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Senators' Bats Silenced in Loss to Blue Caps |
July 7, 2008. Fairfax, Va. -- All season long, the Beltway Blue Caps have imposed a ferocious offensive attack on their opponents. However, their poor pitching has damned them to sixth place in the Clark-Griffith League with a 6.11 staff ERA. The Blue Caps finally got a quality pitching performance Monday night from Taylor Land, and it made all the difference. The Senators attack was only able to muster 2 runs on 3 hits against Land. As a result, the Senators lost for only the third time this season 4-2.
Land had Senators hitter baffled for six innings. He mixed in a multitude of off-speed pitches to keep hitters off-balance. He only allowed three hits in those six innings of work.
He did a good job of changing speeds on his fastball, said third baseman Martin Parra. He couldn't throw his breaking ball for strikes, but he used his fastball well. A couple of times I thought I hit it pretty well, but it was just off of the end of the bat.
However, Land's command abandoned him in the seventh inning. After striking out Blake Tagmyer looking, he walked three straight Senators to load the bases. Alfred Rodriguez then scored two with a fielder's choice. He grounded to shortstop Ryan Baione, who tried to turn two. He quickly flipped to second baseman Austin Booker, but Booker air-mailed the throw to first. Both Seth Henry and Eric Walker were able to score.
After another walk from Land, Blue Caps manager John Nolan brought on hard-throwing right-hander Max Langford. Langford quashed the rally by striking out Matt Goulas to end the inning. Langford then pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings to earn the save and shut the door on the Senators.
He threw the ball pretty hard, said Parra. He was a good pitcher. He also had a hard slider, which was probably his best pitch.
The last time these two teams met, it was a very hotly-contested game, which the Senators were able to pull out in the tenth inning. Clearly still stinging from that defeat, the Blue Caps came out looking focused and intent on upsetting the top team in the CGL
The Blue Caps took an early lead in the third inning. Will Krasne came on in relief of starter Ryan Woolley, and had a forgettable outing. Austin Booker started the scoring with an RBI single that scored Ryan Baione. Shane Brown, arguably the league's deadliest hitter, then crushed a Krasne pitch deep over the centerfield fence to increase the lead to 3-0.
The Blue Caps potent offense only managed four runs against Senators pitching. The Blue Caps lead the Clark-Griffith League with thirty home runs. Catcher Max Eckert, Left fielder Chris Duffy, and third baseman Shane Brown all made the CGL All-Star team. Yet, aside from a three-run third inning, their offense was largely quiet.
The Senators came back from the all-star break with two new additions to the team. Both were in the starting lineup Monday night. Starter Ryan Woolley, who attends the University of Georgia, pitched two scoreless innings before being pulled.
I could have pitched more, but the plan was for two innings tonight, said Woolley. Woolley, who was hurt most of this past season at Georgia with an elbow injury, has been a reliever in college. The Senators plan to stretch out Woolley's pitch count and eventually use him as a starter.
The other new addition was infielder Seth Henry. Henry, who attends Tulane University, started mostly at third base this past season. Henry got the nod at shortstop, though. He was 1-3 on the night, with a run scored and a double high off of the centerfield wall.
The Senators' bullpen kept the team in the game after Woolley's early exit and Krasne's shaky outing. Kyle Hald, who has been dominant this year in a long-relief role, connected the game between Krasne and set-up man Chad Johnson. Hald pitched three innings, allowing only one run and striking out four.
Johnson pitched a scoreless seventh inning, before closer Jimmy Duggan pitched a perfect eighth inning through the teeth of the Blue Caps lineup. Duggan induced two lazy ground balls to second base from Booker and Brown, before striking out the clean-up hitter, Chris Duffy.
However, the Senators didn't have any offense to snatch the victory from the Blue Caps. Coming off of the all-star break, the Senators' bats looked like they were still on break.
I think that we came out a little slow today, said Parra. We weren't focused. We can't come out here and just go through the motions, because every team is looking to beat us.
Andrew Struckmeyer
Vienna Senators