Newark Bears: New Jersey Jackals Suffer Late Game Clawing

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY NINE

NEWARK BEARS:  The Final Five Games Are At Hand


The Quebec Capitales have clinched the CanAm League's division title.  The New Jersey Jackals have locked up the second playoff spot.  For the Newark Bears, the final five games of their regular season are at hand.


Wednesday night was an off day for the club.  Tuesday evening, Newark made a very short trip up the road for what is effectively their last road trip of the season against the New Jersey Jackals.  The series resumes Thursday.  After concluding this series Friday evening, the Bears will host the Worcester Tornadoes to finish out the season.


The Bears are currently 33-62, and have opened up a six game lead over Worcester.  Therefore Newark is assured of not finishing in last place.  That distinction will fall on the Tornadoes; as if they didn't have enough troubles already.


Tuesday's game was a great back and forth battle.  Both starting pitchers got bombed.  Newark's Julian Sampson faced off against Jackal's starter, Dustin Birosak.  Sampson only lasted 4.1 innings.  He surrendered nine runs; eight earned; and allowed eleven hits.  He also walked three.  Sampson  managed to strikeout two batters before getting yanked.  Birosak line was equally ugly.  In 5.1 innings, he allowed ten hits, and eight earned runs.  He walked two and struck out five.


New Jersey scored three times in the first, and picked up another run in the second, putting Newark down 4-0 early.  D'Angelo Jimenez' RBI single got Newark on the board in the third.  In the fourth, Juan Martinez crushed his seventh home run of the season to make it a 4-2 game.  New Jersey then lowered the hammer in the fifth inning.  Four hits, two errors, and five runs later, the Jackals held a 9-2 lead.


In their very next at-bat, the Newark Bears clawed back and plated seven runs to achieve a 9-9 tie.  Five Newark hits and an error later, and there was a brand new ball game to play with three more innings to go.  It was the Bears who would pull ahead.  They scored a run in the eighth and another in the ninth to complete an 11-9 win.


Pitching in the seventh and eighth inning, Anthony Pluta gets credit for his fourth relief win this season.  And winding up a rather stellar season, closer Jorge Vasquez notched his twenty-first save of the season.  He has seventy strikeouts in 42.1 innings pitched.

TONIGHT

 

NEWARK BEARS

vs.

New Jersey Jackals

FROM

Yogi Berra Stadium

New Jersey

Mike.BTB

Newark Bears: Brick City Season Winding Down; Defeat Worcester

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY NINE

NEWARK BEARS:  The Brick City Nine Are Down to Their Last Ten Games of the Regular Season.  After That, No One Is Sure What Happens Next.


The Newark Bears baseball club is down to their last ten games of the 2012 regular season.  There will be no playoffs for them this year.  Newark has a 3.5 game lead over the last place Worcester Tornadoes.  And over the final stretch of games, that's exactly where the Bears want to keep them.  I guess symbolically, it might mean something; if not cosmetically then; not finishing last.  But no.., there will be no post-season for Newark this Fall; only great uncertainty.


The beginning of the end of the season was played in the now traditional Wednesday matinee game.  Game one of ten left on the schedule, was won by Newark by a 4-2 score today.  This was also the end of a three game series between the Bears and Tornadoes, in which Worcester won the first two.  So the Bears needed this game to keep from getting swept.  They will now host a series against the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association.


Pedro Rivera pitched impressively for Newark over 7.1 innings to earn his fourth win of the season against ten losses.  He surrendered seven hits and allowed only two earned runs.  He walked three and struck out six.  Jorge Vasquez pitched the final 2.1 innings to earn his nineteenth save of the season.  He allowed but one hit, and struck out two batters.


Worcester jumped ahead with two runs in the second inning.  But the Bears caught up to Tornado's starter, Michael Gedman, in the third inning with four runs.  After an RBI single by Juan Martinez, D'Angelo Jiminez unloaded with a three run home run to give the Bears a 4-2 lead; and final.  That was D'Angelo's fourth home run of the season.  Worcester's Michael Gedman, stayed in the game and pitched all eight innings against Newark.


The Bears are now 31-60 this season.  The Quebec Capitales and New Jersey Jackals have pretty much wrapped up the top two playoffs spots.  The only race left is for first place overall of the CanAm League.  The Capitales hold a 5.5 game lead over New Jersey with ten games left in their respective schedules.


As an operating club, Worcester is still holding on to at least finish out the season.  Once Labor Day rolls around, their future is uncertain, if not doomed.  For the Bears, their future is a little less doubtful.  Or is it?  Until word comes down from ownership, or we see U-Haul trucks pulling up to Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, we'll just have to wait and see.  For now, nine games remain.


Let's Go Bears.




Mike.BTB

NWK Bears ~ No Pain, No Gain, For Ken Oberkfell's Starting Pitchers

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY NINE

NEWARK BEARS:  Caleb Cuevas Just the Latest of Ken Oberkfell's Sacrificial Lambs.


There's no mistaking it; the Bears have hit lean times.  But that's no reason to start sacrificing cubbies now.  More about that later.  But they remained resilient however, enough so to earn a four game split against the second place New Jersey Jackals this past weekend.  In the process, they also managed to squeeze by the Worcester Tornadoes, and out of last place heading into Tuesday night's game against the defending CanAm Champs.


In a much needed change of scenery, the Bears migrated up to Canada, to start a four game series against the first place Quebec Capitales.  Caleb Cuevas was making his sixth start still in search of his first win against three loses.  The Capitales promptly scored two runs against him in the first inning.  In the second, Newark struck back with two runs to tie.  Danny Santiestaban scored on a fielder's choice, and Burt Reynolds singled home Juan Martinez.  After the first inning, Cuevas faced the minimum over the next two frames.


Bryce Lane scored on a wild pitch in the top half of the fourth to give Newark a 3-2 lead.  But in the home half of the frame, Quebec pounced all over Cuevas for seven runs, off five hits, including a home run.  Four runs came unearned after an error by Tucker Nathans at third, and one scored off a wild pitch.


Newark picked up two in the fifth inning.  Danny Santiestaban singled home Billy Alvino, and Tucker Nathans singled home Daryle Ward to make it a 9-5 game.  But in the bottom of the fifth, the Renegades scored their tenth run off Caleb Cuevas.


Manager Ken Oberkfell sent out his starter for a sixth inning, and Hudson Valley promptly plated their eleventh run.  To that point, Caleb's line was not pretty.  In six full innings, he allowed eleven runs; seven earned; and surrendered eleven hits, while walking two, and striking out one.  Then incredulously, Coach Oberkfell sent out his starter for yet another inning of work.  Sure enough, Caleb Cuevas surrendered another two runs in the seventh before being mercifully lifted after recording just one out.


This sort of handling of his pitchers is now beyond odd.  Ken Oberkfell's handling of his starting pitchers now borders peculiar, if not irresponsible.  Look no further than Monday night's game against New Jersey.  Coach allowed Brian Parker to surrender nine runs in 4.2 innings.  It's understandable he might be demanding of a six inning start.  But this tough love is now starting to prove highly ineffective.  If you let teams tee-off, someone is going to get hurt.  Just sayin'...   And it's not like the season hasn't been dotted with such sacrificial offerings.  They freckle the season.  I know, what else is there for a manager to do?  I get that.  But can we at least start with a little more humane treatment, and reaching for a quicker hook once in a while?  Maybe not in Brian Parker's case, but in Caleb Cuevas' outing for sure.


Let's just say, the Capitales were leading 15-5 in the eighth inning.  And thankfully, this game did eventually end.  It wasn't what the Bears wanted, nor what they needed.  Instead they travelled to the great white north and encountered more scarcity of wins.  But they are Bears.  They'll get through this.  The Worcester Tornadoes were involved in an inter-league game against the Amarillo Sox and lost badly as well.  So that's another day the Bears won't spend in last place.  And right now, you'll just have to treat it like another day in paradise.





Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ New Jersey Jackals Put a Lickin' on Bears

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY NINE

NEWARK BEARS:   New Jersey Jackals' Push For First Place Coming at Bears' Expense.


When it rains, it pours.  The Bears dropped their second straight to the Jackals, and have now lost ten of their last twelve games, as well as their last five in a row.

Jorge Vasquez pitched a dandy ninth inning for the Bears.  But the same can't be said for the five Newark pitchers which preceded him in Tuesday's Game Two versus the New Jersey Jackals.  Because by that time, New Jersey was leading 16-4, and fresh off scoring seven runs in the eighth inning.

Starting pitcher, Pedro Rivera, by far suffered his worst outing of the season.  He only lasted 2.2 innings, walking one, surrendering seven hits, and allowing six runs; five coming in the third.  In the eighth inning, Anthony Pluta got roughed up pretty badly as well.  He failed to record an out, and allowed six runs on just one hit, and four walks.  An E-4 by Juan Martinez opened the door for four unearned runs to score.

Daryle Ward, Eric McGee, Bryce Lane, and Juan Martinez each drove in a run for Newark.

In the second inning, New Jersey's 3B-Nick Giarraputo, was hit by a pitch and left the game.  At the moment, he is the CanAm League's offensive Triple Crown Leader.  He leads the circuit in batting average with a .406 mark.  He is number one in home runs with eleven.  And tops the circuit in RBI with thirty-three.

New Jersey's starting pitcher, Steve Fox, leads in two of three pitching categories.  He leads the CanAm League in wins with five, and in ERA with a 1.91 mark.  He was recently named CanAm Pitcher of the Week.

Wednesday is matinee day.  The Bears and Jackals will go at it again in Game Three, then conclude this four game series Thursday.

The Jackals gained a game on Quebec, who lost to the Worcester Tornadoes Tuesday.  New Jersey now sits just a half game out of first place.  After tonight's loss, Newark owns last place to themselves, with Worcester only one game better.


Transactions:
INF-Courtney Billingslea was released.




Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ Defeat Kansas City T-Bones in Matinee

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY NINE

NEWARK BEARS:  Outlast Kansas City Pitching for Tenth Inning Win in Series Finale.  Next Stop on the American Association Tour; the Grand Prairie Air Dogs.


Bears Drop Opening Game to Kansas City T-Bones


Wednesday Final:  10 innings
Newark   2
Kansas City  1


The Brick City Grizzlies salvaged the final game of a three game series in Kansas City with an extra inning effort in Wednesday's matinee game against the T-Bones.

Kansas City's Josh Rainwater pitched nine superb full innings.  He allowed eight hits, and one earned run.  He walked none and struck out eight.  Newark scored first in the opening inning.  Alex Bardeguez led off the game with a triple and scored the Bears first run when Juan Martinez bounced into a 4-3 put-out.  Rainwater then kept the Bears quiet over his next eight innings of work.  The T-Bones got Rainwater off the losing side of the ledger when they scored in the sixth inning to tie the game at one each.

Mike Ness made the start for Newark, and pitched six full innings.  Ness was on the winning side of this game until he surrendered a lead-off home run to Trevor Coleman in the sixth.  Mike Ness walked two and struck out five before giving way to Matt Lyons and the bullpen.

Both starters wound up pitching no-decisions.

Matt Lyons and Anthony Pluta turned in two innings of scoreless relief.  While Jorge Vasquez kept the T-Bones off the board in the ninth.  Then into the tenth inning they went.

Kansas City turned the ball over to the bullpen, calling upon Jacob Wiley.  An E-6 allowed Billy Alvino to reach safely.  Three batters later, Juan Martinez drove him in with a go-ahead single.  In the bottom of the ninth, Jorge Vasquez retired the T-Bones in order, striking out the last two batters swinging to earn the win.



Tuesday Final:
Kansas City  8
Newark         1


In the middle game of the series against Kansas City, the T-Bones' Shaun Garceau held Newark scoreless over six innings, while allowing three scattered hits.  The bullpen covered the rest and allowed the Bears their only run in the ninth inning.

Offensively, the T-Bones tenderized Newark's pitching with eleven hits, and eight runs.  In his fifth start, the Bears' Pedro Rivera pitched six innings and allowed three earned runs en route to suffering his third loss of the season.  Most of Kansas City's damage however, came against reliever Luis Garcia.  In only one inning pitched, he allowed five earned runs on three hits and two walks.


The Bears will continue their American Association tour against the 2011 American Association defending champions; the Grand Prairie Air Dogs; starting with a double-header on Thursday.




Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ Pick Up First Win on American Association Grounds

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY NINE

NEWARK BEARS:  Brick City Wins First Game Against Gary SouthShore RailCats.  Play For a Split in Series Sunday.

Game One; The Bears Great Western Migration


FRIDAY'S FINAL ~ GAME TWO
Railcats   20
Bears       11

Let's just say Friday night's game got out of hand.  Because Pedro Rivera only lasted an inning in Thursday's game, and the bullpen had to pick up the next eight, Coach Oberkfell was forced into some sacrificial managing with regards to Friday's game two starting pitcher, Mike Ness.

Mike Ness was making his fifth start of the season.  He never had good stuff, and never was going to get some.  Not this game.  But with a taxed bullpen, Ken Oberkfell left his starter on the mound through five innings, despite surrendering thirteen hits, and twelve earned runs.  Ken Oberfell then relied on just one pitcher out of the bullpen to pitch the final three innings.  Luis Garcia gave up six hits and allowed another seven runs.

The game ended in a 20-11 final.  Offensively for the RailCats Adam Klein, Mike Massaro, and Rico Washington combine to bat 10 for 13, with nine runs scored, and eleven RBI.

For Newark, Alex Bardeguez scored four runs from the lead-off spot.  He went 4 for 6 with an RBI.  Daryle Ward hit his fifth home run.  He batted 3 for 6, with three RBI.  Eric McGee hit his third home run.  He went 3 for 5 with three runs scored, and two RBI.  And Billy Alvino was 4 for 5, with two RBI.




SATURDAY FINAL ~ GAME THREE
Bears        6
RailCats   4

This pitching match-up featured Newark's usual reliever, Matt Fitton, making his first start of the season after seven relief appearances.  And on the hill for the RailCats, was Stephen Hiscock.

The two teams exchanged a run in the first inning.  Newark's sizzling hot Juan Martinez homered for the fourth time this season.  And for Gary SouthShore, Mike Coles reciprocated with his own solo home run for the tie.

In the second, the RailCats busted Matt Fitton for three more runs.  Adam Klein had an RBI single. Mike Massaro tripled home another run.  And David Cooper singled home Massaro with Gary's fourth run of the game.

Stephen Hiscock cruised through the first five innings.  In the sixth inning he ran into a little trouble.  After securing the first two outs, he allowed a single to Juan Martinez, a single to Daryle Ward, and walked Eric McGee to load the bases.  Hiscock then walked the next batter, Bryce Lane, to force in the Bears' second run of the game.  That ended a good night of pitching for the RailCats' starter.  In 5.2 innings, he only allowed four hits, two earned runs, walked two, and struck out eight Bears.  T.J. Wohlever took over for Hiscock and struck out the next batter to end Newark's threat, and keep it a 4-2 game.

After a rough start over the first two innings, Matt Fitton settled down over the next four and left the game after six innings of work.  He finished allowing six hits and four earned runs.  He struggled with four walks, and struck out three.  Coach Ken Oberkfell summoned Kyle Morrison to pitch the seventh.  He picked up the first two outs, the second with a strikeout.  Coach Oberkfell then called upon Matt Lyons, who secured the third out of the Railcats' home seventh.

In the eighth inning, the Bears finally clawed-up Gary's bullpen for four runs.  Nick Santomauro singled home Daryle Ward.  Courtney Billingslea then singled home two more runs.  Matt Tomczyk's RBI single topped off the eighth, and gave the Bears a 6-4 lead.

Matt Lyons returned to the hill for the bottom of the eighth and combined with Jorge Vasquez to keep Gary SouthShore quiet for another inning.  And into the ninth they went.  Juan Martinez' lead off single was wiped out when Daryle Ward grounded into a double play.  Eric McGee then grounded out to short to set up a save situation for the Bear's bullpen.

Jorge Vasquez came back out in the ninth to face the top of the line-up.  Vasquez struck out his first batter swinging.  The second batter he faced popped to right.  Mike Coles, who has been giving Bears' pitching fits, extended the game with a double.  Jorge Vasquez then walked David Cooper to put the tying run on base, and bring the winning run to the plate.  But the Bears' closer composed himself, and struck out the number five hitter, Mike Rohde, swinging for the final out of the game.

That was Jorge Vasquez' seventh save of the season.  Matt Lyons gets credit for the win.  In a spot start, Matt Fitton pitched rather efficiently.  The Railcats' Chris Allen was tagged with the loss in relief.

In their third try, the Newark Bears finally have their first victory on this road trip through American Association territory.  Brick City will try and earn a series split against the Gary SouthShore RailCats tomorrow, Sunday, before moving on to Kansas City and taking on the T-Bones baseball club.




Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ The Great Western Migration

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY NINE

ATLANTIC LEAGUE  ~  AMERICAN ASSOCIATION

INTER-LEAGUE SERIES

NEWARK BEARS

vs.

Gary SouthShore RailCats

From

U.S. STEEL YARD

Gary, Indiana

RailCats Lead Series 1-0

I - GS 7; NWK 4

II - Friday Night

NEWARK BEARS: Go West Young Cub!

The Bears made their first migration into American Association territory, where they were met rather unkindly by a Gary SouthShore RailCats' line-up that knocked Newark's starting pitcher out of the box after just one inning, and chipped away at Brick City's bullpen the rest of the game.

Bear's starter Pedro Rivera's last act in Thursday's opening game came when he took a come-backer off the bat of Mike Coles, starting a 1-4-3 play to end the bottom of the RailCats' home half of the first inning.  Rivera did not return to the mound for the second.

Making his first appearance for Newark, first out of the Bears' pen was Rob Swift.  In two innings of work, three walks and three hits resulted in two earned runs.  He struck out two.  Brian Parker was next out of the pen, and pitched well over two innings.  But his line was marred by errors which led to an unearned run in the fourth inning.  The second Bears' error of the fourth inning, was Parker's own.

Matt Lyons took his turn against Gary SouthShore in the sixth inning.  The RailCats worked him for a walk, a stolen base, a single, and a double for two more runs.  Exit Matt Lyons; hello Anthony Pluta for the eighth and ninth innings.  The RailCats drew four walks against Pluta, along with two hits.  Before they were through, two more runs had come across the plate for what was ultimately a 7-4 Railcat victory.  Newark's Rob Swift was tagged with the loss.

Newark actually scored first in this game.  Juan Martinez scored on a wild pitch by Gary's starter, Derek Drage.  Juan Martinez scored a second time in the fifth inning upon hitting his third home run of the season.  In the seventh inning, once again it was Juan Martinez generating Newark's only offense of the evening.  A two RBI double upped his game RBI total to three.  Juan finished the game hitting 4 for 5, with 2 runs scored.  After Martinez,  all Newark could manage were four scattered singles against four RailCat pitchers.

The home team managed eight hits against Bears' pitching.  The RailCats' Mike Coles and Mike Rohde combined on six of them.  Together they hit safely in six out of ten at-bats, and combined to drive in four runs.

Game Two from U.S. Steel Yard is Friday night.   And that's alright by me.

Let's Go Bears!  And belated hello to Gary SouthShore!

Canadian American Association of Baseball

NEWARK BEARS

American Association of Professional Baseball

GARY SOUTHSHORE RAILCATS

Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ St. Paul Saints Come Marching In

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY NINE

NEWARK BEARS:  The Modern St. Paul Saints Enjoying Their First Ever Visit to Broad Street.  Take First Two Games Over Bears.  Game Three Sunday Afternoon.



Professional baseball in St. Paul, Minnesota, dates back to 1884, when a third league, the Union Association, formed to compete against the established National League, and their rivals, the  American Association of Baseball.  St. Paul later played in the Western League during the 1890's, which was the precursor to the American League we know today.

From 1902 through 1960, St. Paul existed as a (AAA) minor league team in the 20th century version of the American Association, until the league ultimately folded, and it's teams were dispersed to the Pacific Coast League, and the International League.

The modern day St. Paul Saints come to us through the former Northern League of Independent Baseball, which formed in 1993 and ceased after the 2005 season.  The present American Association of Independent Baseball formed in 2006, and the St. Paul Saints have been members since.

For us tri-state area baseball fans, Darryl Strawberry once, and maybe infamously, played for the Saints in a comeback bid to play Major League Baseball again following his suspension from the game.


The St. Paul Saints are in town visiting the Newark Bears for a weekend series, of which, the Saints have already taken the first two games of three.  Call me silly for waxing nostalgic, but the ring of saying - St. Paul Saints versus Newark Bears just sounds classic, and out of another era.  There is indeed a historic connotation, and even significance, to this match-up.  But one that will go unspoken about in the grand scheme of things.


I for one however, am excited the Saints are in town for some Canadian/American - American Association Inter-League play.  That said, I will be at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium today, Sunday, to enjoy the game, and take in what I think is a rather unique match-up of applied team histories.


In Friday's series opener, the Bears dropped this first modern day encounter by a 6-3 final score.  Alex Smith made the start for Newark, and suffered his third defeat of the season.  He pitched six full, allowing six runs, although only were three earned, on eight hits.  Alex only walked two, and struck out  six Saints.  An error by Burt Reynolds at third led to Smith's three unearned runs allowed in a four run second inning.


The Bears scored one in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Juan Martinez.  But they gave it back in St. Paul's next at-bat, who then held a 5-1 lead.  In the sixth inning, the Saints tacked on one more insurance run when Benji Johnson led off with a homer off Alex Smith.


Eric McGee hit his first home run of the season; a solo shot for Newark in the seventh.  They would score again on an RBI single by Alex Bardeguez to make it a 6-3 game.  But that's as close as Newark would get.


Caleb Cuevas and Damian Sequen finished up Newark's pitching duties with three scoreless innings in relief.


St. Paul's Wes Roemer pitched 7.2 innings, gave up six hits, and allowed the Bears three runs.  He walked none and struck out seven for the win.  Bret Severtson gained the save.


In Game Two of the series played Saturday, St. Paul jumped on Bears pitching yet again to secure a 7-2 win.  Defense failed the Bears again, as five errors on the day helped the Saints score four unearned runs.


The Bears' Pedro Rivera made his third start, and lasted five innings.  He gave up five hits and allowed two earned runs out of four he surrendered.  Rivera issued four walks and struck out six.  Matt Fitton also suffered from the team's defensive lapses in relief.  In four innings pitched, only one of his three runs allowed were earned.  He struck out five Saints in his four innings.


Newark's lone two runs against St. Paul starter, Danny Guitierrez, came on RBI singles by Juan Martinez, and Burt Reynolds.


Three Saints relievers combined to allow six innings and keep the Bears sedated.  St. Paul's Josh Cephus pitched three innings for the win.


If you're at the game today, Tweet me up.
Credit - St. Paul Saints Scorecard @ SonOfNostalgia.com

Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ Take Matinee Game Over Tornadoes

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY NINE

NEWARK BEARS:  Yesterday's Pitching Duel Turned Into This Morning's Loss.  Brick City Drops Rain Suspended Game.

Bears Strike Back in Today's Matinee Game for 7-4 Win Over Worcester.

Tuesday - RAIN HALTS PITCHER'S DUEL in WORCESTER



The Bears and Tornadoes were tied after six innings in Wednesday's matinee game.  Newark jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after two.  Daryle Ward doubled home Alex Bardeguez in the first inning.  In the second, Bryce Lane led off the inning with a walk.  A two out double by Dan Coury scored Lane.  And yet another two out double by Quentin Davis drove in Dan Coury.


Worcester picked up two runs in the third.  The Bears then scored their fourth run in the fourth, to take a 4-2 lead on Dan Coury's home run.  In the bottom half of the fourth, Worcester rallied against Newark's starting pitcher, Brian Parker, again for another run, making it a 4-3 game.  With one out, Coach Oberkfell then made his move to the bullpen, and brought in Damian Sequen.


Brian Parker pitched 5.1 innings and got peppered for eleven hits.  He allowed four earned runs, no walks, and struck out five before being relieved.


Damian Sequen held Worcester in the sixth.  Three Bears' relievers combined on 3.2 innings to keep Worcester at four runs.  Anthony Pluta pitched 1.1 innings, with two strikeouts.  Jorge Vasquez took care of the ninth by striking out the side.  Damian Sequen was credited with the win, and Vasquez the save.


In the seventh inning, Alex Bardeguez scored an insurance run on a passed ball.  Newark scored a second time when Daryle Ward scored on a wild pitch.  Then in the ninth inning, they tacked on one more run for good measure.  Juan Martinez doubled home Eric McGee with the Bears' seventh, and final run.



Tuesday's Game Continuation:
The two teams concluded Tuesday night's rain suspended game this morning.  Click link above for game details of a fine pitcher's duel.  Today, Worcester's catcher, Chris Torres launched the game winning home run in the home ninth, giving the Tornadoes a 2-1 victory.  And of course, the Bears earned a split of the series in today's matinee.  They will play the rubber game of this series on Thursday.





Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ Look Who's In First

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY NINE

NEWARK BEARS:  Brick City Jumps Out to an Early Circuit Lead.


* Friday night's game in Newark versus the Quebec Capitales was postponed.


As of - Thursday, May 24, 2012:


For the second consecutive night, Newark needed two runs in the top of the ninth inning in order to gain victory over Rockland in the rubber game of a three game set.


In his second start this season, Brian Parker pitched into the seventh inning for a second consecutive time.  He allowed Rockland three scattered runs off six hits.  He walked three and struck out five before giving way to Anthony Pluta.  With a run in the sixth however, the Boulders relegated Parker's effort to no-decision status.


Newark held the early lead with a run in the first after Daryle Ward connected on his second home run this season.  After Rockland tied the game in their next at-bat, the Bears picked up two more in the third.  Billy Alvino reached first on an E-6, and later came around to score on a fielder's choice.  A Juan Martinez single drove in Matt Tomczyk with the second unearned run of the inning.


Rockland tied the game in the sixth at three.  And it stayed that way till the ninth.  In the visitor's half, Eric McGee led off with a double.  Billy Alvino then came through with a clutch two out base hit to deliver McGee from second.  Alvino eventually scored on another two out single by Matt Tomczyk.


After having pitched a scoreless eighth, with two strikeouts, Anthony Pluta was the beneficiary of Newark's effort in the ninth.  He gained his second relief win this season.  Then Jorge Vasquez was summoned to close out the ninth inning for Newark.  He did so in grand fashion by striking out the side.


...And behold, the Newark Bears are a first place club.  With Thursday's win, the Bears affixed themselves to a firm one game lead atop the circuit over the Quebec Capitales.  The Bears are the first team to five wins.  Along with timely hitting, the Bears have been able to do so behind quality pitching that's getting deep into games.  But it's relief pitchers Anthony Pluta and Matt Fitton who lead the league so far in wins with two apiece.  Brian Parker is second in the league with twelve strikeouts.


Offensively, Bryce Lane has the early lead in RBI with nine.




The Bears and Quebec Capitales will make up Friday's game with a double-header on Saturday, at 'ol Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.




Mike.BTB

Newark Bears ~ Roaring Back

From the desk of:  THE BRICK CITY NINE





NEWARK BEARS:   GM is Smarter Than The Average Bear.  Changes Translate on the Field.  Two Straight Wins Earns Split With Pittsfield.


It looks like a week of roster changes begot their desired effects.  Bears' GM Mike Torrez spent the early part of this week shaking up the personnel on his team.  The moves paid off towards the end of the week as the Bears won their last two games; including tonight's game at The Den.  With these last two victories, they did well to salvage a split of their four game series against the Pittsfield Colonials after losing six games in a row.


Starting pitcher; Eric Eden didn't pitch past the fifth inning, but he did keep Pittsfield off the scoreboard.  He allowed five hits; no runs; two walks; and struck out three.  But as is becoming custom, Coach Raines looked to his bullpen to pitch the final four innings of the game.


The Bears opened the scoring in the second inning with an unearned run.  Tim Raines Jr. drove in the Bears' second run of the game in the third inning with a single, scoring Ryan Walsh who led off the inning with a base hit.  Pat Biserta led-off the fourth with a double and scored on an error by  Pittsfield's catcher on a sacrifice attempt.


With the game turned over to the bullpen, Newark's Chris Rollins; relieving Eric Eden; promptly allowed Pittsfield two runs in the sixth, but did finish out the inning.  Newark picked up their pitcher with three more runs in the bottom of the inning.


Pat Biserta reached on an E-5.  Billy Alvino's attempted sacrifice resulted in yet another error (E-1).  He reached first and Biserta reached third.  Biserta scored on Eric McGee's single.  A Brandon Watson sac-fly scored Alvino.  And Juan Martinez doubled home McGee for a 6-2 Bears lead.


Newark tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning when Juan Martinez bopped a two run home run; scoring Brandon Watson.


TJ Hose kept Pittsfield quiet over the seventh and eighth innings.  He allowed no hits and struck out one.  Then Coach Raines called on Anthony Pluta to pitch the ninth inning for Newark.  He allowed a lead-off single and got the second batter on a fly to left.  Pluta got out number two via the swinging strikeout but walked the next for a first and third situation (lead runner advanced previously - WP).  Finally, out number three came on a grounder to second base.


Final score:  Bears 8;  Colonials 2


Since hitting the frightful .500 mark, two consecutive wins gives the Bears a somewhat more eye-pleasing 18-16 record.  They are now tied again with Pittsfield for fourth place overall in the first half CanAm standings.


The Bears will spend the Fourth of July Weekend in N.Y. playing the Rockland Boulders.  Three games in their place will be capped off with a fourth game back in Newark.





Mike.BTB

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