FRIARS GET LIFT FROM ROOKIE

FRIARS GET LIFT FROM ROOKIE

St. Francis—Highly-touted rookie Alexei Ramirez was called up to the BARB version of the ‘big leagues’ this week with Nick Punto still nursing an injury, and his debut in the Imaginary Circuit seemed to give the Friars a big lift, as the monk-operated outfit rattled off a five-game winning streak, their longest of the season.

Ramirez debuted at 2B on Game Day 61 and had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a walk at the bottom of the Friars order as his teammates smoked visiting Los Angeles for 13 runs, including a seven-run seventh against a depleted Flyers pen that saw former utility man Ben Zobrist smack his team-leading tenth homer of the year.

The following game, Ramirez made an out, but also drove in a pair of runs with a sac fly and a first-inning double, as the Friars continued to torment the visiting Flyers, going on to win 8-5 as Edwin Jackson evened his record (4-4, 4.28) with eight strong innings. On Game Day 63, Ramirez took his first collar (0-for-3), but also turned his first double play to bail out an effectively-wild (5 BB) Jamie Moyer (3-5, 4.72), who allowed only one earned run in St. Francis’s 5-3 win, their fifth straight of the season.

If Ramirez is the real deal, as some speculate, he could be moved to shortstop in the absence of Cesar Izturis, currently on the DL. However, team spokesperson Brother Johann cautioned against this. “Cesar is a big part of this team. Alexei is the future, but we can’t rule out moving any one of our infielders if it will net us a big return on the trade market. We are playing for the future, not living in it.”

In other BARB action:

FROSTBITE FALLS 5, BROOKLYN 2

WP: Paul Maholm (5-4, 4.32)
LP: James Shields (6-4, 4.00)
SV: Nathan (14)

Evan Longoria, Carlos Beltran and Albert Pujols all took James Shields deep, and Joe Nathan collected his 14th save to send Frostbite Falls (33-31) into sole possession of second in the ultra-competitive East. It was the first time that the Squirrels had been in that position since mid-April, and it also marked the first time that fifth starter Paul Maholm had won in over a month after roaring to a 4-1 start.

BLACK MESA 6, DARWIN 4

WP: Takashi Saito (8-0, 0.77)
LP: Hideki Okajima (0-3, 2.39)
SV: Papelbon (18)

Justin Morneau hit two hom runs, including a go-ahead shot off Hideki Okajima, and Jonathan Papelbon finished off with his BARB-leading 18th save of the year in historic game: for the first time in BARB annals, two Japanese-born pitchers got the decisions as the pitching-strapped Anomalies (31-33) finally managed to win one of rookie Homer Bailey’s starts. Saito's eighth win out of the pen without a loss is reminiscent of his outstanding 2007 BARB campaign, where he lead the league in relief wins pitching in front of Papelbon.

FRESNO 6, WORCESTER 5 (10 innings)

WP: Chad Qualls (3-3, 3.30)
LP: J.P. Howell (2-2, 4.75)

Jhonny Peralta’s single to short center scored David Wright ahead of Carl Crawford’s throw with two out in the bottom of the tenth, as the Regulators (30-34) came back to win a game they trailed 4-0 in the fifth, an emergency start by Ryan Madson with Rich Harden on the disabled list.

FRIARS GET LIFT FROM ROOKIE