Minor League M's Thoughts

[Porter]

Moss wins third straight start for Rainiers
June 1, 2005

Damian Moss continued his resurgence with 6 2/3 solid innings and Ryan Christianson hit a grand slam, powering the Tacoma Rainiers to an 8-3 triumph over the Sacramento River Cats on Tuesday night at Raley Field.

Moss (4-3) won his third straight start, allowing three runs -- two earned -- on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts. The Australian left-hander has a 1.53 ERA during his winning streak and ranks eighth in the Pacific Coast League with a 2.70 mark.

Jeff Heaverlo and Sean Green finished up on the mound for Tacoma, which has won two in a row and nine of its last 12 games.

Christianson's blast capped a five-run fifth that extended the Rainiers' lead to 6-0. Ramon Santiago and Eric Blakeley started the inning with one-out singles and Jamal Strong walked to load the bases. A groundout by Shin-Soo Choo plated a run and Steve Sparks intentionally walked Chris Snelling to get to Christianson, who hit his fourth homer of the season.

Blakeley went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Santiago added two hits and scored twice for the Rainiers.

Seeking his third straight win, Sparks (4-2) surrendered six runs on six hits in five innings wiht three walks and two strikeouts. Mike Rouse had an RBI double and recently demoted Keith Ginter added a run-scoring single for Sacramento, which lost for just the second time in six games. --Daren Smith/MLB.com

What does it have to take to show they have 4 better starters in Tacoma RIGHT NOW!!!!

[Porter]

In the blink of an eye, San Antonio's Bobby Livingston went from the cusp of Texas League history to the loser's column, as the Tulsa Drillers broke up his perfect game with a seven-run eighth inning, beating the Missions, 7-2, Tuesday afternoon at Drillers Stadium.

Livingston, the Seattle Mariners' fourth-round pick in 2001, set down the first 21 batters he faced before Tulsa's cleanup hitter, Sean Barker, lined a full-count pitch into left field to start the eighth. And from there, the wheels fell off for San Antonio.

Corey Slavik and Alvin Colina reached on consecutive errors before Jayson Nix singled to score Barker. Livingston was lifted with a 2-1 lead intact, but Renee Cortez entered the game and promptly uncorked a wild pitch allowing the tying run to score. After a walk, Douglas Bernier drove home Gustavo Escobar with a sacrifice fly to give Tulsa a 3-2 lead.

Following another walk and a strikeout, Ryan Spilborghs hit a bases-loaded double to score two more runs. Barker then finished what he started by singling home Spilborghs and Tony Miller for a 7-2 lead.

Tulsa starter Christian Parker, whose own solid outing was overshadowed by Livingston's performance, left one out too early to benefit from the seven-run explosion. He went 7 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run on eight hits while striking out six. The left-hander's league-leading ERA of 1.19 didn't budge.

Bobby Seay (1-0) took over for Parker with two outs in the top of the eighth and worked a perfect ninth to pick up his first win of the season.

Livingston (5-3) was saddled with the loss, despite allowing just one earned run on two hits over seven-plus innings while fanning five.

Designated hitter Nathan Espy was 2-for-3 and drove in both Missions runs.

Only two perfect games have been recorded in the 107-year history of the Texas League. Ed Cole threw one for Galveston against Tulsa in 1935, and Shreveport's Dave Wilhelmi pulled off the feat against Arkansas in 1983. -- Jason Ratliff/MLB.com

Livingston has been pitching well in AA and should be called up to AAA anytime now. He had a perfect game thru 7.

[Fullerton Titans]

Under 3 you mean... but yeah Moss has ML-experience too. He would make a great call up. But those other two would be even better

[Porter]

Moss is now over 4 since that post hes been in a little slump. Id still prefer Campillo or Felix.

[Porter]

Beavers best Rainiers, 4-1
July 8, 2005

Jon Knott was a double short of the cycle and scored the go-ahead run as Portland defeated Tacoma, 4-1, on Thursday night at PGE Park.
Knott, who went 3-for-3, drew a walk off reliever Jared Thomas (2-2) to lead off a three-run eighth inning. He went to second on a one-out single by Bobby Scales and scored when Josh Barfield blooped a ground-rule double inside the right-field line. Greg Sain followed with a two-run single to give the Beavers a 4-1 lead.

Tacoma had tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the inning, when Aaron Rifkin, who had three of Tacoma's five hits, led off with his 12th home run.

Knott had given the Beavers the lead with a solo home run off Tacoma starter Chris Buglovsky in the fourth inning. Buglovsky allowed the lone run on four hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Portland starter Clay Hensley turned in another solid outing, but wound up with his 11th no-decision of the season. The homer was the only run Hensley gave up in seven-plus innings. He permitted four hits, had six strikeouts and did not walk a batter.

Jason Kershner (5-3) pitched a perfect eighth inning to earn the win. Closer Brad Baker pitched the ninth and earned his Pacific Coast League-leading 25th save. -- Tim Leonard/MLB.com

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/a...acaaa_poraaa_1

Rainers remain .5 games back of 1st. I need to see Felix's next start at home. considering im 15 minutes from there.

[Porter]

Former 2nd Rounder, Mike Wilson, Making Strides

APPLETON, Wisc. - Whether he's hitting a booming home run, hanging out in the locker room, signing autographs or talking about losing a fly ball, right fielder Mike Wilson always seems to have a big smile on his face.

While this quiet guy is all smiles, he probably felt otherwise a few months ago. For the first two-and-a-half months of the season, many of Wilson's teammates were tearing the cover off the ball. Wilson, a second round pick out of Booker T. Washington High (Tulsa, OK) in 2001, found himself struggling mightily. But things have changed for the Rattlers young right fielder. He has altered his approach and greatly improved his plate patience, which has paid great dividends for him.

"Everything's coming together for him right now," said Wisconsin Timber Rattlers hitting coach Tommy Cruz. "He's doing a lot better, and I'm happy about it because we were a little upset about his approach before."


Wilson entered Friday night's game against Peoria batting .264 with 10 home runs and 43 RBI. That's quite a contrast from early in the season, when he saw his batting average dip to the low .200s.

Wilson is a very different player than he was just a few months ago. Early on, he had very little patience at the plate and would routinely strike out swinging. It was a very frustrating problem given his impressive power and athleticism. When he was striking out with regularity in April and May, his best talents were going to waste far too often.

But Wilson's fortunes have improved as the season has progressed. Gone is the old Mike Wilson who often played the part of the anxious young hitter looking to swing for the fences in every at-bat. Now Wilson has found a new role as one of the Rattlers top hitters, causing problems for every opposing pitching staff.

"Early on I think he was a little too anxious and unsure of how to handle situations," said Wisconsin manager Scott Steinmann. "And now the more at bats he's getting the more confidence he's getting."

The patience is something that has greatly helped Wilson. Now he is having a much easier time seeing the pitches and making better decisions. Early on in the season he focused more on hitting for power and found himself swinging at bad pitches and not making enough contact. Lately, particularly over the past month, he has shown a lot of maturity and become a much tougher out.

"I've just been slowing down, having good pitch selections, just relaxing at the plate and not trying to do too much," said Wilson. "I'm just trying to see my pitches out, see the ball real good and put a good swing on it."

When Wilson was drafted four years back, the Mariners saw him as a power-hitting outfielder with a strong arm in the field. And his stocky and muscular build leads one to the same conclusion. That power is something he's learning to maximize by focusing more on making better contact.

"Tommy (Cruz) just tries to preach to me all the time just take it slow and don't try to do too much, said Wilson. "Because I'm already big and strong just need to let my power work for me."

Cruz also believes Wilson's success stems from his ability to hit the ball to the opposite field, something that the hitting coach has emphasized with Wilson. It's paid off.

Wilson has been giving fans a lot to cheer about lately, both with his improved hitting and his steady defense. And despite looking very intimidating on the field, whether he is belting monster home runs or crashing into the right field wall, Mike Wilson is a softy at heart. All you have to do is look at the smile.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slu...del&type=story

When did it occur to you that weve had hitting prospects the whole time and we were just being quiet about it? Cause all the Pitchers get hurt?

[Porter]

AquaSox Notebook: All-Around Play Improving

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slu...del&type=story

EVERETT, Wash. - Twenty-two games into the season, the Everett AquaSox have a record of 11-11 and are sitting in second place of the Northwest League's West division, six games behind the Vancouver Canadians.

Fresh off a weekend series against the visiting Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in which they took two out of three games, the Sox still have the bulk of the season ahead of them. Things are looking positive after a lukewarm start and several promising young prospects have emerged in the early weeks of the season.

The big news of late has been offense. The AquaSox are leading the league in 10 offensive categories, including team batting average (.276), home runs (17) and RBI (109). During last week's road trip to Boise, Everett took four of their five games and scored a total of 43 runs. Their success against the Hawks carried through the weekend as the Frogs scored 12 runs Saturday and seven more on Sunday. Everett manager Pedro Grifol had expressed concern for his offense prior to the series, but was pleased to see his lineup start to produce.

Its nice to see the lower level guys improving like they are cause were going to need them in a couple of years.

[MarinersFan87]

I figured it was sort of relevant to this, but is Grover retarded? What is the point of taking Chris Snelling out of Tacoma, where he was hitting around .375 and stick him on the bench? Either start him (at the least) every 3 days or send him back to Tacoma. It is useless to sit a talent like Snelling on the bench when he still needs more seasoning.

[Porter]

Trading Randy Winn would help...

[MarinersFan87]

Yes, but leave Snelling in Tacoma until then.

[Porter]

I say start Snelling now and leave Winn on the bench or hell im sure Snelling knows how to catch a damn ball cause he can hit better than Olivo in his deathbed.

He makes M's Fan's resort to Crown Royal i swear.