Season Log: Iowa City Country

AgentP · **Posted:** Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:03 am

I hardly play anymore, but when I did, I would just bench them if they were replacable. If a guy like Prince Fielder was in purple, and his backup was really bad, I would still start Prince.

SkittleMonster · **Posted:** Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:41 pm

I usually always started guys regardless of mood. Now, if one of my guys lower in the order was purple, I'd sit them. I still always play my stars

AgentP wrote:

I hardly play anymore

AgentP · **Posted:** Fri Nov 02, 2012 3:00 pm

SkittleMonster wrote:

I usually always started guys regardless of mood. Now, if one of my guys lower in the order was purple, I'd sit them. I still always play my stars

AgentP wrote:

I hardly play anymore

Why the frown?

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Fri Nov 02, 2012 3:56 pm

'Cause you don't play anymore, P

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Tue Nov 06, 2012 11:05 pm

4/27 – 30/2009: Iowa City Country versus Tampa Bay Rays

GAME ONE: Country Bourgeois 90 DC SL – two, CU – four, CB – four, VS L – one) versus Rays Howell (87 EB CB – two, CH – two)

Lineup:

Rays lineup:

Innings 2-3: the Rays struck first when Gomes homered over the left-field wall. The Country did not tie the game until the bottom of the third when Hudson doubled home McCurdy, who singled and moved to second on Huisman single. Huisman then scored on a sacrifice fly when the Rays catcher, Navarro, dropped the ball on impact. End of three, Country lead two – one

Innings four-five: after the Rays left runners in scoring position, Jack Cust led off the bottom of the fourth by hammering a first pitch changeup into the right-field bleachers. In the top of the fifth, the Rays found themselves with one out and the bases-loaded against Country reliever Stratton. Stratton threw a very good curveball, falling to the low inside corner against Carlos Pena, but Pena tomahawked it over the right-field fence for a Grand slam. When the Country were retired without scoring a run, the fifth inning ended with the Rays leading five – three

Inning six: for the second time today, Cust led off an inning with a homerun, this one well beyond the centerfield fence. After Johnson flied out to center, Erdos singled and went to third on a McCurdy single to right center field. Huisman then hammered the ball into the left centerfield gap for an RBI double that tied the game. Hudson hit a sharp fly ball to left and on a very close (and disputed) call at the plate, Huisman was called out, ending the sixth inning tied at five

Inning seven: Stratton retired the first two batters easily, although he had clearly begun to tire, but once Pena was announced as the next batter, Stratton was removed in favor of Jiang, who retired Pena on a screwball that Peña drove into centerfield for a fly out.

Innings nine-ten: the game entered the ninth tied at five and the Rays threatened, having runners at first and second with one out and runners at first and third with two out and Pena the plate, but Jiang struck Pena out to preserve the tie. In the bottom half the inning, The Country were retired easily, and the game entered extra innings tied at five. The Rays also threatened in the 10th, putting runners at first and second with one out. Shawn Green entered the game and, although he allowed runners reach first and third with two outs, he closed out the 10th on a ground ball to shortstop tied at five

Inning 12: The game continued to be tied at five until the top of the 12th inning, when Pena pounced on a Shawn Green slider, homering over the right-field wall. Dan Wheeler (93 BE SL – three, CB – two, SP – three) took the mound for the Rays in the bottom of the 12th to close out the game. Orlando Hudson went with Wheeler's first pitch – a slider tailing inside – and drove it into right field for single. After Milledge flied out to the leftfielder in foul territory, Spilborghs singled, moving the tying run to second base. Josh Fields then knocked an 0 – 2 fastball into left field, but it was hit too hard and too shallow for Hudson to score. This brought Jack Cust to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Cust calmly watched a good slider and a good split fingered fastball fall in for strikes, and then patiently checked his swing as the next slider fell outside. Cost then hammered a split fingered fastball up in the zone into the right centerfield gap, scoring Hudson and Spilborghs for a game-winning, walkoff double.

Comments:

MrLiamcar · **Posted:** Tue Nov 06, 2012 11:14 pm

Nice game!!!

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:05 am

GAME TWO: Iowa City Country Depablos (93 DC SL – four, CB – four, VSL – one) versus Tampa Bay Rays Kazmir (94 CA 2SF – one, SL – three, CH – two)

The Country built a healthy 5-0 lead over the 1st 4 innings, getting a 2-2 run homeruns from Fields in the 1st and 4th innings, and a lead off double from Johnson in the 2nd that led to a score. The Rays threatened in the top of the third, with their eighth and ninth batters singling to put runners at first and second with one out against leadoff hitter Stuart, but Depablos induced a five – four – three inning ending double-play. The Rays stranded a runner in scoring position in the 4th, but finally broke through in the fifth, as singles from Navaro, Bartlett and Stewart brought the game to five – one.

The Country extended their already-healthy lead in the bottom of the eighth when Spilborghs and Fields singled and scored on a Cust double and a Johnson single. With a seven – one lead entering the 9th, Jiang took the mound and gave up a leadoff homerun on a cut fastball to Justin Upton, and a single to Moises Alou before shutting down the Rays and preserving the Country's seven – two win.

Comments:

GAME THREE: Country Jimenez (98 EB CB – two, CH – four) versus Rays Hammel (94 DC CB – two, CH – three)

Lineup:

The Rays scored in the first inning, as Stewart led off with a single, moved to second on the fielders choice, and scored on an Upton single with two out. The Country seemed poised for a big inning the bottom of the third, loading the bases (Huisman, Milledge, Spilborghs) with one out for Jack Cust, batting cleanup today. Cust took a homerun cut on a Hammel fastball, but was jammed, muscling it into the outfield for a two run scoring single. When Fields ended the inning by hitting into a six – four – three double play, the third inning ended with the Country leading to – one, but missing an opportunity to blow this game open early. A Carlos Pena 4th inning homerun to dead center field tied the game, but the Country took the lead against Al Reyes, who started by throwing three changeups that were poorly placed over the middle of the plate and McCurdy, Huisman, and Hudson hit them up the middle for singles. 5th inning singles by Cust, Fields, and Johnson gave the Country a four – two lead after 5.

Shawn Green, who entered in the seventh, continued to pitch into the eighth and quickly retired the first to Rays batters before giving up a double to Akimura and then the game-tying homerun to Pena. At that point, Green was removed in favor of middle reliever Stratton (85 DC SL – three, CB – three, FO – three, SHU – one). Stratton threw one pitch and Upton popped out to the catcher. The Country threatened in the 8th, as Sweeney and McCurdy each got opposite field bloop base hits, and then Hudson came through in the clutch, driving a cut fastball to rightfield to bring home one run against the Rays' third reliever of the day, Affeldt (97 DE CU – three, DCB – two, CH – two), giving the Country a five – four lead after 8.

Inning nine: Chamberlain was on the mound to start the 9th against the Rays Alou, who struck out swinging in his prior three at-bats. A 1 – 0 changeup resulted in a tapper back to Chamberlain, who threw to first for the first out of the inning. A first pitch slider tailing inside to Willy Aybar resulted in a deep fly ball that Spilborghs was able to track down at the base of the warning track for out number two. With an 0-1 count, Chamberlain threw a changeuo to Gomes - Gomes hammered the ball deep, deep, deep...but foul. On the next pitch, Gomes lined a shot just inside the left-field line for a two-out double. With the tying runner in scoring position, Chamberlain struck out Navarro on three pitches – a slider that hung and was right down the middle, another slider, and then a slow curve - earning his fifth save of the season in as many chances.

Comments:

With their pitching, Green was dominant until the end, when he allowed to of his three hits, one being a game-tying two run homerun. For the prior 1 – 2/3 innings he pitched, he was dominant, allowing one hit and no runs. Starting pitcher Jimenez pitched a solid six innings, allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:07 am

MrLiamcar wrote:

Nice game!!!

Thanks - the whole series was really exciting. 1 easy win and 3 super-tight games (I don't have time to post the last game yet)

MrLiamcar · **Posted:** Wed Nov 07, 2012 7:44 am

Hey THE COUNTRY WIN AGAIN!!!!!

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Wed Nov 07, 2012 12:34 pm

GAME FOUR: Iowa City Country O'Connor (89 EA SL – three, CB – one, CH – three) versus Tampa Bay Rays Garza (96 DB SL – three, CB – two, CH – two)

Lineup:

The Country took a two – zero lead in the bottom of the second when Fields led off with a double, Cust reached based on a fielders choice, and both scored on singles from Johnson and Huisman. While the Country's O'Connor continued to pitch very strong, the Country extended their lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning[/color] when Hudson singled, stole second, and came home on Spilborghs' single to right center. O'Connor entered the eighth having pitched very well, allowing zero runs on four hits, but in the eighth he left the game with one out and the bases-loaded. Andrew "fireman" Brown entered and give up a run on a fielders choice before Carlos Pena singled home both remaining baserunners to tie the game, 3 all.

The score remained three all entering the 10th inning when the Rays threatened, putting a runner at second with one out, but failing to score. The Rays threatened again in the 11th, putting runners at first and second with no out for Ben Zobrist, who entered the game as a pinch runner earlier. Zobrist hit into a double play, leaving a runner at second, and then reliever Stratton struck out Aybar ending the inning. The Country, meanwhile, continued to show a lack of life on offense, being retired in order for the second inning in row. The Country finally put a runner in scoring position in the top of the 12th with two out, but normally reliable Milledge flied out to second, ending the 12th inning tied at three.

The game entered the bottom of the 14th tied at three, when Dan Johnson stepped to the plate and launched a split fingered fastball over the right field bleachers for a walkoff homerun. 4-3 Country

Comments:

MrLiamcar · **Posted:** Wed Nov 07, 2012 2:15 pm

Walkoff very exciting

AnthonyP · **Posted:** Wed Nov 07, 2012 2:47 pm

Yes, very. Very exciting. Go Dan!

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Fri Nov 09, 2012 7:33 am

APRIL 2009 IN REVIEW

AWARDS. For the month of April, the Country took the awards for player of the month and pitcher of the month. Milledge was awarded player of the month of April, in which he batted 496 with 14 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Depablos was the pitcher of the month for his 4 wins, 1.69 ERA and 32 Ks.

RECORD OVERVIEW. The Country's 24 and 4 record is the best in major-league baseball – four games better than the National League Cardinals, five games better than the National League Mets, and seven games better than the AL Yankees and a handful of other teams. One of the impressive facets with the Country has been their ability to win games in a myriad of different ways. They've won with hitting and won with pitching. They've won 12 games in which they scored first, and 16 games in which the opposing team had the lead at some point scored first. The Country played three games that were won in the last at-bat, winning all three. They are five – one in games decided by a single run, and are three – zero in extra inning games. These last three stats show an ability to pitch and hit under pressure and in the clutch.

PITCHING. They lead the AL Central in team ERA (4.51) and runs allowed (131), but are last in hits allowed (357). Depablos has the second lowest ERA for major-league starters, and the top ERA for AL starters, with 1.69. While Joba Chamberlain's five saves ties him with nine other players for fifth in saves, and he has done that in only five opportunities

OFFENSE. Offensively, the Country lead the AL central in every offensive of category. Their 411 team batting average is better than the second-place teams by almost 100 points. Their 238 runs scored is better than the second team's by almost 40 runs.

OFFENSIVE LEADERBOARDS:

The Country have the top 4 batting averages in the AL, and 5 of the top 6. Milledge leads the league with a 496 average, followed by Cust – 461, Erdos – 446, McCurdy – 442, Spilborghs – 422.

The Country have six players in the leader boards for total hits. Milledge leads the league with 62 hits, followed by Spilborghs – 57, Hudson and Fields – 51, McCurdy – 46, and Erdos – 45.

Hudson and Spilborghs are tied for the league lead with 13 doubles.

Josh Fields leads the league with 23 homeruns, 39 runs scored, and 45 RBIs. Cust is 2nd in home runs with 13. Cust is tied for third with 35 RBIs and Spilborghs is tied for sixth with 34 RBIs.

Milledge is tied for third with 31 runs scored and Spilborghs is sixth with 27 runs scored

Milledge leads major-league baseball with 16 stolen bases, five ahead of second-place Brian Roberts

MrLiamcar · **Posted:** Fri Nov 09, 2012 9:39 pm

Very Nice Month Man

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sun Nov 11, 2012 10:41 am

5/1 – 3/2009: Iowa City Country versus Seattle Mariners

GAME ONE: Country Lannan (89 EB SL – three, CB – four, CH – three) versus Mariners Dickey (87 BC SL – one, CB – two, CH – two, KN – two)

The Country scored in the 2nd when Dickie hung a one – zero knuckleball to Cust who put it in the upper deck of rightfield. That was followed by Dan Johnson's own solo homer. End of two, country lead two – zero. A Beltre double (partially due to a poor decision on Milledge to dive for the flyball) bout the Mariners on the board in the 3rd, but the Country quickly got that run back as Milledge singled with one out, stole second, and came home on a Spilborghs double (he moved to second on the throw home). A Fields double to left center and Cust's second homerun of the day extended the Country's lead to six – one after three.

The Mariners came out swinging in the 4th, leading off with two singles, and appeared readynfor a big inning, but a six – six – one double-play, followed by meek ground out to second ended the threat. In the bottom half evening, the Country took advantage of a tired Mariner starter, scoring runs on three singles (McCurdy, Huisman, Spilborghs), a Fields' double and Cust's third homerun of the day, giving the Country a commanding 11 – 1 lead after four

Inning five: The Mariners used 7 singles and a double to score 4 runs over the next two innings, but the 11 – 5 score would stand as the final score the game

Comments:

GAME TWO: Country James (91 CB SL – three, CH – three) versus Mariners Capurro (91 GC SL – two, CU – two)

Lineup:

Country starter James started very strong, having reported in pink condition. In the 1st inning, he struck out the first batter before inducing week grounders to short from the next two. James fell into an excellent groove in the top of the second, using a an outside fastball, followed by a low slider tailing inside, followed by a high slider tailing inside to record two strikeouts and retire the Mariners in order. In the 3rd, James only only recorded one strike out, but was similarly effective in the 3rd, again retiring the Mariners in order.

It wasn't until the fourth inning when the Mariners got their first hit, a relatively slow grounder that fit just in between the gloves of the Country's third baseman and shortstop. A successful hit-and-run with Ichiro Suzuki put runners at first and third with one out. A sacrifice fly brought home one runner before James closed the inning on a second fly out to the outfield.

The Country, meanwhile, had no trouble putting runs on the board. In the bottom of the first, Spilborghs hit a bloop single with two outs, followed by a single to shallow centerfield from Fields, and both runners came home on an opposite field homerun from Jack Cust. In the 5th, after James retired the Mariners in order, the Country made some noise as Johnson doubled home Cust with two out, who reached based on a fielders choice, and Erdos singled home Johnson. This gave the Country a five – one lead after 5. Notable: the Country swiped two bases in this inning, one by Spilborghs, one by Erdos, but neither runner scored

The Mariners had a big 6th, loading the bases with no out for Ichiro Suzuki. Two singles and the game was tied. Two more singles – not hard-hit singles but balls that just found openings, and the Mariners pulled ahead and the Country went to their bullpen. Jiang entered the game and retired the next two batters, limiting the Mariners to 5 runs in that inning.

The Country mimicked the Mariners, loading the bases with no out in the bottom half the inning on singles by Towles (who recently improved his contact rating from G to F), Hudson, and Milledge. Spilborghs popped up to the infield, but Fields hit a grand slam homerun off of a high fastball. Cust followed with his own home home run to the opposite field off of a high outside fastball. After matching the Mariners five runs in the inning, the Country maintained a four run lead – 10 – 6. The Country extended their lead by 1 (11-6) in the 7th when Hudson singled, stole second, and came home on a Milledge single. That was the score entering the 9th, which Chamberlain started even though it was a non-save situation. Chamberlain retired the Mariners on a deep fly out and then, after single, a five – four – three double play.

Comments:

GAME THREE: Country Bourgeois (90 DC SL – two, CU – four, CB – four, VSL – one) versus Mariners Hernandez (98 CA SL – three, CB – five, SP – two, CH – five)

Lineup:

The Mariners immediately applied some pressure when there leadoff batter bunted for a single and then reached second on a fielders choice, but for Bourgeois buckled down and struck out Ichiro before getting Ibanez to ground out to short. In the third, Ichiro again came up with runners in scoring position, and did not disappoint, blooping a base hit over the head of the Country second baseman, giving the Mariners a one – zero lead.

The Country came back and grabbed the lead in the bottom of the fourth, as Spilborghs led off with a single on a slider that tailed out over the middle of the plate and came home when Cust hammered a Hernandez fastball over the right-field fence. Fields followed with a home run off of an zero – one changeup up in the zone. Johnson followed with a double off the right centerfield wall, and came home on Erdos single, all with no out. Erdos was thrown out trying to steal second, McCurdy flied out to right field, and Huisman popped out to short, ending the fourth with a four – one Country lead.

Three singles (Ibanez, Sexton, and Beltre) and a passed ball in the sixth narrowed the Country's lead to 4-3, but the Country extended their lead in the bottom half of the 6th (infield single by McCurdy fielded deep in the hole by the Mariners shortstop allowed Cust to score) and 7th (Dan Johnson hit his 11th homerun of the season – a solo shot just over the right-field fence) to six – three.

Joba Chamberlain entered the game to start the ninth inning against the Mariners #7 batter. Two sliders tailing inside – the first one low in the zone; the second one high in the zone – and a slow curve, and out number one was recorded on a strikeout. Johjima drove a 1-0 fastball into shallow left-center field that Erdos made a fine diving catch for out number two. A high inside fastball jammed the Mariners number nine batter, who popped out to second, ending the game with a six – three Country win.

Comments:

Awards: Jack cost was named AL MVP for the week ending May 3. During this week, Cust batted 455 with 8 homeruns and 19 RBIs

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Season Log: Iowa City Country

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