The Result
Rock Cats - 9 to 2 - "......an ugly game of baseball in every sense of the word"

Sea Dogs - Year-to-Date
13 wins - 23 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing first base
Batting #3

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 3 at-bats - 1 x walk, 1 x RBI, 1 x GIDP

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Called strike - change-up
Hit towards first base "and this could be two" - and it was!!!
Out 3-to-6-to-3 double play
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Ball - high
Called strike - fast ball - at the knees
Ball - outside
Called strike - on the outside corner
"Line drive and well hit into leftfield but the fielder is drifting back to make the catch"
Out F7
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
The bases are loaded!!! - none down
Called strike - on the outside corner
"Well hit ball back up the middle but stopped by a good play by the diving second-baseman and his only play was to first base to get Roneberg"
Out 4-to-3
......and 1 x RBI
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ball - low
Foul ball - back
Ball
Ball - low
Ball - low
Walk
Out at second base on a double play hit by the next Sea Dogs batter

Heard during the game
(1) As he announced the starting line-ups, the commentator said that "Roneberg was the runner-up for the Eastern League Player of the Week which was announced today"

(2) The commentator mentioned that "Brett is batting 160 points higher against righthanded pitchers than he is against lefties" (did not give the individual averages)

(3) During the bottom of the fifth innins the Rock Cats had a runner at first base - the pitcher picked off and "that was a good scoop by Roneberg to pick up the ball in the dirt and save a throwing error"

(4) As Brett came in for his third at-bat, the commentator said that "Roneberg is 1-for-3 with 3 x RBI's when batting with the bases loaded"
He is now 1-for-4 with 4 x RBI's

Email from Brett
This sucks, this losing crap!!!
But as long as I keep playing well, it makes it bearable.
Hit two balls good tonight and got no hits but an RBI is good.

Game Reports
Dogs keep on sliding

Neither starting pitcher had inspired much confidence in previous outings.

Between them, Portland Sea Dogs knuckleballer Charlie Zink and New Britain Rock Cats righty Boof Bonser came into their matchup Monday night with eight losses combined and not a win between them.

Zink has issued 34 walks to lead the Eastern League.
Bonser has set the pace for giving up home runs.

With the wind blowing out Monday night, the prospects of a pitching duel were even less likely, but Bonser kept the ball in the yard.

Zink, however, had considerably less luck finding home plate.
Zink allowed six walks in five innings and the Rock Cats scored in each one of them on their way to a 9-2 victory over the stumbling Portland Sea Dogs before 2,688 at New Britain Stadium.

"I don't have expertise on the knuckleball and there aren't a whole lot of people around who do," Portland Manager Ron Johnson said.
"We're all learning, but one thing I saw him do that encouraged me was that he had a better feel for it.
He got a lot of guys to 0-2, then he tried to force the issue. It straightened up and they smacked it off the wall.
"It's not so much right now about him commanding his pitch, it's commanding his composure."

The Rock Cats (17-18) reached Zink (0-5) for two runs in the first inning.
Tommy Watkins drew a leadoff walk and scored from second on a one-out double by Jason Kubel.
Kevin West extended his hitting streak to 19 games with an RBI double.

West had the longest streak on the Rock Cats last year at 14 games when Zink stoned him on August 15.
But that was a different Zink.
On that night, Zink pitched no-hit ball and walked nobody in seven innings.

"When he came up last year he had been in A-ball, he struggled early, he finally got it going a bit and the expectations weren't so high," Johnson said.
"When he joined us, it was like a guy taking the mound who was almost half asleep. Now he's looking at records and those things start playing on a young man's mind."

The Rock Cats tacked on single runs in the second and third innings, then added a pair on a two-run homer by Luis Maza in the fourth.

They chased Zink with three more in the fifth, an inning that began with three walks.
James Tomlin (2 for 4, double) had the lone hit of the inning - a two-run single.

Bonser (1-4), who had served up nine home runs in his previous seven starts, earned his first victory since coming over from the Giants organization in the offseason trade for former New Britain catcher A.J. Pierzynski.
Bonser allowed just one earned run on five hits and three walks while striking out five.

"I saw Boof last year in Norwich and he pitched a couple games against us that were phenomenal," Johnson said.
"When he pitched well, it didn't surprise me. He's got a good arm, he's got a good breaking ball and when he commands it, he's going to be tough."

Portland (13-23), which has dropped six straight, scored single runs in the third and sixth innings against Bonser.

Kenny Perez (2 for 3, two doubles, walk) led off the third with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Edgar Martinez.

Two walks, a bunt single by Raul Nieves and Brett Roneberg's groundout produced a run in the sixth.

Zink yielded eight hits.
Eight of the nine runs that were charged against him were earned.

Bo Donaldson turned in three innings of perfect relief.

Bonser, Rock Cats Cruise

Boof Bonser allowed just one earned run in seven innings and Kevin West extended his hitting streak to 19 games as the New Britain Rock Cats beat the Portland Sea Dogs 9-2 Monday night in the Eastern League.

Bonser (1-4), who pitched last year in Norwich, had his best outing of the season, scattering five hits and striking out five while walking three.

The Rock Cats (17-18) routed knuckleballer Charlie Zink for nine runs and eight hits over five innings.
Zink (0-5), who leads the league with 35 walks in 40 innings, issued five free passes for the Sea Dogs (13-23), who have lost six straight.

West smacked a first-inning RBI double off the wall to establish the longest hitting streak in the league this season.
He also has the longest streak in all of professional baseball this year.

Luis Maza hit his third homer of the year for the Rock Cats, a two-run shot in the fourth inning.

James Tomlin had two hits and drove in two runs.

Kenny Perez had two doubles for Portland.

Free passes add up to Rock Cats’ rout of Dogs

Neither starting pitcher had bred much confidence in their previous outings.

Between them, Portland Sea Dogs knuckleballer Charlie Zink and New Britain Rock Cats righty Boof Bonser came into their matchup Monday night with eight losses combined and not a win between them.

Zink leads the league in issuing walks.
Bonser was setting the pace for gopher balls.

With the wind blowing out, the prospects of a pitching duel were even more foreboding, but Bonser kept the ball in the yard.

Zink, however, had considerably less luck finding home plate.
Zink distributed six free passes in five innings and the Rock Cats scored in each one of them en route to a 9-2 win over the stumbling Sea Dogs before 2,688 at New Britain Stadium.

The Rock Cats (17-18) reached Zink (0-5) for two runs in the first inning.
Tommy Watkins drew a leadoff walk and scored from second on a one-out double by Jason Kubel.
Kevin West extended his hitting streak to 19 games by slamming an RBI double.

West had the longest streak on the team last year at 14 games when Zink stoned him on August 15, but that was a different Zink.
On that night, Zink pitched no-hit ball and walked nobody in seven innings.

"He’s not throwing it over consistently like he did last year," Rock Cats manager Stan Cliburn said.
"He also had a no-hitter going for 8 2/3 against New Haven.
He’s got good stuff and he’s got confidence in it but he was fighting himself tonight. He was pushing it instead of throwing it."

Sea Dogs manager Ron Johnson, far from an expert on the knuckler, found a silver lining amid the clouds.
"I don’t have expertise on the knuckleball and there aren’t a whole lot of people around who do," Johnson said.
"We’re all learning, but one thing I saw him do that encouraged me was that he had a better feel for it.
He got a lot of guys to 0-2, then he tried to force the issue. It straightened up and they smacked it off the wall.
"It’s not so much right now about him commanding his pitch, it’s commanding his composure."

The Rock Cats tacked on single runs in the second and third innings, then added a pair on a two-run homer by Luis Maza in the fourth.

They chased Zink with three more in the fifth, an inning that began with three walks.
James Tomlin (2-for-4, double) had the lone hit of the frame - a two-run single.

Bonser (1-4), who had served up nine home runs in his previous seven starts, earned his first victory since coming over from the Giants organization in the offseason trade for ex-New Britain catcher A.J. Pierzynski.
Bonser allowed just one earned run on five hits and three walks while striking out five.

"He pitched down in the zone, he had better command of his breaking ball, he used his changeup and he attacked the hitters," Cliburn said.
"He had that one inning (sixth) where he loaded the bases with no outs.
He got real defensive but got aggressive again and got out of it with only one run. That’s how he’s got to pitch.
"He had some life to his fastball (92 mph).
With that good breaking ball, he’s going to have a performance like that.
In the past I hadn’t seen that velocity or the ball down in the zone with life like that.
If that’s an indication what he could go, we’re going to have something here."

Jon Pridie and Pat Neshek mopped up with a scoreless inning apiece.