Jun 11, 2008

Aussie Updates (11 Jun 08)

Two Aussies in action today:

Phil Stockman
...got a bit of work as a one out guy for the Braves when they met the Cubs. And he did his job well. With two out in the bototm of the 8th, and after giving up 4 runs, the Braves tossed the ball to Phil to end the inning. He faced Kosuke Fukudome and did a might fine job of striking him out. Stockman's first three pitches were fastballs in the low 90s. He missed with the first, but got called strikes on the second two, hitting the outside corner. He then plopped in a 78mph curve on the outside corner for a swinging strike three. That's a good 12-15mph less than the fastballs and damn hard to hit in that situation. That ended the inning, and Stockman was not required in the 9th, as the Braves were unable to meet the Cubs 10-5 lead.

Justin Huber
...started today for the Padres as they faced the Mets and their hot rookie Clayton Kershaw. Huber did some good things, and some bad things. The good: he took his average up to .222 by going 1-for-2 with a line drive single to right field. He also played an important role in scoring one of the Padres' 2 runs. In the 6th inning, with 1 out and with runners on 1 and 2, Huber laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners around. One of the runners went on to score.

The bad: in the top of the 7th inning, a regulation fly ball went to left centre field. Im not sure what actually happened, whether Huber lost it in the lights, or thought Hairston was gonna catch it, or what, but what should have been a catch dropped down for a base hit. It was not charged as an error, but it cost the Padres, as it was part of a rally that saw the Dodgers score 4 runs. Huber was pinch hit for later in the game when RHP and general big unit Johnathon Broxton was brought in for the Dodgers.

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