MWL1 Clinton LumberKings

LumberKings Game Notes for July 25

July 25, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Clinton LumberKings News Release


West Michigan Whitecaps (17-10 / 2nd in East) vs. Clinton LumberKings (11-15 / T-5th in West)

RHP Brayan Villarreal (3-0, 1.06 ERA) vs. RHP Alfredo Venegas (3-4, 4.62 ERA)

Finale Washed Out: Heavy storms with potential for tornados forced the cancellation of last night's scheduled game between the LumberKings and South Bend Silver Hawks. Clinton trailed 2-0 in the third inning when the rains came, but the game will not be resumed and does not count.

Last Action Heroes: Blasts by Travis Howell, Daniel Carroll and Kyle Seager powered the LumberKings to a bounce-back 11-3 win over the South Bend Silver Hawks at Alliant Energy Field on Thursday. Already leading 2-0, the Kings opened up a 7-0 lead and chased South Bend starter Randy Rodriguez from the game in the sixth...Nate Tenbrink and Denny Almonte both singled and scored on a base hit by Luis Nunez and an error by first-baseman Nelson Gomez. Howell followed with his seventh home run of the year, taking Rodriguez (L, 3-8) deep to the berm in left. On the very next pitch, Carroll connected for a solo shot over the wood wall in left-center, his second professional home run. Starter Kenn Kasparek (W, 7-5) kept the Hawks off the board for the first 6.0 innings, but gave up two hits before exiting. South Bend's three-run rally in the seventh made it 7-3, but Nunez added an RBI double in the seventh and Seager belted his first career home run (three-run shot) into the Lumber Lounge for an 11-3 lead. Cheyne Hann and Blake Nation combined for 2.0 scoreless IP.

You Gotta Have Power: The three-homer game by the LumberKings was their fifth this season, the first since a 16-2 win on 6/8 @ Quad Cities. That game featured blasts by Kris Sanchez (solo), Denny Almonte (grand slam, Clinton's only one this year) and Scott Savastano (solo). The sixth-inning back-to-back clouts for Travis Howell and Daniel Carroll marked the second time that has happened this year...Almonte and Savastano went back-to-back in a 7-5 loss @ Dayton on 5/6. Carroll's home run was just his second since being drafted in the third round in 2007, his first since taking Quad Cities' Ryan Kulik deep on 8/21/08 while with Wisconsin. The Kings have combined for five homers on this homestand and now have 62 as a club, fifth-most in the Midwest League.

Standings Watch: The LumberKings are currently in a four-way tie for fifth in the West Division, alongside Beloit, Burlington and Quad Cities (all 11-15). Clinton has won five of their last 10 games and now trails first place Cedar Rapids by 5.0 games and the Wild Card spot (occupied by Peoria, 12- 15) by just a half game. Scott Steinmann's club is trying to secure a second-half playoff berth for the first time since Carlos Subero's LumberKings did it in 2005 (Wild Card, 38-32 record).

Texas Toast: Kenn Kasparek won his third-straight start Thursday night, improving to 7-5...he and Aaron Pribanic are now tied for the team lead in wins. Kasparek has allowed just three earned runs over his last three starts, a span of 18.2 innings (1.48 ERA)...he's lowered his season ERA from 2.73 to 2.49 in that span and has walked only three while striking out 15. Seattle's 12th round pick in 2008 out of the University of Texas, Kasparek is 3-1 with a 1.61 ERA over four starts in July...the recent run has him amidst MWL leaders in strikeouts (T-5th, 94), ERA (6th, 2.49) and WHIP (9th, 1.16).

Multi-Hit Men: Jake Shaffer recorded his third-straight multi-hit game Thursday, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI in the leadoff spot. He's got five multi-hit games over his last week of baseball and is hitting .550 (11-for-20) with three doubles, a home run, six runs scored and six RBI during that span, raising his average from .276 to .289. Shaffer was just one of six Kings with multi-hit games last night, led by Luis Nunez's 3-for-4 game. Nunez ended an 0-for-12 slump with his three-hit effort, the eighth time he's done it this year (tied with Nate Tenbrink for the most three-hit games).

From Tobacco Road to Clinton: Kyle Seager enjoyed his best career game Thursday night, going 2-for-5 with a career-high three RBI, all coming on his first professional home run. Seattle's third-round pick in the 2009 June draft out of the University of North Carolina, Seager took Daniel Vasquez of South Bend deep into the Lumber Lounge in the eighth inning last night, scoring Daniel Carroll and Jake Shaffer...he's now hitting .300 (6-for-20) with the home run and six RBI since joining Clinton. Seager hit .393 with six HR and 62 RBI with the Tar Heels this season, teaming up with Mariners' first-round pick (second overall) Dustin Ackley to reach the College World Series.

Average: Kris Sanchez (.307) Hits: Scott Savastano (94) Doubles: Denny Almonte (22) Triples: Maximo Mendez (8) Home Runs: Denny Almonte (13) RBI: Denny Almonte (53) Stolen Bases: Maximo Mendez (20) Wins: Kenn Kasparek / Aaron Pribanic (7) Innings: Kenn Kasparek (97.2) ERA: Brett Lorin (2.42) Strikeouts: Kenn Kasparek (94) Holds: Cheyne Hann (8) Saves: Ruben Flores (18)

Hann-Tastic: All-Star right-hander Cheyne Hann extended his scoreless-innings streak to 24.2 Thursday, tossing a perfect eighth inning including a strikeout. Hann has not even allowed an unearned run over his last 18 outings dating back to 6/3 vs. Kane County (one run, one hit over 1.0 IP). During this current span, he's recorded all four of his saves and has lowered his ERA from 2.25 to a pen-low 1.20. Hann also recorded 15.1 scoreless innings from 4/23 to 5/18...he's been scored upon in just four of his 36 games and also leads the pen in inherited runners stranded (21-of-28, 75%) and holds (8). The pen as a whole is 21-15 with a 2.83 ERA.

Blank Men: Left-hander Bobby LaFromboise helped deliver Clinton's eighth shutout victory of the season last Monday (7/20), scattering four hits over 7.0 innings while striking out six in a 6-0 win over Peoria. It is the second time LaFromboise has combined on a shutout...he also blanked Peoria over a career-high 8.0 innings on 6/11, striking out a career-high eight before Ryan Moorer and Cheyne Hann finished it off. Seven different Kings' starters have been involved on the eight shutouts, including LaFromboise (twice), Kenn Kasparek (6-0 vs. Dayton, 7/10), Aaron Pribanic (5-0 vs. Kane County, 7/4), Alfredo Venegas (6-0 @ Cedar Rapids, 6/20), Brett Lorin (5-0 @ West Michigan, 5/8), Adam Harben (10-0 vs. Fort Wayne, 4/30) and Steven Hensley (1-0 vs. Burlington, 4/28).

Check out the Clinton LumberKings Statistics



Midwest League Stories from July 25, 2009


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