INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

In this spot, I will try to highlight some of the game performances that stand out, any types of streaks I come across, or anything else for that matter that I notice from the box scores that is of interest.  I'm sure I won't notice all of the quirky plays or standout performances, so if anyone wants to add to the list or send me updates when something of note happens during a game, feel free to leave a comment below or send me an email or message on the Dynasty website.  I just made a cursory glance at all of the boxes listed on our league page.  From here forward, I will try to follow along as the games are played and make this a weekly feature.  So again, if anything of note happens that you want to make sure is included here, please just drop me a line.  Here is what I've come up with for the first installment of Inside the Box Score.

While the May 10th game between the San Diego Vipers and Detroit Buckeyes was featured in the Game-of-the-Week blog, three other games played on that date were very interesting as well.

Seattle traveled to Pittsburgh to take on the Crawfords.  The Lightning led in the game 8-0 after just four innings, and 9-2 after six.  But Pittsburgh stormed back, scoring six in the bottom of the 6th to pull within one, then plating four more in the 7th to go up 12-9.  That would be the final as relievers Mike Fetters and Bob Howry didn't allow Seattle to score in their final two innings.

In Tampa Bay, Houston starter Robert Person took a no-hitter into the 7th inning.  He had to leave the game with an injury after getting two outs in the inning and the Buffaloes up 1-0.  He failed to allow a hit.  His line for the game:

Houston Buffaloes

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	BF	ERA
R. Person	6.2	0	0	0	2	7	0	21	7.13

Unfortunately for him and the Buffaloes, Arthur Rhodes blew the game in the 9th and Houston lost the game 2-1.  And on a side not, check out Person's leg kick.  He really got that back leg up there on his follow through.  Maybe that's how he got hurt?

And on May 10th in Miami, the league leading Panthers took a 4-3 lead into the top of the 9th against the visiting St. Louis Sliders, only to see an error by sure-handed SS Omar Vizquel lead to three unearned runs off reliever Esteban Loaiza.  The Sliders won the game 6-4.  The next night, Loaiza failed to get the job done again, giving up a run in the 10th for his second consecutive loss.  In that game, two players from the Sliders had games to forget.

St. Louis Sliders

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
K. Caminiti 3B	4	0	0	0	1	4	.234
S. Spencer LF	4	0	0	0	0	4	.270

The Miami starting pitchers had only nine strikeouts in the game combined, and eight of them were by these two free-swingers.

Andres Gallaraga also wore the Golden Sombrero in a May 7th game between his Washington Senators and the St. Louis Sliders.  Two days later, his teammate achieved the feat in the same series.

Washington Senators

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
A. Galarraga 1B	4	0	0	0	0	4	.236

Washington Senators

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
T. Shumpert SS-2B	4	0	0	0	0	4	.207

John Vander Wal did those four players one better in his game on May 11 as he struck out FIVE times.  His bat must have had a hole in it.

San Francisco Quakers

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
J. Vander Wal 1B	5	0	0	0	0	5	.331

In that same game, his teammate from the Quakers, Mike Bordick, had basically the opposite game of Vander Wals.  Bordick's line from that game was as follows:

San Francisco Quakers

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
M. Bordick SS	4	2	4	4	0	0	.340

Among Bordick's four hits were a double and two home runs.  Unfortunately, despite his monster performance, the Quakers still lost to the Cincinnati Red Stockings 8-7.

The day prior in the series saw Nomar Garciaparra of the Red Stockings lead his team to a 12-2 route of San Francisco with a five hit game, including a pair of doubles.

Cincinnati Red Stockings

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
N. Garciaparra SS	5	4	5	3	0	0	.392

Here are some other HITTING PERFORMANCES of note from the past couple weeks of action:

Cincinnati RF Jay Buhner's only hit in four plate appearances from the May 7th game against the San Diego Vipers was a homer.  He walked his other three trips to the plate.  The Red Stockings won the game 7-5.

Cincinnati Red Stockings

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
J. Buhner RF	1	2	1	1	3	0	.208

Houston's Bobby Higginson, in only his fourth game with the Buffaloes, collects four hits in his May 7th contest, including a double and a homer in Houston's 9-7 victory over Atlanta.

Houston Buffaloes

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
B. Higginson LF	5	3	4	3	0	0	.375

A pair of Vipers had big days in their May 9th tilt against Cincinnati.  Hitting 2nd and 3rd in the lineup, both Ray Durham and Bobby Abreu scorched Red Stocking pitching, combining to go 9-12 with five runs and four RBI.  Abreu knocked three doubles in the contest, while Durham had a single, two triples and a homer.  He threw in a stolen base for good measure.

San Diego Vipers

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
R. Durham 2B	6	3	4	2	0	0	.261
B. Abreu RF	6	2	5	2	0	1	.282

In the same game, Cincinnati second-baseman Luis Alicea had an outstanding game in his own right, reaching base five time with a homer.  San Diego won the affair 10-6 as the teams combined for 32 hits in the game.

Cincinnati Red Stockings

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
L. Alicea 2B	2	2	2	2	3	0	.316

On May 14th, Jim Edmonds of the Washington Senators had a game almost identical to Alicea's in their contest with Arizona with one of his two hits a homer as well.  The Apaches ended up winning the game 8-7 despite Edmonds performance.

Washington Senators

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
J. Edmonds CF	2	2	2	3	3	0	.275

In the second game of the series between Baltimore and Boston, the Beaneaters Mitch Melusky was on fire, leading his team to a 12-4 triumph.  All three of his hits were doubles.

Boston Beaneaters

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
M. Meluskey C	3	2	3	5	1	0	.431

In the next game of the series, won by Baltimore 5-4, Beaneater right-fielder Jason McDonald reached base five times, all via base-on-balls.

Boston Beaneaters

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
J. McDonald RF	0	2	0	0	5	0	.355

Finally, on May 16, the Red Coats Will Clark had an interesting line, reaching base all five times he went to the plate.  Four times he drew walks.  The other AB he blasted a solo homer.  It wasn't enough though for Toronto as they dropped the game to the New York Rippers 4-3.

Toronto Redcoats

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
W. Clark 1B	1	1	1	1	4	0	.341

Turning our attention to PITCHING PERFORMANCES, we find a couple good ones as well as our fair share of outings to forget.  First the good.  A couple of complete game shutouts were tossed.

On May 11, Toronto's Perdro Martinez went the distance against the New York Bombers, allowing only four hits while striking out 10.  He lowered his league leading ERA in the game to a remarkable 1.29

Toronto Redcoats

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	BF	ERA
P. Martinez (W, 6-1)	9.0	4	0	0	1	10	0	31	1.29

Colorado's Pat Hentgen also hurled a shutout.  His came against the Miami Panthers on May 9th in a 4-0 victory.

Colorado Briar Jumpers

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	BF	ERA
P. Hentgen (W, 2-2)	9.0	4	0	0	2	7	0	31	5.01

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there was the May 6th starting performance from Jon Lieber for the Atlanta Stonecutters.  The big right-hander had nothing for the St. Louis Sliders that day, getting bombarded for ten runs in only two innings of work.

Atlanta Stonecutters

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	BF	ERA
J. Lieber (L, 0-5)	2.0	6	10	9	4	0	2	17	7.58

Out of the bullpen, Cincinnati reliever Juan Acevedo had an outing he would like to forget.  He entered a 3-3 tied ballgame.  He left having put his team in a 9-3 hole, surrendering six runs, seven hits and two walks.  Ugly.

Cincinnati Red Stockings

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	BF	ERA
J. Acevedo (L, 2-3)	1.1	7	6	6	0	2	1	11	11.15

In the series between the Seattle Lightning and Pittsburgh Crawfords, a couple of relievers had less than stellar performances.  In the first game of the set, Lightning righty Marc Wilkins faced six batters, walked two of them and gave up hits to three others.  He blew the save for Seattle and was hung with the loss in their 12-9 defeat..

Seattle Lightning

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	BF	ERA
M. Wilkins (L, 1-2; B, 2)	0.1	3	3	3	2	0	0	6	12.51

Two days later, Pittsburgh releiver Rob Ramsey returned the favor.  He faced eight batters, didn't allow a hit, but walked four Lightning hitters, allowing a run in the process.  The Crawfords lost the game 7-5

Pittsburgh Crawfords

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	BF	ERA
R. Ramsay	1.0	0	1	1	4	1	0	8	5.00

The NY Bomber's Danny Graves had a nail-biting outing on May 16 against Milwaukee.  He entered the game in the 9th with a two run lead.  He waked three and gave up a triple in his inning of work, but somehow still managed to pickup the save.

New York Bombers

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	BF	ERA
D. Graves (S, 6)	1.0	1	1	1	3	0	0	7	3.81

A couple of TEAM PERFORMANCES worth mentioning.

The May 8th contest between the Oakland Osprey and the Pittsburgh Crawfords was one to remember.  The game lasted 15 innings, with the Crawfords eventually winning it 2-1.  The teams combined to go 1-17 with runners in scoring position.  Not good.  In the game, Pittsburgh first-baseman David Segui collected three hits, all doubles, and all off of Oakland starter Brad Radke.

On May 9th, Washington grounded into five double plays as a team, but still defeated the St. Louis Sliders 6-5.

And the New York Rippers have currently played in five straight one-run games, winning four in a row.  In all four victories, reliever Dan Miceli has picked up the save.  Not too shabby.

And finally, on the INJURY front, as has been documented on the league's facebook page, Boston starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn suffered a season-ending setback in his first inning of work on May 10th against the Minnesota Millers.  Tough break for the Beaneaters.  Thankfully for Matt, Washburn is expected to make a full recovery and be ready to roll in 2001.

Boston Beaneaters

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	BF	ERA
J. Washburn	0.2	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	3.65

Injuries/Suspensions J. Washburn injured. Out for 235 days