Chase for the Playoffs - 30 Remain

Again, this is the playoff race, taking Fort Wayne and West Michigan out of the mix. The top two will go to the playoffs.

................W...L...PCT..GB
Great Lakes..21..19...525..--
South Bend...18..21...462..2.5
Dayton........18..21...462..2.5
Lansing.......16..23...410..4.5

Games Left for South Bend (In order):
4 vs. Fort Wayne
4 vs. Lansing
4 @ West Michigan
4 vs. Great Lakes
4 vs. Dayton
4 @ Great Lakes
1 vs. Lansing
3 @ Dayton
2 vs. Lansing

Lineup - Start Time Change

Apparently tonight's game is a 7:10 PM start, which I was just told. I have no idea why. What does this mean? It means we will have to fill a bit longer than normal in the pregame show tonight. I don't think at this point since I've told everyone coverage begins at 6:40 PM, that it would be wise to change it up on everyone and start at 6:50 instead. So brace yourself for a 30 minute pregame show tonight instead of 20 as usual. Maybe....if.....I.....talk.....really.....slow.....the.....time.....will.....go......faster.

And in case you were curious, the person that told me of the change in start time was dressed up in a gorilla suit. I'm not making this up. Apparently it is 80's night at the ballpark and he's supposed to be Donkey Kong. The joys of Minor League Baseball. I can already tell this is going to be an odd night.

Pollock - CF
Navarro - SS
Perez - DH
Parker - 3B
Marte - LF
Gomez - 1B
Asencio - RF
Davis - C
Estevez - 2B
Moorhouse - SP

Tonight's pregame interview is with pitching coach Erik Sabel.

From the Notes - August 6th

South Bend Silver Hawks (18-20 Second Half, 45-61 Overall)
vs. West Michigan Whitecaps (24-15 Second Half, 67-42 Overall)

Fifth Third Ballpark, Grand Rapids, Michigan – 7:00 PM Eastern Time

Season Series: 10-4 Whitecaps
@ Coveleski Stadium: 2-2 Tie
@ Fifth Third Ballpark: 8-2 Whitecaps
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Silver Hawks Team Hitting: .246 – 10th
Silver Hawks Team Pitching: 3.93 ERA – 8th
Whitecaps Team Hitting: .275 – 1st
Whitecaps Team Pitching: 3.42 ERA – 3rd
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LAST GAME: Casey Crosby (WP, 9-4) and two relievers combined to hold the Silver Hawks to just three hits as West Michigan shut out the Silver Hawks 3-0 on Wednesday night. Crosby threw 6.0 scoreless innings, while Victor Larez (ND) had two perfect innings and Tyler Stohn (SV, 17) stranded two runners in the ninth. Ben Guez homered in the first, his tenth of the season, as the only run the Whitecaps would need. Jordan Lennerton added two RBIs for the Whitecaps, who picked up their second shutout in the series. Taylor Sinclair (LP, 3-5) was the tough luck loser for South Bend, allowing two runs in 6.0 innings.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PLAYOFF CHASE (31 Games Remaining in the Second Half – Top Two of Remaining Teams Qualify):
· Great Lakes leads the playoff chase by 1.5. South Bend and Dayton are tied for the Wild Card spot, with Lansing 2.0 back.
· Fort Wayne was the first half champion and West Michigan was the first half wild card in the East.
· Peoria leads the West race, with Clinton leading the wild card chase. Kane County and Cedar Rapids were first half qualifiers.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TEAM NOTES:
· West Michigan has shut out the Hawks twice in this series (Monday and Wednesday). South Bend blanked WM on Tuesday night.
· South Bend has only scored in two of 27 innings in this series. West Michigan has scored in four of their 26 at-bats.
· The remaining 31 games will all be against Eastern Division opponents, including five more games at West Michigan.
· The Whitecaps have clinched the season series with South Bend, winning 10 of 14 with five still to go.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
· Jake Elmore went 3-for-4 Tuesday night, extending his hitting streak to four games (one shy of his season high).
· Justin Mace hasn’t allowed a run in his last 14.0 innings pitched (2nd longest on team in 09).

Chase for the Playoffs - 31 To Go

Again, this is the playoff race, taking Fort Wayne and West Michigan out of the mix. The top two will go to the playoffs.

................W...L...PCT..GB
Great Lakes..20..19...513..--
South Bend...18..20...474..1.5
Dayton........18..20...474..1.5
Lansing.......16..22...421..3.5

Games Left for South Bend (In order):
1 @ West Michigan
4 vs. Fort Wayne
4 vs. Lansing
4 @ West Michigan
4 vs. Great Lakes
4 vs. Dayton
4 @ Great Lakes
1 vs. Lansing
3 @ Dayton
2 vs. Lansing

(A scheduling conflict with a Notre Dame football game results in the split series against the Lugnuts at the Cove to end the season. More on that later in the year)

Injury News - Jarrod Parker and Marc Krauss

We've talked about Justin Parker and his shoulder injury a lot this year, but now there is injury news on the other Parker brother, Jarrod.

He is going to have his right elbow examined because of some discomfort he felt in his last start.

Here's hoping that it is nothing too serious, and even if he has to shut it down for the year, that he can avoid surgery and be ready to go in spring training next year.

Also, as expected, Marc Krauss will have surgery on his ankle and will miss the rest of the season. He should be fine for spring training next year.

Tonight's Lineup - August 5th

Sorry about the lack of posts today. I needed a day off. I actually went to the outfield during batting practice and shagged some fly balls. I caught a couple, and didn't injure myself, so all-in-all, I'd say it was a productive afternoon.

A full day of posts tomorrow.

Pollock - CF
Navarro - SS
Marte - DH
Parker - 3B
Diaz - LF
Gomez - 1B
Asencio - RF
Davis - C
Estevez - 2B
Sinclair - SP

Full standings and scoreboard update in the third segment of the pregame show today.

Tonight's Lineup - August 4th

Pollock - CF
Navarro - SS
Perez - C
Parker - 3B
Marte - LF
Ramirez - 1B
Diaz - RF
Asencio - DH
Elmore - 2B

Cook - SP

We'll talk to manager Mark Haley in the pregame interview tonight, and then we'll give him some time off from the interviews, and go through some more players and the coaches (Morales, Sabel) in the next week or so.

Court Decision from 2008 Brawl

Do you all remember the big brawl last season between the Dayton Dragons and Peoria Chiefs at Fifth Third Field? It made national headlines because a pitcher for Peoria threw a ball towards the Dragons dugout, missed badly, and struck a fan in the head. He was arrested and charged with two different assault charges.

Today, he was found guilty on one of the charges. Click the link for the story.

Why am I posting this on a Silver Hawks blog?

1) I was broadcasting the game as a color commentator, and it turned out to be the wildest night/week of my professional career. The next day I had calls from more national media outlets than you could ever imagine wanting me to comment (ESPN, Fox News, Inside Edition, Etc.), and more friends than I knew I had wanting to know if I was broadcasting. We were not going to comment as members of the Dragons staff, and I still won't comment now because it's not my place. My opinion on the court case and the brawl is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

2) It involved the Midwest League, so I find it to be an important story in that regards.

3) It's a painful reminder of how a game can get too serious. You wouldn't think we'd need to remind ourselves that this is a game that we play/watch because it's fun and it takes our minds off of the problems in everyday life. LIke anyone, I get caught up and wins and losses, and certainly want my favorite sports teams to win. But ultimately, it's still just a game, and we need to remember that from time to time.

The Chase for the Playoffs - 33 To Go

This will probably turn into a daily feature for the next month, or at least every other day to keep you completely up-to-date on the playoff picture for the Eastern Division. For our purposes here, I'm going to ignore Fort Wayne and West Michigan since they have already clinched playoff spots (and the Games Back column will be for playoff spots, not the division). Remember, the top two of the remaining four will make the playoffs.

As we get closer to the end, I'll start adding in some magic numbers. But it's a bit too early for that.

...............W...L...PCT..GB
Great Lakes.20..17...541..--
South Bend..17..19...472..2.5
Dayton.......16..20...444..3.5
Lansing......15..21...417..4.5

P.S. Thanks to Chris Mehring for the trick to get the formatting correct. His blog is linked on the right side of this page.

From the Notes - August 4th

South Bend Silver Hawks (17-19 Second Half, 44-60 Overall)
vs. West Michigan Whitecaps (23-14 Second Half, 66-41 Overall)

Fifth Third Ballpark, Grand Rapids, Michigan – 7:00 PM Eastern Time

Season Series: 9-3 Whitecaps
@ Coveleski Stadium: 2-2 Tie
@ Fifth Third Ballpark: 7-1 Whitecaps
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Silver Hawks Team Hitting: .247 – 10th
Silver Hawks Team Pitching: 3.97 ERA – 8th
Whitecaps Team Hitting: .276 – 1st
Whitecaps Team Pitching: 3.44 ERA – 3rd
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LAST GAME: Ben Guez tripled to lead off the bottom of the ninth and Avisail Garcia brought him home with a walk off single to give the West Michigan Whitecaps a 1-0 victory in the series opener on Monday night. Bryan Woodall (LP, 2-4) suffered the loss after Wade Miley (ND) and Victor Capellan (ND) combined for 8.0 shutout innings. Miley tossed five scoreless frames in the starting role for the second straight outing and Capellan followed with three scoreless innings. Luke Putkonen (ND) tossed 8.0 innings without allowing a run, following up on a complete game shutout the last time he faced the Hawks. Erik Crichton (WP, 4-0) pitched the ninth for the win.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PLAYOFF CHASE (33 Games Remaining in the Second Half – Top Two of Remaining Teams Qualify):
· Great Lakes leads the playoff chase by 2.5 over South Bend. Hawks lead wild card race by 1.0 over DTN and 2.0 over LAN.
· Fort Wayne was the first half champion and West Michigan was the first half wild card in the East.
· Peoria leads the West race, with Clinton and QC tied for wild card chase. Kane County and Cedar Rapids were first half qualifiers.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TEAM NOTES:
· South Bend was shut out for the eighth time this season last night.
· South Bend went 12-11 versus the West in the second half, after going 14-9 against the West in the first half.
· The remaining 33 games will all be against Eastern Division opponents, including seven games at West Michigan.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
· A.J. Pollock had a seven game hitting streak snapped in last night’s loss to West Michigan.
· Justin Mace hasn’t allowed a run in his last 14.0 innings pitched (2nd longest on team in 09).
· Bryan Woodall has allowed runs in two straight outings after 21.0 consecutive scoreless innings prior to his last appearance.

The Wrong Kind of Publicity

You never want to make a list of monthly oddities for the wrong reasons, but the Silver Hawks have for their horrendous performance against West Michigan earlier this month.

The story is here. The Silver Hawks are featured in the final post of the list. It's a good read about some of the crazy things that have happened in the past 31 days of Minor League Baseball.

Tonight's Lineup

Navarro - SS
Marte - DH
Pollock - CF
Parker - 3B
Perez - C
Diaz - LF
Gomez - 1B
Asencio - RF
Estevez - 2B

Miley - SP

Tonight's pregame interview guest is reliever Justin Mace.

Crunch Time - Part One

Tonight starts what I would consider the first stretch of crunch time.

Consider that with 34 games remaining, the four Eastern Division teams fighting for the two playoff spots are separated by only 3.5 total games.

Great Lakes leads by 1.5 over South Bend, 2.5 over Dayton, and 3.5 over Lansing.

The Silver Hawks will play nothing but Eastern division opponents the rest of the way.

So why is this only part one of crunch time? Because 12 of the next 16 are against West Michigan and Fort Wayne, teams that have already wrapped up playoff spots. The major crunch time begins on August 20th, when the final 18 games for South Bend are all against the other three teams fighting for playoff spots.

Today's Lineup - August 2nd

Short day of posts today b/c of the day game. Back tomorrow with a lot more.

Navarro - SS
Estevez - 3B
Pollock - CF
Diaz - LF
Marte - DH
Gomez - 1B
Asencio - RF
Davis - C
Elmore - 2B

Rodriguez - SP

A standings look in today's pregame show. We are halfway through the second half already. 35 games left!

Tonight's Lineup - August 1st

Hard to believe it's August already. It's getting to be crunch time.

Navarro - SS
Marte - LF
Pollock - CF
Parker - 3B
Perez - C
Gomez - 1B
Diaz - RF
Asencio - DH
Estevez - 2B
Moorhouse - SP

Pregame interview tonight will be Mark Haley.

From the Notes - August 1st

South Bend Silver Hawks (17-16 Second Half, 44-57 Overall)
vs. Peoria Chiefs (18-15 Second Half, 56-46 Overall)

Coveleski Stadium, South Bend, Indiana – 7:00 PM Eastern Time

Season Series: 2-1 Chiefs
@ Coveleski Stadium: 1-0 Chiefs
@ O’Brien Field: 1-1 Tie
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Silver Hawks Team Hitting: .248 – T-9th
Silver Hawks Team Pitching: 4.01 ERA – 8th
Chiefs Team Hitting: .273 – 2nd
Chiefs Team Pitching: 3.81 ERA – 6th
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LAST GAME: Three home runs in the first three innings were not enough to derail Peoria, as the Chiefs posted a 15-8 win over the Silver Hawks for their eighth straight victory. Rebel Ridling went 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs and 4 runs scored while Kyler Burke was 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored to lead the Peoria offensive attack. Justin Parker and Nelson Gomez each hit solo homers for the Silver Hawks, and Chris Davis added a three run blast in the third inning. South Bend saw an 8-3 lead disappear and ultimately turn into a 15-8 loss. The 15 runs allowed are the most by the Hawks this season.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PLAYOFF CHASE (36 Games Remaining in the Second Half – Top Two of Remaining Teams Qualify):
· Great Lakes leads the playoff chase by 0.5 over South Bend. Hawks lead wild card race by 2.0 over DTN and 4.0 over LAN.
· Fort Wayne was the first half champion and West Michigan was the first half wild card in the East.
· Peoria leads the West race, with CLI and QC tied for wild card. Kane County and Cedar Rapids were first half qualifiers.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TEAM NOTES:
· The team ERA jumped from 3.89 to 4.01 after allowing 15 earned runs last night.
· The 15 runs allowed and 23 combined runs scored set new highs for the Silver Hawks in the 2009 season.
· The Silver Hawks lost the opening game of a series for the first time in their last 10 series with the loss last night.
· SB was 14-9 against the West in the first half, including 1-1 vs. PEO. Silver Hawks are 12-9 against West in the second half.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
· Parker, Gomez, and Davis each hit their second homers of the season last night -- the first time the Hawks have hit 3 in a game.
· Bryan Woodall’s consecutive scoreless inning streak came to a close last night at 21.0. He allowed a run in 2.0 innings last night.

Tonight's Lineup - July 31st

Navarro - SS
Marte - LF
Pollock - CF
Parker - 3B
Perez - DH
Gomez - 1B
Asencio - RF
Davis - C
Elmore - 2B

Vasquez - SP (in a spot start for Taylor Sinclair who has some tightness)

For tonight's pregame show, we'll do a full system recap for the Diamondbacks, highlighting some former Silver Hawks and what they are doing throughout the minor leagues.

Poll Results

The question was "What do you think the Diamondbacks should do at the trade deadline?"

The Results:

0 people said "fire sale"
6 people said "trade three or four, but keep mostly intact"
12 people said "trade one or two if the price is right"
1 person said "stay the course, don't say anyone"

A new poll question is on the right about the best stadiums in the league. You can use photos to judge, you can talk to the Silver Hawks who have played at all, or whatever you want as criteria. Once the poll closes, I'll publish my rankings.

From the Notes - July 31, 2009

South Bend Silver Hawks (17-15 Second Half, 44-56 Overall)
vs. Peoria Chiefs (17-15 Second Half, 55-46 Overall)

Coveleski Stadium, South Bend, Indiana – 7:30 PM Eastern Time

Season Series: 1-1 Tie
@ Coveleski Stadium: 0-0 Tie
@ O’Brien Field: 1-1 Tie
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Silver Hawks Team Hitting: .248 – T-9th
Silver Hawks Team Pitching: 3.89 ERA – 7th
Chiefs Team Hitting: .271 – 2nd
Chiefs Team Pitching: 3.77 ERA – 6th
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LAST GAME: Isaias Asencio’s solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning provided the difference in the Silver Hawks 2-1 win over Quad Cities, helping South Bend to a three game series sweep. Asencio took a 0-2 pitch from Matt Frevert (LP, 2-1) over the wall in left-center for his fourth homer of the season. Ryan Cook (ND) pitched 7.0 innings of one run ball for South Bend, with Bayron Zepeda (WP, 3-2) earning the win in relief. Justin Mace (SV, 7) recorded his seventh save in eight tries. Rossmel Perez also added a RBI single for South Bend, scoring Justin Parker in the second inning.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PLAYOFF CHASE (37 Games Remaining in the Second Half – Top Two of Remaining Teams Qualify):
· South Bend leads the playoff chase by 0.5 over Great Lakes, 3.0 over Dayton and 4.0 over Lansing.
· Fort Wayne was the first half champion and West Michigan was the first half wild card in the East.
· Peoria leads the West, with Clinton leading the wild card chase. Kane County and Cedar Rapids were first half qualifiers.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TEAM NOTES:
· South Bend swept the series from Quad Cities, only the second sweep of the season (May 5-7 vs. Cedar Rapids was the other.)
· The Silver Hawks have won the first game in nine straight series, including Tuesday’s suspended game against Quad Cities.
· SB was 14-9 against the West in the first half, including 1-1 vs. PEO. Silver Hawks are 12-8 against West in the second half.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
· Daniel Vasquez will be making his first start of the season tonight, replacing Taylor Sinclair.
· Justin Mace has thrown 12.0 consecutive scoreless innings, and has recorded four saves since July 8th.
· Bryan Woodall has lowered ERA from 7.08 to 2.98 since 6/5; has not allowed a run in July; has 20.1 straight scoreless innings.

Two Tigers Prospects Traded

The Tigers got Jarrod Washburn today, but traded away two prospects to get him.

Mauricio Robles was pitching for West Michigan most of this season, having recently been promoted to high-A Lakeland. He faced the Silver Hawks on April 11th, throwing 5.0 shutout innings in earning the win.

Lucas French pitched for West Michigan a couple of years ago, so you should remember his name if you have been following the Hawks for a while now.

Story here.

Tonight's Lineup - July 30th

Navarro - SS
Marte - DH
Pollock - CF
Parker - 3B
Perez - C
Diaz - LF
Ramirez- 1B
Asencio - RF
Estevez - 2B

Cook - SP

Tonight's pregame interview is with catcher Chris Davis about his stint with double-A Mobile.

Today's Roster Move

INF Justin Parker activated from the DL.

OF Marc Krauss sent to Arizona for injury evaluation.

Story Here.

My Take: It's great to get Justin Parker back. His bat is a huge addition to the lineup when he's healthy. However, it's unfortunate that Krauss' ankle injury is so bad that he's heading back to Arizona, where it appears surgery might be an option. Krauss is not expected to rejoin the Silver Hawks this season, so that leads me to believe he's not playing again this year.

Hopefully Parker's shoulder is healthy enough that it allows him to DH most of the time and play third the rest of the time. With Krauss out, there's not much power left in the lineup. A healthy Parker would be big to protect Pollock and Marte in the lineup.

Playing By The Rules

I expressed my frustration on the air, and I know the fans at the Cove were frustrated too. I'm sure listening at home, you were hoping that Wade Miley would be able to pitch the final two innings tonight, in a bid for a perfect game (he was perfect through 5 when he was removed).

However, I've mentioned it a number of times on the air and on this blog, that the ultimate goal is not to win a championship or achieve individual accolades at this level. Ultimately, the Diamondbacks want to develop players that will help at the Major League level in a few years. Winning in South Bend becomes secondary to player development.

It has also been determined by the D'Backs that 120-130 innings per season will be the maximum at this level, and do that, they must limit certain guys at certain parts of the season. Unfortunately, that is what everyone has to live with...whether a perfect game is on the line or not.

That Time of Year

A trade between the Mariners and Pirates resulted in two pitchers the Silver Hawks just faced last week in Clinton being dealt. Aaron Pribanic and Brett Lorin are headed to the Pirates organization as part of an Ian Snell/Jack Wilson to Seattle deal.

Here's the story.

An Article on A.J.

Jonathan Mayo of MiLB.com contacted me a few weeks ago to set up an interview with A.J. Pollock. After the two traded voice mails for a while, the story has been written and can be read here.

I found this little tidbit rather interesting:

"The Silver Hawks' attendance has seen a nice bump since South Bend's favorite son has come back as a pro. The club's season average: 2,494. In 10 home games with Pollock on the roster, it's climbed to 3,461. That, of course, isn't of immediate concern to Pollock, who's just trying to get the hang of the game at this level."

Today's Roster Move

Catcher Chris Davis is returning to the Silver Hawks from Mobile.

Catcher Tyson Van Winkle is being returned to short season A Yakima.

Story here.

My take: Davis was going to double A as a fill in while Sean Coughlin was injured. It's not surprising that he's coming back because everyone knew that his time there was temporary. Van Winkle did fine filling in. Despite not hitting much, Van Winkle played solid defense behind the plate.

Former MWL Star Pitches Triple-A No-Hitter

This goes back to the 2007 season, but former Cedar Rapids Kernels pitcher Sean O'Sullivan threw a no hitter last night in triple-A. He was one walk away from a perfect game.

Story is here.

O'Sullivan pitched twice against South Bend in 2007.

On April 17, 2007, O'Sullivan pitched 6.0 innings against the Hawks, allowing three runs (one earned) and recieved no decision at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

O'Sullivan pitched against the Hawks at the Cove on August 10th, 2007. In that game, he went 6.2 innings, allowing only three unearned runs in earning the win, which at the time lowered his ERA to 2.37.

He would finish the season at 10-7 with a 2.22 ERA in 25 starts. Very impressive young pitcher.

Tuesday's Game Suspended

Tuesday's game has been suspended because of rain in the 4th inning with Quad Cities leading 2-0.

The game will be picked up where it left off at 5 PM Eastern Time tomorrow. The first game will be played through nine innings, and then the second game tomorrow will be a seven inning game.

Pregame coverage begins at 4:50 PM Eastern Time. Gates to the stadium open at 4:30 PM Eastern Time.

Tonight's Lineup - July 28th

It's been raining in South Bend for a while, but it has now stopped and hopefully we are good to go for tonight. Here is the lineup assuming the rains hold off:

Estevez - SS
Marte - LF
Pollock - CF
Diaz - RF
Perez - DH
Gomez - 1B
Ramirez - 3B
Van Winkle - C
Elmore - 2B

Rodriguez - SP

Tonight's pregame interview will be with Ryan Cook about his great start, his middle season struggles, his all-star game start, and the adjustments that he's made to be better as of late. Very insightful stuff from Cook.

Krauss Update

I had a comment in my last post asking why Krauss left the game yesterday. He has had some lingering ankle injuries, and they really bothered him yesterday. I would imagine he would be out of the lineup tonight, and then hopefully with some rest he'll be able to DH for a while before returning to the field.