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New York Mets VS. Riptide 6/24

Andrews, Rodriguez help Riptide end 6 game losing streak

San Jose- The great run the Riptide were on over the end of May and beginning of June seems like a distant memory. Going into last nights series finale with the Mets, the Riptide had lost 7 of their last eight and have dropped below .500.
"We aren't playing our best ball right now," said shortstop Benny Rodriguez "and the last ten days have been tough."
However, the Riptide got some much needed help from their pitching staff, which has been battered lately, getting a solid performance from rookie Evan Andrews, who made his Major League debut.
Andrews pitched well in his debut giving up just one run, a Mousis Alou RBI 2B in the sixth, over 5.2 innings pitched and striking out five. However well Andrews pitched, Riptide manager Jimmy Dugan though the strike zone kept getting smaller on his young left hander, as he was barking at home plate umpire Ralph Norton for most of the night. Norton had finally heard enough of Dugan's protests and threw him out of the game in the bottom of the fifth.
After Andrews departed the game, the Riptide seemed determined not to let his good pitching effort got to waste. Joe Martino and Willie Hays opened the bottom of the sixth with back to back singles and would both move up on an AJ Wright SAC Bunt. Mario Cirelli would drive Martino in with a SAC fly to center and Benny Rodriguez put the Riptide ahead for good with a two run homerun.
Closer Rick Vaughn made it interesting in the ninth, giving up three straight singles to Alou, Jose Valentine and Endy Chavez. Vaughn would get Damon Easly to ground into a double play, but Alou scored from third; Vaughn would then get Ramon Castro to ground out to end the game with the tying run stranded at third.

Box Score
NYM:2
SJR:3
-----------------------------
WP: Wane (3-3)
LP: Glavine (7-4)
SV: Vaughn (15)
HR: B. Rodriguez (18)
Mets: Alou 2-4, 2B, RBI,R; Reyes 2-4, SB
Riptide: Rodriguez 1-3, HR, 2RBI, R; Goodwin 3-3, 2B

Mets (57-19) Riptide (37-39)

Riptide win!!!

Riptide call up Kelly

Riptide send CF Jose Rijos to AAA Port Orford and call UP RF Homer Kelly

Tampa Bay Rays VS. Riptide 6/27

Riptide wash away Rays; win by 7

San Jose- The Riptide were in dire need of two things going into last nights game; pitching and a win. The Riptide would get both as Shane Welles delivered a good, if no lengthy, start and rookie Darien Stults, normally a lefty specialist, gave up just one run in 3+ innings of work.
"The pitching was phenomenal tonight. We really needed a night like this to give the pen a bit of a break." said manager Jimmy Dugan after the game. "Guys out in the pen have really been taxed lately and it was nice to give most of those guys a night off."
The Riptide would get on the board in the home half of the first. After Chad Williams singled and stole second base, Benny Rodriguez would drive him in with an RBI single. Zach Goodwin would double and Dotti Hinson would drive both runners in with a two RBI single.
The Rays would get a run back in the second. Ty Wigginton and Jorge Cantu both singled and Dioner Navarro would single to drive in Wigginton.
The Riptide would answer right back in the bottom of the inning. Chad Williams would get and infield RBI single and would the score all the way from first on a Mario Cirelli double.
Navarro picked up his seond RBI of the game in the forth, singling in Olmado Sanez
Bergs night would come to an end in the fifth after walking Sanez to load the bases. Darien Stults would come and, on the first pitch he threw, got Jorge Cantu to ground out to end the inning.
The Rays would pick up their third run of the game in the seventh on a Carl Crawford solo homerun. But the Tide would pull away in the bottom of the inning, getting an RBI single from Rodriguez and a three run homerun from Zach Goodwin.
"This was a good win for us tonight, especially with the bad week we had last week." said third baseman Cirelli, who also added an RBI in the ninth "Hopefully we can put a few more W's together here and get back on track."

Box Score
TB:3
SJR:10
-----------------------------
WP: Wells (3-3)
LP: Corcoran (1-4)
HR: Goodwin (9), Crawford (10)
Rays: Navarro 2-4 2RBI, Crawford 1-4, HR, RBI, R
Riptide: Goodwin 4-5, 2 2B, HR, 3RBI; Williams 3-5 RBI, 3R, 2SB

Rays (29-50) Riptide (39-40)

Three Riptide players made the All-Stars team as reserves
Catcher Dotti Hinson
Third baseman Mario Cirelli
Shortstop Benny Rodriguez

Riptide @ New York Mets 7/1

Dunne shuts down, then shuts out Mets

Queens, NY- After being no-hit just over a week ago by the Mets, the Riptide were able to exact some revenge, getting a stellar performance from Ryan Dunne who pinched a complete game shutout.
"I just tried to stay focused on making pitches and staying with the game plan, " said Dunne after the game "That is a lineup over there that can do some serious damage but I just tried to stay aggressive, throw strikes and get into favorable counts to try and keep those guys on their heals."
The game certainly didn't look like it was going to start smooth for Dunne when Jose Reyes hit a screaming line drive down the third base line for what looked like a sure leadoff double. But Dunne got a lift from left fielder Chad Williams. Williams played the carom off the wall perfectly and threw a strike to second base to throw out Reyes trying to advance to second.
Dunne ran into some trouble in the sixth, giving up singles to Shawn Green and John Maine with no one out. But Dunne got tough and struck out Reyes, Paul LoDuca and Carlos Beltran to end the inning.
"That's as good as a 1-2-3 you will see in this league. Ryan did a great job not letting any one of those three pick up a hit." Said catcher Dotti Hinson
The Riptide would get on the board in the seventh. Benny Rodriguez singled, stole a base and Hinson singled. Lou Newman then hit an RBI single and Homer Kelly picked up his first Major League RBI a batter later. The Riptide would cap off the scoring in the eighth when Rodriguez belted a two run homerun.


Box Score
SJR:4
NYM:0
-------------------------------
WP: Dunne (8-2)
LP: Maine (3-3)
HR: Rodriguez (21)
Riptide: Dunne CGSHO, 5H, 9K, 1BB; Rodriguez 2-4, HR, 2RBI, 2R
Mets: LoDuca 2-4; Reyes 1-4

Riptide (41-42) Mets (59-24)

Nice wins

Yeah, I had to step in for a few games. I simulated a week straight and 3/4 of my pitching staff was grey.

DeNunez sent to AAA
Riptide send P Kenny DeNunez to AAA Port Orford and call up P George Houck

Tampa Bay Rays VS. Riptide 7/7

Riptide filet Rays to pick up win in last game before break.

San Jose- The Riptide picked up a win on their last game before the All Star break 9-5 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
"It's nice to get out of here with a win to end the first half." Said catcher Dotti Hinson, who is on her way to the All Star game.
The Riptide got on the board in the first inning when Benny Rodriguez doubled in Willie Hays. The Riptide added two more in the second. Zach Goodwin singled and Homer Kelly, who has been on a tear since being called up 10 days ago, hit his first Major League homerun.
The Rays would get on the board in the fourth when Olmadeo Sanez singled in Johnny Gomes.
The Tide then exploded in the bottom of the forth for six runs. Joe Martino SAC bunt would move Lou Newman and Kelly both into scoring position and Willie Hays took advantage getting a 2RBI 1B. Hays the stole second and scored on a Mario Cirelli RBI single. Benny Rodriguez added an RBI triple, Goodwin an RBI single and Dotti Hinson an RBI double.
The Rays would get some of those runs right back in the fifth. Ben Zobrist singled and Rocco Baldelli singled. Carl Crawford singled home Zoberist and Jorge Cantu capped the scoring with a three run homerun.
But that was all the runs both teams would get as Rick Vaughn finished the game out in the ninth.


Box Score
TB:5
SJR:9
-----------------------------
WP: Houch (1-0)
LP: Corcoran (1-6)
HR: Kelly (1); Cantu (7)
Tampa Bay: Cantu 3-5, HR, 3RBI, R; Crawford RBI, R
Riptide: Kelly 2-5 HR, 2RBI, 2R; Rodriguez 2-5, 2B, 3B, 2RBI


Rays (31-58) Riptide (46-43)

Half year report and manager interview
Beat Writer- Jimmy this team had a better first half then most people thought you would have. You are on pace to finish over .500, the offence has been good and you have a potential MVP candidate in Benny Rodriguez.

Jimmy Dugan- Inconsistent I think is a better word. We have been good offensively but, the pitching definitely needs to get better. There was a streatch the end of May and into June where we pitched extremely well, but, since then that area has been way to up and down.

BW- Let's stick with pitching. Ryan Dunne got off to a rough start, but has pitched well over the last month and a half. He's 8-2 and has and ERA right around 3.5.

JD- Ryan has definitely been a bright spot. He has pitched well and established himself as our number #1 guy without a doubt.

BW- By contrast Kenny DeNunez, a guy whom your self and (general manager) Al Percol though was going to be a big part of the success of this team, was sent down last week

JD- Kenny struggled a lot this year, and his last four starts he didn't get out of the forth inning. But, don't think for a second he isn't going to make an impact on this team. He has a ton of talent, he will help this team, and he will be back up.

BW- The organization is very high on your two draft picks this year; Evan Andrews and Brad Lawson. Can you give us some insight on those two players?

JD: We wanted to start these guys and the minors but, as we said before, had so many pitching issues we really had no choice but to put these two guys on the roster right away. Both of these guys have really good stuff; plus fastballs, a couple good breaking pitches. Andrews has started a couple games and done a good job, and Lawson is off to a rough start coming out of the pen but, he has pitched a lot more than we expected given all the starting pitching issues lately.

BW- Since DeNunez was sent down there is in opening in the rotation, will Lawson be filling that spot?

JD- For now, yes. We will re-evaluate the rotation when Kenny comes back.

BW- .321, 21 homeruns, 75 RBI's. Did you think that, in his rookie year, Benny Rodriguez would be in the MVP discussion?

JD- Benny has been fantastic all year, not only offensively, but defensively as well. If he doesn't win MVP this year, he will at some point, no question. He's a hard worker and has really stepped up in a leadership role as well. He's always there looking to help guys improve and he's not afraid to tell guys if they aren't doing something right either.

BW- Talk to me about the transition Dotti Hinson has made coming over from the women's league. A lot of folks scoffed when the organization brought her in. But not only has she hung in there, she has excelled. An All star her first year and she is hitting just a couple ticks below .300.

JD- Makes "lots of folks" look real dumb doesn't it. Dottie is a very determined person, tell her she can't do something and she will prove you wrong every time. Am I surprised she is doing what she is doing? Absolutely not.

BW- Looking ahead to the second half, what are you looking to improve on?

JD- Um, everything. First and foremost I would like to see our starters pitch more consistently. If you can do that, then your bullpen will improve by default because you can keep them fresh.

BW- Homer Kelly was called up a few weeks ago and has been hot hitting over .300 splitting time with AJ Wright in right field. Can we expect to see more of Kelly in the second half?

JD- AJ has played well defensively but, when you think of right field you are looking for offensive output and power; and AJ just isn't there right now. Right now, Kelly gives us a better offensive option and we don't really lose much defensively.

BW - Thanks for the time Jimmy and good luck in the second half.

Kansas City Royals (Bannister 2-3) VS. San Jose Riptide (Dunne 8-2) 7/12

San Jose- The Riptide notched their first win of the second half using all facets of the game to overwhelm the Royals 7-2.
"We got a strong start out of Dunne, we stole some bases, got timely hits and hit some home runs. That's a night that leavs eben me without much to complain about." Said manager Jimmy Dugan after the game. The Riptide got a solid eight shutout innings from starter Ryan Dunne, stole three bases and hit two homeruns.
"It was a complete game. We got a great game from Ryan, we hit the ball well and played really good defense." said Benny Rodriguez.
The Riptide jumped out to a big lead right out of the gate in the first. Willie Hays lead off with a single and promptly stole second and then scored on a Mario Cirelli RBI single. Benny Rodriguez then followed with a monster two run homerun to left. The homerun was Rodriguez 22nd, which currently leads the majors.
The Royals would threaten in the second, getting back to back base hits from Ross Gload and Jason LaRue. Joey Gathright would then load the basses with two out on an infield base hit. Dunne was able to escape the inning by getting Manny Costa to strike out.
The Tide added a run each in the bottom of the second and third innings. In the second Hays singled and stole his second base of the day, and scored on a Chad Williams RBI single. Rodriguez singled and stole a base in the third before scoring on a Dotti Hinson RBI single. Cirelli would add a two run home run in the fifth
The Royals mounted a major threat in the sixth. Angel Berroa opened the inning, reaching first on a throwing error by Cirelli and Esteban German singled to put runners on first and second with no one out. Dunne got tough getting LaRue to ground into a fielders choice, then struck out Joey Gathright before getting Manny Costa to fly out to right to end the inning.
"The game plan is always the be aggressive and throw strikes," said Dunne "Sometimes that’s easier said then done, but we were able to do that today."
Dunne handed the ball of to Darien Stults, who ran into some trouble in the ninth giving up singles to Gathright and pinch hitter John Buck. Stults got Mark Tehan to ground into a doubly play and appeared to be just abou out of the jam, but then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Gathright to score then served up a homerun to Mike Sweeny before getting Reggie Sanders to fly out to end the game.

Box Score
KC:2
SJR:7
-----------------------------
WP: Dunne (9-2)
LP: Bannister (2-4)
HR: Cirelli (8), Rodriguez (22); Sweeney (2)
Royals: Sweeney 1-5, HR, R; Gload 2-4
Riptide: Dunne 8IP, 10H, 7K, 0ER; Cirelli 2-4, HR, 3RBI, 2R

Another nice performance by Dunne!