The Result
Sea Dogs - 6 to 4

Sea Dogs - Year-to-Date
53 wins - 59 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing rightfield
Batting #5

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 3 at-bats - GRAND SLAM, 5 x RBI's, 1 x run scored, 1 x sacrifice fly

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
The bases are loaded!!! - one down
Foul ball - down the leftfield line
Ball - inside - "and nearly hit him as Roneberg skipped out of the way"
"And that is hit very hard into centrefield and it will be deep enough to score the run!!!"
Sacrifice fly
......and 1 x RBI
Second at-bat
(did not hear - the radio connection to the field had dropped out and all we were hearing was music!!!)
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down
A deep fly ball into leftfield
Out F7
Third at-bat
(as mentioned above, the Sea Dogs radio broadcast was having 'technical difficulties' and this at-bat was from the Rock Cats commentators as the Sea Dogs had started using their radio feed)
Righthanded pitcher
THE BASES ARE LOADED!!!
TWO DOWN!!!
Called strike
Ball - way inside
Swing&miss - change-up
"And that is belted into rightfield and it's going to get out of here"
"There it goes!!! - A GRAND SLAM TO BRETT RONEBERG"
HOME RUN
......AND 4 x RBI's!!! (click here for all the home run details)
What the commentators said -
"That ball cleared the sixteen-foot high wall in rightfield"
"Roneberg leaves for the Athens Olympics in a few days and he is putting on an Olympian performance tonight"
"That is the first Grand Slam for the Sea Dogs this year"
"That hit breaks an 0-for-19 slide by Brett"
"Brett now has 5 x RBI's for the game"
Date - Friday 6th August 2004
Time - 8.24pm - 10.24am Saturday in Australia
......and there were 7118 spectators at New Britain Stadium - a sell-out crowd!!!
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
A high chopper back to the mound
Out 1-to-3

Heard during the game
(1) As Brett came in for his first at-bat, the commentator said "the bases are loaded now with one down and in steps Roneberg who is 0-for-his-last-19 ...... and Brett would be a double play candidate as he has hit into a franchise record twenty so far this season"

(2) At the end of the game, the commentator announced Brett as the "Allied Home Mortgage - 'Big Dawg' of the Game"

Email from Brett
N/A

Game Reports
Roneberg’s grand slam dumps Rock Cats

Portland Sea Dogs right fielder Brett Roneberg is slated to leave for Athens, Greece after Monday’s game to represent his native Australia in the Olympic baseball tournament.

As far as the New Britain Rock Cats are concerned, the Games should have been moved up a week.

Roneberg, the "Allied Home Mortgage - 'Big Dawg' of the Game", hit a grand slam and drove in five runs Friday night to lead the Sea Dogs to a 6-4 win over the Rock Cats before an overflow crowd of 7,118 at New Britain Stadium.

The score was tied 2-2 in the fifth inning with the sacks full and two out when Roneberg crushed a 1-2 pitch from New Britain starter Henry Bonilla (8-9) well over the wall in right-center.

Hanley Ramirez, Mike Lockwood and Kenny Perez scored ahead of him.

"They had been pitching me inside all night," said Roneberg, who was 0-for-19 going into the at-bat and had never hit a grand slam before at any level.
"They had done it before in other series but I wasn’t looking in.
I just reacted to a pitch that wasn’t quite in as far as he wanted it to be."

Rock Cats manager Stan Cliburn said the pitch was a mistake for two reasons.
"You cannot throw a fastball hitter a fastball in the middle of the plate," he said.
"He centered a fastball in his first at-bat and he just missed it.
Roneberg’s their best hitter.
He’s the only guy in their lineup that can hurt you and the only pitch he can do it on is the pitch he did it on."

Roneberg, who hails from Cairns, Australia, becomes a one-man gang when he sees Rock Cats pitching.
He now has a team-best 17 RBI against New Britain this season.

"I’ve played in this league every year since 2001 and I’ve always seemed to hit well here," he said.
"I feel comfortable here and I’ll come back here as often as they want me to."

Cliburn is concerned about Bonilla’s recent performance.
"His stuff has been soft all year," Cliburn said.
"His mistakes are getting hit.
He goes out there and gives you all he’s got but his stuff just doesn’t seem as sharp.
I know he’s pitching his heart out but the ball isn’t exploding from his hand like it used to."

Portland starter Eric Glaser (4-4) turned in his longest outing of the season, going 5-2/3 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits and four walks.

Glaser has won three of his four decisions since joining the rotation July 16.

"He's not the kind of guy who's going to light up a radar gun but he's handled numerous roles for us over the last couple of years," Sea Dogs Manager Ron Johnson said.
"He's the epitome of a professional.
It was a vintage (Glaser) night. It's what we needed because we have some starters down."

Juan Perez hurled 2-1/3 hitless innings in relief and Marc Deschenes slammed the door in the ninth to earn his third save.

Portland (53-59), which moved one-half game ahead of New Britain in the battle to stay out of the Northern Division basement, took a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
After Lockwood singled to right, Perez laced a laser shot that deflected off first baseman Garrett Jones’ glove and into the grandstands next to the dugout for a ground-rule double.
Roneberg plated the run with a sacrifice fly.

The Rock Cats (52-59) struck back to take a 2-1 lead in the third.
One-out singles by James Tomlin, Luis Maza and Matt Scanlon filled the bases.
Kevin West struck out but Jones lined a clutch two-run double inside the first-base bag.

"I thought we had a chance but we never got anything going again," Cliburn said.

The Sea Dogs tied it in the fifth when Raul Nieves doubled and scored on a single by Ramirez, his first RBI since joining the Sea Dogs.
Lockwood and Perez followed with singles to set the table for Roneberg’s slam.

Nieves, batting .204 at the start of play, is hitting .343 against New Britain.

Bryan Kennedy’s two-run double with two out in the bottom of the inning drew the Rock Cats within two.

Kennedy and Maza led the Rock Cats with two hits each.

Bonilla allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings.

Kevin Cameron pitched three frames of scoreless two-hit relief to drop his ERA to 0.60.

"(Bonilla’s) got to turn it around," Cliburn said.
"He’s going to get the ball every fifth day.
He won games here for us last year so he’s got look at himself in the mirror and figure out what he needs to do to be successful."

CATS TALES
The sellout is the Rock Cats’ 12th, extending a season record.
Five of them have come on fireworks nights and five have come on youth days.
The Rock Cats have now attracted 256,715, an average of 4,584 per opening.
The Sea Dogs are hitting .406 in three games against Bonilla.
The following are the probable pitchers for today’s day-night twinbill ---
Portland’s Greg Montalbano (0-0, 0.00) vs. New Britain’s Jon Pridie (3-5, 5.67) at 1:05 p.m.
Portland’s Abe Alvarez (9-7, 3.43) vs. New Britain’s Boof Bonser (7-9, 4.98) at 7:05 p.m.
Alvarez, who started a game for Boston, is 2-0 with an 0.79 ERA vs. New Britain.

Olympian Effort Beats Rock Cats

The Rock Cats had another sellout crowd at New Britain Stadium Friday night, but Olympian Brett Roneberg was a rude guest.

Roneberg, an outfielder who'll play for Australia in the Athens Games, hit a grand slam in the fifth to lift the Portland Sea Dogs to a 6-4 victory before 7,118.

It was the Rock Cats' 12th sellout of the season and opened a four-game series that continues today with a day-night doubleheader.

Rock Cats starter Henry Bonilla (8-9) allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings.

"He goes out there and pitches with all he's got, but his stuff doesn't seem as sharp," Rock Cats manager Stan Cliburn said.
"I don't know if it's a dead arm he is going through, but the ball is not exploding out of his hand like it had in the past.
The last three outings he has been hit hard."

Bonilla quickly got into trouble, as Portland loaded the bases on Mike Lockwood's single, Kenny Perez's ground-rule double and a walk to Stefan Bailie with one out in the first.
Roneberg then hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

Garrett Jones doubled down the right field line off Sea Dogs starter Eric Glaser (4-4) in the third to give the Rock Cats a 2-1 lead.
Jones drove in James Tomlin and Luis Maza, who hit back-to-back singles.

But the Sea Dogs hammered Bonilla in the fifth.
Top Red Sox prospect Hanley Ramirez hit an RBI single with one out and Roneberg delivered the big blow with his two-out grand slam.

It was Roneberg's 14th home run and gave him 67 RBI.

Roneberg, headed to Greece Tuesday, hit a 1-and-2 fastball off Bonilla for the first grand slam of his career.

"They had been pitching me inside all night," Roneberg said, "and I just reacted to a pitch that wasn't quite as far in as he wanted."

Said Cliburn - "He made a mistake pitch.
You cannot throw a fastball hitter a fastball in the middle of the plate right there.
Roneberg is their best hitter."

The Rock Cats scored two runs in the bottom half on Bryan Kennedy's double to center.
It drove in Luis Maza, who doubled, and Matt Scanlon, who walked.

DOG'S GRAND SLAM DOWNS CATS, 6-4

Portland used a five-run fifth inning - including Brett Roneberg's grand slam off Rock Cats starter Henry Bonilla - to win 6-4 on Friday night.

Bonilla (8-9) allowed six runs (all earned) and nine hits through five innings.

Luis Maza (2 runs) and Bryan Kennedy (2 RBI) each had a single and a double.

Garrett Jones added a two-run double in the third inning that gave the Rock Cats a 2-1 lead.

The bullpen duo of Kevin Cameron and Travis Bowyer combined for four innings of shutout relief.

Eric Glaser (4-4) picked up the win for the Sea Dogs.

Roneberg's slam sparks Sea Dogs

Brett Roneberg exploded for five RBI and Mike Lockwood scored twice as the Portland Sea Dogs defeated the New Britain Rock Cats, 6-4, in the Eastern League Friday night.

Portland improved its record to 53-59 while New Britain fell to 52-59.

Roneberg got the Sea Dogs on the board in the top of the first with an RBI sacrifice fly that plated Lockwood.

With the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, Roneberg hit his 14th home run of the season, a grand slam to right field.

Kenny Perez finished the night 3-for-5 including two doubles and a run scored for Portland.

Eric Glaser picked up the win and evened his record at 4-4.
Glaser surrendered four runs on eight hits, four walks and struck out two in his 5-2/3rd innings of work.

Marc Deschenes tossed a perfect ninth inning and recorded his third save of the season.

New Britain's Henry Bonilla suffered the loss and fell to 8-9.
Bonilla gave up six runs on nine hits and struck out one over five innings of service.

Garrett Jones and Bryan Kennedy knocked in two runs apiece for the Rock Cats.

Olympics
Red Sox News - Pawtucket pitcher John Stephens and Portland outfielder Brett Roneberg will leave their teams next week to play for the Australian baseball team in the Olympics.

Watching the U.S. Olympic basketball team on TV prior to Wednesday's game reminded Red Sox Manager Terry Francona of the two Red Sox minor leaguers who will play for Australia in Athens.
Outfielder Brett Roneberg is batting .273 with 13 homers and 62 RBIs for Double-A Portland, while starter John Stephens owns a 8-6 record for Pawtucket.
Francona and Roneberg actually met in the airport in San Francisco three years ago as Roneberg returned from a tournament in Taiwan.