TORNADOES SWEEP AUSTRALIA, PROMOTE YOUNGSTERS

TORNADOES SWEEP AUSTRALIA, PROMOTE YOUNGSTERS

Down Under----Proudly proclaiming that ‘the future is now’, Texas GM Ronald Melkonian made a series of sweeping changes to his roster and watched his club batter the Darwin Finches 11-4, making shambles of a team that won a BARB-leading 91 games last season. The Unnatural Selections were never in it, as starter Chad Billingsley was ejected in the third and cleanup hitter Josh Hamilton struggled in the outfield.

Before the game, the Tornadoes announced that they were calling up a trio of young prospects, and not just to sit on the bench. SS Elvis Andrus and C Matt Wieters, with no BARB experience, will nevertheless be forcefed the league experience on a daily basis, sending incumbents Miguel Tejada and Mike Redmond to the bench. At the same time, last year’s starting 2B (Dan Uggla) will be joining them, as Aaron Hill has played his way into regular playing time. At the same time, rookie LHP Derek Holland will go right into Ronald’s rotation.

Talk about bold moves, a startling contrast with the tentative way banged-up Josh Hamilton misplayed a Miguel Tejada liner to left field into a triple in the top of the third, scoring Andre Ethier (who had walked with two out). An angry Billingsley could be heard by fans wondering why Hamilton was out there if he was moving so gingerly and while the Finches scored three times in the bottom of the frame on a Chipper Jones blast, it was clear Billingsley was still percolating when he took the mound in the top of the fourth, where it all unraveled for the Finches. Billingsley walked Alex Rodriguez on four pitches, then went to a full count on free-swinging Dan Uggla. When Uggla took a 3-2 pitch for ‘ball four’, Billingsley barked at the home plate umpire and without another word said, he was EJECTED.

Pandemonium ensued, as Billingsley had to be restrained by teammates. The Finches, out of options, called in rookie Max Scherzer to pitch with two on and nobody out. Scherzer, called up due to an injury to Scott Kazmir, was NOT effective. Jeremy Hermida hit his first pitch up and out, a three-run blast, and the Tornadoes would to on to add four more tallies against the youngster, turning what had been a contest into a laugher. Scherzer (0-1, 12.00) took the loss, while rookie Colin Balester (3-1, 4.94) turned his huge cushion into an easy 11-4 win, his only real mistake being a curveball that Hamilton (bad hips and all) hit the other way for his seventh homer of the season, a solo shot.

How much to read in one game? It would certainly have to cross the minds of Texas fans (both of them) that their franchise may be turning a corner. Not only were they moving talent up, but the return of Rodriguez and the maturing of Andre Ethier was showing significant gains on offense. It was also marked the club’s third straight win, the (ahem) longest such streak in the young club’s history, improving them to 14-28....which, as sad as this sounds, was still good enough to allow them to inch ahead of 14-30 Las Vegas for the loop’s worst record.

In other BARB action:

POTTSYLVANIA 4, LOS ANGELES 3 (11 innings)

WP: Jonathan Broxton (1-1, 2.38)
LP: Juan Cruz (3-2, 3.38)

Just-activated Chris Carpenter was rusty in his first start since coming off the DL, but did not figure in a game that went extra frames when Ryan Garko tripled and scored the tying run in the eighth. Matt Kemp ended the Flyers’ misery in the 11th with a one-out walkoff single, and the Creepers (21-21) reached the .500 mark.

CASSELTON 13, LAS VEGAS 1

WP: A.J. Happ (2-2, 1.22)
LP: Jared Weaver (3-5, 4.22)

Rookie A.J. Happ had his second good start into a high-scoring lineup, in no small part to new moundmate Mike Napoli, who not only guided the youngster through eight strong frames but hit a pair of two-run blasts to lead the Horned Toads biggest offensive explosion (so far) of the season. Casselton (24-16) has now won five straight and boast the loop’s third-best won-loss record in the (still) young season.

BROOKLYN 7, WORCESTER 2

WP: Jeremy Affeldt (1-2, 3.38)
LP: Ryan Dempster (4-5, 3.90)
SV: Rodriguez (12)

Weirdest box score in many a moon: “0 0 0 3", the line posted by Chase Utley in a poorly-pitched affair that saw Utley three times drive in a run without swinging a bat! Utley drew a walk with the bases juiced in the third, was plunked by Dempster in the fifth with the bags full, and for good measure was drilled by reliever Grant Balfour with the sacks soused. And, along the way, the Moabs managed to win despite giving up HR to Jason Bay (his 17th) and Jorge Cantu (his 5th). The game marked the BARB debut of long-heralded OF prospect Andrew McCutcheon, who pinch-ran for Utley after his second ‘HBP’ of the day. Despite the loss, the Eliminators (35-17) still own the loop’s best record, and lead the East by an incredible nine games.