Rock Cats Split a Twin Billing

Target Field probably feels pretty far away
for the struggling Joe Benson

Last night, I wrote Wednesday's Minor League Recap for TwinDaily, wherein I gave a brief summary of every Twins minor league game that took place yesterday. Check it out here. The Rock Cats played an interesting doubleheader last night, comprised of two 7-inning games. Here's what I wrote about the Rock Cats in my recap of those games:

Game 1: New Britain 0, New Hampshire 3
The story of the first game of this day on which the Rock Cats and Fisher Cats played two 7-inning double headers is that hits came at a premium for Hardware City. Chris Herrmann, playing left field today, was 1-for-3 with a double, his 11th of the season, and new Rock Cat Matt Rizzotti, demoted from AAA, had a single in 3 at-bats. That was it. 2 hits all afternoon. Steve Hirschfeld took the loss, and is now 2-4 on the season. But he pitched pretty well -- 6 innings, 3 runs, 3 strikeouts and 2 walks. He did, however, allow 8 hits and 2 solo home runs, which is what did him on this day when the offense couldn't muster anything. Blake Martin pitched a scoreless final inning.

Game 2: New Britain 6, New Hampshire 3
The Rock Cats salvaged a split of the double header tonight. Logan Darnell was decent on the mound, going 6 innings, giving up 3 runs. Importantly, though, he walked 1 and struck out 8. He did allow 2 solo home runs. Daniel Turpen picked up the save, tossing a scoreless 7th, allowing no hits and walking 1. New Britain had only 5 hits in this night cap, and Estarlin De Los Santos did the most damage, with a 3 run home run and a double. Matt Rizzotti also had a double, and Nathan Hanson and James Berersford each had singles. Joe Benson was 0-for-3 with 2 strikeouts and a walk, and Aaron Hicks was 0-for-3 with three Ks.

You have to be worried about Benson at this point. He's 2-for-24 (.083) since joining the Rock Cats, with 7 strikeouts and only 2 walks. The move to AA was supposed to accomplish at least a couple things: to get Benson's swing back; and to restore his confidence. So far it's failed on both counts. Yes, it's only been 6 games, but Benson has been worse in New Britain than he was in Rochester. When I attended last Thursday's game, where Benson was 1-for-4 with a walk, I remarked that 2 of his 3 outs were hit very hard. I wanted to chalk up that performance to bad luck. But there's only so much bad luck you can have. It should be noted that Benson played right field in the second game, and sat the first game, so it's not as if he is taking away playing time from Hicks.

Benson, and the rest of the team, will get an opportunity for a series win this morning at 10:35 eastern time, when they face the Fisher Cats in the rubber match. The Rock Cats do a lot of "Baseball in Education" days, where school groups attend day games -- hence the early start. Righty David Bromberg starts for New Britain; hopefully he's having his morning coffee right about now.

The Rock Cats are 23-15 on the season, in a dead tie with the Reading Phillies for first place. The Trenton Thunder, at 19-17, are the only other team in the division that is above .500. Reading is off today, so a New Britain win would move them into sole possession of first place.

Tough Night in New Britain

The Twins of Tomorrow watch baseball on a
beautiful Spring evening in Connecticut

It was a beautiful evening for outdoor baseball in central Connecticut -- the kind of night where you might come wearing a t-shirt, but had better pack a hooded sweatshirt for when the sun disappears behind the bleachers. The Rock Cats began a homestand tonight, and it was "Anti-Diet Night" at New Britain Stadium. For $12, or $14 if you wanted the good tickets, you could get all-you-can eat hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos and popcorn. Also (as I have mentioned before), Thursdays are Sam Adams happy hours, with discounted beer. Can you beat these deals? I heard that the Twins are charging $10.75 for buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese. I spent about $20 tonight -- including my ticket right over the Rock Cats' dugout.

It was a tough defeat for the home team tonight. They lost 6-5, after coming from behind to tie the game up in the 8th inning. There were some good things, however, that bear mention. The Rock Cats did a lot of hitting tonight: Evan Bigley, Chris Colabello and Estarlin De Los Santos each contributed two hits. Aaron Hicks had a clutch 2-out RBI single to get the scoring going in the first inning -- a sharp line drive back up the middle. Chris Herrmann and Deibinson Romero each had doubles. Colabello continues to impress me. He was 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a walk tonight, and is batting an even .333 on the season. I'm not sure quite what to make of him -- 28 and in his first year of affiliated baseball -- but he is definitely not in over his head at AA. He's the kind of guy you want to root for; it's the kind of story that makes minor league baseball so great.

For me, the most interesting play of the night involved Hicks. With one out and Hicks on first, Romero hit a deep fly ball to deep left field. There was never much doubt that the ball would be caught, but it appeared to make it to the warning track. Hicks retreated to first, then proceeded to successfully tag up on the play. It was a gutsy, heads-up base-running play. A better left fielder might have made the play on Hicks, but not tonight. It was the first time I saw Hicks sprint out of necessity, and the guy was fast!! He didn't end up scoring that inning, but those are the types of plays that gamers make.

Logan Darnell warms up for New Britain

On the mound, Logan Darnell was adequate. He went six innings, gave up 4 runs, walked 3 while striking out 5. He never appeared to have complete control of his pitches, though. His fastball was hitting 93 most of the evening, and definitely had some pop. His offspeed stuff was about 83 and 79 (I'm guessing change-up and curve). He fooled several hitters. Darnell, unfortunately, was charged with 2 errors on pickoffs. On the error that I witnessed, the baserunner broke toward second, and all Darnell had to do was make a solid throw to first. Unfortunately, he threw wildly and the ball ended up in the right field corner. Hopefully that was a one-night problem for Darnell. Hicks also had a miscue, but it was ruled as a hit: he failed to see a fly ball of the bat (the sun was setting and it is apparently tough to pick up the baseball at that time of night), and it went for a double. So, although Darnell wasn't perfect tonight, there was room for improvement with the defense.

Lester Oliveros took the loss for the Rock Cats. After they had tied the game up on a clutch two-out two-run triple to center field by Evan Bigley, Oliveros couldn't keep the momentum going into the 9th inning. A walk, stolen base and single did him in. The good thing about baseball, though, is that you need a short memory. New Britain will be back in action this morning, in fact. I'll be going to Sunday's game, so keep an eye out for more pictures and a game summary.

Rock Cats' Winning Streak Pushed to 5

The New Britain Rock Cats defeated the Portland Sea Dogs tonight 10-5. Despite the lopsided score, this game actually took 11 innings to produce a winner. The sides were knotted at 5 runs until the Rock Cats exploded for 5 runs in the 11th inning, and then shut down the Sea Dogs in the home half to secure the victory.

For all the runs tonight, New Britain only accumulated 9 hits (they also walked 5 times). Big producers tonight included shortstop Pedro Florimon, who hit his first home run of the year, and drove in 2 runs. Chris Colabello had the most important hit of the night: a 3 run game-tying home run (his second of the season) in the top of the ninth inning with two outs. On the evening, Colabello also had a double and a 4th RBI. Quite a night for the first baseman! Right fielder Evan Bigley had 3 singles and a walk tonight, in 4 at-bats, and also scored 2 runs, pushing his batting average to .311. Deibinson Romero, Estarlin De Los Santos and James Beresford also had hits for the Rock Cats. New Britain sent 10 men to the plate in the decisive 11th inning.

Lefty Andrew Albers got the start for New Britain, lasting 5 innings, and giving up 8 hits, 4 earned runs, and striking out 4 while issuing no free passes. The bullpen, however, was better. Although reliever Brett Jacobson gave up a run in one inning of work, Blake Martin pitched a scoreless 7th, and Luis Perdomo and Daniel Turpen each pitched 2 scoreless innings, with Turpen picking up the win in extras. Aaron Hicks was hitless tonight, but did have an outfield assist, nailing a Sea Dogs runner at third base. Martin (on a pickoff) and Florimon each committed their first errors of the season.

This is now the 5th consecutive win for the Rock Cats, pushing their impressive record to 9-3. They are also undefeated on the road, which is good for any team looking to gain confidence early in the season. They'll be back in action tomorrow night -- same time, same channel.