Casper: Roe went five innings and gave up only two hits, but walked four and struck out five in earning his second win of the season. Cole Garner had three hits, including a double, but the impressive number was his one walk (only five all year) next to no strikeouts (fifty-three all year). Trevor Allen had three more hits including a double and homerun and Dexter Fowler and Corey Wimberly each had two hits and a walk.
Tulsa: The Drillers lost due to an ineffective Zach Parker outing (he's had some troubles post all-star break), as the offense was there behind him this time out. Jud Thigpen and Tony Miller each homered for the Drillers, and Jayson Nix coninued his turnaround with a walk, double and stolen base. Edwardo Sierra pitched two innings late and was fairly effective except for allowing a homerun to weak hitting shortstop, Brendan Ryan, who's name you've probably never heard of and might not hear of again, I mean, unless you're friends of course, as I'm sure he's a nice guy.
Colorado Springs: Also ineffective on the whole was Mike Esposito, and I'm going to go back and talk about Tulsa's Parker for a second as well, as this is something I sometimes look at:
Zach Parker's fourth inning:
-Gabe Johnson homers (2) on a fly ball to left field. Travis Hanson scores.
-Papo Bolivar singles on a line drive to center fielder Tony Miller.
-Kevin Estrada doubles (17) on a fly ball to center fielder Tony Miller. Papo Bolivar to 3rd.
-Dan Moylan reaches on a fielder's choice out, pitcher Zach Parker to third baseman Luis Guance to catcher Tino Sanchez. Papo Bolivar out at home. Kevin Estrada to 3rd. Dan Moylan to 2nd on the throw.
-Jeremy Cummings hits a sacrifice bunt. Kevin Estrada scores. Dan Moylan to 3rd. Jeremy Cummings to 1st.
-Shaun Boyd homers (3) on a fly ball to left field. Dan Moylan scores. Jeremy Cummings scores.
-Brendan Ryan grounds out, shortstop Douglas Bernier to first baseman Corey Slavik.
-Aaron Herr doubles (13) on a line drive to center fielder Tony Miller.
-Travis Hanson doubles (21) on a fly ball to left fielder Jud Thigpen. Aaron Herr scores.
-Gabe Johnson singles on a ground ball to center fielder Tony Miller. Travis Hanson scores. Gabe Johnson out at 2nd on the throw, center fielder Tony Miller to catcher Tino Sanchez to shortstop Douglas Bernier.
Mike Esposito's third:
-Jeff Fulchino grounds out, shortstop Tomas Delarosa to first baseman Tom Wilson.
Wilson Delgado walks.
-Josh Wilson homers (14) on a fly ball to center field. Wilson Delgado scores.
-Matt Padgett walks.
-Joe Dillon singles on a ground ball to right fielder Choo Freeman. Matt Padgett to 3rd.
-Todd Sears walks. Joe Dillon to 2nd.
-Jason Wood hits a grand slam (13) to left field. Matt Padgett scores. Joe Dillon scores. Todd Sears scores.
-Mike Colangelo strikes out swinging.
There are similarities, both innings account for all but one of the runs each of these two pitchers gave up, both include two devastating homeruns and both show an inability on the pitcher's part to force a stop to the bleeding, although Esposito striking out the last batter lets him leave on a more positive note than Zach Parker having to rely on the defensive assist. Take the innings away and the pitchers in question go quickly from being dominated to being dominant. There are differences, too, walks killed Esposito, while Parker threw nothing but softies down the pike apparently. At any rate, like Jon Lieber's outing against the Rox on Sunday for the Phils where for a while he seemed untouchable before blowing up, it's easy to see how thin a line pitchers have to work with sometimes to be effective. Let's hope both these two pick themselves up for the next time out and learn something.
Jeff Salazar had a nifty OBP raising game for the Springs with two singles and two walks, and Jeff Pickler, say what you will about the guy, but last night he had game with two hits including a triple, two walks and four runs scored, including one in the sixth inning by stealing home, his second stolen base of the game.