Baseball – Page 72 – North Platte Post Archive

Duffy Tosses Gem as Royals Blank Orioles 1-0

Posted on May 18, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Danny Duffy carried a perfect game into the seventh inning, Billy Butler drove in the only run and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Baltimore Orioles 1-0 Saturday night.

The 25-year-old Duffy (2-3) retired the first 20 batters he faced, rarely running the count to three balls and flirting with the first perfect game in franchise history. Adam Jones finally ended it with a weak groundball up the middle with two outs in the seventh.

Duffy bounced back to get Chris Davis on a fly out to end the inning, then gave up a single to Nelson Cruz to start the eighth. Wade Davis retired the next three batters, and All-Star closer Greg Holland survived a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for his 11th save.

Holland allowed a hit and two walks before striking out Nelson Cruz to end the game.

Bud Norris (2-4) was the hard-luck loser, allowing four hits and a walk in 7 1-3 innings.

Conference Announces 2014 Big Ten Baseball Tournament Bracket, Huskers Earn the No. 2 Seed

Posted on May 18, 2014May 18, 2014

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The conference office announced the 2014 Big Ten Baseball Tournament bracket on Saturday, with Indiana securing the top seed after winning the Big Ten Championship. This year’s tournament will feature an eight-team field for the first time and will be held May 21-25 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., home of the College World Series.

The Hoosiers, making their 11th all-time appearance in the Big Ten Tournament, claimed the No. 1 seed for the second straight season after going 21-3 in Big Ten play, making their .875 conference winning percentage the highest since Ohio State’s .893 winning percentage (25-3) in 1999. Indiana opens play against No. 8 Iowa at 5 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The Hawkeyes ended the year with a 10-14 conference mark and earn their ninth Big Ten Tournament berth in program history.

Nebraska is the No. 2 seed after finishing the season with an 18-6 mark in conference play. The Huskers have appeared in each of the last three Big Ten Tournaments. Nebraska will face No. 7 Ohio State at 1 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The Buckeyes finished the year with a 10-14 mark in conference play and rank second all-time with 27 Big Ten Tournament appearances. By virtue of its series win over Iowa, Ohio State earned the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Illinois claims the tournament’s No. 3 seed after posting a 17-7 record in the Big Ten. The Illini make their 20th all-time appearance in the conference tournament. Illinois will face No. 6 Michigan State in the first game of the Big Ten Tournament at 9 a.m. CT on Wednesday. The Spartans ended the year with an 11-13 mark in conference action and return to the postseason tournament for the 11th time in program history.

Fourth-seeded Minnesota will take on fifth-seeded Michigan in the final game of the day on Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 9 p.m. CT. The Gophers and Wolverines finished the year with matching 13-11 marks in conference play, but Minnesota won twice in the teams’ three-game series to earn the tiebreaker. Minnesota makes its conference-record 29th all-time appearance in the tournament, while Michigan earns its 23rd Big Ten Tournament berth.

Minnesota leads all conference teams with nine Big Ten Tournament titles, while Michigan and Ohio State each have eight tournament crowns. Illinois has claimed four postseason championships, Indiana owns three Big Ten Tournament titles and Purdue has won the tournament once. The Hoosiers are looking to become the first Big Ten program to win back-to-back tournament titles since Ohio State in 2002 and 2003.

The tournament’s double-elimination format will culminate with a single championship game on Sunday, with the winner earning the tournament title and the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. All eight teams will begin play in one of two brackets, with Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota appearing in one bracket and Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska and Ohio State appearing in the other bracket.

Four contests are scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday, with two games slated for Friday. Saturday will feature the winners of each bracket facing the remaining one-loss team from the opposite bracket in the semifinals. As many as four games are scheduled for Saturday, with the opportunity for two if necessary games to be played to determine Sunday’s championship game participants.

BTN will provide live coverage during the Big Ten Tournament. The network will carry Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday, Games 6, 7 and 8 on Thursday, and each game on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The bracket can be seen by clicking on the link below.

Big Ten Baseball Tournament Bracket 2014

De La Rosa Keys Rockies’ 3-1 Win over Padres

Posted on May 17, 2014

DENVER (AP) — One of the knuckles on the middle finger of Jorge De La Rosa’s pitching hand was swollen. His sore back was acting up.

From the mound, though, there was no hint of pain.

De La Rosa carried a no-hitter through six innings and pitched seven scoreless innings, as the Colorado Rockies withstood a late rally to beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Friday night.

De La Rosa’s bid for the first no-hitter by a Rockies pitcher at Coors Field ended in the seventh inning, when Chris Denorfia led off with a triple off the scoreboard in right field, just the second time a Padres batter had gotten the ball out of the infield to that point.

But De La Rosa stranded Denorfia by retiring the next three batters, getting Everth Cabrera on an infield grounder, Chase Headley on a liner to second and Carlos Quentin on a pop-up to blank the Padres on one hit through seven innings.

Illini Even Series with Huskers

Posted on May 17, 2014

Lincoln – Illinois’ pitching staff kept the No. 26 Nebraska baseball team (36-18, 17-6 Big Ten) off balance all night as Kevin Duchene and Ronnie Muck combined to allow one run on four hits in the 5-1 victory for the Fighting Illini (31-18, 17-6 Big Ten) on Friday night at Hawks Field in front of a crowd of 4,549.

The loss snapped Nebraska’s eight-game winning streak and it’s also the first loss in the month of May for the Huskers, who started the month 7-0.

Duchene, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a freshman All-American by multiple publications last season, found his rhythm after giving up a one-out home run to Blake Headley in the second that gave Nebraska a 1-0 lead. After the homer, the sophomore lefty retired 14 straight Huskers before Michael Pritchard and Pat Kelly opened the seventh with back-to-back singles. Duchene finished the night with three strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work and improved to 3-1 on the year.

Pritchard’s leadoff single was his 240^th career base hit at Nebraska, moving him into a tie for 11^th in school history with former Husker and current Kansas City Royal Alex Gordon.

Muck took the mound in the seventh after the consecutive singles and loaded the bases with a walk to Tanner Lubach. Down 5-1, the Huskers had their shot at a rally, but Muck dug in and struck out three straight Huskers to end the threat. Muck ended the game by retiring nine straight Huskers to earn his third save of the season.

Nebraska starter Aaron Bummer cruised through the first four innings, allowing no runs on four hits. The junior lefty was unable to work past the fifth though, when he gave up three runs on four hits, including a two-run homer by Adam Walton, who was 3-for-4 on the night with a single, double and home run.

The Illini added an insurance run in both the sixth and seventh innings on their way to evening the three-game series at a game apiece.

With the Huskers loss the Indiana Hoosiers are now locked into the No. 1 seed at next week’s Big Ten Tournament. The Huskers and Illini will battle tomorrow for the No. 2 seed at the tournament and the loser will be slotted as the No. 3 seed.

Tomorrow’s regular-season finale is slated for 1:05 p.m. and it will be Senior Day at Hawks Field. Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle will have the call across the Husker Sports Network, while the Big Ten Network will televise the game on tape delay at 5 p.m.

Field of Dreams Owner Says No Pro Baseball in 2014

Posted on May 17, 2014

DYERSVILLE, Iowa (AP) — The president of the group that owns the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, says the site won’t host professional baseball this year.

The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1iTSLjd ) that Denise Stillman, who leads the group Go the Distance Baseball, says the Northern League won’t have teams ready to play this season.

Go the Distance Baseball plans to build a sports complex near the Field of Dreams that initially would feature six fields, including one that could be home to a Northern League team. The group wants to expand in the future with ultimate plans for 24 fields for youth baseball and softball.

Stillman says plans to find an owner for a local team are ongoing.

The Field of Dreams was the site for a 1989 movie starring Kevin Costner.

Royals Bring up Coleman, Designate Maxwell

Posted on May 16, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals selected the contract of right-hander Casey Coleman from Triple-A Omaha and designated outfielder Justin Maxwell for assignment before Friday night’s game against Baltimore.

The 26-year-old Coleman was released by the Cubs on April 14 and signed the next day by the Royals. He appeared in seven games for Omaha, going 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA.

Coleman is the son of former big league pitcher Joe Coleman, who won 142 games in the 1960s and ’70s, and the grandson of Joe Coleman Sr., who won 52 games in the 1940s and ’50s.

Maxwell was acquired last July in a trade with Houston. He was just 4 of 29 this season, and had been squeezed out of the outfield rotation by more productive hitters.

Nebraska Baseball Academy Baseball and Softball Camp to come to North Platte

Posted on May 16, 2014May 16, 2014

The Nebraska Baseball Academy is coming to North Platte with a summer baseball and softball day camp.

The camp will be held Tuesday, July 1 from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm. The baseball camp will be held at Bill Wood Field and the softball camp will be held at the Dowhower Softball Complex. The camp is open to kids from age 7 through 2015 high school graduates. The cost is $63 if registered online with a credit card or $68 if registered by cash or check.

This camp is designed for young baseball players and is a fun experience for participants to learn the basic skills needed in the game of baseball. This camp will stress the proper throwing mechanics, along with drills for proper pitching, hitting and fielding techniques.

For more information about the Nebraska Baseball Academy and to register online go to www.bigredacademy.com. If you have additional questions you can contact Pete Volz for the baseball camp or Geni Karre for softball:

Pete Volz – 308-520-1576 or email [email protected]

Geni Karre – 308-530-6001 or email [email protected]

Moustakas Leads Royals to 3-2 Win over Rockies

Posted on May 14, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Much-maligned Mike Moustakas hit a three-run double in the second inning, and Jason Vargas and the Kansas City bullpen made the meager offense work in a 3-2 victory Wednesday over the Colorado Rockies for a two-game sweep.

Vargas (4-1) did not allow a hit until the fourth inning and did not allow a run until Drew Stubbs belted a two-run homer to left in the seventh that made things interesting.

Louis Coleman got the Royals out of the inning without any more damage, and Kelvin Herrera worked a perfect eighth before Greg Holland survived a shaky ninth for his 10th save.

Jhoulys Chacin (1-1) allowed the three runs that Moustakas drove in but otherwise pitched well for Colorado. He allowed seven hits and a walk over six gritty innings.

Shields Sharp as Royals Turn Back Rockies 5-1

Posted on May 14, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — James Shields cooled down hot-hitting Colorado over seven sharp innings, Lorenzo Cain and Salvador Perez both homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Rockies 5-1 on Tuesday night.

The only run Shields allowed came on an RBI single by Justin Morneau (mohr-NOH’) in the fourth inning. Shields followed it up by retiring the final 10 batters he faced, striking out the side in the sixth inning and fanning Troy Tulowitzki (too-loh-WIT’-skee) for the 1,500th strikeout of his career.

Alcides Escobar added a pair of RBIs, and relievers Wade Davis and Aaron Crow wrapped up the win for the Royals.

Franklin Morales gave up four of the five runs for the Rockies. He allowed eight hits and four walks without a strikeout in five innings, needing 99 pitches just to get that far.

Royals put 2B Infante on DL, Call up Ciriaco

Posted on May 13, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals placed second baseman Omar Infante on the disabled list with a lower back injury and selected the contract of infielder Pedro Ciriaco from Triple-A Omaha before their game Tuesday night against Colorado.

Infante has been dealing with disc irritation. His move to the DL was retroactive to May 7.

Ciriaco began the season on the 40-man roster and appeared in a game April 2 against Detroit as a pinch runner. He was designated for assignment on April 5, and was hitting .305 with six doubles, a triple and a homer in 19 games for Omaha.

For the time being, the Royals are sticking with third baseman Mike Moustakas, who has been slumping all season. There had been speculation that he would be sent to Omaha this week.