Newark Bears ~ Worcester Tornadoes Rip Through The Den

From the desk of:  THE BRICK CITY NINE

NEWARK BEARS: Series Against Worcester Tied 1-1.

Game One:  Monday Final - Bears 4;  Tornadoes 3

Newark's DH; Kyle LaMotta; drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning Monday night in the first game of a four game series against the visiting Worcester Tornadoes.

Anthony Pluta got the win in relief as Coach Raines used four Bears' pitchers to eek out a win.  Aaron Kalb started for Newark and lasted 5.1 innings.  He gave up six hits and all three of Worcester's earned runs.  He walked four and struck out four along the way.

The bullpen took over for Newark and turned in a stellar effort.  Chris Collins was called on first.  He turned in 1.2 innings and gave up one hit.  Second out of the pen was Matt Fitton.  In 1.1 innings, he gave up a walk; one hit; and pounded the catcher's mitt with three strikeouts.  Anthony Pluta closed it out and earned a win as the beneficiary of Kyle LaMotta's game winning hit.

Game Two:  Tuesday Final - Tornadoes 10;  Bears 4

Starting pitcher Alex Smith and the Bears suffered a calamitous first inning against Worcester.  Three errors; two walks; and three hits all led to an quick 5-0 deficit.  Only one Tornado run was earned.  And after only two innings pitched, it was off to the showers for Smith.

Recently signed shortstop; Juan Martinez (Jeff Toth was released); committed two of the Bears' errors while right fielder Danny Santiesteban committed the third Newark miscue of the inning with an errant throw.


Over the third and fourth innings, things just proceeded to get worse for Newark.  Three more runs came across the plate for a 8-0 Worcester lead.  Eric Eden was summoned to pitch in the third inning as Coach Raines made an early call to the bullpen.  And Eric fared little better.  He pitched 4.1 innings and allowed Worcester another five runs on eight hits. 


Last night's winning pitcher; Anthony Pluta; was then called upon to take over in the seventh.  But the Bears were behind 10-3 by then and had committed six errors in the game.  Pluta pitched a scoreless eighth.  Mikey Mehlich was tasked with the ninth inning as the third reliever used by Coach Raines.  He served up a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.


Worcester starting pitcher; Ryan Bicondoa cruised, but ran out of gas in the fifth inning.  After getting the first two outs, he allowed three straight singles before walking Danny Santiesteban with the bases loaded for the Bears' first run of the game.  Over his first four innings however, he struck out nine Newark batters, while allowing only three hits and two walks.


The Tornado bullpen picked up where Bicondoa left off.  Worcesters' relievers struck out another six batters in wrapping up the second game of this four game series; knotting things up at a game apiece.  Danny Santiesteban was ejected after striking out looking for the second out of the ninth inning.


Fifteen hits and six errors; you can't win like that.  And that's the kind of game it was for the Bears; frustrating.


The Brockton Rox defeated the Rockland Boulders tonight, and coupled with the Bears loss, means the two teams are tied again for second place overall in the CanAm League with 15-10 records respectively.



Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ Pelted Again By Brockton Rox

From the desk of:  GROWLING IN BROOKLYN



NEWARK BEARS:  It's Raining ROX in Brick City.

OK; - These Rox from Brockton are starting to become a real problem.  After giving them a good clawing in their place a week ago, Brockton packed their nail files for this follow-up series in Newark.  And after two games in The Den, Brockton remains scratch free.


In two games since returning from Massachusetts, the Bears have suffered two losses thanks to Brockton.  Although in Friday night's slug fest, it wasn't for a lack of trying.  In something more akin to a softball game in the school yard, the Bears fell three runs short in a 17-14 game.  But then allowing Brockton to score another eleven runs in Saturday's affair...?  Twenty-eight runs in two games?  Yea, that's a problem.


Newark starting pitcher; Jacob Wild; and his follow-up; Kyle Morrison; quite simply, got wrecked by the Rox.  Brockton pelted Jacob with eight hits on their way to seven runs in five innings.  Jacob Wild helped them along with four walks.  Done with him for the day, Brockton then stoned Kyle Morrison for another four runs on three hits over one and a third innings in relief.


Pitching; Pitching; Pitching......in Newarks' case is like salmon.  As it goes, so will the Bears.  Good pitching equals fat Bears.  A scarcity in pitching and these Bears will go hungry. 


Scoring twenty runs in two games should be worth something.  Newark's Saturday night line-up sported a combined .299 batting average.  That ain't just berries.  However that number has been in decline lately.  Tim Raines Jr.'s batting average has dropped from the lofty altitudes of .400 down to below .350 (.348).  Early season hot hitters, Billy Alvino and Danny Santiesteban, have cooled off also.  But even in decline, there has been enough offense for Newark's pitchers to work with.


Brockton now overtakes Newark for the second best record in the League.  Last night's Rox win gives Brockton a record of 14-8.  Newark drops to 13-9; good for third best overall.  But everyone is looking up at the Quebec Capitales.  Winners of their last ten in a row, the overall season leaders sport a sparkling 18-4 record on the young season.


The Bears will try and salvage the last game of this series against Brockton today and hopefully start getting their recent pitching woes turned around.  Newark's Jersey local; Aaron Kalb; will start for the Bears.






Mike.BTB

NEWARK BEARS ~ Find Worcester To Their Liking

From the desk of:  GROWLINGS FROM BROOKLYN

Newark Bears:  Brick City Nine Gain Victory In First Trip To Worcester.


FINAL:
Newark Bears 6;  Worcester Tornadoes 2

Pitching!

Pitching; pitching; pitching.  Thank you!  Good night Worcester.

Well..., basically.



Aaron Kalb won his first game in two tries as the Bears gained victory over the Tornadoes in Newark's first ever trip to Worcester.  It was the Bears, behind seven strong innings pitched by Kalb, who blew into Worcester and disturbed the Massachusetts night.  Kyle Morrison relieved Kalb with two innings of scoreless work.


Aaron Kalb's Line:
7 ~ innings.
5 ~ hits.
2 ~ runs; earned.
2 ~ walks.
4 ~ strikeouts.

Kyle Morrison; relief:
2 ~ innings.
1 ~ hit.
0 ~ runs.
1 ~ walk.
2 ~ strikeouts.


Brandon Watson led-off the game for Newark with a single.  Number two hitter, Kyle LaMotta, then lost an 0-2 pitch over the wall for a two run home run.  Worcester came back with a pair of runs in the third to tie the game at two.


Billy Alvino scored on a Paddy Materra sac fly in the fourth inning for the go ahead run, and a lead the Bears would keep.


For good measure, the Bears put together a three run rally in the fifth inning.  Consecutive singles by Raines Jr, Ward, and Santiesteban plated one run when Raines scored on Santiesteban's hit.  A ruinous error by Worcester's shortstop; Boomer Blanchard; allowed both Daryle Ward and Danny Santiesteban to score.  That made it a 6-2 game.  The Bears' pitching took care of the rest.


Danny Santiesteban's RBI was his 17th, and places him second behind teammate Tim Raines Jr.'s 21 for the League lead.


The Bears are now 8-2 in their last ten games.  They improved their season record Monday night to
12-6 which places them a game behind Quebec as the League's best.


The Quebec Capitales, at 12-4, have as many wins as the Bears but with two less losses.  They are also winners of eight out of their last ten games, and are riding a four game win streak.  They were inactive Monday.

Game two of this three game series between the Bears and Tornadoes is Tuesday night.




Mike.BTB

NEWARK BEARS ~ Drop Matinee To Rival Jackals

From the desk of:  GROWLINGS FROM BROOKLYN


NEWARK BEARS:  New Jersey Jackals Take Lead In Overall Essex County Cup Challenge.

The Bears' winning streak ended at six games today.  They lost this afternoon to their rival, the New Jersey Jackals in game two of this three game series.  The Bears and Jackals split the two games in Newark.  They will conclude the series tomorrow at Yogi Berra Stadium which also starts a seven game road trip for the Bears.

The Jackals shut out the Bears 4-0 and limited them to four hits.  They now take a three games to two lead over the Bears in the season long Essex County Cup Challenge Series.

Tim Raines Jr. picked up one of Newark's hits.  Catcher Eric McGee went 2 for 3 today.  And Daryle Ward had a double for the Bears to round out their offense.

Today's starter Aaron Kalb didn't have a particularly bad outing.  Rather, he had a quite good outing, but got tagged with today's loss.  The Jackals jumped out to a first inning, three run lead while the Bears couldn't get anything going versus Jackals' starter and former Bear, Chris Vasami.  He limited the Bears to three hits over five and two thirds innings pitched.  A very good Jackals' bullpen took care of the rest for New Jersey.


Aaron Kalb's Line:
6 ~ innings.
84 pitches; 52 strikes.
4 ~ hits.
3 ~ runs; 2 earned.
2 ~ walks.
6 ~ strikeouts.


After finishing out this series against New Jersey tomorrow, the Bears head to Brockton and Worcester.




Mike.BTB