June 2011 Recap

The Roadrunners faced BRASSball's toughest division in June, the American League Central. The club finished the month at home with an 8-6 record, their first winning month this season. Even though California was outscored 67-63 in 14 games, it was playing well when it mattered most, going 4-1 in one-run games, improving their overall record in one-run games to 16-8. The Roadrunner bullpen deserved most of the credit, going 5-1 with 4 saves.

Roadrunners Defeat Maulers in 19-Inning Affair

In one of the most nerve-racking Strat-O-Matic games I've played in a long time, the California Roadrunners edged out the Cook County Maulers 7-6 in 19 innings.

California held a 5-4 lead going into the 7th inning, but the bullpen was unable to hold the lead for starter Chris Volstad. Ryan Perry surrendered a game-tying home run to Vladimir Guerrero, then walked Prince Fielder, and gave up a single to Alex Rodriguez. Will Ohman was called in to face Luke Scott, who was walked. A wild pitch plated Fielder, and the Roadrunners got out of the jam by getting Ramon Hernandez to fly out, with Alex Rodriguez getting thrown out at home to end the inning.

The Maulers decided to leave their starter, Adam Wainwright, in the game. After Alex Cora grounded out, Mike Aviles homered to tie the game at 6-6. Wainwright went on to pitch into the 10th inning, while the Roadrunners had already used three members of their bullpen. There were no real threats from either club until the bottom of the 16th inning.

Both teams had stellar relief as both Evan Meek and Matt Guerrier threw 3 innings each, completely shutting down the opposition. However, Guerrier was fatigued, and couldn't complete the 15th inning. The last Roadrunner reliever, Chan Ho Park, was called on to face Guerrero; Vlad grounded out to end the inning. Cook County brought in Brian Sanches and got Jose Bautista, Josh Hamilton, and Bengie Molina to fly out for a 1-2-3- inning. For Park, it would be a different story.

In the bottom of the 16th, Park would face the heart of the Mauler lineup, and must have let the pressure get to him. He walked Fielder, Rodriguez, and Andruw Jones (who was brought in as a defensive substitution in the 12th). With the bases loaded, it appeared all but over for California. However, with Strat-O-Matic, things are never what they seem. Hernandez once again was a double-play victim, this time lining out to third, doubling up Fielder. Jim Edmonds then flew out to end the inning, leaving the Roadrunners with a chance to win it.

However, all was quiet again as Sanches and Park meandered through each others' lineup until Sanches could throw no more. On to the bottom of the 19th, where we saw Miguel Batista enter the game for Cook County. Mark Ellis lead off the inning with a single, and Aramis Ramirez followed up with a strike out. Manny Ramirez looped a single that moved Ellis to third. With one out, and the winning run 90 feet away, Jose Bautista returned to the plate for the eighth time. He smacked a single -- his fourth hit of the game -- right up the middle, scoring Ellis in a walk-off win.

BOXSCORE: 2011 Cook County Maulers At 2011 California Roadrunners   6/11/2011
 
  Maulers            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Roadrunners        AB  R  H RBI AVG
  B.Zobrist 2B        8  0  1  0 .265     M.Aviles 2B         5  1  2  1 .319  
  D.Murphy RF         9  1  1  2 .240   F-A.Ramirez PH,3B     2  0  0  0 .229  
  V.Guerrero DH       9  2  3  1 .298     M.Ramirez DH        7  1  1  0 .162  
  P.Fielder 1B        7  2  3  2 .275     J.Bautista 3B,1B    7  2  4  2 .248  
  A.Rodriguez 3B      7  0  1  0 .225     J.Hamilton RF,LF    8  1  2  3 .377  
  L.Scott LF          4  0  0  0 .319     C.Lee LF            3  0  2  1 .226  
C-C.Utley PR          0  0  0  0 .234   A-B.Molina C          5  0  2  0 .265  
D-A.Jones LF          2  0  0  0 .226     R.Barajas C         3  0  0  0 .255  
  R.Hernandez C       7  0  1  0 .364   B-K.Fukudome RF       5  0  0  0 .194  
  J.Edmonds CF        8  0  1  0 .271     J.Borbon CF         7  0  0  0 .198  
  J.Uribe SS          6  1  1  0 .245     W.Valdez SS         8  0  1  0 .237  
                                          A.Cora 1B           6  1  1  0 .261  
                                        E-M.Ellis PH,2B       2  1  1  0 .331  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      67  6 12  5                 Totals      68  7 16  7
 
A-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Lee In 7th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Barajas In 7th Inning
C-Pinch Ran For Scott In 12th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Utley In 12th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Cora In 17th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Aviles In 17th Inning
 
Maulers......... 2 0 2  0 0 0  2 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 -  6 12  0
Roadrunners..... 1 0 4  0 0 0  1 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  1 -  7 16  0
 
Maulers (40-19)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
A.Wainwright              9 2/3  10   6   6   2  11   2   4.53  A1 E4
J.Hanrahan                1 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   3.18  E5 E8
E.Meek                    3       2   0   0   1   1   0   5.76  E9 G2
B.Sanches                 2       0   0   0   0   0   0   2.55  G3 G8
M.Thornton                2       1   0   0   2   2   0   2.95  G9 H8
M.Batista LOSS(0-1)       0 1/3   3   1   1   0   1   0  10.80  H9
Totals                   18 1/3  16   7   7   5  16   2
 
Roadrunners (37-28)      IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
C.Volstad                 6       6   4   4   4   3   2   2.78  A1 D1
R.Perry BS(1st)           0 1/3   2   2   2   1   0   1   4.76  D2 D5
W.Ohman                   3       2   0   0   1   2   0   2.51  D6 E7
N.Robertson               1       1   0   0   0   0   0   2.00  E8 F2
B.Lyon                    1 1/3   0   0   0   3   0   0   1.21  F3 F9
M.Guerrier                3       1   0   0   1   4   0   3.75  G1 H2
C.Park WIN(1-0)           4 1/3   0   0   0   3   3   0   4.43  H3
Totals                   19      12   6   6  13  12   3
 
ATTENDANCE- 41,734 DATE- Thursday, June 11th 2011 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good
UMPIRES- Tim McClelland, Larry Vanover, Mike Everitt, Mike Dimuro
T- 6:28
LEFT ON BASE- Maulers:17  Roadrunners:12
DOUBLE PLAYS- Maulers: 1  Roadrunners: 2
DOUBLES- J.Hamilton(18th)
HOME RUNS- D.Murphy(6th), V.Guerrero(8th), P.Fielder(10th), M.Aviles(5th),
           J.Bautista(22nd)
STOLEN BASES- J.Uribe(1st), M.Aviles-2(12th)
SACRIFICE HITS- M.Aviles, J.Borbon
WALKS- B.Zobrist, P.Fielder-2, A.Rodriguez-2, L.Scott-2, A.Jones, R.Hernandez-2,
       J.Edmonds, J.Uribe-2, M.Aviles, M.Ramirez-2, J.Bautista-2
STRIKE OUTS- B.Zobrist, D.Murphy, V.Guerrero, A.Rodriguez, L.Scott, A.Jones-2,
             R.Hernandez, J.Edmonds-3, J.Uribe, M.Aviles-2, A.Ramirez,
             M.Ramirez-2, J.Hamilton-3, R.Barajas, K.Fukudome-2, J.Borbon-3,
             W.Valdez-2
GIDP- C.Lee
WILD PITCHES- W.Ohman
2-out RBI- P.Fielder-2, J.Bautista
 
Third baseman Jose Bautista had 4 hits and 2 RBI as the California Roadrunners
defeated the Cook County Maulers in 19 innings 7 to 6 at Angels Stadium.
 
The score was tied at 6 after nine.  California won it in the 19th inning.
Mark Ellis ripped a base-knock.  Aramis Ramirez struck out, unable to help
the rally.  Manny Ramirez then stroked a base-hit.  Bautista was up next and
he banged out a single giving California the win much to the delight of the
home town crowd.  Overall California out-hit Cook County 16 to 12.  
 
Chan Ho Park(1-0) got credit for the victory, pitching 4 and 1/3 innings and
allowing no runs. Miguel Batista(0-1) took the loss in relief.