Down the Stretch 2011 - Superior at California

After losing 3-out-of-4 to the visiting Simi Valley Vikings, the California Roadrunners welcomed the fellow AL Wild Card-chasing Superior Blues for a three-game series. Only one game separated the two teams in the playoff standings, but Plaza still held a significant lead on both clubs for the final post-season spot.

Game 1: California 9, Superior 3

The first game featured struggling Roadrunner starter Livan Hernandez (8-13, 5.06) against the Blues' Bronson Arroyo (11-5, 2.98). Superior got things going early, scoring in the top of the second inning. Jose Tabata doubled and came around home when Travis Ishikawa doubled. Kurt Suzuki followed with a single that plated Ishikawa to give Superior a 2-0 lead. Having watched his opponent take batting practice off of Hernandez, Rod Barajas cut the lead in half with one swing, belting his 17th home run of the year. Arroyo, clearly shaken by the blast, walked the next batter, Carlos Lee. After Aramis Ramirez popped out, Mark Ellis stepped up and hit a 2-run bomb to left-center, his 3rd of the season. The Roadrunners tried to make some additional noise, but settled for a 3-2 lead after two innings.

Jose Bautista then cranked his 36th home run to lead off the bottom of the 3rd to extend the lead to 4-2. In the bottom of the 5th, it was Carlos Lee's turn. He blasted a two-run home run to right-center that scored Barajas, giving California a 6-2 advantage. California was all business so far in this game, showing off the power that made them a contender early on in the season.

However, the game was delayed before the top of the 6th inning. The Roadrunners took the field, but Livan Hernandez was nowhere to be found. Rumors were flying around that authorities had infiltrated the Roadrunner clubhouse, attempting to question Hernandez about his role in a case involving a drug kingpin from Puerto Rico. It turns out that Hernandez was just hungry, and was trying to finish his meatball sandwich. Barajas ran into the clubhouse, demanded that Hernandez put the sandwich down, and reminded him that he was still in the game and needed to pitch in the top of the sixth.

Superior was able to add a run in the top of the 7th, but it was handed right back to the Roadrunners, courtesy of another home run: Carlos Lee's second of the game. Aramis Ramirez then doubled, and went to third after Evan Longoria muffed a ground ball by Ellis. Ramirez scored when Blake DeWitt couldn't turn two against the speedy Julio Borbon, and California took an 8-3 lead after 7 innings. Pinch-hitter Paul Janish picked up the 16th team hit, and 9th run of the game, knocking in Bautista from second.

Hernandez ended up completing the game and picked up his 9th victory. Afterwards, reporters wanted to know more about his absence in the middle of the game. "Yes, it's true: I was hungry out there. Sure, hungry to beat a tough opponent in Superior, but also straight-up hungry for that sandwich," Hernandez explained.

Game 2: California 6, Superior 5

The game tells us that "it's a lousy night for baseball" as the Blues and Roadrunners square off in game two of the series. However, the Roadrunner fans were witness to an exciting, come-from-behind victory by the home team. The underrated Anibal Sanchez (7-7, 2.84) gets the call for Superior, while Ian Kennedy (9-8, 3.96) seems rested enough to go for California.

Superior got things going early again as Jose Tabata led off the top of the 2nd with a triple. Cliff Pennington knocked him in with a double, and the Blues were on the board with the first run of the game. Superior picked up their second run with an Evan Longoria solo home run in the top of the 4th. Kennedy then walked Tabata, who was able to advance all the way to third after an attempted steal and a Bengie Molina throwing error. Pennington roped a single to center, picking up his second RBI of the game as Tabata scored. Kurt Suzuki kept the fun rolling along with a two-out single that scored Pennington from third (after advancing from first via a fielder's choice and wild pitch).

Superior led 4-0 going into the bottom half of the inning. It seems with every game of Strat-O-Matic, once one team scores, the opposition's bats magically wake up. Josh Hamilton walked and then scored when Carlos Lee hit a bomb into the rocks in left-center for his 21st home run of the year. The Roadrunners cut the lead in half as the score was now 4-2 after four complete.

Not satisfied with the four runs he had already given up, Ian Kennedy walked Michael Bourn to start off the fifth inning. Bourn, just traded to Cook County along with $3 million in cold, hard cash, stole second and scored on a single by Longoria. Kennedy got out of the inning, but the Blues now held a 5-2 lead. California played some small-ball and were able to get the run back. Mike Aviles singled, stole second, and then advanced to third on a Rafael Furcal sacrifice. Josh Hamilton hit a deep fly to center that scored Aviles, and the score was now 5-3.

Sergio Romo relieved Sanchez in the bottom of the 7th and kindly hit Molina between the numbers. Clearly there was some bad blood between the two, but nobody could understand Molina as he yelled to himself while trotting to first. Knowing that this might be their shot to get some runs, California then pinch hit for Paul Janish with Kosuke Fukudome. The struggling Fukudome (hitting .175 on the year entering the game) singled to right, advancing Molina to third. Aviles struck out, and the Blues countered with Nick Masset to face Furcal with one out. Raffy hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Molina, cutting Superior's lead to just one run.

Sensing victory, the Blues brought in Carlos Zambrano. Typically known for being an emotional starting pitcher, Zambrano had no trouble whatsoever with the eighth-inning California lineup. In the bottom of the ninth, however, the defense behind Big Z let him down. Julio Borbon led off the inning with a single to right. Molina then sacrificed Borbon to second. With two outs, Aviles hit a slow ground ball to second, but Blake DeWitt stumbled as he reached for the ball and fell over into the grass. Borbon scored and the game was tied 5-5. Zambrano was furious and blew three straight heaters by Furcal to end the inning.

The Roadrunners had new life as the game went into extras. In the bottom of the 10th, Hamilton doubled to get things going. It looked like Superior was going to leave Zambrano in the game to see if he could earn his paycheck... so he could pay for all the gatorade barrels he smashed between innings. However, it was Carlos Lee and Aramis Ramirez that made him pay. Lee singled to move Hamilton to third, and Ramirez hit a sac fly to right to score Hamilton. The Roadrunners kept chipping away at Superior's emotions and it paid off with a 6-5 home victory.

Game 3: California 4, Superior 2

Superior was now looking to salvage the series after dropping the first two games and looked to the ancient Jamie Moyer (2-1, 3.16) to right the ship. Moyer was supposed to be finishing is career in California after signing a two-year free agent contract with the club, but he was left unprotected in the 2011 BRASSball draft. Superior snatched him up in round 4 of the draft and has pitched well for the Blues in five starts so far this season. If the Roadrunners have an ace, it's Chris Volstad (9-6, 3.27). Volstad will take the mound, facing off against a man 24 years older than him in Moyer.

Rafael Furcal was brought to California for the final two months of the season to do two things: get on base and run. He knew nothing of Moyer as a teammate, but saw a pitch he liked and sent it into the rocks to get the Roadrunners on the board in the first.Blake DeWitt showed off his lack of range once again, allowing Bengie Molina to single past him, scoring Julio Borbon in the bottom of the second inning. This put the Roadrunners up 2-0, and they weren't done nickeling and diming Moyer.

In the bottom of the third, Mark Ellis led off with a single. Moyer, very deliberate with his windup out of the stretch allowed Ellis to steal second easily. Furcal then bunted, moving Ellis to third. Kosuke Fukudome then singled up the middle scoring Ellis to make it 3-0. Moyer was starting to show his age out there and wanted nothing to do with Jose Bautista. He pitched around Bautista, and then allowed a base hit to Carlos Lee that scored Fukudome. Aramis Ramirez hit into an inning-ending double play, but the damage was already done, and California led 4-0.

Superior finally got something going in the fourth with a lead-off walk by Michael Bourn, followed by an Adam Jones single. The Roadrunners then traded two outs for a run as Bourn scored to make it 4-1. Superior finally got to Volstad in the top of the sixth, by California reliever Ryan Perry was able to get the final out, keeping the lead intact. Perry pitched well, but was replaced by Chan Ho Park in the 8th. Park served one up to Evan Longoria, who drove one over the wall in right (his 16th of the year). Park then took out his frustrations (both on and off the field with rumors of him being dealt to Simi Valley for September) by beaning Jose Tabata. California had seen enough, and opted to bring in closer Brandon Lyon. Lyon struck out Cliff Pennington to end the inning. Lyon, dominant for California all season, took care of Superior with a 1-2-3 9th inning, ending the game 4-2, and picking up his 27th save.

Down the Stretch 2011 - Hessville at California

For the final two months of the season, I will be providing game-by-game recaps on the series that matter the most to the BRASSball playoff races. The California Roadrunners entered August only two games back of Superior and Plaza for the final AL wild card spot. First up is the Hessville Everreadys, three games behind the Roadrunners, and five games back for a playoff berth.

Game 1: California 7, Hessville 2

After being benched all of July for usage reasons, Mike Aviles returned to the top of the Roadrunner lineup and smashed a lead-off home run to put the home club up 1-0. Then with two outs in the first, starter Derek Lowe served up a fat one to Jose Bautista (his league-leading 33rd home run), giving California a 2-0 lead. The power surge continued in the bottom of the second, when Bengie Molina hit a 2-run home run to straightaway center, scoring Julio Borbon, and extending the lead to 4-0. Newly-acquired Rafael Furcal doubled and scored in the 3rd inning to add another run against Lowe.

The E-Readys got on the board in the 5th when catcher Gregg Zaun homered off of starter Ian Kennedy to make the score 5-1, but the Roadrunners responded in the bottom-half of the inning. Bautista singled home Aviles, making it 6-1, but Lowe was able to get out of trouble and limit California to the one run. Lowe actually settled down and didn't allow a run in the 6th and 7th. Reliever Brian Moehler was called in to face California in the 8th. He began the inning by walking Bautista, who scored his BRASSball-leading 88th run after Carlos Lee moved him to third with a single, followed up by a fielder's choice double play off the bat of Manny Ramirez. Moehler got out of the inning, but the score was now 7-1. Bautista's walk was his 74th, currently tops in the league.

Kennedy was left in to try and complete the game, but surrendered a home run to Chris Young to start the 9th. He got into more trouble after Kevin Kouzmanoff singled and Orlando Hudson walked. Kennedy was left in to face Zaun who had homered earlier in the game. Zaun hit a bullet between first and second, but defensive-replacement Mark Ellis was there scoop it up and get the final out at first. The complete game by Kennedy was his sixth, the most of any California starter, and sixth-best in the league (Hessville's Jeremy Guthrie leads all of BRASSball with 9 complete games).

Game 2: California 5, Hessville 0

The second game of the series featured California's top starting pitcher, Chris Volstad (8-6, 3.52), and 11-game winner Clayton Richard for Hessville. Both starters were having no trouble getting through their opponent's batting order until the 3rd inning. Paul Janish singled for California, and Mark Ellis took the next pitch from Richard and hit it over center fielder Chris Young. Young recovered, though, and threw Janish out at home. Ellis moved to third, but Rafael Furcal struck out to end the inning. The Hessvile bench coaches had some words for Young as he ran into the dugout, though, talking to him about his outfield positioning. Young seemed to shrug them off, clearly upset with the criticism.

It was three up and three down for the Roadrunners in the 4th, but the fireworks were busted out in the 5th, courtesy of Josh Hamilton. BRASSball's leading hitter got into the mix with a two-run home run, scoring Aramis Ramirez who had led off the inning with a walk. Richard was out of sorts after the big hit, and allowed singles to Bengie Molina and Mark Ellis. Then, Furcal scooted a dribbler past a diving Orlando Hudson that scored Molina from third. With runners on first and third and one out, Richard was sent to the clubhouse, and in stepped Jamey Wright. While Wright was busy getting settled, Furcal swiped second. It didn't matter, though, as Kosuke Fukudome struck out, and Jose Bautista flied out to center to end the inning. After five complete, California had a 3-0 lead on Hessville.

Volstad was on cruise control for the entire game until the 7th. With one out, Chris Young doubled to deep center, just missing a home run. Ian Stewart stepped up, due for a hit that would most likely score the speedy Young from second. However, Young had other ideas and attempted to steal third. He was nailed by the catcher Molina, out by a mile. The Hessville bench erupted, not because of a poor call by the umpire, but because of the decision on Young's part to ignore the third base coach's signs. Even Stewart was caught barking something profane back to Young, reminding him that the team is in a playoff race. After things cooled off, Stewart, of course, roped a single into center. Delmon Young grounded out to third to end the inning.

Knowing Hessville was not mentally in the game any longer, California was ready to put the game away in the 8th. The familiar Brian Moehler was brought in to face Jose Bautista. Bautista hit a rocket to first baseman Gaby Sanchez, but Sanchez couldn't handle it and was charged with an error. Carlos Lee stepped up and laced a single into the outfield. Aramis Ramirez followed with a single of his own, scoring Bautista. Josh Hamilton then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Lee from third. Moehler was then able to get Molina to ground into an inning-ending double play, but not before the Roadrunners took a 5-0 lead in the game.

The Everreadys were able to get a couple of hits off of Volstad in the 9th (including a double by Young), but Stewart flied out to end the game. It will be interesting to see Hessville's mental state in game three of the series after many of Chris Young's teammates were visibly irate with his selfish base running. For Volstad, the shutout was his first of the year, and the 5th for a Roadrunner starting pitcher. He lowered his ERA to a team-best 3.27. The Everreadys are now in a must-win situation if they want to stay in the playoff race.

Game 3: Hessville 5, California 0

With the series on the line, the Everreadys asked Jeremy Guthrie to right the ship. Arguably their best starting pitcher (2.61 ERA and a 9-9 record), he took the mound to face off against the struggling and underachieving John Lackey (6-8, 4.82).

The Everready offense came out with something to prove, and prove it they did. In the top of the second inning, Chris Young lead off with a walk. Listening to his first base coach, he held up to see if his teammates could drive him in. With one out, Delmon Young then doubled to right-center. Both Youngs scored when Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a ground ball single into center. Lackey was able to get two more outs to put out the fire, but the damage had already been done, and Hessville was leading 2-0.

The offense kept rolling along in the third with J-Roll. Jimmy Rollins doubled. Ryan Kalish was then walked by Lackey, making it first and second with nobody out for Hessville's main man Gaby Sanchez. Sanchez flied out to right, but the runners held. Chris Young was next and slapped a single to right, scoring Rollins to take a 3-0 lead. Ian Stewart grounded out to first to end the inning. Young ran over to Stewart and yelled, "Let's go!" in hopes of firing up his teammate. Stewart walked back to the bench shaking his head.

Things were very quiet after the third inning. Both Guthrie and Lackey had really settled in as neither of them let the opposing team get anything going. That is, until the 9th inning. With three hits already in the game, Delmon Young raked a triple into left-center. The Roadrunner infield was brought in to try and keep Young from scoring. Kevin Kouzmanoff took notice and promptly singled over the head of shortstop Rafael Furcal. Having seen enough, Lackey was then replaced with reliever Ryan Perry to face three straight Hessville switch-hitters. With one out, Gregg Zaun doubled to center, moving Kouzmanoff to third. Perry then put one in the dirt that got past catcher Rod Barajas, allowed Kouzmanoff to score, and Zaun to move up to third. After two pop outs, the Everreadys were retired, but only after giving Jeremy Guthrie a couple extra insurance runs.

Guthrie responded in kind with a one-two-three ninth inning, finishing the complete game shutout. For Guthrie, it was his BRASSball-leading tenth complete game and BRASSball-leading fourth shutout. He lowered his ERA to 2.46, now good for third best in all of BRASSball. Despite losing in game three, the Roadrunners were able to pick up a half game on Superior and Plaza, while the Everreadys fell back behind Lancaster in the AL Wild Card standings.

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.  

May 2011 Home Players of the Month

It was another 7-7 month for the California Roadrunners at home in May, matching their 7-7 home record for April.

Overall, the offense continued to carry the team, batting .283 with 13 home runs. The middle of the Roadrunner lineup struggled at the plate this month. Jose Bautista, Carlos Lee, and Aramis Ramirez combined to hit only .212 with 6 home runs in 132 at-bats. Wilson Valdez (.364), Ronny Cedeno (.333), and Mark Aviles (.314) picked up the slack at the top and bottom of the order.

The pitching staff was decent, posting a 4.32 ERA. Two complete games were thrown, including a shutout by Ian Kennedy. Despite his first loss (and the team's first loss in extra innings), Brandon Lyon continued his stellar season as the team's closer going 3-for-3 in save opportunities. John Lackey rebounded a bit this month, with two victories and 15 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. Nate Robertson did not allow an earned run in 6 1/3 relief innings.

Home Hitter of the Month - Josh Hamilton
Josh Hamilton missed 3 games at home, but still managed to carry the team's offense. He posted an impressive .606 average, with two home runs and 6 RBI in 11 games. Both of his home runs came in one game against right-handed pitching. In 29 at-bats against RHP, Hamilton hit .621 with an .862 slugging percentage. At one point during the May homestand, he had a hit in seven consecutive at-bats. Hamilton is now starting to put up MVP-like numbers, boosting his offensive totals to .376-12-36 with an OPS of 1.044 in 53 games.

Home Pitcher of the Month - Chris Volstad
The surprise pitcher of the month was Chris Volstad, edging out John Lackey and Brandon Lyon. Volstad was undefeated at home in three starts, including one complete game, and 8 1/3 innings pitched in another start. While he did walk 10 batters in 25 2/3 innings, he managed to keep those runners on base somehow. Volstad's 1.75 ERA was unexpected considering his card, as was his one home run allowed. Volstad has now emerged as the club's top starting pitcher, improving his overall record to 5-3, while lowering his ERA to 2.51.

Prospect Preview: Tony Sanchez, C

Tony Sanchez is part of the California Roadrunners' amateur system, but could be called on to make an impact behind the plate sooner than later. Sanchez was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round (fourth overall) back in 2009. In 2010, he was selected to the Futures Game All-Star team, but had his season shortened when he was hit in the face with a fastball in June.

Now having gone through a full recovery of a broken jaw, and some LASIK surgery in January of this year, Sanchez is back and ready to prove that he belongs with the big league club.

Sanchez was invited to spring training in 2011, but was only able to get one hit (a double) in two at-bats before being sent down to AA Altoona. He is currently hitting .299-1-9 overall, but is hitting .344 with an OBP of .500 in his last 10 games. In 2009, Sanchez hit .309 with 7 home runs in 178 at-bats. Prior to his facial injury in 2010, Sanchez was hitting .314 in 250 at-bats.

Projected to be a great defender behind the plate, Sanchez would be a great candidate to handle a young pitching staff. He has great framing technique, and a "borderline" plus arm. It will be his offense, though, that will make or break his chances at becoming a perennial all-star. His power numbers are there, and is projected to hit 10-15 home runs per season if he can remain healthy.

Sanchez is currently targeted to make the Pirates' roster in 2012. Looking at the current catching situation for Pittsburgh, it is likely that they will trade one or both of the catchers they currently have on their roster (Chris Snyder and Ryan Doumit), and hope that Sanchez can open next season behind the dish.

Tony Sanchez is the catcher of the future for the California Roadrunners. There's no question that he will be getting regular at-bats for us within a year or two. However, the team has pressing needs at that position with Rod Barajas playing in the last year of his contract, and Bengie Molina sitting at home on his couch waiting for the Red Sox to dial his number. This will push up Sanchez's timetable, but the Roadrunners hope to acquire a catcher or three through some other means so that Sanchez is not rushed.

Official 2011 Outlook
Remain under contract in the CAL Amateur League System.

April 2011 Results - Fast Start or Beginner's Luck?

The California Roadrunners opened their inaugural BRASSball season in 2011 with a strong 16-12 record in the month of April. At home, the club managed to finish at .500, going 7-7 at home. The "road" for the Roadrunners was more favorable, as we posted a 9-6 record. Despite an average (at best) starting rotation, and a very questionable bullpen, the Roadrunners were 5-0 in extra-inning games in April.