posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 1:36 AM
by
Jim
Ready or not, here he comes
You'd think that
Toby Hall replacing Gustavo Molina on the 25-man roster would make me the happiest guy in the world, but I'm a little nervous that the Cubs are going to take advantage of his bad arm. They have some guys who can run -- Alfonso Soriano, Jacque Jones, Ryan Theriot to name a few.
Fortunately, Hall benefits from good timing, with Mark Buehrle taking the mound for the Sox. Having somebody who can hold runners makes it a lot easier of a decision for Ozzie. It'd be a much more difficult decision if Jose Contreras were starting, I think.
Of course, Buehrle will have to overcome some issues of his own -- like
the 10 earned-run performance in Wrigley Field last year.
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Take note: Despite evidence to the contrary, Ozzie Guillen says
Brian Anderson is not a baseball player.
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Things will be a little hectic over here the next few days as I return to the motherland for the weekend. I'll be at Sunday's Sox-Cubs game at Wrigley, and at Monday's Sox-A's game, so if you happen to see a guy wearing a road Canseco #31 jersey or
a Profundo! shirt at either game, feel free to tell me what this site means to you in 50 words or less (and "jack squat" is an acceptable answer).
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Minor league round-up:- Columbus 8, Charlotte 7
- Charlie Haeger got roughed up after two solid starts, but at least 1) three walks in five innings is reasonable, and 2) he didn't allow a homer. Just a lot of hits.
- Jerry Owens had three hits with an RBI, two runs scored, and even an outfield assist; Brian Anderson went 0-for-3, but he did draw two walks and avoided striking out.
- Wiki Gonzalez had a day to forget: 0-for-5 with a passed ball and a throwing error; Josh Fields committed his sixth error while going 0-for-4.
- Ehren Wassermann pitched a perfect inning, his eighth straight scoreless outing, but Ryan Bukvich blew the save.
- Montgomery 7, Birmingham 4
- Kris Honel had another wild outing, walking six in under five innings, but the bullpen blew this game. Ryan Wing and Corwin Malone gave up four runs over the last two frames.
- Jason Bourgeois raised his average above .300 with a 3-for-4 days, smacking two doubles.
- Chris Getz also had two hits, and Thomas Collaro hit his eighth homer of the year.
- Lynchburg 5, Winston-Salem 2
- Aaron Cunningham, Victor Mercedes and Tyler Reves had a hit apiece for the Warthogs. That was it.
- After two strong outings, Ryan Rodriguez was hit hard, giving up 10 hits in six innings. Brian Omogrosso and John Torres combined to strike out five over two scoreless innings of relief.
- Kannapolis 8, Lexington 7 (11 innings)
- With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Chris Carter tied the game with a three-run homer, his eighth of the year. He had four RBI on the night.
- John Shelby Jr. went 3-for-6 with a double and scored two runs, including the game-winner.
- Matt Long had a poor start, allowing five hits and four walks in four innings. Somehow, he only allowed three.
- Steven Spurgeon and Kanekoa Texeira pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to stop the bleeding and get the win.