Season Log: Iowa City Country

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:49 pm

TIGERS GAME TWO: Country Grindell (93 EC CU – four, CB – three, PA – three, HSK – one) versus Tigers Willis (95 CA SL – 4, SIFB – four, CH – four)

Lineup:

Inning one: Grindell finish the top half of the inning strong, with a strikeout. Willis looked equally strong, recording two outs quickly, but a double by Cust into the left-field corner put runners at second and third with two out for Josh Fields. Fields grounded out to short, ending the threat and the first inning tied at zero

Inning three: Willis had great movement on his pitches, and the Country seemed to have trouble picking up his sinking fastball. When Huisman led off the inning with a bloop single into shallow leftfield, Hudson bunted him over the second. Perhaps as a sign of respect for the major league leader in base hits, Willis walked Milledge on five pitches. Willis overpowered Erdos for the second out of the inning and then Jack Cust approached the plate. Cust hit a grounder deep into the hole that was recovered by the Tigers shortstop, but Cust beat out the throw on an infield single that left the bases-loaded for Josh Fields with two out. It looked like Josh Fields just tried to make contact, and hit a strong single up the middle that scored two runs.

Inning five: the Country seemed to be using a strategy of taking a lot of pitches in order to tire Willis out, and it worked, as Willis was effective but with runners at first and second and two out in the fifth inning, Willis had thrown 73 pitches and was removed for reliever Seay (91 BE CB – one, CH – two). Schrager doubled down the right field line off a first pitch changeup, increasing the Country's lead to three – zero

Inning eight: Green came in to start the eighth-inning after finishing off the seventh for the Country, but a single, an infield single, and then a bunt single loaded the bases with no one out. Green was replaced by Brown after allowing a run scoring single that left the bases loaded with no out for Curtis Granderson. The Country gave up a run in exchange for a double play, and then struck out Blanco to send the game into the bottom of the eighth with the Country clinging to a three – two lead.

The Country led off the bottom of the eighth with singles from their eighth (Timpner) and ninth (Huisman) batters. A fielders choice from Hudson left runners at first and third with one out, but baserunning errors ended the inning without a score. NOTE: I CHANGED THE BASERUNNING SO THAT I AM IN TOTAL CONTROL, AND AM HAVING SOME TROUBLE GETTING ONE RUNNER TO MOVE UP A BASE OR BACK WITHOUT HAVING ALL RUNNERS MOVE

Inning nine: with the Country leading three – two, Joba Chamberlain came in and ended the game with two infield groundouts sandwiching a Maglio Ordonez strikeout.

MrLiamcar · **Posted:** Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:51 pm

Another Country win :woot:

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:41 pm

TIGERS GAME THREE: Country Bourgeois (90 DC SL – two, CU – four, CB – four, VSL – one) versus Tigers Robertson (93 CA SL – three, CH – two)

Lineup:

Milledge – RF, Erdos – LF, Harris – 2B, Cust – DH, Fields – 3B, Schrager – 1B, McCurdy – C, Timpner – CF, Huisman – SS

Innings one-two: the Country took an early lead when Cust drove home Erdos on a deep drive bouncing off the centerfield wall. The Tigers tied the game in the top of the 2nd on singles from Sheffield, Ordonez, and Carlos Guillen. A Jaque Jones single to left center field and a Rodriguez single, and the Tigers grabbed a three – one lead

Inning 4: In the bottom half of the 4th, singles from Cust, Schrager, McCurdy, Timpner, Huisman and Milledge gave the Country a five – three lead after four. When the Country took the field in the fifth inning, McCurdy, who required medical attention after sliding into third, but stayed in the game, was replaced at catcher by Sean Riggins, and starting pitcher Bourgeois was replaced by Stratton (85 DC SL – three, CB – three, FO – three, SHU – one)

Inning five: RBI singles by Carlos Guillen, Jones, and a double by Rodriguez sent Stratton to the showers (replaced by Deardorff), and then another single by Inge gave the Tigers an eight – five lead after 4 – 1/2 innings. The Country pulled to within a run when Fields homered with Erdos on first.

Inning six: a leadoff double by Granderson led to a run when he moved to third and then scored on fielders choices. End of 6, Tigers lead nine – seven

Inning seven: The Country threatened with singles by Erdos and Harris, removing Harris (speed F) for Towles (Speed D) as a pinch runner, but Cust, Fields, and Schrager failed to drive the ball out of the infield. A solo homerun by the Tigers extended the Tigers lead to 10 – 7

Inning eight: Sean Riggins was due up, but was pinch-hit for by Merrill (DD), who hammered a pitch into the right centerfield gap for a leadoff double. A wild pitch with one out allowed Merill to reach third and then score on a single from Huisman. A soft singles from Milledge and Erdos brought home another run, with Milledge and Erdos moving up to third and second on the throw home. This brought up JR Towles, who replaced Harris is a pinch runner earlier, to the plate with the tying and go-ahead runners in scoring position. Towels came through with a soft single just inside left-field line that brought home both runners, but Towles was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double. End of 8, Country lead 11 – 10

Inning nine: when Chamberlain took the mound, the defensive flexibility of the Country was highlighted, as Merrill, who came in as a pinch-hitter, was at first, Schrager, who started the game at first, was that second, and Towles, who came in as a pinch runner and played second base the inning before, was at catcher.

A fly out to centerfield and two groundouts to first and the Country earned a tough 11 – 10 victory.

Comments:

ZeroGibson13 · **Posted:** Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:46 pm

And Liam says

MrLiamcar wrote:

Go Country! :woot:

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:58 pm

5/12/2009: News & Announcements

Awards: Jack Cust was named AL MVP for week five. For this week ending May 10, Cust hit 419 with five home runs and 14 RBIs. The other AL player name was Alex Rodriguez, who hit 500 with two home runs and 13 RBIs over this week

Medical: the report came out after the game that Orlando Hudson suffered a bruise and doctors expect it to be at least four more days until he is well enough to play

Trade: The Country sent two minor-league pictures to the Phillies for cash considerations. In exchange for $2.165 million, the Phillies get minor-league pitcher Sessions (86 DC SL – two, CU – three, CB – four) and Nolan (87 DC SL – two, CU – three, CB – two)

Said the Country GM: this was really a numbers game. We had 43 players on our roster and definitely wanted to move some players as the draft approached. Rather than pay the penalty associated with dropping a player, we decided to move early and the Phillies were perfect partners because they currently had no minor league pitchers. We were able to get a good price for some adequate minor league pitchers who we really did not foresee making our major-league roster in the next few years. These are solid minor leaguers - we just didn't foresee them pushing any current major leaguers out of their roster spots.
Other roster moves announced today: Dan Johnson was recalled from the minors and Shawn Riggins sent back down. In addition, Sweeney, was sent down and Thurston recalled. When asked about the Sweeney move, a club official who asked to have his name withheld because he's not authorized to speak on behalf of the team said that Sweeney had been in blue condition for a while so the Country wanted to rest and by bringing in Thurston, who can also play second base, it made it easier for the Country to send down Riggins and keep Merrill, who the team likes very much as a pinch-hitter. Also, middle reliever Deardorff (88 DC SL – three, CB – two, FO – four) was sent down and middle reliever Oliver (88 CU – three, SLV – three, CB – three, VSL – one) was recalled to the major league roster.

Fan Award: and the Country fan poll winner for biggest fan is...MrLiamcar !!! Mr. Car will be given 4 tickets and brought in to sing the National Anthem at a future home game, and will receive 3 coupons for free pizza!!!

philliesfan134 · **Posted:** Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:07 pm

Wonder what the Phils are like in your second season, nice to see you helping them out.

Jack Cust is a beast for some reason. I don't remember him being that good back in '08.

MrLiamcar · **Posted:** Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:18 pm

ZeroGibson13 wrote:

And Liam says

MrLiamcar wrote:

Go Country! :woot:

Thanks man

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sat Nov 24, 2012 11:27 pm

5/12 – 14/2009: Iowa City Country at Seattle Mariners

GAME ONE: Country Depablos (93 DC SL – four, CB – four, VSL – one) Versus Mariners Dickey (87 DC SL – one, CB – two, CH – two, KN – two)

Lineup:

After a Richie Sexson leadoff homerun just inside the left-field foul pole tied the game at 1 in the 2nd inning, the Country took command of this game in the 4th when Lastings Milledge drove the ball into centerfield with the bases loaded, Erdos doubled and then Jack Cust hit a sacrifice fly. When Sexson led off the bottom of the inning with his second homerun of the game, the fourth inning ended with the Country leading five – two. The Country extended their lead with a 5th inning lead off homerun from Dan Johnson and 2 home runs by Jack Cust. The Mariners scored 2 more runs in the game, 1 when they bunched several singles together and another when Cust let a ball get past him and roll all the way to the RF wall. The game ended when Betancourt tried to steal second, but was thrown out by McCurdy. Final score, Country nine, Mariners five

Comments:

Roster move: Spilborghs, in blue condition, was recalled from the minors and Timpner sent down, leaving Joe Thurston, who can play center and left-field as well as second base, as the main backup OF (if you exclude cost, who can play right field and left).

ZeroGibson13 · **Posted:** Sat Nov 24, 2012 11:29 pm

It's good that you have Spilborghs back up now!

Nice game though! What is your record for the season?

MrLiamcar · **Posted:** Sat Nov 24, 2012 11:30 pm

Oh Yeahhhhhh, Go Country!

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sat Nov 24, 2012 11:47 pm

MARINERS GAME TWO: Country Jimenez (98 EB CB – two, CH – four) at Mariners Capurro (91 GC SL – two, CU – two)

Lineup:

Comments:

Inning two: Fields moved into scoring position after singling with one out and Capurro threw a wild pitch. He then moved to third on Dan Johnson's single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brendan Harris. The Mariners tied the game when, with runners at first and second, Wilkerson hit a deep drive to centerfield that Milledge track down, but inexplicably dropped. A fly out to shallow leftfield and then a popout the second with runners at first and third left the Country feeling fortunate that the second inning ended with the game tied at one apiece

Inning three: with the Mariners pitcher placing his back door cutters and sliders perfectly, the Country relied on small ball bloop singles from Huisman, Erdos, and Spilborghs to score a run. Jimenez pitched a strong 3rd inning, retiring the Mariners in order. Country lead two – one

Inning four: the Mariners starter was clearly tiring and Johnson made him pay, hitting a leadoff homerun off of a two – one cut fastball. In the bottom half a inning, Ibanez singled, stole second, and scored when Wilkerson hit a game-tying homerun over the centerfield fence, three all

Inning five: Milledge gave the Country back the lead when he led off with a home run off of a two – one slider. It was his first home run of the season. When the Mariners were retired in order, the fifth inning closed with the Country leading four – three

Inning eight: in the bottom of the eighth, with one out, Betancourt and Martinez got back to back singles against reliever Shawn Green, who was pulled in favor of Joba Chamberlain with Ichiro Suzuki at the plate. A sharp single left the bases loaded with one out for Ibanez, who hit into a game tying fielders choice before Chamberlain recorded last out of the inning.

Inning 10: the Country did not mount any offense until the top of the 10th when Cust and Fields hitt one-out singles. The Country manager chose not to pinch run for Cust even though there were three players on the bench faster than he. Johnson made the decision irrelevant as he hammered a hanging changeup over the right centerfield fence for a three-run homerun

In the bottom of the 10th, Towles replaced Harris at second and Andrew "fireman" Brown was on the mound. A leadoff single just beyond the outstretched arm of Towles was neutralized by a four – five – three doubleplay, and a pop out to short saved the seven – four Country victory.

Comments:

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sat Nov 24, 2012 11:50 pm

Thanks, Liam & Gibson

ZeroGibson13 wrote:

What is your record for the season?

I'll try to insert it into my last post of the next series (I finished this series with the Mariners and started a 3 game series with the Tigers)

MrLiamcar · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2012 12:05 am

I like extra inning thrillers

dishnet34 · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2012 12:26 am

Really? The Mariners put Richie Sexson leadoff?? Weird...

ZeroGibson13 · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2012 12:28 am

There's no logic in PP... :nonono:

Once, in '07, the Mariners started P Justin Vargas at first base, for the whole series! Surprisingly, he hit a homer and batted .300+ in that series.

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Season Log: Iowa City Country

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