The Result
Rock Cats - 1 to 0

Sea Dogs - Year-to-Date
14 wins - 24 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing leftfield
Batting #3

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 3 at-bats

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - low and away
Ball - well high
Foul ball - back
Called strike - on the outside corner
Foul ball - down the first base line
Grounded straight towards the second-baseman
Out 4-to-3
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - high
Foul ball - cue shot off the end of the bat and back to the screen
Ball - fast ball - low - 92mph
"Hit very hard and very well down the leftfield line but tracked down by the fielder and caught on the warning track"
Out F7
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down - top of the ninth innings and the baserunner was the tying run in a 1-to-0 ball-game!!!
Ball - outside
Fly ball into left-centrefield and "not very well hit and the fielder came in to make the catch"
Out F7

Heard during the game
(1) As Brett was coming in for his second at-bat, the commentator mentioned that "Brett has a 21 game 'on-base-streak' which is tied for the Sea Dogs lead this season, and is the fifth longest in the Eastern League so far this year"
Brett did not get on base in this game, so the 'on-base-streak' is over!!!

Email from Brett
......but the "on-base-streak" ended today.
Oh well, I will start another one tomorrow.

Game Reports
Eastern League Game Summary - Portland at New Britain

New Britain's Scott Baker fell just short of a perfect game, yielding his only hit with an out in the top of the seventh inning, to allow the New Britain Rock Cats to pick up a 1-0 victory over the Portland Sea Dogs.

With the win, New Britain (18-19) earned a split of todays doubleheader.

Game one was taken by Portland (14-24) 4-1.

Baker (1-0) only allowed one hit, a single off the bat off Raul Nieves, spoiling his bid for a perfect game in his Rock Cat debut.

He struck out four and tossed all seven innings.

Jason Kubel accounted for the only offense of the day with a solo home run in the fourth inning.
He was 2-for-3 on the day and also had a double.

Ryan Cameron (1-2) absorbed the loss for Portland.
He allowed the game's lone run, yielded two hits, walked one and struck out one in 2-2/3rd innings.

Baker was the second pitcher of the day to lose a perfect game in the final inning.
Iowa's John Koronka also saw his perfect game slip away on a single in the seventh.

Baker's 1-Hitter Gives Cats Split

Scott Baker took a perfect game into the seventh and final inning of his Eastern League debut Tuesday but settled for a one-hitter as the Rock Cats salvaged the second game of a doubleheader with a 1-0 victory over the Portland Sea Dogs in New Britain.

The Sea Dogs (14-24) ended a six-game losing streak in the opener when a four-run sixth inning carried them to a 4-1 victory.

With one out in the seventh inning of the second game, Raul Nieves hit a single to break up Baker's no-hit bid.
Baker recorded the final two outs on fly balls.

He walked none and struck out four.

Jason Kubel accounted for the game's run for the Rock Cats (18-19) with his sixth homer of the year, leading off the fourth against Ryan Cameron (1-2).

New Britain's Kevin West had a 19-game hitting streak snapped in the first game.

New to Double-A, Baker makes immediate impact

The promotion from Class A to Double-A is considered the biggest jump in professional baseball, but it did little to faze the New Britain Rock Cats’ newest pitcher Scott Baker.
Baker retired the first 19 hitters he faced, taking a perfect game into the seventh and final inning, then settled for a one-hit shutout Tuesday as the Rock Cats salvaged the second game of a doubleheader with the Portland Sea Dogs, 1-0, before a youth-day sellout of 6,158 at New Britain Stadium.

The Sea Dogs laid a six-game losing streak to rest in the opener when a four-run rally in the sixth inning produced a 4-1 victory.

"(Baker) had great mound presence and kept the ball down," Rock Cats manager Stan Cliburn said.
"During the first game, I saw him in the locker room in total concentration. Total preparation was a big part of his outing along with great physical stuff. I don’t think he threw a ball above the knees. It was just a masterpiece."

With one out in the seventh inning, Raul Nieves drilled a clean single to disrupt Baker’s quest for Eastern League immortality.
With his no-hit bid dashed, he maintained his focus by inducing a pair of flyballs.

"It was tough not to think about but today was a special day," Baker said.
"I was able to keep my concentration at a level that’s hard to do. I basically just pitched my game."

He stayed ahead of the hitters, moved the ball inside and outside and had good movement on a fastball that touched the low 90s.
He threw 75 pitches, 55 of which were strikes.

"I was able to locate the fastball, threw the breaking ball for strikes and (catcher Rob Bowen) called a great game," said Baker, who was 4-2 with a 2.40 ERA at Class A Fort Myers before joining the Rock Cats Sunday.
"It wasn’t my best offspeed stuff but I was able to keep them off-balance."

Sea Dogs manager Ron Johnson echoed Cliburn’s sentiments as he put Baker’s performance into perspective.
"It’s the first time I’ve seen him and I’m very impressed," Johnson said.
"He reminded me of a young Brett Saberhagen who I saw when I was coming up with Kansas City. I was impressed with his composure, his mound presence, his command of the fastball and the action on the fastball.
We saw numerous mis-hit balls. I thought we only hit two balls well the entire game."

Jason Kubel (2-for-3) gave Baker all the support he would need by blasting his sixth homer of the season leading off the fourth inning against Ryan Cameron (1-2), the Sea Dogs’ second pitcher.

"Kubel centered the fastball. He doesn’t miss that much," Cliburn said.

Rock Cats' Baker dabbles with perfection

Here's a way to keep your baseball prospects high
Come within two outs of a perfect game in your Double-A debut and do it with the big league brass looking on.

All those factors were in alignment Tuesday afternoon for New Britain Rock Cats' right-hander Scott Baker.
Two days after being summoned to New Britain, the 22-year-old Louisiana native crafted a 1-0 one-hitter to earn the Rock Cats a split of their Eastern League doubleheader with the Portland Sea Dogs.

Baker took a perfect game into the seventh and final inning and got a groundout before yielding a clean single up the middle to Portland's Raul Nieves.
He got the next two hitters to fly out to complete the win.

"Today was a special day," said Baker, Minnesota's second-round draft pick of 2003.
"I was able to keep my level of concentration at a level that's really hard (to attain)."

About a half dozen rows up from home plate were two head honchos from the Twins front office, general manager Terry Ryan and director of baseball operations Jim Rantz.
They had a good view of Baker's 75 pitches, 55 of which were strikes.

"He's got a lot of poise and presence and comes right at the hitters. What can you say? One over the minimum," Rantz said.
"We knew that he had the make-up and the stuff to compete at this level and he just proved it."

Baker got the call to New Britain when ace J.D. Durbin was lost to a frayed labrum.
Durbin will undergo arthroscopic surgery and is expected back in six weeks.

In the meantime, the Rock Cats seem to have a new gunslinger to lead an otherwise hit-or-miss staff.
"Only time will tell," said New Britain pitching coach Stu Cliburn.
"We seem like we have a pretty good one here."

Baker took the mound after Portland pounded out 13 hits to win Tuesday's opening game 4-1.
He set the tone by getting a 1-3 groundout on the first pitch.

There was a buzz about Baker coming in.
Drafted out of Oklahoma State, Baker skipped rookie ball entirely in 2003 and went directly to Low-A Quad Cities, where he was 3-1 with a 2.49 earned run average.
He was 4-2, 2.36 in High-A Ft. Myers this spring.

Of all the numbers in Baker's brief pro career, these stood out most - 14 walks and 84 strikeouts in 95 innings.
The ratio improved Tuesday with no walks and four strikeouts - this on a day when Baker, who comes across as low-key and soft-spoken, said he didn't have extraordinary stuff.

"Definitely not. I was able to locate the fastball and get the off-speed over for strikes," he said.
"It wasn't necessarily my best off-speed stuff, but I was able to keep them off balance all game."

Stu Cliburn noted Baker has late movement on his pitches, a consistent delivery and a knack for hitting his spots.
"Looking at his numbers from Fort Myers, we knew he was going to throw it over (the plate). I just told him yesterday, ‘look, you don't have to do anything different here than what got you here from Fort Myers.
Go out and hit the mitt, move the ball in and out, change speeds, keep the ball down in the zone and all that stuff will take care of itself.' That's what he did."

Manager Stan Cliburn said he liked Baker's focus, particularly after he gave up the one-out hit in the seventh.
That put the tying run on base - the Rock Cats had only Jason Kubel's solo home run to show for themselves - and Baker was facing Portland's top hitters, Brett Roneberg and Sean McGowan, who had combined for five hits in the opener.
Roneberg went down F-7.
McGowan flew to center.

"The total concentration this young man had was the key," Stan Cliburn said.
"I noticed his actions before game one, during game one. He was really locked in. It showed. He worked quick out there; the guys made plays for him."

Baker indeed had help.
B.J. Garbe made a nice running catch down the left field line in the fourth.
Second baseman Luis Maza lunged to spear a liner in the fifth, then charged a slow roller to throw out the leadoff man in the seventh.

Had Baker thrown the perfect game, it would have been the first in Rock Cats history.
Kevin Morton threw one for New Britain in 1990 when the team was a Red Sox affiliate.

In some ways, the Twins are fortunate to have Baker.
He was drafted out of high school in 2000 by the Pirates, but opted to attend Oklahoma State.
The pitching coach there during Baker's freshman year was John Farrell, now the farm director for the Cleveland Indians.

Going to Oklahoma State clearly paid off.
For one thing, Baker went from a 36th-round pick to a second rounder.
For another, facing college hitters wielding aluminum bats taught Baker how to pitch inside.

"As much as I did want to play professional baseball, it's a tough life," Baker said of his decision to not sign out of high school
"I didn't feel 100 percent ready to come out yet. I don't regret the decision one bit."

Before going on the disabled list, Durbin was 2-0, 2.08 through six starts.
The last few were taxing, and the diagnosis on the frayed labrum was it required surgery that could be put off only so long.

Kubel, New Britain's right fielder, still leads the Eastern League in hitting despite missing two games after getting beaned last Thursday in Portland.
With a home run and double in the second game Tuesday, Kubel is batting .382 with six home runs and 29 RBIs.
Ryan noted that Kubel, who turns 22 on Tuesday, was "under the radar" because of the overload of strong outfielders in the Twins system - former Rock Cat Lew Ford being the latest sensation.
But Kubel has the tools, Ryan said.
He's got speed, a good arm and can hit for average and power.
He's got confidence, too.
Kubel was not cowed this spring in big league training camp.
"He was not intimidated. I always like to see that," Ryan said.
"Kubel doesn't really have to take a back seat to any of our prospects. He's a complete player."

The Rock Cats have also been getting consistent play out of Maza and DH Kevin West.
Maza is third in the EL with a .338 average.
West (.314, 7 HR, 34 RBIs) was riding an 18-game hitting streak that was snapped in Tuesday's opener.

As for Rick Helling, the veteran major leaguer will make his fourth start with the Rock Cats on Thursday against Portland in the final game of the homestand.
In three appearances, Helling is 1-1 with 4.50 ERA.
He allowed just two hits in his first outing, but was hit hard in his next two.
Helling is hoping to land the No. 5 spot in the Twins rotation, but the spot might not be up for grabs.
That means the Twins will probably deal him, much to the chagrin of Ryan.
"It's not like I'm concerned with his health. I'm not concerned about his stuff. It's just a matter of a fit," the GM said.
"We don't have a fit right now for him. It's a tough thing for him, because he worked hard to get back."