Finally moving away from Pablo Ozuna, Octavio Dotel achieved a feat Tuesday night Bobby Jenks hadn't reached since
Sept. 2, 2006:
He struck out the side in the ninth inning.
In a Steve Nebraska-like performance
Wednesday night, Dotel only needed 10 pitches to get it done. Dotel's record as a closer is spotty, as he only was good for 22-of-28 opportunities in Oakland in 2004, and was a key part in the A's second-half fade, as
his Baseball-Reference.com page's sponsor would suggest.
But as far as we're concerned, so far, so good.
********************
Now, back to the spats.I heard about Orlando Cabrera and Jermaine Dye's spat during and after the eighth inning, and I can't say I understand where Dye is coming from in this instance.
Sure, there was another situation this year in which a Cabrera steal of third might have hurt more than it helped.
On May 31 with the Sox down 2-0 with two outs, Cabrera stole third while Carlos Quentin took strike two. Quentin ended up striking out.
In that instance, taking the chance of distracting the hitter was a risk too great to take, especially since Cabrera's run wouldn't be the one that mattered.
So maybe Cabrera's reputation preceded him a bit here in Dye's opinion, but Cabrera was justified by both the means and the end for the following reasons:
No. 1: It was a ridiculously easy steal off Ramon Ramirez.
No. 2: There was one out in a one-run game, and Cabrera went from needing a single to score to needing as little as ... a balk. Hmm....
No. 3: Had he been on second, the Royals' defense would've looked more normal with Jim Thome at the plate, and he might've grounded out instead of singling.
No. 4: It's possible the steal rattled Ramirez to the point where he would balk in the go-ahead run.
So hats off to Cabrera for some excellent baserunning, and let's hope that this doesn't brew into something bigger. Cabrera left the clubhouse early -- both
Mark Gonzalez and
Joe Cowley noted it, not just the latter -- but Dye and Ozzie Guillen seem to consider it no big deal.
********************
Revisiting the bullpen, D.J. Carrasco (pictured right) -- not Ehren Wassermann or, more gratefully, Esteban Loaiza --
was the lucky winner of the bullpen spot vacated by Bobby Jenks.
Carrasco adds another former Royal to the Sox bullpen, which is scary. His
major-league numbers are thoroughly mediocre at best, and while
his Triple-A numbers are solid (23 strikeouts to seven walks, 21 hits over 22+ innings), they aren't unprecedented either.
He can work multiple innings, so he's basically a third mop-up guy. The book, as far as I've gathered from seeing him a couple times, is that he throws his fastball from a couple different arm slots and goes for grounders.
********************
Minor league roundup (a.k.a. Happy Super Pitching Bonanza Time):- Charlotte 4, Rochester 1 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Clayton Richard pitched six strong innings, with a solo homer providing the only run. He allowed four hits and a walk, striking out five.
- Josh Fields went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in his first game back at Triple-A.
- Fernando Cortez homered and drove in two.
- Charlotte 4, Rochester 0 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Jack Egbert threw a two-hitter, striking out seven without walking a batter. He needed only 80 pitches.
- Josh Fields went 2-for-3 with a double, walk, run scored and strikeout.
- Javier Castillo went 2-for-3 with an RBI; Nick Blasi drove in two.
- Carolina 3, Birmingham 1
- Justin Cassell allowed one run on three hits over seven innings, striking out six. The run was a solo homer.
- Fernando Hernandez took the loss, allowing three hits and two runs in an inning's work.
- Robert Hudson had three hits and drove in the lone run.
- Winston-Salem 9, Frederick 3 (11 innings)
- Anthony Carter allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings, with two walks and one strikeout.
- Jacob Rasner (3 1/3 IP) and Kanekoa Teixeira (1 2/3 IP) worked five scoreless innings in relief.
- Brandon Allen drew five walks; John Shelby doubled and drove in three.
- C.J. Retherford went 3-for-6 with a double and an RBI.
- Kannapolis 6, Columbus 1
- Johnnie Lowe allowed one unearned run over five innings, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out five.
- Hector Santiago, Eric Stephenson and Tyson Corley shut Columbus down the rest of the way.
- Mark Fleisher went 3-for-5, homering twice and driving in five.
- Jim Gallagher went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
- Orem 2, Great Falls 1
- Frank Rosario allowed two runs over five innings.
- Drew O'Neil and Ronald Morales held Orem scoreless despite allowing six baserunners in three innings.
- Johny Celis went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
- Bristol vs. Princeton PPD