on the evening and Marte (3-for-5, 2 R), who has now hit safely in seven of his last eight contests during which time he has posted a .345 batting average (10-for-29) with five runs, three home runs and nine RBI. Brown (1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB) and Friday (0-for-3, 2 RBI) also joined Harrison in driving in multiple runs for the Tribe.

All in all, the Indians amazing offensive comeback was made possible thanks to dominating work from the Indianapolis bullpen. RHP Chris Leroux (4.0 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 4 SO) excelled on the mound for the Tribe as he allowed just one hit over four exceptional innings of relief.

Following Leroux, RHP Blaine Boyer (1.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 SO) tossed an inning of scoreless relief, while LHP Tony Watson (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB) earned the victory to improve to 1-2 on the season and RHP Cesar Valdez (1.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 SO) pitched a scoreless ninth to notch his second save.

Neither starter figured in the decision as Tribe LHP Justin Wilson (2.0 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO) turned in his worst outing of the year, allowing seven runs (six earned) in just two innings of work, while Pawtucket starter Kyle Weiland (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO) took the tough loss as he struck out eight and allowed just two runs over five innings.

Pawtucket powered their way out to the 7-0 advantage thanks in part to solo home runs from Hector Luna and Michael McKenry as well a two-run shot from 3B Brent Dlugach. However, despite the early inning seven run outburst, the Pawtucket offense was held to just seven hits and left 11 men on base.

Indianapolis will now look for the sweep when they take on Pawtucket in the series finale on Sunday night at 6:05 p.m. RHP Brad Lincoln is scheduled to take the hill in the series finale for the Indians, while LHP Andrew Miller is expected to get the start for the PawSox.

The contest will be carried on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and via iheartradio, a mobile application for iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley on the call. The pre-game show begins at 5:45 p.m