{"id":24165,"date":"2013-05-10T10:45:59","date_gmt":"2013-05-10T17:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seamheads.com\/?p=24165"},"modified":"2013-05-10T10:45:59","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T17:45:59","slug":"even-a-dominant-scott-kazmir-could-not-make-sugar-land-much-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/10\/even-a-dominant-scott-kazmir-could-not-make-sugar-land-much-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Even a Dominant Scott Kazmir Could Not Make Sugar Land Much Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

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":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}