Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "pedro figueroa"

River Cats down Redbirds for second come-from-behind win in two days

2012-08-04T02:01:55Z

With rumors swirling that Cats phenom pitcher Dan Straily would be called up to the big club at any moment, Tyson Ross got the call to replace Straily in the starting lineup for Thursday’s tilt against the Memphis Redbirds.

With nearly the same type of clutch hitting as the night before, Ross’s fine performance and solid relief from James Timmons, Pedro Figueroa and Rich Thompson out of the bullpen, the Sacramento River Cats beat the visiting Redbirds 4-3 in front of 8,762 faithful in another exciting contest at Raley Field.

Even though it was the late clutch hitting of the Cats that helped pull out the victory, Cats manager Darren Bush couldn’t let the performance of his starter go unnoticed.

“I thought Tyson threw the ball really well,” stated Bush, who is in his second year as manager. “All his pitches were right around the zone. No big messes. ... with very good action on his pitches.”

With Ross pitching for the Cats and John Gast on the hill for the Redbirds, the game started as nearly the opposite — at least in pace — of last night’s affair. Both of the starters go very slowly from one pitch to the next, which sets up a long night at the park.

After giving up a double in the first and a single and a walk in the second, Ross finally gave up some runs to Memphis.

With one out in the third, Redbird right fielder Shane Robinson hit a line drive into right, which was later followed by one out with a single by third baseman Steven Hill. After a walk to designated hitter Mark Hamilton, second baseman Eugenio Velez hit a sharp grounder straight up the middle that scooted just past Ross and into centerfield for a two-run single that gave the Redbirds an early 2-0 lead.

Ross didn’t allow another run until the sixth. With one out, Redbird shortstop Pete Kozma singled, and one batter later leadoff hitter Adron Chambers hit a soft roller to Green at shortstop. Green fielded it, but made an errant throw to first. Kozma scored on the play, but when Chambers barely rounded first base, Daric Barton hustled over and made the tag for the third out of the inning.

After the sixth inning, Memphis had a 3-0 lead.

Up to this point, Redbird starter Gast was solid, if not spectacular. Through the sixth he had allowed no runs on four hits, two walks and five strikeouts.

Gast would finally start to show some wear as the Cats threatened in the seventh, when Anthony Recker, who pinch-hit for Derek Norris, lined a grounder into left field for a leadoff single. After Barton walked, Gast was removed from the game in favor of Nick Greenwood.

Greenwood never found his groove, as he walked the first batter he saw. A fielder’s choice and strikeout later, Colin Cowgill doubled into left. Barton, Wes Timmons and Jermaine Mitchell scored on the hit and Sacramento tied the score.

After an intentional walk to Josh Donaldson, Kila Ka’aihue ripped a shot into right that scored Cowgill and put the Cats ahead for the first time in the contest.

Bush spoke about the timely hitting.

“Recker leading off the seventh, and then us getting some big hits,” said Bush. “Cowgill with the bases loaded hitting the ball in the gap that scored three, and then K.K. (Kila Ka’aihue) coming up, after they intentionally walk J.D. (Josh Donaldson) — lefty on lefty — another big hit. It was good. It was a good day.”

The Redbirds tried to rally in the eighth when Velez, who had two previous singles, singled again and stole second and third to give Memphis a runner in the scoring position with two outs.

The threat was abruptly ended when Timmons made a great diving stop of a grounder that seemed destined to end up in right field. He was able to get up and throw Bryan Anderson out at first and stop the Redbirds rally cold, before dusting himself off and heading to the dugout.

“That was huge,” said Bush. “That’s the tying run, right there. And he goes over and ranges way out to his left and makes a great play. A game-saving play.”

For Timmons, it just gives him more leverage in convincing Bush to let him play shortstop, as Timmons’ career winds down.

“It’s just one of those plays,” said Timmons. “The ball’s hit and you just react. The funny thing is that I got on Bushy the game before for not letting me play shortstop. I wanted to play shortstop.”

Timmons was only half-kidding. He’s kind of a modern-day Campy Campaneris. He’s even pitched this year — his 10th in professional baseball.

Rich Thompson came in to close out the ninth. After Chambers walked, he was running to second when Luis Montanez struck out. Montanez didn’t slide, and was easily caught stealing.

Thompson then struck out Matt Adams, looking to earn his second save of the year.

Timmons may have made a game-saving stop, but, as always, gives a lot of credit to Bush for the team’s never-say-die attitude.

“It starts with Bush,” said Timmons. “It’s been like that for two years now. He has confidence in us and we go off of that. He doesn’t panic. We don’t do anything different. And we’ve done it enough times where you almost expect to do it and when you don’t, it’s like, wow, what happened?”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF:

David Alvarez Photography

23-year old Straily pitches gem on first outing for River Cats

2012-06-23T05:56:00Z

With all the pitching changes on the Oakland A’s staff that have already occurred this season, you don’t really know who may be called up from one level for good or get a one-time start on the roster.

So when Dan Straily took the mound on Thursday evening to throw his first pitches against hitters at the Triple-A level, even though he had an incredible strikeout-hit ratio, no one, not even Straily, knew quite what to expect.

Straily admitted that maybe he had to shake off a little case of the jitters early in the game.

“I was a little nervous there early on,” said Straily. “It was nice I was able to watch a couple of games, and settled in that way. But going out there and towing the rubber is completely different.”

On a cool, crisp 65-degree evening at Raley Field, the local boys of summer put a whooping on the Fresno Grizzlies, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, 6-0, in front of 8,521 chilly, happy fans.

After a lead-off single by Grizzlies center fielder Skyler Stromsmoe in the opening frame, Cats pitcher Daniel Straily, who was just called up Wednesday from Double-A Midland, sat down the next three hitters, two of them on strikeouts.

Straily had been mowing them down for Midland before being sent up to the River Cats. In 85.1 innings pitched this season, he struck out 108 batters and only walked 23.

His counterpart, Matt Yourkin, didn’t have the same kind of luck. After getting the first two hitters to fly out to right field, Yourkin walked Chris Carter, gave up a single to Kila Ka’aihue and then a walk to Michael Taylor to load the bases with two outs.

That’s when the hottest hitter of the last six games in the entire Pacific Coast League strode to the plate. Brandon Hicks, who had five home runs and 14 RBI in that span, roped a 1-2 pitch screaming over the left-center field wall for his first grand slam of the season.

“Tonight, I got myself in a hole early with the bases loaded,” said Hicks. “I swung at a couple of pitches in the dirt. I was able to work it back, and I got a good pitch when he made a mistake and I was able to drive it.”

Make that 18 RBI in the last seven games and six home runs in the same seven games!

“I think I’m just putting myself in a good position with my setup and everything and seeing the ball real well,” continued Hicks. “Whenever I got into a hole early in the year, I was a little jumpy and my head was moving a lot and I wasn’t able to see the ball like I am (able to) right now. I think that’s the key.”

Courtesy of Denny’s, everyone in attendance received a coupon for a free grand slam breakfast. Sweet deal!

The Cats would strike again in the fourth when Stephen Parker hit a shot into left-center that looked like it would be caught at the warning track at best. The ball kept going, and drifted over the wall for a two-run bomb that gave Sacramento an early 6-0 lead.

All the while, 23-year-old Straily was mowing them down.

In the second through fifth innings, he faced the minimum number of batters and had six strikeouts along the way, including striking out the side in the third.

In the top of the sixth, home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott ejected Grizzlies starting pitcher Yourkin for yelling at him from the dugout. Yourkin must have known he deserved it, as he walked quietly through the center field wall and to the showers.

By the time Straily was pulled after seven strong, he had only given up three hits, three walks, and struck out eight. Quite an impressive performance for the young man from Redlands, Calif.

“I got to clean it up a little bit, but I got the first one out of the way and I’m very happy with it,” said the 23-year-old.

How did the young man make his way up the ranks so quickly?

“You just keep working hard and everything takes care of itself,” said Straily. “I’m not trying to sound cliche at all. I showed up every day wherever I was at and had a great time. I worked hard and I feel very fortunate to be here this soon.”

The only real Grizzlies threat after Straily was pulled was in the eighth, when Fresno loaded the bases off Cats reliever Pedro Figueroa with one out. Figueroa settled in and retired the next two batters to shut down the Grizz.

Rich Thompson came in the close out the ninth, and sent the fans home happy.

Cats manager Darren Bush has seen a lot of top-flight pitching prospects come through town, but I’m not sure he saw this coming.

“He did a great job,” said Bush. “His first outing in Triple-A, facing a very good team on the other side and he went right at them. You could tell he didn’t have the best stuff that he could have had, but he made the pitches when he needed to in big situations. So, congratulations to him. Outstanding job!”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF:

David Alvarez Photography

Cats lose another pitcher's duel, fall to Tacoma 1-0 on solo home run

2012-04-21T02:23:34Z

Coming into Thursday night’s contest at Raley Field, the Sacramento River Cats were on a roll. As winners of four of their last five, the team’s confidence was riding high, especially considering the pitching staff had only given up seven runs in the last five games.

All that changed with the Tacoma Rainiers in town. They brought their ace, Anthony Vasquez, who had a streak of nine consecutive quality starts on the line dating back to last July, pitched a gem and kept Sacramento’s bats confused by changing speeds often. The pitching performance allowed the Rainiers to win the game 1-0 on a beautiful 79 degree evening in front of 4,304 fans.

For the River Cats, the action got started in the bottom of the first.

With two outs and a man on first, a horrible call was made when Michael Taylor drilled a sinking line drive into right field. The ball clearly hit the grass before right fielder Chih-Hsien Chiang scooped it up, but the right field umpire called it a catch.

That’s all it took for Cats manager Darren Bush to come sprinting out of the dugout and racing straight up to the umpire to complain. It appeared that, not only everyone in the press box knew it was a clean hit, but so did almost every player in the field. Bush couldn’t get umpire Stu Scheurwater to change his mind, and the inning ended.

The third inning brought a little excitement for both teams. The first batter up for Tacoma was Guillermo Quiroz, who belted a shot over the left field wall for a monster solo shot.

In the bottom half of the frame, the Cats had two outs and one on when Colin Cowgill, who just joined the team after being sent down by the A’s, sent a ball screaming toward deep left field. Scott Savastano had to leap at the base of the wall and made a great catch, snatching the ball just as it was clearing the fence.

Cowgill seemed to be the only River Cat that could halfway figure out Rainiers starter Vasquez.

“I played against him last year,” he said. “He’s got a .90 (ERA) for a reason. He’s got a good fastball that tails away, good change-ups, cutters and works both sides of the plate. I was just fortunate enough to get the barrel on a few. I wish I would have done a little more damage with them.”

After three complete innings, the Rainiers led 1-0.

It was quite the pitcher’s duel through six innings. Tacoma’s starter Anthony Vasquez was solid as he only gave up four hits, gave up no walks and struck out three.

For Cats starter Fabio Castro, the pitching line was very similar. He had also given up four hits but had seven strikeouts. The big difference being the solo homer he gave up in the third.

Finally in the eighth, the Cats started a rally of their own. Brandon Hicks walked with one out, and a batter later, Cowgill, who had hit the ball hard in all three of his previous at-bats, smashed a liner down the third baseline that bounced off the glove of Vinnie Catricala and rolled down the line. It went far enough for Hicks to get to third and Cowgill to second.

Cue the Rainiers reliever. Out with starter Vasquez and in came Oliver Perez. With a 1-2 count on him, Brandon Moss, who scored the winning run two days ago, struck out looking to end the inning.

In the ninth, Derek Norris managed to squeeze out a walk, but that was all the Cats could muster. Adam Rosales struck out for the final out of the game.

Castro had a great performance. Castro’s final line was six innings pitched, four hits, one earned run, three walks and seven strikeouts.

Bush was very pleased with the outing.

“He threw the ball well and moved it around,” he said. “One mistake. He fell behind in the count, and the guy hit a home run. Solo home runs usually don’t hurt you. Tonight it hurt us. He threw the ball outstanding. Bullpen did a great job. The defense played well, but we just couldn’t get the hits.”

Bush was not surprised at the outing that Vasquez had for Tacoma.

“He changes speeds well,” he said. “He moves the ball around in the zone. He gets guys off balance and stays off their barrel. He does a good job of it.”

How did Bush think Cowgill did in his first start with the team?

“Just like I remember him,” he said.

Cowgill, like every new player that comes into the clubhouse at Raley Field, was welcomed with open arms.

“It’s a great feel,” Cowgill said. “Great teammates, great coaching staff,all the way around. It’s just a great clubhouse. There’s a positive attitude. This team is going to do damage in the future.”

PHOTOS COURTESTY OF:

RON NABITY PHOTOGRAPHY

http://nabityphotos.com

River Cats win third in a row, beat Reno Aces 2-1 in pitcher's duel

2012-04-18T02:02:13Z

In the first two series of the year the Sacramento River Cats won both of them by winning three of the four games played in each. In the third series of the year, it was a close one, but the Cats beat the Reno Aces 2-1 in a classic pitchers’ duel on Monday night at Raley Field.

The Aces were the first to scratch a run onto the huge Raley Field scoreboard when Ryan Wheeler ripped a 3-0 pitch from Cats starter Jarrod Parker that went screaming over the right field fence on a rope for a solo home run.

Parker was solid though three innings of work. One-third of the way through the game, he had four strikeouts, three hits and a walk.

In the bottom half of the third, Cats left fielder Grant Green smoked a line drive down the right field line for a clean triple. Hopes were raised when the 244-pound Chris Carter strolled to the plate with a man on and two outs. Carter tapped a roller to the third baseman, but Wheeler threw the ball up the line and pulled first baseman Randy Ruiz off the bag. Ruiz’s tag missed Carter as he ran by on his way to first. The play scored the Cats’ first run as Green easily made his way to home plate.

Even though he was working deep into counts, Parker was still dealing. Through five, he had seven strikeouts and had only given up four hits.

His counterpart, Chris Jakubauskas, was having a great game himself. He had given up only three hits through five.

A scare came in the sixth. After a couple of singles off of Parker, Coach Bush decided to have a mound chat with him in an attempt to settle him down.

After a fly out, Taylor Harbin hit a 1-1 pitch to the left side of shortstop Adam Rosales. Rosales scooped it up and threw it home. Cats catcher Derek Norris was ready for the throw at the plate and tagged David Winfree as he tried to score from third on the play. The next hitter grounded out to end the frame and the game remained tied.

In the bottom half of the sixth, with one out, designated hitter Brandon Moss scorched a double into right field. Michael Taylor walked to the plate and promptly took a 2-0 pitch into right for a seeing-eye single that put runners on first and third with only one out.

That’s when Norris stroked the pitch into deep enough right field that Moss could score from third. On the play, Taylor was thrown out at second as he tried to get the extra base.

Norris said he’s motivated by playing with such a great group of guys this season.

“We have a really good hitting team and a really good pitching team,” Norris said. “You see the guy in front of you get a base hit, your confidence goes up that you can get a hit as well, so I think that is a big part of it. I’ve hit behind (Michael) Taylor most of the year and I don’t even know - he’s batting like .900 or something. When I see him up there and he gets a line drive base hit, that gives me all the confidence in the world to go up there and do the same exact thing.”

“With a group of great guys, it makes it easier to come out here and play. A great manager, great coaching staff, makes everything so much easier when everything goes smooth like it is.”

The aforementioned Michael Taylor is killing it early this season. Taylor is the team leader in hits with 19, runs batted in with 11, and an outstanding .413 batting average.

On this night, he went 3-for-4 with all three hits being solid line drives.

Even though Taylor didn’t have an awe-inspiring spring training, he was hard at work refining his swing like he does every year.

“I came into this year focused on my process and what I wanted to do,” started Taylor. “Spring training and whatnot, I kind of went back to how I always look at spring training, which is getting ready for the season, kind of building your swing and learning what you need to do so you can be consistent on a day-in day-out basis. I went to the spring and might have got five hits all spring, but I knew I was right where I wanted to be. I’ve rolled that over to here and luckily some of the balls I’ve hit hard are falling.”

Taylor believes the future is bright for the team.

“This might be the best team I’ve been on in the last three years I’ve been here… I think we have a really great bullpen. It might be the hardest throwing bullpen I’ve ever been a part of. Everyone seems to up there around 95 or 96,” Taylor said.

“Anyone on any night can come in and shut the door for us and that’s fantastic. Overall, we have a really solid team with young prospects and older guys that have been here before. So far, it’s been a recipe for success!”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF:

JOHN HERNANDEZ