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FL Joliet Slammers

August 11 Joliet Slammers Game Notes

August 11, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Joliet Slammers News Release


JOLIET SLAMMERS (33-43) vs. ROCKFORD RIVERHAWKS (33-43)

Saturday, August 11 - 6:05 p.m. CT

Silver Cross Field - Joliet, IL

Game #77 - Home Game #41 (33-43), (16-24)

RHP #39 Tommy Mendoza (3-5, 4.84 ERA) vs. RHP #2 Drew Rucinski (6-1, 2.65 ERA)

Last time out.

Joliet lost 4-3 in 13 innings last night. The game was scoreless through two and a half, but with two on and two outs, a throwing error by the Rockford defense allowed two runs to cross for the Slammers, giving them the early lead. They would hold onto it until the ninth inning, where Rockford roared to life. With runners on the corners, Jet Butler smacked an RBI single to put the Hawks on the board, and Jimmy Parque singled in another run to tie it up. The game stayed tied at two until the thirteenth inning, where Chase Doremus allowed Rockford to load the bases and hit a batter, handing Rockford the lead. He then threw a wild pitch to the backstop, resulting in a 4-2 Hawks advantage. But the Slammers didn't go quietly. In the home half, David Christensen knocked a run-scoring single into the gap to make it 4-3, but Hawks pitching then set down Kyle Maunus to end the game.

For Starters.

Tommy Mendoza is looking for his first win since June 14 and his first home win of the season. He is coming off a rough outing against Schaumburg on August 5 when he went three and a third innings, giving up four runs on nine hits. He's faced Rockford once this season back on June 30 when he went five innings, giving up two runs on eight hits in a no-decision. Mendoza made his first start for the Slammers on June 27, 2011 and went on to post a 6-2 record during the regular season. He won both his starts in the playoffs while posting a 1.50 ERA. Mendoza was a 5th round draft pick of the Angels in 2005. He has a career ERA of 3.97 over six seasons in affiliated baseball. The right-handed pitcher rose to the Triple-A level at the age of 21 in 2009. He was 7-7 with a 3.36 ERA for Double-A Arkansas and was named a Texas League All Star before earning the promotion to Salt Lake. With the Bees he went 2-1 with a 2.91 ERA. Mendoza suffered from multiple injuries in 2010 which only allowed him to pitch in 10 games.

Christensen providing power and defense.

David Christensen has already smacked three home runs in 19 games with Joliet. He has a total of 12 bombs this year between London and Joliet, the most on the Slammers. He is hitting .276 since joining Joliet; he hit .250 when he was with the Rippers. On defense, last night's brilliant catch over the Bud Beach wall was the second time in franchise history a Slammers player has jumped over the Bud Beach wall to take away a home run. Josh Flores did it last year on May 19 against Washington.

Rare struggles.

Amalio Diaz is second in the Frontier League with 18 saves. He only had one blown save entering this six-game homestand but he's blow two saves in the past week, including last night when he surrendered two runs in the ninth.

Lyon heating up.

Rookie catcher Josh Lyon is hitting .333 (8-24) over the last 10 games and .429 (6-14) over the past 5.

Five or more.

Joliet 21-11 when scoring 5 or more runs in a game. They are 12-32 when scoring fewer than 5 runs.

Mr. RBI.

David Fox leads the Slammers with 43 RBI on the season. He has driven in 8 over the past five games.

Walk this way.

Abel Nieves has drawn a team-leading 49 walks this season, good for 5th in the Frontier League. Even more impressively, he's the only active Slammers player to record more walks than strike outs this season as he has only fanned 31 times in 260 at bats.

First inning success..

The Slammers have scored 50 runs in the first inning, most of any inning this season.

Error indicator.

Joliet is 11-31 in games when they make an error. They are 22-12 in games when they do not.

Check out the Joliet Slammers Statistics



Frontier League Stories from August 11, 2012


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