As Fleetwood entered the dog days of August, it found itself with the best record in BRASSball. Just the same, it attempted to improve its roster (both for the present and the future) by making a couple of notable trades.
First, the Walkers traded Neifi Perez (.275/.303/.377 and 3 SB in 224 PA), Ryan Vogelsong (1-0, 55 IP, 5.07 ERA) and minor-leaguer Laynce Nix to New Hampshire for Jose Guillen (.315/.376/.546 in 391 PA), Craig Counsell (.228/.339/.337 and 26 SB in 497 PA), Kelvim Escobar (3-0, 33 IP, 3.55 ERA) and $250K in cash.
Second--and now with two right fielders on its roster--the Walkers then flipped Jermaine Dye to Toledo for New Hampshire's 2007 1st Round Pick and Ocala's 2007 4th Round pick.Looked at in combination, the two trades had cost Fleetwood a prospect in Nix and over $1.5 million in salary commitments. However, the team believed it had improved itself for 2006 at three positions (right field, shortstop, right-handed relief) while also stock-piling some draft picks for 2007 and beyond.
With its new roster in place, Fleetwood faced its first challenge against Cook County. The Maulers were the best team in the American League, posting a record of 77-35 record...identical to that of Fleetwood. A great series was surely in store.
Fleetwood jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, scoring once in the 2nd on a Ramon Castro RBI double and again in the 3rd on a Derrek Lee solo home run. Cook County tied things up quickly, though, scoring two runs in the 4th inning on a Chase Utley single. After a scoreless 5th inning, the game was tied 2-2.
In the 6th inning, the recently-acquired Jose Guillen gave Fleetwood a one-run lead with a sacrifice fly versus Cook County starter Dan Haren. Meanwhile, Fleetwood starting pitcher Mark Buehrle pitched 7 complete innings without allowing another run.Holding a 3-2 lead, the Walkers turned to the bullpen in the 8th and 9th innings. Fernando Cabrera and Arthur Rhodes where up the challenge, combining for 2 scoreless innings. In doing so, Fleetwood had won the first game in this battle of the titans.
Tomorrow would see young Daniel Cabrera (3 wins, 1 loss) pitching for Cook County, with veteran Esteban Loaiza (13 wins, 4 losses) taking the mound for Fleetwood.
BOXSCORE: 2006 Cook County Maulers At 2006 Fleetwood Walkers 8/1/2006
Gm 1: Buehrle holds Cook County in check; Cabrera and Rhodes slam the door.
Maulers AB R H RBI AVG Walkers AB R H RBI AVG
J.Damon RF 3 0 1 0 .282 D.Dejesus CF,LF 4 0 2 0 .279
B.Hall 3B 3 1 0 0 .249 D.Wright DH 4 0 0 0 .305
J.Peralta SS 3 1 1 0 .292 D.Lee 1B 3 2 2 1 .266
M.Ramirez DH 4 0 0 0 .238 M.Cabrera 3B 4 0 1 0 .324
M.Lecroy 1B 3 0 0 0 .328 J.Guillen RF 3 0 0 1 .313
A.Jones CF 4 0 0 0 .236 M.Giles 2B 2 1 0 0 .252
C.Utley 2B 4 0 2 2 .270 R.Castro C 3 0 1 1 .312
T.Hall C 3 0 0 0 .246 B.Crosby SS 3 0 0 0 .317
C.Crawford LF 3 0 0 0 .333 L.Matos LF 2 0 0 0 .287
A-B.Bonds PH 1 0 0 0 .208
B-J.Edmonds CF 0 0 0 0 .257
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 30 2 4 2 Totals 29 3 6 3
A-Pinch Hit For Matos In 7th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Bonds In 8th Inning
Maulers......... 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 4 0
Walkers......... 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 - 3 6 0
Maulers (77-36) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
D.Haren LOSS(10-6) 6 1/3 5 3 3 2 4 1 4.99 A1 C8
B.Chen 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 2 0 4.93 C9
Totals 8 6 3 3 2 6 1
Walkers (78-35) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
M.Buehrle WIN(11-8) 7 4 2 2 3 7 0 4.63 A1 C9
F.Cabrera HOLD(4th) 0 2/3 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.82 D1 D3
A.Rhodes SAVE(4th) 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.35 D4
Totals 9 4 2 2 4 10 0
ATTENDANCE- 37,430 DATE- Friday, August 1st 2006 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
T- 2:45
LEFT ON BASE- Maulers: 5 Walkers: 5
DOUBLE PLAYS- Maulers: 0 Walkers: 0
DOUBLES- J.Damon(29th), C.Utley(25th), R.Castro(10th)
HOME RUNS- D.Lee(27th)
SACRIFICE FLIES- J.Guillen
WALKS- J.Damon, B.Hall, J.Peralta, M.Lecroy, D.Lee, M.Giles
STRIKE OUTS- J.Damon, B.Hall-2, J.Peralta, M.Ramirez, M.Lecroy-2, A.Jones,
C.Utley, C.Crawford, D.Lee, M.Cabrera, J.Guillen-3, R.Castro
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