Monthly Archives: June 2010

Roster moves aplenty as Cal League 2nd half begins

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It’s not unusual to have a flurry of roster moves when the second half of the season begins, and the Quakes and 66ers are no different. Some of them, however, didn’t happen during the all-star break that ended Thursday. A few happened just before the break, some during the break, and a few more after the break. It’s a little early to tell what kind of impact the moves will make, but it will be tough for the Quakes without Auer and Perez.

Here are some of the moves:

66ERS

In: RHP Will Savage (6-2, 2.80 ERA) from low-A Great Lakes, OF Scott Van Slyke from AA Chattanooga, 3B Pedo Baez off DL, RHP Cory Wade for a rehab assignment

Out: LHP Aaron Miller to AA Chattanooga, OF Nick Buss to Great Lakes, LHP Geison Aguasviva to DL (lumbar strain)

QUAKES

In: C Anel De Los Santos from DL (hand), RHP Ryan Chaffee from rookie Orem, OF Clay Fuller from AA Arkansas, INF Adam Younger from DL (back), RHP Eddie McKiernan returns from AAA Salt Lake just before the break

Out: P Matt Oye to Orem, INF Kevin Ramos to AA Arkansas, OF Tyson Auer to Arkansas, SS Darwin Perez to AAA Salt Lake, RHP Tyler Chatwood to Arkansas just before the break.

Tyler Chatwood gets the call

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Friday’s 66ers-Quakes game at the Epicenter was shaping up as the rare California League game in which very little happened.

In the sixth inning, things started to happen. Crazy good and crazy bad baserunning. Then the Quakes’ first grand slam of the year by Eric Oliver as the Quakes erupted for seven runs in the sixth-eighth innings in a 7-1 victory before 4,202.

But the biggest happening was saved for after the game. That was when Quakes all-star right-hander Tyler Chatwood, a Redlands East Valley High product, found out that he wouldn’t be playing in Tuesday’s all-star game against the Carolina League.

No, instead of flying to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for the all-star game after Saturday, Chatwood will be flying to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the Angels’ Double-A Arkansas Travelers are currently playing. Chatwood has been promoted.

“It’s an awesome achievement,” said Chatwood as he said his goodbyes to his Quakes teammates. “I just want to keep doing the things I was doing here.”

Chatwood, 20, leaves behind an impressive first half. He was 8-3 with 1.77 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 81 1/3 innings. He ranked second in the league in ERA, first in wins, and sixth in strikeouts. It wasn’t a situation of if he would be promoted, but when.

Chatwood, ranked as the Angels’ No. 14 prospect by Baseball America, was drafted in the second round by the Angels in 2008.

Storm suffers first-half title hangover and Quakes take advantage

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Lake Elsinore won the first-half South Division title with a 5-4 victory over the Quakes on Monday.

There was certainly reason to celebrate the third first-half title in the 17-year history of the franchise and automatic berth in the South Division Finals in September.

On Tuesday, the Storm sat two regulars and they didn’t have the same focus they had in building a 44-21 record. They committed six errors, their most since 2007 and the Quakes took advantage, scoring eight unearned runs in a 10-5 victory over the Storm at the Epicenter. It was also the most errors by any team in the league this year.

Here’s the breakdown:

1-Throwing error by third baseman Vince Belnome in the first on a Gabe Jacobo grounder led to 3 unearned runs.

2-Shortstop Drew Cumberland dropped a routine popup by Eric Oliver in the sixth

3-Left fielder Jaff Decker dropped Jon Towsend’s line drive in the seventh that led to an unearned run

4-Pitcher Robert Musgrave made a throwing error to first on Darwin Perez’s sacrifice bunt in the eighth that led to four unearned runs

5-First baseman Allan Dykstra made a throwing error to the plate on Townsend’s grounder with the bases loaded in the eighth.

6–After Oliver singled off Belnome’s glove to score one run in the eighth, Cumberland tried to pick up the ball and fumbled it, allowing a second run to score.

Lake Elsinore also commited a balk (which negated what would have been another error) and a wild pitch, had three baserunners out attempting to steal (out of five total attempts) and another picked off second base.

The Quakes? The league’s top defensive team committed just one error (a throwing error by second baseman Townsend in the first that led to 2 unearned runs), and threw out another runner, Cumberland, trying to stretch a double to a triple in the second inning. The Quakes stole three bases in four attempts.

 

Friday was a day Dodger fans have been dreading for years

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Well, a little less than two years, to be exact.

It had nothing to do to Friday’s 10-1 shellacking by the Angels. No this one goes back to the Casey Blake deal from July of 2008.

In order to acquire Blake from Cleveland, the Dodgers sent pitcher Jonathan Meloan and catcher Carlos Santana to Cleveland.
Santana was in the midst of his California League MVP season with the 66ers when he was traded, having batted .323 with 14 home runs and 96 RBIs to that point.

The Dodgers included Santana, a premium prospect, so the Indians would cover the remainder of Blake’s salary for 2008. Although Blake has been a big part of back-to-back playoff appearances by the Dodgers, some Dodger fans wondered if it would come back to bite them in the long run.

Santana went on to be the Double-A Eastern League MVP in 2009, then started 2010 at Triple-A. He was hitting .316 with 13 home runs and 51 RBIs for Columbus this year until Friday, when he made his major-league debut for the Indians.

In a 7-2 victory over Washington, Santana was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. The Indians think enough of Santana to place him third in the lineup, making him the first Indian to make his big-league debut in the No. 3 spot since 1977. He also threw out speedy Washington leafoff man Nyjer Morgan trying to steal in the first inning.

Santana certainly hasn’t proven himself in the big leagues just yet. But that might be happening soon.

66ers’ Delmonico headed to the DL

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Lost in the excitement of Anthony Hatch’s walkoff home run in the ninth was the night that Sixers catcher Tony Delmonico had in  the 2-1 win over the Mavericks on Saturday.

Delmonico, a converted catcher who has struggled with defensive consistency, had a solid night behind the plate.

He threw out two runners attempting to steal (one on a high inside pitch), and did a good job catching two popups near the screen behind home plate.

At one point, he got something in his eye and needed to have it washed out. Then, when he was batting in the seventh inning, he apparently hurt his hand while swinging. The injury was serious enough that Matt Wallach replaced him in the middle of an at-bat.

Although the severity of the injury is not known, Delmonico is being placed on the 7-day disabled list. Fumimasa Ishibashi, who has spent most of the season inactive, is being activated to take Delmonico’s spot on the roster. Wallach should get the majority of starts behind the plate in Delmonico’s absence.

Quakes, 66ers return home; Sixers have 2 rehabs Thursday

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After an off-day Wednesday (the last of the first half), both the Quakes and 66ers return home from road trips on Thursday. The Quakes went 5-2 on a seven game road trip to Visalia and San Jose and will play host to Lancaster for a four-game series that starts Thursday.

The 66ers went 2-1 on a brief trip to Lancaster, and return home to host High Desert on Thursday.

In that game, the Sixers are expected to have two Dodgers pitchers making rehabiliation assignments: left-hander George Sherrill and right-hander Vicente Padilla.

Padilla, who hasn’t pitched for the Dodgers since April 22, has been on the disabled list with nerve irritation in his throwing arm. He is expected to start Thursday’s game for the 66ers. Sherrill (back), who made his first appearance for the Sixers on Tuesday, allowing one run in one inning, is expected to follow Padilla in Thursday’s game.