Greg Maddox notches his 350th win Saturday against the Rockies with help from a three-run homer from Adrian Gonzalez and a save from all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman.
Looking back at Maddux’ career, he was an amazingly consistent pitcher. He pitched well no matter what the time of year, who he was facing, and no matter what the situation.
On Saturday, Illinois and Ohio State completed their Friday contest that was suspended by rain. Illinois won easily with both teams scoring two additional runs. Final Score 9-4 Illinois.
The win goes to Kevin Manson which makes him 7-1 on the season. Mike Sterk got his third save of the year.
Once things got on to the regularly scheduled program, things sort of fell apart for the Illini.
We could only muster six hits and two runs against starter Dan DeLucia and reliever Eric Best. Meantime, the Buckeyes scored nine runs against us. Ohio State went for the big innings, clustering three runs in the first and six in the sixth inning.
Then came the second game:
Score by Innings R H E -------------------------------------------- Illinois............ 001 07 0 0 - 8 8 3 Ohio State.......... 003 0(10)1 X - 14 16 1
Above is the score by innings for the second game of the doubleheader. I’ll give you three guesses which was was the key inning of the game. I’ll bet you won’t need all three.
I was on Cloud Nine after the top of the fifth when the Illini scored seven to make it 8-3 and seemingly clinched the victory. I was watching on Gametracker and when Mike Stankiewicz was replaced by Ben Reeser after Stanky loaded the bases with two hits and a walk, GT seemed to hang. Either it was a long warmup by Reeser or Gametracker was choking on all the runs the Buckeyes were scoring.
Talk about clustering runs. ugh.
For what it’s worth, three ribbies for Joe Bonadonna.
The last game of the series is this afternoon at 12:05pm.
Go Illini!!
A look at last year’s series
In my preview post for this series, I referenced a game in last year’s series against Ohio State when former Illini SS Shawn Roof was hit four times, a Big Ten record. I shot Shawn an email just asked him about it, asking him about it.
He writes:
About last year, yeah that was funny when I got hit 4 times. I vaguely remember as well, but I remember the last 2 were curveballs in the dirt that barely hit my toe. I doubt there was any bad blood, it was probably just because I stood on top of the plate so much, and most teams tried to pitch me in due to me going to right a lot. I was actually pretty glad they did because I think one at bat I was down 0-2 and the other I was down 1-2, and it gave me a chance to get on base.
Shawn DID break the Big Ten record for HBP so I guess it’s not too surprising.
Shawn is currently batting .327 for the Lakeland Flying Tigers, a Tigers Advanced A ball team in Florida. He also wrote that the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez is currently on rehab in Tampa so his team is looking forward to facing him.
Good luck to Shawn!
I just finished the book Mets By The Numbers: A Complete Team History of the Amazin’ Mets by the Uniform Number
There’s a bit of a bio or trivia that goes with each player (at least the ones that any major playing time). Plus at the end of each chapter, a complete rundown on the uniform number; how many Mets had the number, the best season by a Met with that number etc.
From Mookie Wilson (#1) to Turk Wendell (#99) not to mention Rey Ordonez who debuted with a #0, this book delivers as promises. It goes without saying that this book would definitely interest a New York Met fan more than anyone. It’s possible that a baseball history buff might enjoy this as well for all the trivia as well.
| Mets By The Numbers: A Complete Team History of the Amazin’ Mets by the Uniform Number
Author: Jon Springer and Matthew Silverman
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing |
Yay! The Cubs won!
On my way to work, there’s a house that routinely flies the Cubs victory flag when the good guys win one. That be usual fare on the Northside but seeing it down here in Urbana is enough to put an extra spring in my step in the morning. I find myself walking down that street more often on my way to work just so I can see that flag.
Dang, the Cubs lost the day I took this picture.
On the days the Cubs don’t win, the people at this house fly the American flag. That’s a decent sentiment, I would think. Despite what my friends might think, I have a healthy respect for the red, white, and blue. But this causes a dilemma. Now when I turn the corner, look up and see the Grand Old Flag, I’m reminded of the Cubs loss the night before. The pain, the anguish. Like Paul Revere’s lights in the tower, the American flag is a signal, only a signal of my team’s defeat.
Maybe I should go buy them a second flag holder.
Go Cubs!
Friday night games continue to be plagued by the weather. Fortunately, Illinois and Ohio State were able to get a good six plus innings in before the game was called. Even better, the Illini have a good head start on the Buckeyes leading 7-2.
Starter Kevin Manson pitched a gem of a game allowing just two runs (one earned) in 6 innings, walking no one.
It was a balanced offensive attack as eight starters got at least one hit. CF Kyle Hudson banged out two hits and scored twice. Ryan Hastings put together 2 hits and including an rbi double.
John Schlichter’s two-run double was key in the Illini’s 3-run 5th.
The bullpen is rested. The balance of the game will pick up at 12:05pm Saturday before the scheduled doubleheader.
Go Illini!
I don’t know if this is a prevailing feeling among all Brewers fans but BrewersFanatics is getting a bit frustrated with Ned Yost.
“The bottom line is changes need to be made. The same lineup can’t be sent out there everyday and be expected to kick things into gear. This team is struggling. It’s not time to put up or shut up, for Ned Yost it’s time to put up or pack up.”
Back at the beginning of the season when the TBZ staff did our MLB predictions for 2008, I had Yost down as First Manager to be Fired in 08. Not that don’t think Ned isn’t a capable skipper (he is). I just thought that expectations were going to be pretty high for the Brewers this year. Couple that with a more competitive NL Central and you gotta figure the pressure has to be high. And as things go in MLB, the manager is the first one to go.
The BrewCrew are taking on the Cardinals for a three game series. Yost could help his cause with a series win against the division rivals.
I’ve enabled nested commenting on the blog now. That will allow you to reply to individual comments on posts giving it more of a “discussion” feel.
It should be pretty user-friendly. If you want to reply to a particular comment, click on “Reply” next to comment you want to respond to. Otherwise, post your comment a normal.
Any problems, let me know.
Back to Gametracker, Illinois is winning 6-1!
Check out Shoutmouth’s latest article. They are asking the question, who has the hottest fans in major league baseball? From my vantage point, behind homeplate at the Cell, I can tell you there are lotsa hotties at White Sox games (despite what others might think).
I’m suggesting the Baseball Zealot poll fans to see what they think, who has the hottest fans? I checked out the website above and after careful review, I’m going with the Philadelphia Phillies. But please don’t let me influence your vote. Go to the website, checkout the ladies, and VOTE, VOTE, VOTE! It’s your patriotic duty as a major league baseball fan.
Actually John Lannan is a young lefty with the Washinton Nationals, not a member of the Band from Liverpool. Although Lannan is only a .500 pitcher with an ERA in the mid-threes, he is starting to get noticed around the league. Last night John faced the very tough lineup of the Houston Astros, allowing one run on seven hits over six innings of work. In the sixth he looked to be in trouble when Lance Berkman & Carlos Lee reached base with nobody out, but the unflapable rookie induced Miguel Tejada to rap into a 6-4-3 doubleplay and then got the next hitter to ground to short to get out of the jam.
The 6′5″ 200 pound lefty out of Mineola, NY, a product of Siena was drafted in the 11th round of the 2005 draft. In his last year at Siena he was 10-2 with a nifty 2.29 ERA. Then last year Lannan was was 12-3 cruising through A+, AA, & AAA, before being called up to the Nats. With Washington he had an ERA of 4.15 with a 2-2 mark in six starts.
In his major league debut against the Phillies on July 26, 2007, John hit Chase Utley with a pitch breaking Utley’s hand, then he hit Ryan Howard, and was ejected from the game, becoming the first rookie pitcher ejected from his debut.
On August 6th Lannan found himself on center stage as he faced the Giants at AT&T Park in SF in Barry Bonds’ in his first start after tying Hank Aaron’s alltime home run mark. Bonds didn’t fare well in his four plate appearances against the 22 year old lefty, fouling to 3rd, walking, grounding into a doubleplay, and striking out. Despite his efforts against the Giants, the Nationals lost the game 3-2 in eleven innings.
Lannan is 3-3 with a 3-3 record in seven starts this year. This is a special rookie, with the heart of a lion, who should have a long & successful major league career.
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Games #47-50 |
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Record: 28-18 Big Ten 14-10 |
vs Ohio State |
at Bill Davis Stadium, Columbus, Ohio |
It’s getting close to crunch time. Two more series left for the Illini this regular season; one against the team directly behind them and one directly ahead of them.
This weekend, it’s the Buckeyes who are in fourth place in the Big Ten and 2 1/2 games behind Illinois.
Interestingly, the Ohio State’s web site notes that “The two teams did not meet last year”. Weird, I remember seeing our guys split with the Buckeyes in ‘07. Shawn Roof probably remembers that too. He was hit by the pitcher four times, a Big Ten record.
Take the chance to check out The Buckeye Nine’s review on the series.
Awardy Stuff
Ryan Hastings and Daniel Webb have been named to ESPN Magazine’s Academic All-District 5 first team. Hastings holds a perfect 4.0 GPA in the sport management graduate program. Webb has a 3.2 GPA in community health.
Congrats to both!
BTW, don’t forget to vote for Ryan for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award!
Finally, the lowdown on Ohio State:
| Opponent: | Ohio State University |
| Nickname: | Buckeyes |
| Conference: | Big Ten |
| Head Coach: | Bob Todd (21st year) |
| Hometown: | Columbus, OH |
| Current Record: | 25-21 (11-12 Big Ten) |
| Baseball Program website: | Link |
| Players to watch: | JB Shuck. He’s a pitcher, outfielder, just about whatever Ohio St needs. Shuck is hitting .400 with 35 runs scored. He’s also 4-3 with a team leading 65 Ks. |
| Team Fact: | Ohio State has been out-homered 2-1 by their opponents but still outscores them 258-224 |
Go Illini!!
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