Hot night in Chattanooga

[twinssouth]

Saw quite an entertaining game if you were a Jacksonville fan last night in Chattanooga.

First off, it was brutally hot. We were just a few rows up behind home plate and a full hot sun is coming at you from over left field. With no air flow, it felt watching the game inside a 400 degree oven. Busiest guy last night next to Burdi trying to get out of an inning was the "Cold Beer here" guy. I kid you not, if you didn't gulp the beer down in one shot, it became hotter than a pistol.

 

Brett Lee was having a nice night, facing our old buddy Matt Tomshaw. Both lefties physically look eerily similar except Brett had better stuff. He was dealing tonight. His FB was sitting between 87 to 91, showed nice curve balls between 75 to 80, Change up around 80/81 and he was hitting his spots, spinning the ball nicely, really good movement.

 

He was pitching a shut out into the 7th inning, got 1 out, and had runners on 1st and 2nd. That's when Doug M pulled him but I thought he should have stayed in as he still looked like in control of the game. At that point Burdi came in to just get out of the inning, as we were up 3 to 0 but the wheels came off really quick.

 

Burdi had a bad night, ok, I'm kind. Actually, he was wild, all over the place, couldn't find the strike zone. His FB was sitting 95 to 99 and sliders or curve (couldn't tell) in upper 80's. The harder he threw it, the straighter the ball and when the batter hits it, it goes a long way (pretty simple huh). I actually thought his best fast ball was one at 95, had nice movement and good placement. I think he need's to slow down a tad and get his control back. Miguel tonight didn't help him any by letting a roller go by him and having the runner score from 2nd. That should have been an error charged to Sano. When all said and done, Nick Burdi got NO outs. Both runners he inherited from Brett Lee scored plus he let in 2 more, 1 walking the batter in with bases loaded. I suspect he didn't sleep well last night.

 

Then Jake Reed comes in. Still, 1 out thanks to Brett L. I actually like the way he pitches, was down and away for the most part, his fb sitting 92/93 and a nice upper 80's slider when on. He actually had a great battle with Miohael Morse, the big Marlins 1st baseman who was on a rehab assignment, ended up striking him out. But the next batter; Michael Juengel for the Suns, clobbered a down and inside 1/3rd of the plate Grand Slam homer off Reed's 93 FB, just inside the LF foul pole.

 

Wow, in 2/3rds of an inning, we went from being up 3 to zip to down 8 to 3. Well, as the song goes, "Momma says there be days like this." One thing to bear in mind with the power arms; when the ball comes in fast and the batter makes contact, oh boy. Hopefully they miss bats the next time out. Both the guys need to throw more off speed in my opinion.

 

To cap it off, the ump on bottom of the 8th ruled runner interference on Stuart Turner to 1st. What a bogus, lousy call, no way did that happen. Doug M ran out to the field, argued rightfully so, got thrown out of the game. All of us in the stands cheered for Doug.

 

The player of the game was no question, Max Kepler, going 4 for 5, 2 RBI's (should have had 3 if the 3rd base coach, had called the runner in). This guy is good. He$$, he even stole a base tonight. He needs to be in call up discussion. The whole package showed off tonight.

 

Also want to pass a few good words on to unsung heroes Harrison and Gonzales. I like Mike Gonzales swing. Little more contact and he could (hopefully) be in discussion for future dh roles.

 

Miguel needs more work both offensively and defensively.

 

It was a fun night, lots of action, talking to scouts behind me and Jacksonville Sun pitchers doing the tracking for tonight in front of me. Next game I see needs to be cooler though.

[nytwinsfan]

Thanks for the report. How did Polanco look on defense?

[twinssouth]

I thought he looked great. I don't get all the fuss about his defense. He showed off really strong arm strength on a deep grounder. He handled every chance with ease