The end was ugly. In the final home game of the season, the Fisher Cats came within one strike of completing a five-game sweep of the Sea Dogs. If one check swing from Yamaico Navarro had been ruled a strike, the Fishers would’ve beaten Portland, 1-0.
Instead they lost 4-1.
Leon Boyd took the loss and blown save. NH went 31-41 at home. No excuses.
“We’re 10 games under .500, Like Bill Parcells used to say, ‘You are what you are.’ You can’t say we could’ve done this and could’ve done that because we haven’t,” manager Gary Cathcart said.
Pretty bizarre first inning as Daisuke Matsuzaka got pounded by the Fisher Cats in a 5-3 loss tonight, giving up five runs, five hits and two walks in the first inning. His pitch count ballooned to 49 in the first inning. That’s a ballpark record. Must be.
Minor leaguers are usually capped at 35 pitches per inning. Dice-K nearly didn’t make it out of the first inning, but No. 9 hitter Bryan Kervin made the second out on a sac fly — barely missed squaring up the ball for a grand slam — and Todd Donovan grounded out with a hard shot to third.
Want some positive news, Red Sox fans? Dice-K looked great in the second inning. He found another gear, throwing 94-96 mph, got more aggressive threw a perfect inning on nine pitches.
Todd Donovan, who homered against Dice-K, said the difference between the first and second inning was night and day.
“They’re working on stuff, trying to get back to the major leagues, and we’re out their trying to rip their heads off … This is our major leagues for a lot of us,” Donovan said. “It was evident he didn’t have his best stuff in the first inning.
“When he threw those first two pitches to me, I was thinking, ‘What’s going on? Is he not trying? Something isn’t right.’ Then he was completely different the next time I faced him.”
Dice-K, at times, pitched with a slow, exaggerated leg kick. He said it was an attempt to “prevent myself from diving too far forward and getting in front of myself.”
During warmups, he threw a fastball into the netting behind home plate and visibly laughed it off. He threw another really wild pitch to walk Scott Campbell. Fans didn’t know what to think. It was pretty awkward watching this terrible first inning, to be honest.
Despite the struggles, Dice-K made a pretty convincing argument that he felt OK about his outing, saying he was able to “get my arm around a lot better today, so I think today was a good outing overall, especially in the second inning.”
If you’re at the Fisher Cats ballpark on Sunday, check out a silent auction to help defray Nick and Jami Gorneault’s medical bills. They’ve had a tough year as Jami battles Stage 3 melanoma skin cancer. Among the items will be a Joe Carter signed ball, Blue Jays team balls, Roy Halladay stuff, bats, etc. Blue Jays lefty Marc Rzepczynski brought lots of items to donate when visiting the team on Thursday.
Tropical storm Danny moved a doubleheader between New Hampshire and Portland this week. One game Saturday at 7:05. Doubleheader Sunday beginning at 4:05 p.m.
Daisuke Matsuzaka will pitch the opener Sunday.
The Red Sox seem very pleased with how the Fisher Cats have handled the scheduling. Terry Francona:
“There was some cooperation, I think, from their club and our organization. They obviously had a big crowd tomorrow night, but the forecast is horrible. It was a supposed to a doubleheader, so what they’re doing is playing a single game — and they gave us a head’s-up that they’re committed to playing that game whatever time it starts. Rather than potentially have Dice-K throw in a game starting at midnight, they’re going to have a doubleheader Sunday. He’ll pitch the game at 4 o’clock on Sunday. That doesn’t really do anything because when I stated that Dice could come back and pitch on the 8th, we really wanted him to pitch on the 9th. That actually works out perfect.”
– Thanks to Brian MacPherson of the NH Union Leader for the quote from Boston.
By KEVIN GRAY
New Hampshire Union Leader
MANCHESTER – Dozens of Daisuke Matsuzaka T-shirts are hanging in the souvenir shop and about 9,000 fans have tickets to watch the Fisher Cats and Sea Dogs at Merchantauto.com Stadium tomorrow.
And Dice-K?
The Red Sox starter probably won’t pitch until Sunday now that tropical storm Danny is expected to shower Manchester tomorrow – forcing the Fisher Cats to alter the weekend schedule.
Instead of a doubleheader tomorrow, the New Hampshire and Portland will play one game at 7:05 p.m. Dice-K is expected to pitch in Sunday’s twin-bill beginning at 4:05 p.m., though the Red Sox have yet to confirm.
Limited seating is available for games this weekend. Standing-room-only tickets for $6 are being sold for tomorrow’s game. Call 641-2005 for ticket information.
Blue Jays lefty Marc Rzepczynski made a visit to Manchester tonight and spent the evening with the Fisher Cats, even hanging out in the dugout. The Jays flew into Boston and had the day off, so “Zep” spent some quality time with his old teammates. (More in Friday’s print edition.)
Zep came up big tonight. He brought lots Blue Jays memorabilia for Jami and Nick Gorneault, whose medical bills are piling up through Jami’s treatment for melanoma skin cancer. The signed balls and other stuff will be sold to help defray medical costs, I’m told.
The lefty also paid for a postgame food spread. He must’ve dropped a few hundred bucks on Chinese food. That was not expected, but Zep can afford it now since he’ll make about $60,000 this month.
He also bought himself some new golf clubs with his first big-league paycheck.
I’m here with Solon James, 10, of Exeter, who’s taking part in the Citizens Bank “Kids Run the Show” promotion tonight with the Fisher Cats. Solon’s take on being a sports writer:
“I think it would be hard to write about if the Fisher Cats lose, 20-0, or something,” he said. “You have to focus on the good things.”
On being Team President/GM Rick Brenner: “The only problem with being a GM is you don’t get to see much of the game.”
Just had a radio interview with WGAM The Game with hosts Pete Tarrier and Rich Keefe. Naturally, the Daisuke Matsuzaka appearance in Manchester on Saturday is generating lots of buzz. Expect Dice-K to pitch the first game (5 p.m.) of a doubleheader for the Sea Dogs.
The Fisher Cats are also opening the gates at 2:30 p.m. that day, an hour earlier than usually. Fans can arrive and watch batting practice. The Merch will be packed. The Fisher Cats had already sold more than 7,000 tickets before the Dice-K rehab appearance was announced.
Think about this: Dice-K will be third Red Sox major leaguer to make a rehab appearance in Manchester this season, joining John Smoltz and Jed Lowrie. Do you think the Red Sox like sending their players to New Hampshire?
The Red Sox have a player development agreement with Portland through 2012. That same year, New Hampshire’s contract with the Blue Jays expires. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Just food for thought.
DICE-K TICKETS: Every seat has been sold for Saturday’s doubleheader, but the Fisher Cats are selling limited standing-room-only tickets for $6 bucks. Call 641-2005 to get more information.
Congrats to WMUR-TV’s Jamie Staton and teammate Chris Sullivan for winning the inaugural Media Home Run Derby at The Merch, scoring the most points with several line drives off Fisher Cats hitting coach Paul Elliott. The heavy hitters won $600 for the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth.
How’d it go for me? Poorly. Let’s just say I’m disgusted with my showing. My teammate, Morgan Crandall, almost sent us into the finals but we missed out by a couple points. Morgan has pop! Everyone thought I was crazy for having “a girl” for my partner, but she scored more points than me. Points were awarded for line drives, shots that rolled to the wall, etc.
Thanks to official scorer Lenny Parker and Northeast Pharmacy Services for sponsoring our team. Each team paid $100 with the winner taking all for their charity. Normally, I would say it was wicked fun, but I’m still embarrassed with my performance.
Final results and charities:
1. Staton, Sullivan: WMUR; CHaD “Battle of the Badges”
2. Brian Moynihan, Tom Duprey, Busleaguesbaseball.com; PLUS Pride Special Olympics Team
3. Mike Mutnansky, Rich Keefe, WGAM Home Team; Herobox.org.
4. Morgan Crandall, Kevin Gray, NH Union Leader; Team Emma’s Enchantment
5. Pete Tarrier, Ken Jobin, WGAM Home Team II; Manchester Boys & Girls Club
6. George Russell, WSMN Radio; Nashua Police Athletic League.
I’m standing in the emerald grass of Fenway Park, in front of the Green Monster, listening to a Red Sox tour guide tell the story of Ted Williams’ 502-foot homer in 1946. A tour group is sitting above the monster and watching the annual media baseball game between Boston and New York.
I’m standing where Williams, Yaz, Jim Rice and Manny Ramirez all played for the Red Sox, and it’s quite an honor. The media game is just as dreamy as you might imagine. One cannot wipe the smile off my face.
This was Sunday morning. And Jason Bay’s ABC bubble gum was still soft in the outfield grass.
The New York media won, 13-2, behind the pitching of Tyler Kepner of the NY Times. I walked and doubled off Kepner … A quick story on how I became part of the inner-circle media gang. Back when I was covering the Red Sox, I begged to play in the media game and wasn’t put on the roster by Boston manager Carl Beane.
Well, I ended up playing a couple innings for the NY media as a reserve — and tripled to right-center field. After the game, Beane said, “You’re playing for us now.”
