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FL Joliet Slammers

June 3 Joliet Slammers Game Notes

June 3, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Joliet Slammers News Release


JOLIET SLAMMERS (9-6) vs. WASHINGTON WILD THINGS (5-8)

Sunday, June 3 - 2:05 p.m. CT

Silver Cross Field - Joliet, IL

Game #16 - Home Game #9 (9-6), (5-3)

RHP #39 Tommy Mendoza (2-0, 1.69 ERA) vs. RHP #15 Casey Barnes (0-0, 0.64 ERA)

Last time out.

The Slammers fell down 1-0 but came back to win their fifth straight game as they knocked off the Washington Wild Things by a final score of 3-1 Saturday night at Silver Cross Field. Michael Perconte went six innings for the Slammers and only allowed one run. He ended up with a no-decision as the Slammers tied the game in the sixth and took the lead for good in the seventh. Jimmy Waters doubled and Ben Hewett followed with a single to put the runners on the corners in the sixth. Hewett intentionally caught himself in a rundown between first and second, allowing Waters to score from third, trying the game at one. In the seventh Zach Mandelblatt tripled, allowing Erik Lis to score from first. They added an insurance run on a successful suicide squeeze, the second of the season, bringing Mandelblatt home from third to make it 3-1. Daniel Carela got the win and Amalio Diaz got the save.

For Starters.

Tommy "The Barber" Mendoza gets the start today for the Slammers. The right-hander is coming off a victory over the Lake Erie Crushers on May 29 as he went six innings, scattering five hits, giving up two runs, walking two and striking out three. Mendoza made his first career 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.

A battle of aces.

Today's contest features two of the best pitchers in the Frontier League. Washington's Casey Barnes has a 0.64 ERA in 14 innings pitched, good for second in the league. Joliet's Tommy Mendoza has a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings pitched, good for ninth in the league. Both pitchers also have affiliated baseball experience. Barnes has pitched at the short season Single-A level while Mendoza has pitched at the Triple-A level.

During the day.

The Slammers have a record of 1-3 in day games so far in 2012. They are still looking for their first Sunday victory of the season as they are 0-2 on Sundays.

Shutting down the opposition.

The Slammers' bullpen has an ERA of 1.60 on the season in 50.2 innings. The pitching staff as a whole currently sports an ERA of 2.37, the second lowest in the league. Meanwhile, opposing batters are only hitting .210 against the Slammers, tied with Evansville for the lowest in the league. Only one active pitcher on the entire Slammers staff has an ERA over 3.00.

Erroneous!

The Slammers are tied with Rockford for allowing the most unearned runs in the league (17). Joliet has committed 13 errors on the season but none in the past four games.

Movin' on up!

RHP Gaby Hernandez became the fourth Slammers player to move on to affiliated baseball when his contract was purchased by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, May 21. He joins LHP Aaron Dott, Joliet native RHP Ryan Quigley and Darien native RHP Chris Pack as former Slammers in MLB organizations.

Transaction Wire.

The Slammers placed Catcher Trey Manz on the 7-Day DL on June 1 retroactive to May 29. They signed Catcher Tony Sanchez. Sanchez is a Plainfield native and a North Park University alum.

Check out the Joliet Slammers Statistics

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