Jampacked Blog

With a complete contrast of lineups from Game 1 and Game 2, perhaps it’s only fitting it was a complete contrast in games from Monday and Tuesday. After a fairly sloppy performance Monday, Jamestown held Mahoning Valley to three hits en route to a 3-1 victory for their first win of the 2012 season.

The good: Jamestown’s bullpen. After a rough outing Monday, three Jamestown relievers combined to throw five innings of no-hit ball while walking just one. Jheyson Manzueta was the most impressive, retiring all six batters and striking out five. Brian Dice also went 3-for-3 in his 2012 debut out of the 6-hole.

The bad: Not much to complain about tonight. The two errors came from the pitchers and the Jammers pounded out nine hits. 3-for-12 with RISP isn’t terrible enough to complain about, but leaving 12 on is.

Game was over when: Well to be fair, this one wasn’t over until Nick Wittgren got Richard Stock to fly out for the 27th out. But, looking back on it, Mahoning Valley had the bases loaded with nobody out in the third. Del Orbe got the No. 3 hitter to strike out before getting a double play out of the cleanup hitter. The Scrappers didn’t have another chance — or another hit — the rest of the night.

Grades

Cameron Flynn (RF) B+ — 0-for-3 out of the leadoff spot, but walked twice. That’s all you want out of a leadoff hitter, no? Also was his first pro game for the rookie out of Kentucky.

Jesus Solorzano (CF) C+ — 0-for-4 with a walk and I could be wrong about this, but didn’t touch the ball at all defensively except for the final out. Weird night.

Felix Munoz (1B) B+ — Couple of singles from Munoz and it will be interesting to see how Espada uses his first baseman going forward. Rosa and Munoz are both lefties. It looked like Rosa (not just because he played Opening Day) was the guy but if Munoz keeps hitting, he’ll have to be in the lineup somewhere. Tough break when he lined into a double play to end the eighth.

Austin Nola (3B) B — First and foremost, the infield defense was great all around. 10 ground ball outs from Del Orbe and four more from the bullpen. Nola was busy down at third and showed he can play both positions on the left side of the infield. Started the fifth innings rally as well with his first hit as a pro.

Kentrell Dewiit (LF) A- — Another two hits from Dewitt, including his third double of the young season. Really fueled both rallies in the fourth and fifth, even though he only came around to score once. 4-for-7 with a walk this year.

Brian Dice (DH) A — Probably the least known player on this team — at least for me. But Dice, who I assumed wouldn’t see much time this year, went 3-for-4 with a double. He’ll be in the lineup again soon, I can promise that.

Sharif Othman (C) B — Went 1-for-3 with a walk and also had an RBI. I think Behar is the everyday catcher for this team, but Othman had a nice day.

Rony Peralta (SS) B — Like Nola, he was a busy man defensively. Also laid down a nice sacrifice bunt that helped things out in the fourth. Jamestown has plenty of options at short, so we’ll see if he impressed.

Yefri Perez (2B) C — He was actually the only Jammer not reach base tonight, but the infield did such a great job, you have to bump his rating up.

PITCHERS

Ramon Del Orbe (SP) C+ — It may just be a pitch count thing, but Del Orbe only got them through four. Three hits and two walks, but he scattered them effectively. Pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody out jam that preserved the game. Just need another inning or two in the future to be a quality start.

Sean Donatello (RP) A — Started the run of greatness by relievers by throwing two hitless innings. Walked one, struck out two. Got the win.

Jheyson Manzueta (RP) A+ — 2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 5 K. Enough said.

Nick Wittgren (RP) A+ — 1-2-3 ninth for the save. Struck out one.

Jammers return the favor to the Scrappers as they travel to play Mahoning Valley for two in Niles, Ohio. First pitch tomorrow is at 7:05 p.m.