April 19, 2006: Bounce Back Performance?

Fleetwood looked to bounce back from yesterday's tough defeat, hoping A.J. Burnett would be up to the task. He'd be facing Mark Prior, so the challenge would be formidable indeed.

For the second game in a row (and the fourth time this home stand), I'll be sitting Jim Edmonds. It's tough to do so as it will hurt my defense at three positions (CF, LF, 3B), but it's better to rest him now than pay the price later. Today will thus see David DeJesus move to center field (2e6 +1), Miguel Cabrera shift to left field (4e7 -3) and David Wright man the hot corner (3e25). Josh Phelps will start at designated hitter, taking Edmonds at-bats.

Both pitchers would perform well today. Burnett's control wasn't sharp, but he pitched 7 full innings and kept the hits to a minimum. His final game line: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 7 K.

Prior was just as dominant, pitching 8 innings and allowing only two hits. However, those two hits were both home runs...a two-run shot by Miguel Cabrera in the 4th inning and another two-run blast by Bobby Crosby in the 5th inning.

Heading into the 8th inning, Fleetwood thus led 4-1. A lead-off single by Orlando Hudson drove Burnett to the showers, with Cal Eldred coming in to relieve. Despite giving up a one-out double to Wilson Betemit, Eldred retired Moline's #3 and #4 hitters (Brian Giles and Larry Walker) and held the Cutters scoreless.

Jumping back on the horse in the 9th was Derrick Turnbow, looking to atone for his blown save the day before. Turnbow would fumble a Troy Glaus ball to start the inning, although the play was ruled a hit. Not a good start.

But today was a new day, and Turnbow settled in. He next retired Victor Martinez on an easy flyball and threw a heavy slider to Eric Hinske. All Hinske could do was pound the pitch into the ground, resulting in a 6-4-3 double-play ground out. The game was over, and Fleetwood had earned a 2-2 series split. Final score: Fleetwood 4, Moline 1.

Side note: In his last 7 home games, Marcus Giles is 0 for 25 with 8 strikeouts. His home batting average in April is now .091 (3 for 33). Ouch. That makes Derrek Lee's current .184 home average (7 for 38) look downright Ruthian.

Hessville will next visit John Locke Field, playing a three-game series versus Fleetwood (April 24-26).

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BOXSCORE: 2006 Moline Cutters At 2006 Fleetwood Walkers             4/19/2006
Gm 4: Fleetwood collects just two hits, but both are 2-run HRs; Burnett wins.
 
  Cutters            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Walkers            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  D.Roberts LF        4  0  1  0 .231     M.Giles 2B          4  0  0  0 .091  
  W.Betemit SS        3  0  1  1 .182     D.Dejesus CF,LF     4  0  0  0 .258  
  B.Giles DH          4  0  1  0 .417     D.Lee 1B            2  1  0  0 .184  
  L.Walker RF         3  0  0  0 .250     M.Cabrera LF,3B     3  1  1  2 .316  
  T.Glaus 3B          2  0  1  0 .308     D.Wright 3B         2  0  0  0 .293  
  V.Martinez C        3  0  0  0 .250   A-J.Edmonds CF        0  0  0  0 .280  
  E.Hinske 1B         4  0  0  0 .091     J.Dye RF            3  0  0  0 .300  
  B.Wilkerson CF      2  1  1  0 .214     J.Phelps DH         2  1  0  0 .333  
  O.Hudson 2B         3  0  1  0 .400     R.Castro C          3  0  0  0 .238  
                                          B.Crosby SS         2  1  1  2 .222  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      28  1  6  1                 Totals      25  4  2  4
 
A-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Wright In 7th Inning
 
Cutters......... 0 0 1  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  1  6  0
Walkers......... 0 0 0  2 2 0  0 0    -  4  2  1
 
Cutters (2-2)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
M.Prior LOSS(0-1)         8       2   4   4   4   6   2   4.50  A1
Totals                    8       2   4   4   4   6   2
 
Walkers (8-3)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
A.Burnett WIN(2-1)        7       4   1   1   5   7   0   4.05  A1 C9
C.Eldred HOLD(2nd)        1       1   0   0   0   1   0   0.00  D1 D4
D.Turnbow SAVE(4th)       1       1   0   0   0   0   0   5.79  D5
Totals                    9       6   1   1   5   8   0
 
ATTENDANCE- 36,376 DATE- Saturday, April 19th 2006 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good
T- 2:12
LEFT ON BASE- Cutters: 6  Walkers: 1
DOUBLE PLAYS- Cutters: 1  Walkers: 4
ERRORS- R.Castro
DOUBLES- W.Betemit(2nd), B.Giles(2nd)
HOME RUNS- M.Cabrera(2nd), B.Crosby(1st)
STOLEN BASES- D.Roberts(4th), L.Walker(1st), B.Wilkerson(1st)
SACRIFICE FLIES- W.Betemit
WALKS- L.Walker, T.Glaus-2, V.Martinez, B.Wilkerson, D.Lee, D.Wright, J.Phelps,
       B.Crosby
STRIKE OUTS- D.Roberts-2, B.Giles, L.Walker-3, V.Martinez, B.Wilkerson, D.Lee,
             D.Wright-2, J.Phelps, R.Castro, B.Crosby
GIDP- V.Martinez, E.Hinske-2, J.Dye