Scott Kazmir<\/b> was masterful this afternoon (Thursday) with 10 strikeouts (no walks) among his 18 outs in six innings of one-run pitching to lead Cleveland<\/b> to a 9-2 triumph against Oakland<\/b>, but even if the veteran left-hander still was with Sugar Land,TX <\/b>for a second season it seems doubtful the Skeeters <\/b>would be doing much better than they already are in their second Atlantic League <\/b>season.<\/p>\n
While Kazmir, now 2-1 with the Tribe, would bring more headline-grabbing attention to the Houston<\/b>-area Skeeters, they have won 11 of their last 12 and are playing at a brilliant .850 pace (17-3) after a 5-1 matinee victory at Southern Maryland<\/b> (Waldorf).<\/b><\/p>\n
Among the accomplishments for Gary Gaetti’s <\/b>club are a 10-0 record at home, series sweeps against both of last year’s championship series teams, Long Island<\/b> and Lancaster<\/b>, with 10 games in the two sets, and they sit atop the league statistics in both hitting (.286) and pitching (2.51). The offense is producing just over six runs a game, led by catcher Koby Clemens <\/b>(the son of a former pitcher with the same last name) with six homers and 18 RBI despite a .241 average. Only one of the 15 pitchers on the staff, which probably will be trimmed a bit when rosters go from 27 to 25 at the end of the month, has an earned run average above 3.52.<\/p>\n
* * * *<\/p>\n
ANXIOUS FOR MORE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE?<\/b><\/p>\n
We Have It Regularly at <\/span><\/b>www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n * * * *<\/p>\n Colabello Shares Triple-A Homer Lead After 16th<\/sup> Inning Blast<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n <\/b>It would not be surprising if Chris Colabello <\/b>admitted he is in a mini slump right now because he has gone 1-for-12 in Rochester<\/b>‘s <\/b>last two International League <\/b>games and he even had a rare two-error game, but there is something to be said for timeliness. The longtime Can-Am League <\/b>star first baseman (Worcester, MA <\/b>and Nashua, NH)<\/b>, playing with Minnesota’s <\/b>top farm club and hoping to get that major league call sometime this season, slugged a two-run homer in the top of the 16th<\/sup> inning earlier this week to help the Red Wings<\/b> put an end to a five-hour, 17-minute marathon at Toledo, <\/b>8-7. Colabello shares the Triple-A league’s home run leadership (eight) and is hitting .315 with 22 RBI (sixth in the league). His nine-game hitting streak ended on Wednesday.<\/p>\n This Quartet of American Association Hurlers Doing Well<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Kris Johnson<\/b> did not get a great opportunity to impress Pittsburgh <\/b>brass in spring training, but the southpaw is back in solid form for Triple-A Indianapolis<\/b> with a 3-2 record and 3.23 earned run average despite one horrid relief outing. The onetime Kansas City<\/b>, <\/b>KS<\/b> <\/b>hurler has been even sharper in his five starts, which show a 3-1, 1.69 mark.<\/p>\n Another trio of former American Association <\/b>hurlers, including one who admits his cockiness hurt him earlier in his career, also are turning in strong showings in affiliated leagues. In Class AA, Kevin Johnson<\/b>, who started his professional journey at Pensacola, FL<\/b>, shares the Texas League <\/b>lead in saves (six) and is at 1-1, 2.31 for the Los Angeles Angels’ <\/b>team in Arkansas (Little Rock). James Hoyt (<\/b>Wichita<\/b>, <\/b>KS<\/b>, along with North American League <\/b>teams in Edinburg<\/b>, <\/b>TX<\/b> <\/b>and Yuma<\/b>, <\/b>AZ<\/b>)<\/b> has 34 strikeouts in just 25.1 innings for Lynchburg<\/b>, <\/b>VA<\/b> (<\/b>Atlanta<\/b>)<\/b> to go with a 2-0 record and 1.78 ERA.<\/p>\n And, there is the case of another strikeout hurler, Tyler Herron (<\/b>Fargo<\/b>, <\/b>ND<\/b>, and Kalamazoo<\/b>, <\/b>MI<\/b>, Frontier League). <\/b>“I played with a certain fire in high school and kind of lost that along the way”, the 26-year-old confessed to MLB.com. <\/i>“I started getting big-headed. It took me a few years to grow up.” After previous trails in two major league organizations, followed by Kalamazoo and missing a year for Tommy John <\/b>(elbow) surgery, the right-hander went 12-3 at Fargo last season and had a good winter in Puerto Rico<\/b>. <\/b>Washington<\/b> <\/b>picked him up, and Herron, now relieving, has 26 strikeouts in 16.1 innings to go with a 2.20 earned run average for Potomac<\/b> (<\/b>Woodbridge<\/b>, <\/b>VA<\/b>).<\/b><\/p>\n By BOB DUTTON The Kansas City Star<\/p>\n Updated: 2013-03-26T05:37:57Z<\/p>\n (This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball. Forty columns are planned during 2013. Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com<\/span>, enjoy added stories on the blog www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/span>, or comment to RWirz@aol.com<\/span>. The author <\/b>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Scott Kazmir was masterful this afternoon (Thursday) with 10 strikeouts (no walks) among his 18 outs in six innings of one-run pitching to lead Cleveland to a 9-2 triumph against Oakland, but even if the veteran left-hander still was with Sugar Land,TX for a second season it seems doubtful the Skeeters would be doing much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t