LOWE, GONZALEZ COMBINE ON ONE-HITTER

LOWE, GONZALEZ COMBINE ON ONE-HITTER
Worcester—The league-leading Eliminators were taken down a notch at home by a pair of visiting pitchers in Derek Lowe and Mike Gonzalez, who combined for a one-hit shutout at the expense of the home team’s hot-hitting lineup, pushing the Regulators (19-21) closer to .500 in the competitive Eastern Division.


Lowe’s sinker was outstanding in flummoxing the host Elims. The Fresno starter allowed a scratch single to Derek Jeter with one down in the third, then pitched around a rare error by 1B Adrian Gonzalez in the closest thing Worcester had to a scoring threat. Lowe (3-2, 5.01) would also walk hitters to lead off the sixth and eighth frames, but in each case induced a double-play grounder with his sinker to, um, ‘eliminate’ the threat.

The Regulators, meanwhile, snapped a scoreless tie in the sixth when Bobby Abreu hit a two-run double off losing pitcher Eric Bedard (3-2, 2.77), who would also cough up a solo home run by Curtis Granderson: three runs in seven frames, not a bad day’s work at the office, but just not good enough to overcome Lowe’s best effort of the season....though the righthander was lifted in the ninth after walking Hanley Ramirez with the score 3-0, Fresno. Mike Gonzalez came on and fanned two of the last three hitters to clinch the win en route to his fourth save of the season.

In other BARB action:


BROOKLYN 1, FROSTBITE FALLS 0
WP: Scott Baker (1-0, 0.00)
LP: Armando Gallaraga (4-4, 4.83)

Hearing murmurs of displeasure from management, young Scott Baker proved he was definitely missed earlier this season, scattering seven hits en route to a shutout, his first-ever in BARB play after a promising 2008 campaign, but his fifth in less than a full season against the division rival Squirrels, against whom Baker is 3-1 with a 3.25 ERA in his young career.

Frostbite rookie Armando Gallaraga matched Baker zero-for-zero through five frames, but in the sixth allowed a leadoff single to Jacob Ellsbury, who stole second and scored the game’s only run on an RBI single by Jermaine Dye. With the win, the Moabs (18-22) won for only the fourth time in their last ten games, but it was the first game in the Mike Scioscia era, as Brooklyn GM Eric Caskey explains on-line here.

BLACK MESA 8, POTTSYLVANIA 5
WP: Takishi Saito (6-0, 0.68)
LP: Jonathan Broxton (0-1, 3.31)
SV: Papelbon (10)

The Anomalies bullpen bailed out another poor outing by a Black Mesa starter, and the injury-riddled Creepers could only squirm on the bench as the visitors scored five runs in their last two at-bats to win a seesaw affair, running their mark to 19-16, four games back in the West.

It was a tough loss: Black Mesa tied the game in the sixth on a wild pitch by Cliff Lee. The Creepers took a 5-3 lead in the seventh when Matt Kemp homered, but gave it back in the eighth when Brad Thompson hung a two-run double to Kevin Youkilis. The outstanding bullpen of Saito and Papelbon then shut down the Creepers, who had just lost the skills of both RF Rick Ankiel and 3B Aramis Ramirez. Pottsylvania closer Jonathan Broxton, however, failed to do much, allowing three runs a ninth capped by an RBI triple by Youkilis. With the loss, Pottsylvania fell back to .500 (16-16).

TEXAS 9, LAS VEGAS 0
WP: Jeff Niemann (1-2, 6.56)
LP: Ian Snell (0-5, 6.51)

Rookie Jeff Niemann used 121 pitches to go the distance, given the opportunity as his teammates backed him with four early runs thanks to HR by Andre Ethier and rookie Chris Davis, and he would end up scattering three hits and four walks to frustrate the visiting Luchadores. The team in receivership has now lost suspended OF Manny Ramirez for the forseeable future and are already 12 games back in the increasingly-competitive West with a 12-25 record.

The only team with a worse mark? The Tornados, at 10-24, and with their share of controversy of late after acquiring the mercurial Carlos Zambrano in trade. If the rumors are true, however, we will never find out if ‘Big Z’ will be formally placed on medication by the Texas brain trust, as GM Ron Melkonian has been offering the righthander (currently on the DL) to any and all comers. The Tornados are also looking forward to the return of All-World 3B Alex Rodriguez to regular action. But will it be enough to overcome a nine-game deficit in the mediocre Central?

YUMA 7, CASSELTON 2
WP: C.C. Sabathia (3-3, 4.33)
LP: Ricky Nolasco (3-4, 4.04)

Yunel Escobar capped a three-run fourth with an RBI single, then later added his second homer of the season to back eight strong (1 earned run) innings by ace C.C. Sabathia, as the visiting Yuman rapped out ten hits to move over .500 (19-18) for the first time this season, perhaps signaling that the perennial contender is about to rediscover their winning touch in the reconfigured Western Division. Yuma GM Chris Melkonian has four division titles and a world championship to his credit, after all.

As for the Horned Toads, rumors persisted that they were thinking of moving workhorse starter Aaron Harang in a deal for prospects, but insiders were mum, leading to the impression that more than one deal may be imminent. It would be strange for a club that is truly contending (18-14) in a weak division to trade starting pitching unless they thought they were going to acquire immediately-available arms in return.