Blue Claw's Use Late Innings In Win Against The Rattlesnakes.

The Blue Claw's (38-36) make it 2 in a row against the Snakes from Georgia and are now 2 games above .500.

It was a back and forth contest until the Blue Claw's were able to put 3 runs on the board in the last part of the 8th, giving the club a little more breathing room going into the top of the ninth.

Game Recap:

It looked like the Claw's had something going in the bottom of the 1st, with singles from Robbie Martinez and McCarthy, however Georgia SP , Lawrence Wilhelm was able to get Ferrer to hit into inning ending double play.

The Rattlesnakes got one in the top of the 2nd.
Ageda singles, then Pennigton their number 8 hitter doubled to left scoring Ageda. SP Wilhelm sac bunted Pennington to 3rd, but Garza was able to get Montalvo to strike out swinging.

The score stayed the same until the bottom of the 4th. After Murray struck out swinging to start the inning, McCarthy singled through the middle, Ferrer hit a double sending McCarthy to 3rd. Terry was able to hit a deep sac fly on a 1-2 count to bring in McCarthy. Then after Rowe single, things were looking good for a rally, but with Amador at bat, Rowe was caught napping and was picked at first. What could have been more ended with just 1 run.

In the top of the 5th, the Snakes got the lead right back. Montalvo reached on a Ferrer error, now his 4th at 1st. Garza then walks Boulanger, Joe Butler then hit a single, his streak continues, now at 24 games. So Garza is now in trouble loading the bases. Garza was able to fan Chevalier on 4 pitches. He then walks Hernandez to bring in Montalvo. Ageda grounded out , scoring Boulanger, and then Marty Lee flow out left.


In the bottom frame of the 6th the Claw's tied it again at 3 a piece. Martinez opened things up with a walk, Murray then tripled to the gap scoring Martinez. Seeing Murray hit that triple was truly a sight, at 35 yrs old the man looks like he's running with a load in his pants, big butt and butt slow. Ferrer then singled in a very tired Murray. Terry and Rowe made the final outs of the inning.

That was it for Garza on the night. We hoped to see Garza through 6 tonight but he throw too many balls. 6 walks to be exact, that's a season high.

With Garza out the Claw's brought in Pedro Ramirez. Ramirez last pitched back on March 25th against the Rattlesnakes before he was hurt.

Ramirez looked very good pitching 2.2 scoreless innings giving up just 1 single and getting 3 K's. Can't ask for more then that after such a long layoff.

In the bottom of the 8th the Claws got some breathing room scoring 3 more to make it 6-3.

In comes Edgar Leon to spell Wilhelm and the first batter he sees, Martinez says thank you very much as he launches a Leon pitch back 4 rows to right center. Murray gounds out, McCarthy walks, Ferrer strikes out looking, Tery doubles McCarthy home. That's it for the Snakes Leon, in comes Roy Moore and Rowe greats him with a double off the wall scoring Terry from 2nd. Amador strikes out swinging to end the inning.

Marvin Simpson comes in for the top of the 9th with some room for error, which for Simpson these days it's a good idea. He promptly gives up a single to Montalvo but he was able to calm down and get the meat of the Rattlesnake's lineup out. Nice showing for Simpson, his 3rd good showing in a row.

Box Score:



The Claw's would love to get a sweep against the lowly Rattlesnake ball club before the All-Star break. The Claw's will go with Bernardo "Guts" Gutierrez on the bump tomorrow. Let's see if they can get it done!

League News and Notes:


All-Star teams announced. The fans have spoken and the votes casted.
The Claw's will send Garza and of course the face of the franchise "Big Mac" McCarthy.

Eastern Circuit :

SP Pauly Brown (PHI) - 9-5, 2.68 ERA
SP Andrew Carrizal (PHI) - 9-3, 1.75 ERA
SP Luis Durango (BOS) - 7-2, 2.35 ERA
SP José Garza (BAL) - 3-1, 2 SV, 2.21 ERA
SP Howard Hudson (NAS) - 8-4, 2.22 ERA
SP Kyle Jenkins (LWC) - 5-1, 1 SV, 1.22 ERA
SP Javier Laurenzana (BOS) - 9-5, 2.85 ERA
SP Héctor Pérez (CAR) - 9-3, 2.13 ERA
SP Anastasio Salas (PHI) - 8-3, 3.29 ERA

MR Bob Jensen (WAS) - 6-1, 2.89 ERA
CL Vic Branson (BOS) - 2-5, 21 SV, 3.26 ERA
CL Rodney Williams (CAR) - 1-2, 21 SV, 3.27 ERA

C Ron Barnett (TOR) - .301/.360/.576, 16 HR, 41 RBI
C Oriel Roque (CAR) - .359/.425/.523, 7 HR, 32 RBI

1B Steven Neupert (ORL) - .311/.382/.484, 14 HR, 40 RBI
1B Ferruccio Fabroni (WAS) - .346/.392/.599, 17 HR, 65 RBI
1B Curtis Reeves (NY) - .343/.423/.554, 12 HR, 53 RBI
1B Terry Wilson (TOR) - .356/.405/.555, 15 HR, 51 RBI
1B Dax Rowe (LWC) - .272/.407/.461, 7 HR, 30 RBI

2B Geoff Gushlaw (ORL) - .307/.401/.429, 2 HR, 29 RBI

3B Alonso Hernández (GEO) - .306/.351/.490, 10 HR, 45 RBI

SS Chase Evans (NAS) - .280/.347/.452, 7 HR, 33 RBI

LF Joe Butler (GEO) - .361/.434/.515, 8 HR, 38 RBI
LF Moriya Kobayashi (NAS) - .292/.384/.431, 5 HR, 36 RBI

CF Conan Parkinson (BOS) - .326/.383/.502, 4 HR, 39 RBI
CF Wilbert McCarthy (BAL) - .271/.432/.542, 17 HR, 57 RBI
CF Bob Weaver (HAV) - .318/.413/.522, 12 HR, 47 RBI

RF Roy Pate (BOS) - .384/.454/.791, 25 HR, 64 R

Western Circuit :

SP Bill Belanger (OAK) - 7-2, 2.27 ERA
SP Bill Bryant (SD) - 10-4, 3.29 ERA
SP Roy Castillanos (HOU) - 7-4, 3.61 ERA
SP Salvador Flores (VAN) - 4-1, 4 SV, 1.37 ERA
SP Carroll Kalloch (SEA) - 6-3, 2.20 ERA
SP Cody London (HOU) - 8-3, 3.25 ERA
SP Jaime Muñóz (OKL) - 9-3, 1.87 ERA
SP Aghilas Shakir (SEA) - 7-5, 2.49 ERA
SP Bob Yates (LOU) - 6-3, 3.00 ERA

CL Mike Charles (SEA) - 3-1, 21 SV, 3.55 ERA
CL Iván Córdova (SD) - 1-4, 12 SV, 0.78 ERA
CL Ralph Powell (DAL) - 3-3, 16 SV, 2.11 ERA

C Miguel Tapia (LA) - .333/.418/.511, 11 HR, 42 RBI
C Gavin Phipps (MEX) - .302/.409/.400, 5 HR, 26 RBI

1B Paul Benton (SF) - .360/.441/.705, 23 HR, 71 RBI
1B Alexander Huff (HOU) - .323/.442/.491, 10 HR, 35 RBI
1B Chris Harris (DAL) - .316/.395/.492, 11 HR, 40 RBI

2B Dave Barnes (LOU) - .345/.429/.595, 14 HR, 61 RBI
2B Davis Riblet (MEX) - .309/.412/.444, 8 HR, 38 RBI
2B Alipio Garibay (HOU) - .352/.418/.563, 7 HR, 35 RBI

3B Bill Woods (VAN) - .353/.421/.465, 3 HR, 45 RBI

SS Bailey Eridge (MEX) - .353/.396/.634, 14 HR, 54 RBI

LF Pete Dayhoff (MEX) - .297/.413/.490, 5 HR, 43 RBI
LF Jesús Reyes (OAK) - .293/.357/.548, 19 HR, 50 RBI
LF Ramón Serna (SD) - .383/.485/.483, 1 HR, 18 RBI
LF Héctor Villa (VAN) - .319/.367/.434, 5 HR, 45 RBI

CF Roger Kessler (MEX) - .305/.368/.491, 9 HR, 35 RBI

RF Laurelino Zaragoza (HOU) - .387/.453/.635, 7 HR, 33 RB