by Matthew Wheaton
Media Relations Intern

The Burlington Bees (7-13) and Fort Wayne TinCaps (8-12) finish a three-game series tonight at Community Field. RHP Zach Cates (3-5, 4.81) makes his 17th professional start for the TinCaps this evening. Cates last pitched against the Dayton Dragons on July 7 and allowed one earned run on six hits in five innings to pick up a win. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the third round of the 2010 draft out of Northeast Texas Community College, where he was recruited as a catcher and didn’t pitch full-time until 2009. He only started pitching because he dislocated three fingers on his left hand. Cates was rated the No. 21 prospect in the Padres organization by Baseball America going into this season.

RHP Sean Murphy (0-3, 7.48) makes his sixth start of the year for the Bees tonight. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits over five innings pitched in his last start, which was against the Kane County Cougars on July 9. Murphy has an overall record of 0-1 to go along with a 17.47 ERA in games played at Community Field. Opposing batters are hitting .579 against Murphy when runners are in scoring position and .429 against him when runners are in scoring position and there are two outs.

YESTERDAY…
RHP Blake Hassebrock (5-5) pitched seven scoreless innings, allowed three hits and struck out seven to lead the Bees to a 3-1 victory over the TinCaps in front of 794 fans at Community Field Thursday night. Burlington started the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning after RF Douglas Landaeta (1-4) hit a two-out double to left field. A single from SS Yordy Cabrera (1-3) off the glove of Fort Wayne SS B.J. Guinn, who leaped into the air in an attempt to catch the ball, plated Landaeta to put the Bees up 1-0. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Bees CF Jose Crisotomo (2-3) hit a two-out single and 3B Wade Kirkland (1-3) smacked a two-run home run over the left field wall to make the score 3-0 Bees. TinCaps 3B Chris Bisson (0-1) drew a lead-off walk in the top of the ninth inning and scored on a RBI double to left field from CF Rico Noel (1-4) to bring Fort Wayne within two runs at 3-1. Burlington RHP Zack Thornton allowed one earned run on one hit over the final two innings to earn his fourth save of the year.

BEES BY THE NUMBERS
Burlington snapped a six-game losing streak last night, which is their longest losing skid this season. The Bees have a record of 1-1 in games played against the TinCaps this season and are 38-29 against right-handed starting pitchers. The Bees have an overall record of 29-17 this season in home games. Burlington has a record of 12-4 in two-run games. The Bees have a record of 2-8 in their last 10 games. The Bees had seven hits last night, while Fort Wayne had four. The Bees have a record of 30-13 when they out-hit their opponent.

3B Wade Kirkland hit his third home run of the season last night in the bottom of the seventh inning off of Fort Wayne RHP Adys Portillo. The bomb over the left field wall was his first homer at Community Field. Kirkland’s last home run was on May 20 versus the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!
RHP Blake Hassebrock (5-5, 2.03) sits in second place in the Midwest League for ERA and is celebrating his 22nd birthday today. RHP Jose Macias (2-2, 3.77) turns 22 on Monday.

LIBRARY
On select Friday’s throughout the summer, two members of the Bees have been traveling to the Burlington Public Library and reading to area children. RHP Josh Bowman (6-3, 3.43) and Hassebrock made the trek today and read to an estimated 92 kids. After each reading session, the players field questions from the kids and sign autographs. Today’s voyage was the fourth this summer. The Bees will appear at the library once more this summer on July 29.

HOT DOGS
The Burlington Bees interns competed against each other in the middle of the seventh inning of last night’s game to see who could eat three hot dogs the fastest. As I predicted in yesterday’s blog, Gavin Halpin, a senior at Monmouth College this fall, won the contest. Halpin will represent the Bees in tonight’s cheeseburger eating contest, which is part of the festivities of Jimmy Buffet Night.

by Matthew Wheaton
Media Relations Intern

The Burlington Bees (6-13) and Fort Wayne TinCaps (8-11) play game two of their three-game series tonight at Community Field. This series is Fort Wayne’s first return to Burlington since clinching the Midwest League title in 2009. It’s “Thirsty Thursday” with 2 for $4.50 beer specials and 2 for $3.00 deals on pop. It’s also “34 Raceway Night” with several drivers on hand to show off their cars and sign autographs.

RHP Adys Portillo (1-8, 7.20) gets the start for the Fort Wayne TinCaps this evening. Portillo last pitched against the Dayton Dragons on July 6 and allowed one earned run on two hits in 3.2 innings. He has received just 3.6 runs per game in support in his starts this year (51R/14GS). The TinCaps have scored more than one run while he is the active pitcher just three times. The Bees have a record of 0-1 in games played against the TinCaps this season and are 37-29 against right-handed starting pitchers.

RHP Blake Hassebrock (4-5, 2.18) makes his 17th start of the year for the Bees tonight. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits over five innings pitched in his last start, which was against the Quad Cities River Bandits on July 7. Hassebrock has an overall record of 2-4 to go along with a 2.21 ERA in games played at Community Field. Opposing batters are hitting .253 against Hassebrock when runners are in scoring position and .327 against him when runners are in scoring position and there are two outs. Since the All-Star break, Hassebrock is 0-3 with a 4.24 ERA in three games started.

The Bees have an overall record of 28-17 this season in home games. Both the TinCaps and the Bees left seven runners on base last night. The Bees went 0-for-3 at the dish, while Fort Wayne went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position in last night’s game. Burlington has a record of 19-16 in one-run games. The Bees are 2-27 overall this season when trailing after eight innings. The Bees have a record of 2-8 in their last 10 games.

YESTERDAY…
The TinCaps hit two home runs in the sixth inning to earn a 3-2 win over the Bees before 610 fans at Community Field on Wednesday night. The TinCaps scored a run in the first inning against Burlington RHP Jose Macias (2-2). 2B Cory Spangenberg (0-2) walked and was retired when RF Rymer Liriano (2-4) grounded into a fielder’s choice. Liriano stole second base and went to third base on a throwing error by Bees C Beau Taylor. LF Luis Domoromo (1-4) laced an RBI single to right field to score Liriano for a 1-0 Fort Wayne lead. LF Royce Consigli (2-3) homered to right field against Fort Wayne LHP Mark Hardy (6-7) to lead off the fifth inning for Burlington and tie the game at 1-1. Liriano and 1B Connor Powers (1-4) added solo home runs for the TinCaps in the sixth inning to increase the lead to 3-1. In the sixth inning, Burlington added a single run. DH Josh Whitaker (1-4) singled and scored on a double hit down the RF line by RF Douglas Landaeta (1-4) to make it 3-2.

BEES BY THE NUMBERS
So far, 33,675 fans have made it out to Community Field this season to watch the Bees. The Bees had six hits last night, while Fort Wayne had five. The Bees have a record of 29-13 when they out-hit their opponent and have a six game losing streak, which is their longest losing skid this season.

LF Royce Consigli hit his fifth home run of the season last night in the bottom of the fifth inning off of Fort Wayne LHP Mike Hardy. Consigli’s last homer prior to that was on June 15 versus the Kane County Cougars.

IF Josh Whitaker is batting .318, has eight home runs and 27 RBIs in home games this season. Whitaker leads the Midwest League in slugging percentage (.548) and is tied with Matt Szczur, formerly of the Peoria Chiefs, for fifth place in batting average (.318). Whitaker also has 10 home runs, 75 hits and 39 RBIs in 68 games played this season.

A football and baseball star at Villanova University, Szczur was selected in the fifth round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Cubs. He batted a combined .347 across three levels for Chicago in 2010, but nullified his contract when he returned to school to play football in the fall. Szczur agreed to a new deal with the Cubs for $1.4 million in January, foregoing the chance to pursue a career in the NFL. He made his debut with the Daytona Cubs last night and took part in the All-Star Futures Game on Sunday.

Bees RHP Josh Bowman (6-3, 3.43) leads the Midwest League in innings pitched (107.2) and is tied for first place in games started (18). He has walked 31 batters and fanned 62.

HOT DOGS
The Burlington Bees interns will compete against each other after the seventh inning of tonight’s game to see who can eat three hot dogs the fastest. I may not be competing in the event this evening due to an irritated nerve in my mouth. I’m betting that Gavin Halpin, who will be a senior at Monmouth College this fall, will be the winner.

SPANGENBERG
INF Cory Spangenberg joined the TinCaps’ roster on Wednesday before their game against the Bees. He walked and was hit-by-a-pitch in his Midwest League debut. Spangenberg, 20, was selected as the San Diego Padres’ 1st round pick (10th overall) in last month’s draft. He was the first draftee to sign a pro contract and quickly joined short-season “A” Eugene where he reached base in all 25 games with the Emeralds and led the club to a league-record 14-game win streak. At the time of his promotion he was leading the Northwest League in on-base percentage, doubles and runs scored.

BUZZ
Bees Director of Group Outings Whitney Henderson broke out a needle and some thread this morning and made a few minor repairs to Buzz’s head. Henderson’s father, Mike, was a teammate of Hall of Famer Paul Molitor on the 1977 Midwest League Champion Bees.

The return of RHP Jose Macias to the Bees has caused Burlington to shuffle around its starting rotation. Macias, who takes the place of RHP Tyler Vail, will start tonight when the Bees take on the Fort Wayne TinCaps in the opener of a three-game series at Community Field. Macias, who sparkled at short-season Vermont with a 2-2 record and a 3.27 ERA, showed similar problems in Vermont as he did when he first started the season in Burlington.

It’s no secret that if Macias gets through the first inning, he will be ok. He had a 14.40 ERA in his first stint in Burlington. He had a 9.00 ERA in the first inning in Vermont. Let’s see how his second stint begins tonight.

 

Today the Oakland A’s announced the return of RHP Jose Macias to the Burlington Bees and the transfer of RHP Tyler Vail to the Vermont Lake Monsters of the New York-Penn League. This move is an interesting one. Vail, who came to the Bees in early May from extended spring training, has struggled lately issuing 11 walks over his last 10.2 innings pitched.

Macias, since being sent down to Vermont from Burlington in mid June has pitched very well for the Lake Monsters. He was 2-2 with a 3.27 ERA logging 21 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched.

 

Two bad innings. That’s all it took for the Burlington Bees to lose 6-4 to the Kane County Cougars on Saturday night. With the score tied at four, the Bees gave up runs in the sixth and seventh innings. The first four batters reached base in the sixth inning before RHP Drew Tyson induced a double play ground ball by Juan Graterol. The Bees issued three walks in the seventh inning with the lone run scoring on a wild pitch.

Josh Whitaker didn’t homer in his fourth straight game on Saturday but he is still red hot. He is hitting .368 over his last five (7-19) and 10 (14-38) games.

Three games. Two loses. A combined four runs. That’s the margin by which the three-game series between the Bees and the Quad Cities River Bandits was decided. As thrilling as the come-from-behind victory was for the Bees on Wednesday, the fact is the Bees came back on Thursday and Friday nights.

On Thursday the offense scored four runs over the eighth and ninth innings and fell just short in a 7-6 loss. Last night after Quad Cities scored three runs in the 10^th inning, Tony Thompson powered a home run to get the Bees within two runs at 7-5. A few eyebrows were raised when Josh Whitaker was hit by a pitch immediately after the home run by Thompson. It was clear however, that River Bandits RHP Angel DeJesus was suffering from control problems. After the hit batsman, he walked A.J. Kirby-Jones before striking out Douglas Landaeta to end the game.

RANDOM FACTS: With the home run on Friday, Josh Whitaker has now homered in four straight games. He also played right field for the first time this season on Thursday. He has an 8 game hitting streak. A.J. Kirby-Jones hit his eighth home run of the season. All of his home runs have come at Community Field in 2011.

 

by Matthew Wheaton
Media Relations Assistant

It’s Christmas Eve in July tonight at Community Field and the Burlington Bees (6-8) will wrap up their three-game series with the Quad Cities River Bandits (6-8). RHP Trevor Rosenthal (3-7, 3.54) gets the start for the River Bandits this evening. He allowed three earned runs on three hits over 5.2 innings pitched in his last start against Clinton on July 2. RHP Tyler Vail (1-4, 5.57) takes the mound for the Bees tonight. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits over 4.1 innings pitched against Cedar Rapids on July 3. The Bees have a record of 6-3 in games played against the River Bandits this season and are 37-25 against right-handed starting pitchers. Vail has an overall record of 1-2 to go along with a 5.46 ERA in games played at Community Field. The Bees have an overall record of 28-15 this season in home games. Both the River Bandits and the Bees left eight runners on base last night. Burlington has a record of 19-15 in one-run games. The Bees are 2-23 overall this season when trailing after eight innings.

YESTERDAY…
The Bees lost to the River Bandits by a score of 7-6 at Community Field Thursday night. Burlington scored four runs over the eighth and ninth innings, but fell just short of the victory. The River Bandits started the scoring in the top of the first inning after CF Michael Swinson (3-4) hit a lead-off, solo home run to right field for a 1-0 lead. In the top of the third inning, Quad Cities SS Ronny Gil (1-4) singled on a ground ball hit to Bees 3B Wade Kirkland and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. An RBI single from DH Oscar Taveras (2-4) put the River Bandits up 2-0. Bees CF Jose Crisotomo (2-4) led off the bottom of the third inning with a double and scored on a two-out single by RF Josh Whitaker (2-4) to make the score 2-1. After a one-out single to center field by Quad Cities RF Nick Longmire (2-5), C Cody Stanley (0-4) flied out to left field and Longmire advanced to second base. 3B Victor Sanchez (0-4) reached first base on a throwing error by Bees SS Yordy Cabrera. With 2B Packy Elkins (0-3) at the plate, Burlington RHP Blake Hassebrock (4-5) threw a wild pitch and Longmire scored to give the River Bandits a 3-1 lead. In the top of the fifth inning, Taveras reached first base on a fielder’s choice. 1B Jonathan Rodriguez (1-4) was hit by a pitch and Taveras advanced to second base. A single by LF Chris Edmondson (1-5) moved Taveras to third base and Rodriguez to second base. Longmire hit a two-RBI single to right field to put the River Bandits up 5-1. Elkins walked to start off the top of the sixth inning, and scored on a triple to center field by Swinson. An RBI single to right field by Taveras scored Swinson to make the score 7-1. Burlington C Beau Taylor (2-4) hit a RBI single to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning, which drove in 1B A.J. Kirby-Jones (0-4) to make the score 7-2. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Whitaker hit a solo home run to center field to get Burlington within four runs at 7-3. After a single by Taylor to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, Kirkland walked. A triple to right field by Crisotomo scored Taylor and Kirkland. A sacrifice fly by 2B Nino Leyja (0-4) plated Crisotomo to make the score 7-6. Hassebrock allowed five runs on eight hits, walked one and struck out two in five innings of work and earned the loss. RHP Zack Thornton pitched three innings, allowed two hits, two runs, walked two and struck out three. RHP Blake Treinen finished the game by throwing the final frame in his first appearance at home.

BEES BY THE NUMBERS
The Quad Cities River Bandits had 10 hits last night, while Burlington had six. The Bees have a record of 9-21 when out-hit by their opponent and is 2-3 in the last five games. Three Bees players – Jose Crisotomo, Beau Taylor and Josh Whitaker – went 2-for-4 at the dish yesterday. Both Crisotomo and Whitaker also had two RBIs. Whitaker has hit a home run in each of the past three games. His two-out, walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday night gave Burlington a 4-3 win and is the seventh walk-off victory for the Bees this season.

Crisotomo had his first triple, and his first multiple RBI game (2) of the season last night. He joined the Bees on June 15 when he was added to the team from extended spring training.

RHP Blake Hassebrock allowed the most hits in his career and this season (8) in the 7-6 loss to the River Bandits Thursday night. RHP Blake Treinen set career and season highs in fewest hits allowed (0) in his first appearance at home last night. SS Yordy Cabrera was walked by the River Bandits three times last night, which is the most times he has been walked in a game in his career.

3-2-2-2-2-3
RHP Zack Thornton’s line from yesterday’s game: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO

by Matthew Wheaton
Media Relations Assistant

The Burlington Bees (6-7) play game two of their three-game series with the Quad Cities River Bandits (5-8) tonight. RHP Seth Blair (4-3, 4.34) gets the start for the River Bandits this evening. He allowed one earned run on six hits over 5.2 innings pitched in his last start against Clinton on July 1. RHP Blake Hassebrock (4-4, 1.89) takes the mound for the Bees tonight. He allowed three earned runs on six hits over six innings pitched against Peoria on July 2 and was credited with the loss. The Bees have a record of 6-2 in games played against the River Bandits this season and are 37-24 against right-handed starting pitchers. Hassebrock has an overall record of 2-3 to go along with a 1.69 ERA in games played at Community Field. Tonight’s game against the River Bandits will be the 84th game the Bees have played this season, 42 have been at home and 42 on the road.

YESTERDAY…
Bees DH Josh Whitaker hit a two-out, walk-off grand slam to erase a 3-0 deficit and notch a 4-3 win over the River Bandits at Community Field on Wednesday night. The River Bandits scored one run in the second inning on a solo home run by 1B Jonathan Rodriguez (1-3) for a 1-0 lead. Quad Cities LHP Ryan Copeland allowed one hit, an A.J. Kirby-Jones (1-4) single with two outs in the fourth inning. He walked CF Jose Crisotomo (0-2) to lead off the inning and recorded 10 straight outs until the Kirby-Jones single in the fourth inning. He finished with one hit and one walk, striking out six over seven innings. RHP Josh Bowman was equally outstanding for the Bees. He allowed one earned run on two hits, walking just one and striking out five. LF Colin Walsh (1-3) hit a two-run double in the ninth inning to make it 3-0 River Bandits. In the bottom of ninth inning, Crisotomo walked and went to second base on a single by PH Tony Thompson (1-1), who was batting for 2B Ryan Pineda (1-3).  Kirby-Jones reached base on an error before Whitaker smacked a pitch over the center field wall off of RHP Aidan Lucas (1-2) for the 4-3 win. RHP Drew Tyson (4-2) pitched two innings to get the win for Burlington.

BEES BY THE NUMBERS
The Bees have an overall record of 4-8 this season in games where the final score is 4-3. Burlington lost by a score of 4-3 to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in three of four games played at Fox Cities Stadium May 20 through May 23. The Bees have won two games this season when trailing after eight innings. When their opponent scores first, the Bees are 24-21. The Bees have a record of 2-3 in the last five games. Only three Bees players – Tony Thompson, A.J. Kirby-Jones and Josh Whitaker – had hits yesterday.

Whitaker’s two-out, walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning last night is the seventh walk-off victory for the Bees this season. He also hit a home run on Tuesday night. Back on April 29 at Community Field, Whitaker hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to lead the Bees past the Kane County Cougars by a score of 2-1. He has hit six home runs at home this season. Whitaker had four RBIs last night, which is the third time this season he had four in a game.

Quad Cities 3B Victor Sanchez and 2B Kolten Wong were caught stealing last night by Bees C Beau Taylor, Oakland’s 2011 5th round selection. Taylor, a Rockledge, Fla. native, is 3-for-7 in throwing out runners.

7-6
The Fresno Grizzlies, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, beat the Sacramento River Cats, Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate, by a score of 7-6 Wednesday night. Fresno defeated the River Cats 7-6 in 11 innings on Tuesday night.

RELIEF
SS Jonathan Santana toed the rubber for the AZL A’s in their 17-1 loss to the AZL Reds last night. Santana allowed three runs on three hits in 1/3 innings of work. He was the final A’s pitcher in the loss. He now has a 20.25 ERA. He threw one inning and allowed a hit back on June 30 in an 11-8 loss to the AZL Rangers.

Tonight the Bees are back at home to take on the Quad Cities River Bandits in the first of a three-game series. The Bees return home following a brief three-game road swing in Cedar Rapids. Some random thoughts ahead of tonight’s game follow:

Max Peterson’s 0.0 IP performance Tuesday was the shortest outing of the season for a Bees reliever in 2011. The outing was also tied for the shortest outing of his career set back against Peoria on September 3, 2010 as a member of the Kane County Cougars. The four home runs allowed Tuesday were the most given up by Bees pitching in a single game this season.

 

The Bees series here in Cedar Rapids on the 4^th of July ended with a fireworks celebration. Unfortunately the Bees offense just did not have any spark on Monday. The offense scored just three hits over the first five innings. RHP Sean Murphy did not pitch bad. He allowed two runs on three hits in the first inning and just one run the rest of the way in innings two through five. It was a great performance, just not good enough for the victory.
Sometimes baseball can be cruel. It was cruel for the Bees on Monday.