=== Daily Dugout Chatter - Sunday, July 25th === (Games from Saturday, July 24th)
From The My Sportsbook
PLEASE CALL HIM UP
Gavin Floyd tossed a complete game two-hit shutout and John Castellano knocked in the only run of the game as the Reading Phillies blanked the Akron Aeros, 1-0, in game two of their doubleheader. Akron won game one by the score of 7-3. Reading upped his record to 44-55 while Akron dropped to 45-55. Floyd (5-6, 2.61 ERA) recorded only his second complete game shutout as a professional. His first one came on June 10th, 2003 pitching for the Clearwater Threshers of the Florida State League. Castellano knocked home Josh Phelps in the bottom of the first with an RBI single. That would be the only run Floyd would need. Akron's Jeremy Guthrie pitched well but suffered the loss and fell to 6-6. Guthrie allowed one run on five hits and struck out five. Jason Cooper and Ben Francisco collected the only hits on the night for the Aeros.
DUCK SEASON
Jason Alfaro and Eric Brunlett knocked in two runs apiece while Brandon Duckworth picked up his second win as the New Orleans Zephyrs defeated the Memphis Redbirds, 6-1, in Pacific Coast League action Saturday evening. New Orleans upped its record to 45-55 while Memphis fell to 46-54. New Orleans exploded for a five-run first inning capped off by Alfaro's two- run single that got the Zephyrs on the board. Brunlett followed with a two- run triple that made the score 4-0. Kyle Logan chipped in with two hits and an RBI for the Zephyrs. Duckworth (2-2) scattered one run and three hits over seven strong innings to pick up the win. Memphis' Randy Flores absorbed the loss and fell to 3-7. Flores surrendered six runs on six hits and walked four in his four innings of work. Scott Seabol hit his 22nd home run and Bo Hart collected two hits for the Redbirds.
THE STREAK IS FINALLY OVER
Jeff Liefer homered and drove in three runs to help the Indianapolis Indians snap their 13 game skid with a 5-3 win over the Richmond Braves in game two of their doubleheader. The Braves took game one 10-5. The Braves drew first blood when Bill McCarthy drilled a three-run home run in the first frame. Ryan Langerhans and Jason Tyner scored on the round tripper. Corey Hart got the Indians on the board after he plated a run with a single in the third. Liefer added a two-run double in the fifth frame as the Indians put three runs on the board to lead, 4-3. He closed the scoring with a solo home run in the seventh. Hart and Liefer each finished with two hits. Travis Phelps (7-4) earned the win for Indianapolis. In six innings he yielded three earned runs on four hits and two walks. Phelps fanned three and Ben Ford notched his third save of the year. Richmond's Kevin Barry was dealt the loss. He surrendered three runs, five hits, walked two and struck out a pair in 2 1/3rd innings.
GRAY PACES INTIMIDATORS
Antoin Gray led the Kannapolis with a 4-5 effort including two doubles and a solo home run lifting the visiting Intimidators 8-5 over the Legends at Applebee's Park in Lexington. The Intimidators (52-46, 18-11) came out of gates quickly on Brandon Bounds' first inning, three run homer off Rory Shortell with two outs giving the visitors a 3-0 lead. They would add a run in the second on Antoin Gray's RBI double. Shortell (1-1) was chased from the game in the third inning giving up seven runs in two and two-third innings. In the third inning, Kannapolis added three more runs to go ahead 7-0. Clint scored scored the first run on a sacrifice fly. Jake Whitesides, making his Intimidators debut tripled driving in the other two runs in the inning. Whitesides went 2-4 with two RBI. The Legends (50-48, 13-16) rallied with four runs off Intimidators starter Rafael Flores in the fifth inning. Kevin Davidson launched a two run homer with no outs before an RBI ground out by Ervin Alcantera and an RBI double by Scott Robinson. Flores finished the game allowing four runs in five innings pitched. The Kannapolis bullpen was solid in relief. Fernando Hernandez gave the Intimidators three innings surrendering an unearned run. Ehren Wassermann closed out the ninth with a double play notching his league-high 23rd save.
CAUSE I'M A RENEGADE
The Hudson Valley Renegades were victorious tonight over the Staten Island Yankees 2-1 at Dutchess Stadium in front of a sell out crowd of 4,599. The Renegades lead 1-0 going into the top of the ninth when the Yankees were finally able to get on the board. CF Justin Christian lead off the ninth with a single and later scored on a RBI single from DH Hector Zamora. With the score tied at one in the bottom of the ninth, the Renegades answered back. CF Fernando Perez lead off the inning with a walk and later scored the winning run on 1B Ryan Baty's walk off RBI single. Jon Barrat (ND) started for the Renegades pitching six innings, only allowing one hit while striking out seven. Aaron Walker (W, 2-1) got the win for the ‘Gades pitching 2/3 of an inning in the ninth while allowing one hit. TJ Beam (ND) started for the Yankees. He pitched seven innings, allowing four hits and one run striking out six. At one point he retired twelve Renegades in a row. Ben Scheinbaum (L, 1-2) got the loss pitching 1 1/3 innings of relief allowing one hit and one run.
PINEDA TOSSES CG SHUTOUT
Isauro Pineda twirled a complete game seven inning shutout to lead the Greenville Braves past the Tennessee Smokies, 4-0 in game one of their scheduled doubleheader. Pineda improved to 4-6 as he fanned six Smokies and scattered three hits. Kelly Johnson got the Braves on the board first with a run scoring double in the fourth. Andy Marte followed with a two-run blast in the next inning to put Greenville up 3-0. Pineda plated a run in the game with a single. Johnson finished the game 3-for-3. Tennessee's Randy Leek (1-2) was saddled with the loss. In six innings he allowed ten hits, four earned runs, walked five and struck out three. Javier Colina, Gabe Johnson, and Randy Leek all registered a hit for the Smokies in the loss.
LINDEN "BOMBS" AWAY, AGAIN
Todd Linden blasted two home runs and Dave Doster hit one as the Fresno Grizzlies beat up on the Tucson Sidewinders, 9-5, in Pacific Coast League action Saturday evening. Fresno improved its record to 47-54 while Tucson fell to 50-50. Linden got it started in the fifth with a two-run shot, his 10th of the season. He struck back an inning later with his 11th of the season, a solo shot. Linden finished the night 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a double. Doster went back-to-back with Linden in the sixth with a two-run shot, his sixth of 2004. Jamie Athas went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored for the Grizzlies. Chad Zerbe picked up the win for Fresno and upped his record to 4-3. Zerbe allowed four runs on nine hits and struck out two in 5 2/3rd innings of work. Tucson's Matt Henrie was absolutely shelled in his 5 2/3rd innings and fell to 0-2 with the loss. Henrie gave up nine runs on 14 hits and one walk. Keoni DeRenne plated two runs and Andy Green scored twice for the Sidewinders.
BLACKJACK
Jose Flores single chased home Luis Garcia with the winning run as the Las Vegas 51s outlasted the Sacramento River Cats, 11-10 in a wild Pacific Coast League affair. Garcia tripled home Chin-Feng Chen to tie the game at ten in the ninth. Flores then followed with his game winning hit. Antonio Perez went 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored, a home run and four RBI, while Jason Repko plated three runs with a home run in the second. Garcia also drilled a home run in the win. For the River Cats, Nick Swisher went 2-for-6 with two home runs and six RBI. Graham Koonce also had a huge night at the plate as he drilled two home runs and knocked in a pair. Dan Johnson continued his hot play at the plate with a round tripper and two RBI in the loss. Las Vegas' Yhency Brazoban earned the win in two innings of shutout relief. Over his two innings he yielded two hits and walked one. Brazoban fanned two to improve to 2-0. Britt Reames (1-4) was saddled with the loss for Sacramento. In just 2/3rds of an inning, Reames gave up two earned runs on three hits and one walk.
