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Spring Training

Cactus Fever

Wednesday, March 12
Kansas City 7 at Seattle 6
Peoria Sports Complex
Temp: 67 at 1:10 first pitch

Subs Submarine Mariners

It ain’t over til the bat baby swings. All five of them. Seattle carried a 6-3 lead into the ninth inning. Cue the heroics-in-waiting. A Joey Wiemer single and Tyler Tolbert homer made it 6-5. Jac Caglianone singled and Gavin Cross tripled him home. 6-6. The comeback was complete when Stone Russell singled home Cross to make the final 7-6. Full confession: I was in the team store buying a cap and t-shirt during the four-run rally. Hey, the spring training fashion line was calling.

The Mariners opened the scoring in the first with a bases loaded Jorge Polanco single driving in Julio Rodriguez, who’d singled. Julio was just warming up. Bases loaded again an inning later, Rodriguez jumped on a Ross Stripling offering for the Grand Salami served to left center and a 5-0 lead. Stripling’s pitching line: five hits and four runs in two innings with one walk and one strikeout.

Freddie Fermin tripled in the third and a Jonathan India single cashed in the Royals’ first run. Kansas City tacked on a run in the fifth, though it was painful. Bobby Witt Jr. was hit on the left forearm with a two-out pitch from Andres Munoz. Tolbert replaced Witt, stole second and scored on Vinnie Pasquantino’s double. In the sixth, Cross opened with a single and eventually scored on a Fermin sac fly. Seattle got that run back in the bottom of the inning when Robles cued the baseball one foot inside the left field foul pole and one foot over the 340 sign for a Willie Mosconi trick shot home run and 6-3 lead. That set the stage for KC and the Sunshine (Boy) Band hits of the ninth.

Ballpark Buzz … X-rays on Witt’s forearm after the game proved negative. It was ruled a contusion. … Seattle starter Brian Woo wowed the crowd with a solid three innings of scoreless work, allowing three hits while recording five strikeouts. … In the seventh inning, Dominic Canzone hit a laser looking to land in left. But Tolbert crawled the ladder to stab the ball for an out. … Attendance: 6,914. … My drink of choice today: the Leinenklugel Summer Shandy.

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Spring Training

Cactus Fever

Tuesday, March 11
Cleveland 4 at Los Angeles 10
Camelback Ranch
Temp: 77 at 1:05 first pitch

Dodgers Walk All Over Guardians

After two innings, the LA had a commanding 8-zip lead, thanks to four hits and eight walks. Their six-spot in the first came courtesy of a two-run blast from Tommy Edman, a two-run double off the bat of Max Muncy and bases-loaded walks to Shohei Ohtani and Edman as they sent 12 men to the plate. Edman’s free pass was the fourth straight as Cleveland hurlers lost the plate. Ohtani had three at bats before the 8th and 9th spots in the Cleveland order came up for the first time in the third.

To be fair, this was second stringer day for the Guardians. It was not a split-squad game but Cleveland’s starting lineup was without Bo Naylor, Carlos Santana, Juan Brito, Jose Ramirez, Brayan Rocchio, Steven Kwan and Lane Thomas. LF Will Brennan and 1B Kyle Manzardo were the only Cleveland starters to play.

Did I say there were a lot of walks? Cleveland pitchers walked ten Dodgers in the first three innings. Starter Doug Nikhazy logged four of those walks in a forgettable day that saw him allow 7 ER in an inning and two-thirds. Andy Pages’ two-out single in the second cashed in Teoscar and Kiki Hernandez with LA’s seventh and eighth runs. The Hernandez Show continued an inning later when Kiki singled home Teoscar with run number nine. In the fifth, Chris Newell’s sac fly scored Michael Chavis, he of the wild hair, to make it a double-digit Dodger lead, 10-0.

By then the starters for both clubs had subbed out. Cleveland pushed across a pair of runs in the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, Micah Pries tripled into the RF corner to drive in Kahlil Watson before Ralphy scored Pries with a sac fly. In the seventh Guy Lipscomb doubled home Christian Knapszyk. Lipscomb then scored on a Johnathan Rodriguez groundout to make the final 10-4.

Dodger starter Roki Sasaki, in his second spring outing, looked very sharp. He hit 95 and 96 mph consistently in his four scoreless innings of work. Sasaki’s only hit allowed was a lead-off single to Gabriel Arias in the second. Sasaki struck out two, giving him seven strikeouts this spring over seven innings and he has yet to allow a run. Batters are only hitting .182 against him and his WHIP is 0.86.

Ballpark Buzz … Kudos to the Camelback Ranch staff for handing out a program AND a pack of sun screen to each fan. Yes, Martha, the program had a scorecard. Unlike yesterday at Peoria Sports Complex where I had to make my own on the back of a roster sheet. After all, spring training baseball IS having a beer with a ballpark dog and keeping score. One fan told me that’s how he learned math. … As I was driving, the drink of choice today was a blue Gatorade. … Attendance: 10,509. … Tomorrow’s report will be from Peoria with the Royals-Mariners game, my final installment of Cactus Fever for 2025. Looking forward to a Bobby Witt sighting.

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Spring Training

Cactus Fever

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Monday, March 10
Cincinnati 9 at San Diego 3
Peoria Sports Complex
Temp: 78 at 1:10 first pitch

Greene Sharp as Reds Roll

Reds starter Hunter Greene logged four strong innings. allowing two hits and one run, a fourth inning rocket off the bat of Fernando Tatis Jr. that rattled the camera box in CF beside the pitch clock. Greene struck out five to even his Cactus League record at 1-1. Elly De La Cruz drove in TJ Friedl in the first inning before Jeimer Candelario ran into a Michael King offering, drilling it 400 feet to right center onto the lawn for a 3-0 lead. Candelario was swinging for the fences as he barreled up two other deep shots to center that stayed in the yard for outs. The HRs were the first spring jacks for both Tatis Jr. and Candelario.

Greene’s been golden since allowing seven runs in four innings over his first two starts. In two starts since, both lasting four innings, Greene has only given up a total of 4 hits and 1 run while striking out 11. That, folks, is how you shave about 10 runs off a spring ERA (from 15.75 to 6.00). If you’re looking for a SP sleeper in your fantasy draft, grab Greene today. He was consistently hitting 98 and 99 mph on his heater. Fantasy Pros ranks Greene as the 33rd best SP with King at #14. Fantasy Baseball Index has Green at #32 and King at #31.

Gavin Sheets was the Big Kahuna in the fifth inning, hitting a laser beam off the Kona Big Wave beer sign in right into the Padre bullpen. But 3-2 is as close as the Padres would get. Cincy put up crooked numbers on the board, scoring two in each of the next three innings. They all came off singles: Friedl in the sixth, Ricardo Cabrera in the seventh and Blake Dunn in the eighth. Dunn’s hit came with a warning from the surgeon general. It was the hardest hit ball of the day, the missile barely clearing pitcher Bradgley Rodriguez’s head. That may have screened second baseman Niko Goodrum who threw up his glove in self defense in front of his face and still took it in the beak. He went down in a heap, laying facedown for several seconds before moving.

The Padres interrupted the Reds trio of two-run innings with a Jose Iglesias groundout bringing home Goodrum before Niko was knocked out an inning later. Today was King’s first start of the spring. He went 2-and-two-thirds innings before being lifted. The three earned runs he allowed came off three hits and three walks. He struck out one.

Ballpark Buzz … Wobbly pop of choice today was a rudimentary MoMo shanty. That is, mixing Mountain Dew into a Modelo tall boy. I saved the labor for drink number two, opting for a Leinenkugel Summer Shanty. … There were three challenges to umpire calls and the umps won every one. … Manny Machado had two at bats, striking out both times. … Attendance: 5,261.

Categories
Spring Training

Cactus Fever

Sunday, March 10
San Francisco 3 at Seattle 8
Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria
Temp: 78 at 1:10 first pitch

Polanco’s Solo and Slam Slays Giants

Jorge Polanco roughed up San Francisco starter Tommy Romero for five RBIs with a pair of long balls in the first two innings, sending Seattle to an 8-3 win. Polanco’s first-inning blast, a solo shot, cleared the yellow HR line on the black backdrop in center by three feet. His next blast, a grand slam, came an inning later, landing beyond the Cutwater Shirts sign in left after a one-out single by Taylor Trammell and costly walks to Michael Papierski and Dylan Moore. Starter George Kirby picked up the win with two-and-a-third innings of four-hit, two-run ball with 5 strikeouts.

The Mariners’ second baseman also factored in the Mariners seventh run in the fourth. Giant pitcher Carson Seymour was not about to allow a third HR to Polanco when Jorge stepped to the plate with two out. Seymour plunked him but Cal Raleigh made him pay, belting a double to drive in Polanco with his third run of the afternoon. Jorge’s 2-for-2 day has him ripping the ball at a .500 clip (7-for-14) this spring. Raise your hand if Polanco’s fantasy ranking at #236 suddenly became a tempting flyer.

Seattle’s final run was a hard lesson learned for Giant first baseman Tyler Locklear. Jonny Farmelo led off the eighth inning with a high fly foul that sent Locklear angling toward the stands at first. A few feet short of the first row, he reached out and the ball skipped off his mitt. The very next pitch, Farmelo went several barns deep with a homer to right center, prompting a fan behind me to bellow, “That’s on you, 87. Catch the ball!”

The Giants scored two runs in the second when the first three batters, Luis Matos, David Villar and Casey Schmitt, went double-double-single against Kirby. With a wink and a glow, Schmitt’s ninth-inning replacement Jimmy Glowenke went yard in his first spring training at bat for the Giants final run.

Ballpark Buzz … There was a Panda sighting in the sixth inning as 37-year-old Pablo Sandoval, looking very svelte, hit a flare to right for single in the sixth before going down on strikes in the eighth. … Cal Raleigh (6-for-17) went 2-for-3, including a first-inning triple that Giant CF Jung Hoo “Gung Ho” Lee almost ran down in right center, but couldn’t squeeze. … Today’s ballpark shanty of choice was the Deschutes IPA delightfully diluted with Mountain Dew. … Grin and bear it — T-Shirts in the Mariners / Padres Team Store have reached the $45 mark. No supply chain issues there. … Time of game: 2:42. Attendance: 7,572. … It’s great to be back in Cactusville! Stay tuned. I’ll be filing reports Tuesday the 12th (DBacks @ Padres) and Thursday the 14th (Reds @ Rangers).

Categories
Spring Training

CACTUS FEVER / Sun-Feb-23

San Francisco at Oakland … Hohokam Stadium, Mesa … Temp: 60, Mostly sunny

Brantly Brings Home Winner

An 8th-inning single by Rob Brantly snapped a 3-3 tie, bringing home Brice Johnson with the winning run as the Giants topped the Athletics 5-3. Jacob Gonzalez would score an insurance run for the Giants in the top of the 9th when he scored on a Parker Dunshee wild pitch. Dunshee would take the loss (0-1) while Sam Wolff recorded the win (1-0). The Giants improve to 1-1 while the A’s remain winless at 0-3. They lost their other split squad game Sunday 7-3 to the DBacks.

The Giants got on the board first in the 3rd when Abiatal Avelino touched them all with his first cactus dinger, a solo shot laced down the left field line inside the 340-ft foul pole. The next batter Jamie Westbrook walked and came around to score when A’s third baseman Matt Chapman missed second base with a missile throw, trying to nab Westbrook at second after Chapman fielded a Jacob Gonzalez ground ball.

The A’s tied it up in their half of the 3rd when DH Mark Canha hit a sharp, clutch, two-out single up the middle to score Austin Allen and Chapman. 

Giants CF Joey Rickard, who went 2-for-3 on the day with a double, singled home Westbrook who’d doubled earlier to go up 3-2 in the top of the 5th. But the A’s answered right back in the bottom half when, after Tony Kemp fouled off 5 pitches, he launched a long bomb to right-center into the bullpen. Unfortunately Nate Orf was caught stealing a couple of pitches before Kemp’s blow, negating an A’s lead. 

Bunts, Bits & Bites … Mike Fiers started for the A’s. He of course exposed the Houston Astro sign-stealing scandal. The fans were receptive to him as he retired all six Giants he faced, striking out Wilmer Flores. … The Giants fans didn’t travel that well. San Fran is typically a tough cactus ticket to get your hands on but there were a lot of empty seats down either line. … A’s RF Luis Barrera got a long look today, the only player in the game not to be replaced. He didn’t disappoint, banging out 3 singles in 4 at bats. Kemp added a single with his homer to go 2-for-3 on the day. … Airline flights overhead averaged 5-6 per inning. Drink of choice: Blue Gatorade. My better half and I sat in Section 200 — great seats behind home plate. Nice views of, from left-to-right, McDowell, Red and Usery Mountains. On the menu: one huge jumbo dog, a beyond-the-bun deal at $7.50.