Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman spoke for a franchise when asked about the latest exam to be performed on Stephen Strasburg's valuable right arm. "I'm very anxious about that," Riggleman said. Thursday was a day of suspense at Nationals Park as the 22-year-old right-hander underwent his second MRI in less than a week. Read more..
With three straight wins in Milwaukee, the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled themselves back into the NL wild-card race. Casey Blake hit a two-run homer and six Dodgers pitchers combined on a two-hitter as Los Angeles beat the Brewers 7-1 Thursday for a three-game sweep. "We've been saying all along, first let's try to put something together and then we'll see where we are," Dodgers... Read more..
Padres right-hander Chris Young has thrown another simulated game as he works his way back from a shoulder injury with the goal of pitching again this season. The 6-foot-10 Young threw 55 pitches in three innings Thursday before the NL West leaders hosted the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks. Young says he felt better as the simulated game progressed. Read more..
Jordan Zimmermann has been recalled by the Washington Nationals to make his first major league start of the season against the St. Louis Cardinals. Zimmermann returned to the big leagues Thursday, just more than a year after having elbow ligament replacement surgery. He last pitched for the Nationals on July 18, 2009, and had the operation on Aug. Read more..
There's something about the Phillies that brings out the best in the Houston Astros. Wandy Rodriguez pitched seven sharp innings, Carlos Lee homered and the Astros beat the Phillies 5-1 Thursday to complete their first four-game sweep in Philadelphia in 11 years. "Houston has been a team that for years has given us problems," Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. Read more..
LLOYD ELSMORE - The weather came to the party on Sunday, with a sweltering 27°C for the final of the Auckland Baseball Summer Series. Unfortunately the West City team didn’t get the memo, and what was set to be a fantastic final to the season turned into a rout.
If the Wildcats are to finalize their 4th National Championship next week, they will really need to step up their game.
Gordon Niemann was knocked out in the fourth inning and the Wildcats were denied their chance to celebrate by the Skyrangers, who had not beaten West City during the Summer Series round robin.
"We had a chance to do something special today, and we failed," Niemann said. "We let a lot of guys in here down. The positive thing to take from today is that these guys don't stop. We didn’t play our hearts out, and got rolled in seven innings. It was disappointing."
With the Skyrangers facing elimination in their quest for the Summer Series championship, Jamie Wilson had 4 RBI’s, headlining a barrage that pointed the Wildcats up the Auckland motorway, with their tail between their legs, and a lesson learned.
West City will now prepare for the National Championships which begin on Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. at Lloyd Elsmore, and many of the members of the Skyrangers team will be in the opposition Howick club team.
"We have a good feeling," captain Matt Mills said. "We came here in a tough place to play and got a hiding. Now, we get an opportunity to come back next week and play for the National Championship and some redemption. We have confidence playing there, but you've still got to play a good game." Starting on seven days' rest, Niemann could not find his command and recorded just 12 outs, charged with six runs in the aborted effort.
"If we would have pitched today, we probably would have won," Wildcats manager Ken Sommers said. "That's the bottom line -- Gordy struggled today. He felt good, he just struggled today. That's something that happens in the game of baseball."
In the end, the Wildcats were put in too large of a hole to overcome, for which Niemann wasn’t entirely to blame. The first inning was ugly -- by the time Niemann recorded his first out, he had faced four batters and three runs were already on the scoreboard.
"I just couldn't get the ball where I wanted to," Niemann said. "Everything was up, I had no hook tonight and strike one is huge, especially against a lineup like that. You've got to get ahead and I didn't do that."
Niemann finally escaped the first inning and navigated the second, but his fortune ran out in the third, when he faced four batters and retired none. Wilson drilled a run-scoring single to center and Dewald De Klerk chased Niemann with an RBI double down the right-field line, prompting Mills - who repeatedly says he is not thrown off by anything - to admit surprise.
"They seemed like when they got their pitches to hit, they hit them," Mills said. "You're always surprised by that, because El Gordo has got good stuff."
"He just didn't have his stuff," Lawrence Lotze said. "And our defence really didn’t help him out. That's what happens when pitchers don't have their stuff."
Sommers had felt confident giving the ball to Niemann, citing the pitcher's enthusiasm for the assignment as well as a persuasive track record. Niemann has made four regular-season starts, having gone 3-1 with a 4.10 ERA.
"I don't think it bothered me at all," Niemann said. "It's just a matter of throwing strikes. You guys saw it - there's really no rest issue. I felt strong and felt great. I just didn't get it done."
Taking the start on regular rest, right-hander Andrew Marck wasn't as precise as in his dominant complete-game effort, but the right-handed ace was plenty capable, as the Wildcats allowed him to get away with a few mistakes early and never really mounted a consistent attack.
"Basically, our backs were against the wall, a do-or-die situation," Marck said. "To go out there and give the team a chance, the offense scored plenty of runs to make things a little easier on me."
"If our offense was great and our defence was awake, we'd be celebrating right now," Lotze said. "That's why I say it's OK. It's been OK. Hopefully, we can get some more production, and it starts Friday."
