Minor
League BaseballSaturday, July 26, 2003
Stockton Ports at Modesto A's
Modesto wins a wild one
By BRIAN VanderBEEK
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: July 27, 2003, 07:19:00 AM PDT
In modern baseball terms, what Marc Sauer did Saturday night was not a quality
start.
But to the Modesto A's and their depleted bullpen, it was nothing short of
a six-inning gem.
Making a spot start -- his first since 2001 -- Sauer allowed four runs on 11 hits. The Modesto offense did the rest in holding on for a wild 12-8 victory over Stockton in front of 4,019 at John Thurman Field.
"I just wanted to eat up as many innings as I could," said Sauer, a starter for three seasons in the Florida organization before switching to the bullpen and being claimed by Oakland last December in the Rule V draft.
"Starting was a little different, but it wasn't so much a case of nerves," Sauer said. "It was just exciting to go out there and see how far I could go."
The A's coaching staff was ready to pull him after the fifth inning, but Sauer asked for a sixth, giving up two runs before completing the frame.
"He wanted to go back out there, so we let him," said A's manager Rick Rodriguez. "He really gave us a lift. Picked us up big-time."
On an evening in which 1,000 Rickey Henderson bobblehead dolls were presented at the gates, pitchers on both sides put their heads on swivels as the teams combined for 31 hits.
Stockton actually out-hit the A's 17-14, but Modesto concentrated its hitting in innings two through six in one of its more impressive offensive shows of the home season.
Trailing 1-0, the A's scored four runs in the second inning as the first six batters hit safely. Mark Teahen launched a two-run homer in the third for a 6-1 lead, then Mark Kiger and Gary Schneidmiller drove in runs the next two innings.
Modesto capped the extended uprising with a four-run sixth inning, a rally finished off by a two-run single by David Harriman -- playing only his second game for the A's.
The middle and bottom of the Modesto order did all of the damage. The A's got at least two hits from every batter four-through-nine in the lineup, with Jon Weber lining three hits and scoring three runs.
Weber is off to a quick start since joining the A's, with five hits in his first 10 at-bats.
Sauer left after the sixth inning, and the Ports put together a rally against Ryan France, a righty making his first A's appearance.
Stockton got one run in the seventh and three more in the eighth, including two on Scott Heard's home run to right-center.
In pitching terms, it wasn't a pretty win for Modesto, but one it won't turn down. It gives the A's four wins in this six-game homestand, guaranteeing the team its first winning stand since going 4-3 in a seven-game set back in May.
A win in tonight's finale will give the A's their first three-game home sweep of the season and continue the team's playoff drive.
"We're swinging the bats well and playing some great defense," Sauer said. "Hopefully, with the extra-inning win last night and the way we played tonight we can get on a roll here."
STOCKTON 8 AT MODESTO 12
YTD YTD
STOCKTON AB R H BI AVG MODESTO AB R H BI AVG
C.Strngfelow RF 5 2 3 0 .310 L.Turner LF 5 0 0 0 .206
D.Meyer SS 5 1 2 2 .278 J.Perry RF 4 0 0 0 .284
G.Raymundo 2B 4 1 3 1 .301 M.Kiger SS 5 1 1 1 .279
R.Soules 1B 4 1 2 0 .182 M.Bowser 1B 4 1 2 1 .300
K.Gulledge CAT 5 1 1 0 .310 J.Weber CF 5 3 3 0 .500
Z.Roper 3B 4 0 2 3 .265 M.Teahen 3B 4 3 2 3 .280
R.Eldridge LF 5 1 1 0 .283 I.Garcia 2B 4 3 2 1 .262
S.Heard DH 4 1 2 2 .245 G.Schndmller DH 2 1 2 2 .230
R.Asadoorian CF 5 0 1 0 .200 D.Harriman CAT 5 0 2 3 .300
J.Barnett PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Sauer PIT 0 0 0 0 .000
D.Mead PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 R.France PIT 0 0 0 0 .000
K.Jimenez PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Price PIT 0 0 0 0 .000
P.Abraham PIT 0 0 0 0 .000
TOTALS 41 8 17 8 TOTALS 38 12 14 11
STOCKTON 1 0 0 1 0 2 1 3 0- 8 17 1
MODESTO 0 4 2 1 1 4 0 0 X-12 14 0
E--Z.Roper. DP--STOCKTON 1, MODESTO 0. LOB--STOCKTON 10, MODESTO 9.
2B--C.Strngfelow (13), G.Raymundo 2 (24), K.Gulledge (2), Z.Roper (24),
R.Eldridge (19), J.Weber 2 (2), G.Schndmller (9). 3B--C.Strngfelow (3),
M.Bowser (3). HR--D.Meyer (5), S.Heard (3), M.Teahen (2). SB--J.Weber (1),
G.Schndmller (1). CS--C.Strngfelow. HBP--J.Perry.
YTD
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
STOCKTON
J.Barnett (L,3-11) 3.0 8 6 6 0 2 1 5.17
D.Mead 1.0 1 1 1 2 1 0 7.62
K.Jimenez 2.0 4 5 1 3 1 0 5.10
P.Abraham 2.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 4.15
MODESTO
M.Sauer (W,2-0) 6.0 11 4 4 1 4 1 4.23
R.France 2.0 6 4 4 2 0 1 18.00
B.Price 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3.56
HB--D.Mead. SO--D.Meyer, G.Raymundo, R.Soules, K.Gulledge, R.Eldridge,
R.Asadoorian, M.Kiger 3, J.Weber, M.Teahen, D.Harriman. BB--G.Raymundo,
R.Soules, Z.Roper, S.Heard, M.Bowser, M.Teahen, I.Garcia, G.Schndmller 3.
A--4019