Travis Blackley’s first
appearance for Australia in over seven years was well worth the
wait, as the San Francisco Giants hurler impressed everybody with
a dominant performance against Italy on Friday
The left hander allowed just one unearned run over five innings
of work while striking out three on an afternoon that required
just 67 pitches; the ideal tune-up considering he had not appeared
in a game since September 29 in Los Angeles - a span of 33 days
“I was really just tinkering with a few things” Blackley
said
“You know, I am just trying to get a feel for pitching again
I was pretty happy with the way it went considering the only run
Italy got was unearned and never really hit the ball hard at all"
The unearned run came on the back of a fourth inning error and
corresponding balk, called when Blackley tried to pick off to
first base and allowing the runner to move into scoring position
Despite the inopportune hiccup, the Aussies nearly escaped unharmed
when second-baseman Luke Hughes made a spectacular diving stop
on a sharply hit ball up the middle but narrowly missed the nailing
the runner at first base
On offence the Australians continued to shine with Justin Huber,
Tom Brice, Trent Oeltjen and Hughes all contributing extra base
hits in a rambunctious display that could have yielded a dozen
more
The scoring started in the top of the second when the Aussies
capitalised perfectly on a leadoff double to Brice
The next hitter, Brad Harman, battled in an eight-pitch effort
resulting in a deep fly ball to right allowing Brice to advance
90 feet in a play that would ultimately prove the difference between
the two squads
Brice scored from third base on a soft grounder off the bat of
Michael Collins - a run that was vital in the final wrap-up
The Aussies scored their second run in an equally timely if not
somewhat unconventional fashion when Luke Hughes doubled, stole
third and crossed the plate on a wild pitch to post a 2-0 advantage
for the Green and Gold
In the fifth inning the sluggers turned it up a notch when Glenn
Williams started a one-out rally
His one out single was followed by a Trent Oeltjen RBI triple
before the seemingly omnipresent Justin Huber ripped a fastball
into right centre extending the lead to 4-1
From there the Aussies shifted down a couple of gears and allowed
to Italians a glimmer of hope when they scored twice in the bottom
of the seventh of reliever Dushan Ruzic
But the towering right hander managed to settle into his role
nicely, pitching three innings of effective relief before handing
the ball over the Tristan Crawford to close out the ninth
While the contest was never really in doubt, it certainly ended
on a high as Brad Harman made a phenomenal play for the final
out of the game.
With a runner on first, shortstop Harman made a full length dive
to his left on a bouncing ball that looked destined to find its
way into centerfield before making a freakish backhand flip to
Luke Hughes at second base
The highlight reel play was a fitting end to the third consecutive
day of impressive action in the lead up to the big games next
week
The only sour note for the Aussies came early when Gavin Fingleson
had to leave the game in the top of the second inning after fouling
a ball of his left leg
Fingleson’s roommate, Glenn Williams, had to cut short his
intended off day to replace the injured infielder and consequently
had some light-hearted advice for his long-time when he too fouled
a ball off his instep
“Gav just needs to ‘suck it up’ a little”
Williams quipped upon his return to the dugout, “tell him
he’s soft”
While the off the cuff comment was meant only as friendly jibe,
Williams and his Aussie team-mates will be looking to take that
same hard-nosed approach into their next two games against Cuba
Australia will face their Gold Medal nemeses in their final practice
game tomorrow, before matching up again in the all important World
Cup kick off on November 7th
La marcia di avvicinamento
al Mondiale comporta per l'Italia un'altra sconfitta (4-3) ma
di certo la prestazione degli azzurri contro l'Australia nel modernissimo
stadio Dou Liou (affollato da una rumorosa scolaresca) induce
all'ottimismo
I lanciatori azzurri hanno infatti contenuto in 8 valide un attacco
che si annuncia tra i più pericolosi del torneo e il line
up italiano è riuscito a mettere sotto pressioni pitcher
di primo piano
L'attacco australiano come detto ha fatto una certa impressione,
toccando duro la palla fin dalle prime battute
I doppi dell'interbase Hartman (Singolo A avanzato dei Phillies)
e del seconda base Hughes (Doppio A dei Twins) sono stati la chiave
dei punti segnati dalla formazione di 'downunder' al secondo e
al terzo contro Junior Oberto
Il mancino del Grosseto, che ha mostrato un controllo ottimo,
ha saputo comunque tenere gli azzurri in partita
Al quarto l'Italia, aiutata da 2 errori difensivi, ha avuto anche
l'occasione per passare in vantaggio
De Biase ha toccato Travis Blackley (lanciatore partente in Triplo
A per i Giants) con un singolo che è valso il primo punto
ed è avanzato in seconda su valida di Liddi
Una palla mancata ha portato i corridori in seconda e terza, ma
la ripresa si è chiusa sul turno alla battuta di Chapelli
Scampato il pericolo, l'Australia ha aggiunto 2 punti al quinto
contro Cillo, toccato profondo dal triplo dell'esterno centro
Oeltjen (Triplo A dei Twins) che, sommato ai singoli di Williams
e Huber (top prospect che ha già esordito in Grande Lega
con i Royals), ha allargato il punteggio al 4-1
Contro Di Roma e Salsi l'attacco australiano non otterrà
più valide
Al settimo invece è stata l'Italia ad accelerare contro
il rilievo Ruzic (Doppio A dei Reds)
Con De Biase in prima, Chapelli ha sparato un triplo tra esterno
sinistro ed esterno centro e ha a sua volta segnato sulla battuta
in diamante di Zileri
Al nono con 2 out, e il 'closer' Tristan Crawford (Doppio A per
i Twins) in pedana, ancora Chapelli ha toccato un singolo
Il 'pinch hitter' Camargo ha colpito una rimbalzante verso il
cuscino di seconda che sembrava destinata alla valida; l'interbase
Harman è riuscito a fermare la battuta con un tuffo strepitoso
alla sua sinistra e ad assistere in seconda a Hughes, ottenendo
l'out che ha chiuso la partita
In the game against Italy today,
we held on for a 4-3 win
For me, the game was "bad"!!
I struck out my first at-bat and then hit a hard one hopper to
the shortstop for an out
Then I flew out to centrefield, and then grounded out to third
base
As I said in my email, I was really tired - two long days with
a lot of bus trips
I played leftfield and only made one catch
I didn't hit well, but made some adjustments during my at-bats
and felt good
Hope to get some sleep tonight and be ready for Cuba tomorrow!!