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Saturday - March 15, 2008

Game 16: Kansas at Texas

'Got to the park early and got settled in. It was a beautiful day: 77 deg. F with a pretty stiff wind blowing in from lf early in the game and then in from cf as the game went on. Which meant, of course, that homeruns would be few and far between. Or, you know, non-existent.

See what I mean? I snapped that photo about 10 minutes before the game started. Texas played well. "Hallelujah and praise the Lord!" said Coach Garrido afterward...referring to the fact that no errors were charged to the defense. Hallelujah indeed. Heh heh. Texas won 6-1.

Kenn Kasparek started for the Horns:

He went 4.2 innings and gave up the lone Jayhawks run.

In the top of the 1st: Faunce struck out, Robby Price walked, Allman reached on a fielder's choice, and Land struck out. In the bottom: David Hernandez walked, Travis Tucker flew out to rf, David was picked off by the pitcher (sigh...) while Jordan Danks was at the plate, and Jordan popped out to ss.

The second produced that one run for Kansas. Ryne Price (he of the 2 homeruns yesterday) doubled down the lf line. Morrison singled through the right side, putting runners at the corners. Southers singled (off Travis Tucker's glove at 3b) through the left side (rbi, runners at 1b and 2b). Larson hit a soft liner to ss for the first out and Thompson grounded into the only double play of the day (6-4-3) to end the threat. Horns down 0-1.

The Horns went down in order in the bottom of the inning: Preston Clark (starting in lf again) flew out to deep cf, Cameron Rupp struck out, and Brandon Belt grounded out to 2b.

Kansas went down in order in the top of the 3rd: strikeout, ground-out to ss (great play by David Hernandez to field the ball behind 2b and throw in one motion to 1b), and fly out to cf.

Texas, sadly, also went down in order in the bottom of the inning: Tant Shepherd lined out to 2b, Kyle Russell struck out looking, and Michael Torres grounded out to 2b.

Kansas got close to scoring another run in the 4th. Land grounded out to 2b. Ryne Price (yep, him again) doubled to the cf/rf gap. Morrison grounded out to ss (7-pitch plate appearance), moving Price to 3b. Southers walked (8-pitch plate appearance!), putting runners at the corners. Larson struck out to end the threat.

Esther noticed the guys in the bullpen doing the wave when Kenn struck out the first batter in the 3rd. So, I got ready with my camera. And, then had to wait 'til the end of the 4th (and 7 batters later!) for him to get his next strikeout. I was ready:

Heh heh heh.

Texas tied things up in the bottom of the 4th. David Hernandez grounded out to ss (I wrote 4-3 in my book by "diagrammed" 6-3 so am going with that). Travis Tucker singled to cf. Jordan Danks worked the count full and then struck out. Here he is, on that strikeout pitch:

With Preston Clark at the plate, Travis moved to 2b on a wild pitch. Preston then doubled off the lf wall to drive Travis home. Here's Preston stopping at 2b after his hit:

Cameron Rupp singled hard off the pitcher. The pitcher almost made a great play to field the liner (mostly trying to protect himself) but couldn't hang onto the ball. It rolled away from him to the 1b line. By the time he caught up to the ball, Cameron was safe at 1b and Preston was safe at 3b. Brandon Belt flew out to lf to end the inning. Game tied 1-1.

Thompson started off the 5th with a pop out to 1b. Faunce singled to rf. Robby Price struck out looking. Allman walked. Which prompted the Horns to send Chance Ruffin to the mound:

Land flew out to lf for the 3rd out.

Texas pulled ahead in the bottom of the 5th. Tant Shepherd singled up the middle and moved to 2b on a sac bunt by Kyle Russell:

Tant moved to 3b on a wild pitch with Michael Torres at the plate. Michael then drove Tant home on a sac fly to lf. David Hernandez ended the inning by grounding out to 3b.

Yep...it looks like the throw probably beat him, eh? Texas up 2-1.

The Jayhawks went down in order in the top of the 6th: Ryne Price grounded out to 2b (finally...he didn't reach base!), Morrison struck out looking, and Southers struck out looking.

The Horns came up short in the bottom of the 6th. Travis Tucker doubled down the lf line to start things off. Jordan Danks reached on a 6-5 fielder's choice. Travis took off at the crack of the bat and was called out at 3b. It was a pretty close call at 3b. And, frankly, it didn't appear that the third baseman got the tag down. But, the ump said he did. Kansas sent Bollman to the mound. Preston Clark lined out to lf and Cameron Rupp flew out to rf to end the inning.

Here's a shot of Jordan stretching while Clay Van Hook guarded 1b during the 6th-inning pitching change:

Or, maybe, Clay was just standing on the base. There really is no telling what was going on.

Kansas went down in order again in the top of the 7th. Larson grounded out to 2b. Thompson struck out swinging. And, Faunce struck out swinging. Faunce's at-bat was rather eventful. He was actually hit by the first pitch. He was batting from the right. On the play, he twisted to his right, stepped toward the plate, and was hit on his left calf. The home plate ump (Chris Coskey) immediately indicated that he leaned into the pitch. Faunce dropped his bat and started trotting to 1b. But he had to go back to the plate. Coach Price argued the call but, as usual, to no avail. The next pitch was way inside and hard. Frankly, it looked like a brush back pitch to me. Faunce eventually worked the count full but ended up, like I said, striking out.

Texas scored two more in the bottom of the 7th. Remember my comment earlier about the wind shifting as the game went on? See this?

Cameron Rupp hit a deeeeeeep fly ball into the teeth of that wind. Sadly, the wind won and rather than hit his 3rd homerun of the series, he flew out just shy of the rf wall. Damn wind. Russell Moldenhauer (pinch-hitting for Tant Shepherd in the dh spot) singled to rf. Kyle Russell then walked, moving Russell to 2b. (Hmmm...Russell and Russell. Confusing.) Michael Torres followed that with a double to lf, driving in both runners. Kyle flew around the bases:

Sadly, Michael was stranded at 2b when David Hernandez and Travis Tucker both struck out looking to end the inning. Texas up 4-1.

The Jayhawks went down in order again (!) in the top of the 8th. Not without some controversy, however. Robby Price lined out to rf. Allman then flew out (on a 10-pitch plate appearance!) to rf. Chance Ruffin's first pitch to Land went behind his back. Chance was immediately ejected by Coskey (home plate ump). It would appear that Coskey thought Chance was intentionally throwing at the batter. I looked through the rules to see if the pitcher had to first be warned before being ejected and the rule book says "maybe." Here's what the 2008 rules say:

Rule 9, Section 2, part g (Intentionally pitch at the batter):

PENALTY: If the umpire believes such a violation has occurred, a warning shall be issued to the pitcher and both opposing coaches that future violations by any pitcher will be cause for immediate ejection of the pitcher and the coach from the game.
(1) If, in the umpire’s judgment, the situation warrants drastic action to defuse a potentially volatile situation, the umpire may eject the pitcher without a warning. Each coach should be warned, but the coach of the offending team should not be ejected at that time unless the umpire believes it is appropriate (see 5-16-d).
(2) A warning may be issued to both teams before the start of the game or at any time during the game.
(3) A pitcher who is ejected from a game for intentionally throwing at a batter shall be suspended under the provisions of the fight rule.

The home plate umpire did have a couple of conversations with Coach Harmon and Coach Price between the strikeout of Faunce in the 7th and the ejection of Chance in the 8th. It may be that he warned both teams during those conversations. I don't know. Also, note that in part (2) above, it says the warning can come at any point during or before the game. He may have warned both coaches in the pre-game meeting at home plate for all we know. Or, it might be that he thought the throw was egregious enough that it might start a fight so he ejected Chance without any warning. That seems rather unlikely since there was not a lot of jawing or anything going on between the teams. At least, none that was apparent to me up in the stands. Regardless, this could be very bad news for Chance and the Horns. Chance might be suspended for the next 4 games:

Rule 5, Section 16, part d (Pitcher Intentionally Throwing at a Batter):

If a pitcher is ejected for intentionally throwing at a batter, the following penalties shall be enforced (see 9-2-g provisions):
(1) For the first offense by the individual, ejection plus suspension from the team’s next four regularly scheduled contests.
(2) For a second offense by the individual in the same season, ejection plus suspension from the team’s next eight regularly scheduled contests.
(3) For a third offense by the individual in the same season, ejection plus suspension for the remainder of the season, including postseason competition.
(4) If the coach has been warned during or before the contest, the coach also shall be ejected and suspended for the next regularly scheduled contest (one game).
A.R. 1—The suspended pitcher shall not be allowed to participate in any manner during the suspension (see 5-16-b-[4]-[b]).
A.R. 2—If a pitcher has been ejected while pitching, the substitute shall be allowed an adequate time to warm up, similar to the time allowed when an injured pitcher is replaced.

Anyway. Stayton Thomas went to the mound after the ejection and got Land to pop out to ss. Here's Stayton:

In the bottom of the 8th, the Horns scored two more for good measure. Jordan Danks led things off with a single up the middle and then moved to 2b on a sac bunt by Preston Clark. The sac bunt played out in an unusual manner. Preston bunted toward no-man's land between the mound and 1b...closer to 1b. The pitcher, the first baseman, and the second baseman all converged on the ball. The pitcher got to it first and the 1st baseman realized he was way out of position. The pitcher realized the same and raced forward, just barely beating Preston to the bag to make the out. Cameron Rupp hit a ground-rule double to the cf/rf gap, scoring Jordan. The right fielder came very close to catching the ball. Whew. Here's Cameron after his double:

Brandon Belt singled through the right side, scoring Cameron. Which prompted the Jayhawks to send in a new pitcher: Hiarali Garcia. Russell Moldenhauer walked on 4 pitches. Kyle Russell flew out to lf (foul) and Michael Torres grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice to end the inning. Texas up 6-1.

Stayton Thomas struck out the side in the 9th but had to go one better to get out of the inning. He struck Ryne Price out. And, then he struck Morrison out. Morrison offered at a (3rd strike) pitch way out of the zone. The ball bounced in the dirt and skidded past Cameron Rupp all the way to the wall. Morrison easily made it to 1b on the wild pitch. Southers struck out looking. And, Larson grounded out to 2b to end the game.

The final line, direct from the scoreboard:

Posted by Joanna at 11:37 PM