August 28, 200520 yr Jorge Toca, b****es.... Jorge Toca punctuated his 5-for-5 day by teeing off for one of the back-to-back-to-back jacks that enabled Charlotte to rally to an 11-4 rout of Norfolk at home Sunday. Down 4-2 in the fifth inning, rehabbing Major Leaguer Scott Podsednik doubled to left field. Willie Harris followed with a single, but he got caught stealing second. Then the long balls started: Roosevelt Brown's two-run shot to left, Toca's line-drive blast to right and Ross Gload's dinger to right. It was Brown's 11th, Toca's 23rd and Gload's 15th of the season. Momentum on their side, the Knights tacked five more runs on in the eighth. Joe Borchard led off with his 28th home run, his personal high and good for a share of the International League lead with Toledo's Mike Hessman. Three walks later, Harris again singled to plate two, and Guillermo Reyes scored on Brown's groundout. Toca wrapped up the scoring with an RBI single, but he was thrown out at second on the play. The win extended the Knights' run to six in a row and the Tides' skid to seven straight. Ex-New York Met Toca had three RBIs and scored twice against his former organization in lifting his average to .304. Charlotte starter Jeff Little (2-0) allowed four runs on four hits, including two homers by Chase Lambin. Little struck out four and walked one. Podsednik was 1-for-4 and struck out once in his second rehab start. Lambin drove in three runs with his two homers, and Ron Calloway also went yard in the losing effort. Angel Pagan added a pair of hits. Yusmeiro Petit (0-2) suffered the loss, after getting touched up for six runs -- five earned -- on 10 hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked one. Former Major Leaguer Kaz Ishii allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless sixth, before recently demoted Met Danny Graves entered for the Knights' final offensive surge (five earned runs, three hits, three walks).
August 28, 200520 yr QUOTE(Heads22 @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 02:53 PM) Walker with 4 K's in 2 perfect innings. :gasp: Ssssh...don't tell Ozzie
August 28, 200520 yr QUOTE(3E8 @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 05:44 PM) Sweeney hits a home run! lol --- It was on the road.
August 28, 200520 yr Knuckerballer Charles Haeger throws a complete game shutout. http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/mil...biraax_jaxaax_1
August 28, 200520 yr Haeger seems to be really really good or really really bad. Either way hell of an outing for him.
August 28, 200520 yr Since it's extremely difficult to project pitchers and especially knucker ballers, what capactity will he fill if he makes the majors? 4th-5th starter/mop-up/spot starter, ala Wakefield? Haeger intrigues me so much.
August 29, 200520 yr Quite the difference from Haeiger's last outing........ Today's win clinches a playoff berth for the Barons for the 6th year in a row. So far only one title (2002).
August 29, 200520 yr QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Aug 29, 2005 -> 12:01 AM) Quite the difference from Haeiger's last outing........ Today's win clinches a playoff berth for the Barons for the 6th year in a row. So far only one title (2002). They are like the Braves of AA.
August 29, 200520 yr QUOTE(3E8 @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 04:44 PM) Sweeney hits a home run! YAY!!!! Who needs Griffey!
August 29, 200520 yr QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 05:49 PM) Haeger seems to be really really good or really really bad. Either way hell of an outing for him. thats commonly how knuckleballers are, if its knuckling look out, if not it could be a rough outing....... anyone else find it funny that the charlotte lineup suddenly looks good even compared to our current lineup? pods, harris, brown, toca, gload borchard, burke, cassanova and reyes isnt all that much worse than when ozzies lineups look like when he plays teh bench guys on a side note only another 396 more ABs til ryan sweeneys next homer
August 29, 200520 yr QUOTE(daa84 @ Aug 29, 2005 -> 09:26 AM) thats commonly how knuckleballers are, if its knuckling look out, if not it could be a rough outing....... anyone else find it funny that the charlotte lineup suddenly looks good even compared to our current lineup? pods, harris, brown, toca, gload borchard, burke, cassanova and reyes isnt all that much worse than when ozzies lineups look like when he plays teh bench guys on a side note only another 396 more ABs til ryan sweeneys next homer Yep, knucklers are almost always inconsistent because more variable play into their success. 1) They have less margin for error 2) The wind affects them quite a bit 3) Much like a guy with a huge-breaking curve, the strike zone is even more variable based on the umpire than for a regular pitcher.
August 29, 200520 yr I believe most of the rough starts Charlie had were due to pitching in a fairly steady rain. The conditions were terrible for his 8/23 start and the suspended game 7/9 that he eventually finished in Mobile was bad too. If he has decent weather he pitches pretty well... Here's the local Birmingham News story covering yesterday's start: http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/in...5810.xml&coll=2
August 29, 200520 yr this is enough info for me You can't get a good grip with the knuckleball when it's raining and the balls are wet," Barons pitching coach Richard Dotson said. "When it's dry, Charlie has been real consistent. "He's got the talent that he could take that pitch all the way to the major leagues. He's been one of our better pitchers since he's been called up. He's still a young kid and is still learning about himself and how to handle the knuckleball and when to throw the fast ball and slider. He's done a good job for us."
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.