GAME DAY SIX

GAME DAY SIX
‘RUTH-LESS’ MOABS BITE BULLET

The Brooklyn Moabs are threatening to take over the mantle of ‘most unfortunate’ from the flailing Las Vegas Luchadores as the first week of play ended. Not only have they been struggling to score runs with their youthful lineup, they’ve seen their club’s ace (Roy Oswalt) take it on the chin in consecutive starts and lost a promising young infielder (Jed Lowrie) to injury, all in the same contest.

Oswalt (0-2, 9.31) was undone on Game Day Six by a rookie making his first-ever BARB appearance, as Texas Tornados farmhand Colin Balester (1-0, 2.70) worked into the seventh in a 5-3 Tornados win over the visiting Moabs. Balester allowed just two runs in his outing, but Texas OF Delmon Young seemed able to stroke it at will against Oswalt, drilling a two-run double in the first, an RBI single in the third and a rifle shot in the fifth that could’ve led to another run if Young had not been thrown out at third ahead of the runner. In all, Oswalt coughed up 12 hits in five-plus innings of work, and (to make matters worse) Jed Lowrie was hurt on the play that nailed Young. X-rays showed no fracture, but Lowrie was placed in a cast nonetheless with a severe wrist sprain.

What to do? With so much riding on kids, Brooklyn can’t exactly be compared to the ‘27 Yankees for the time being, and there’s no Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle on the horizon to change that for the time being. For now, the Moabs will have to hope that their veterans will pick up the slack until more of their kids are ready to contribute. OF Jermaine Dye, the ‘old man’ of the club at 34, drilled his team-leading 4th HR of the year, a solo shot, off Tornados Jason Hammel to get the club within two runs, and 1B Miguel Cabrera drove in a pair with a single and a run-scoring groundout, but (like Utley and Tulowitzki) was otherwise not hitting his weight.

In other BARB action:


POTTSYLVANIA 11, WORCESTER 1

WP: Mark Buehrle (1-0, 1.13)
LP: Joba Chamberlain (1-1, 0.00)

The Creepers scored seven times in the first two innings against Joba Chamberlain in a farcical game that featured six errors by the visiting Eliminators, including two each by IF Hanley Ramirez and Derek Jeter, and hot (.462) Ryan Ludwick continued to make Pottsylvania foes pay with timely hitting as the Creepers (2-2) ended Worcester’s four-game win streak. The Eliminators (5-1) slipped into a tie with surging Frostbite Falls for the early lead in the competitive East.

LAS VEGAS 4, YUMA 3 (15 innings)

WP: Mariano Rivera (1-0, 0.00)
LP: Matt Capps (0-1, 1.80)

Manny Ramirez doubled to lead off the top of the 15th, and Matt Holliday followed two pitches later with a tie-breaking double, and the Luchadores (3-3) held on to finish off a sweep of host Yuma (2-4) with the longest game of the still-early season. Roy Halladay pitched nine innings for the Firebirds but avoided a loss only because Denard Span hit a two-run double in the seventh off A.J. Burnett. Yuma RF Vladimir Guerrero continues to struggle early in the season, going 0-for-6 in the marathon to lower his average to .148.

LOS ANGELES 4, FRESNO 2

WP: John Maine (1-0, 2.35)
LP: Danny Haren (1-1, 2.16)
SV: Lidge (1)

Howie Kendrick singled home Steven Drew with the go-ahead run ithe sixth, John Maine allowed only four hits over seven-plus frames in his Flyers debut, and Brad Lidge showed why he is still a feared flamethrower with getting the last four outs as Los Angeles (1-3) finally got in the win column with a team effort over visiting Fresno.

The Regulators, for their part, had some more tough news on their plate, as they learned that ace Brandon Webb (0-1, 4.50) will be placed on the DL with shoulder problems.
GAME DAY SIX