|
Scoreboard lights up
in Griffey's debut
Returning slugger
goes 0-for-1 in high-scoring affair with Aussies
Australia 11, Mariners 9
at Peoria, Ariz
Wednesday, March 4
Australia at the plate
First baseman Brett
Roneberg went 5-for-5 and drove in six runs
Designated hitter Ben Risinger doubled in the second, third and
fourth innings, and singled in the sixth, driving in his third
run of the game
Left fielder Justin Huber singled twice, doubled and drove in
two runs
Third baseman Luke Hughes had two doubles, walked and scored
twice
Mariners at the plate
Ken Griffey Jr., getting his first plate appearances in a Mariners
uniform since October 1999, walked in the first inning and flied
out to center field in the second
Third baseman Adrian Beltre, playing defense for the first time
this spring, went 2-for-3, including a home run, and drove in
two runs
Center fielder Franklin Gutierrez slugged a three-run home run
in the third inning, and Ronny Cedeno followed with a home run
to left-center
Australia on the mound
Left-handed starter Travis Blackley, who spent most of his professional
career with the Mariners, worked the first two innings
He surrendered a run in the first inning and two runs in the
second, allowing four hits and two walks in the brief outing
Mariners on the mound
Left-handed starter Garrett Olson was impressive during a two-inning
stint, striking out all three batters he faced in the first inning
and one more to end the second, stranding runners on first and
third
Right-hander Miguel Batista wobbled big time, surrendering four
runs in two-thirds of an inning, and so did right-hander Roy
Corcoran, who was roughed up to the tune of four hits and four
earned runs
From Jon Deeble ... Australian
Team Manager
Roneberg was
outstanding, going 5 from 5 with 6 RBIs
He is in the top five hitters in the country and tonight proved
it against big league pitchers
Game Comment
The four, five and six hitters
in Australia's lineup combined for 12 hits, with Ben Risinger
going 4-for-5 and Brett
Roneberg finishing 5-for-5 with six RBI
Not having as much fun was No 3 batter Chris Snelling, who went
0-for-5 against his old club
On the plus side, he actually survived all nine innings!!
Game Notes - Seattle
v Australia
Brett Roneberg
went 5-for-5 with a double and drove in six runs to lead Australia
past Seattle, 11-9, in an WBC Exhibition matchup
Ben Risinger went 4-for-5 with three doubles, three runs scored
and a pair driven in for Australia
Justin Huber also knocked in a pair while Chris Snelling drove
in the other run
Travis Blackley started for Austrailia and gave up three runs
on four hits in two innings of work
Drew Naylor took the win with 1 1/3 innings of one-run relief
Tristan Crawford earned the save with a scoreless ninth
Franklin Gutierrez went 2-for-2 with a three-run homer for Seattle
Adrian Beltre and Ronny Cedeno both stroked solo homers and finished
with two RBI in defeat
Ken Griffey Jr. played in the game for Seattle, going 0-for-1
with a walk as the designated hitter
Garrett Olson lasted two shutout innings and fanned four batters,
while Mark Lowe was dealt the loss after giving up two runs on
three hits in an inning of relief
Australia Un-Settles
the Seattle Mariners
Team Australia's 11-9 victory over
Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners this evening at Peoria
Sports Complex penned the perfect start to what is hoped to be
a storybook script for the Aussies World Baseball Classic campaign
Almost 4,000 Seattle fans attended the Mariners Spring Training
facility this evening to welcome the clubs newest recruit, MLB
legend Ken Griffey Junior, as he swung the bat for the first
time this season
A visibly excited Mariners crowd cheered for the Major League
veteran in his two at-bats, and despite Griffey Jrs early departure
from the game in the second dig, the raucous crowd were kept
on the edge of their seats as the Australians treated them to
an intense 9-innings, 3 hours and 19 minutes of world class baseball
The home side swung the bat early on in the game, placing three
runs on the board in the first two innings, when Betancourt crossed
the plate off an RBI from Adrian Beltre in the first, and a Mike
Morse RBI double brought Clement home and a Ronny Cedeno RBI
single batted Morse in for the home team
The Aussie upset commenced in the top of the third dig, when
they sent balls flying and chins wagging, displaying crafty batting
skills that saw four players score - Beresford, Hughes, Huber
and Risinger
Now in the lead 4-3, the Aussies replaced starter Travis Blackley
with Craig Anderson, an outing that commenced for the New South
Welshman with a homerun over left field from Beltre on an 0-1
pitch
The Mariners scored a further three runs, when a homerun from
Gutierrez over the left-field line batted in Clement and Morse
Cedeno added the fifth and final run to the Mariners inning score
count when he homered to left-field on a 1-0 pitch
Despite losing their lead and now trailing by four runs, Team
Australia fought back in the top of the fourth, levelling the
score at 8-8, with a dj vu effort that saw Beresford, Hughes,
Huber and Risinger cross the plate once again in consecutive
innings
Justin Huber got it going with an RBI single for the first run
of the inning
Ben Risinger was at it again hitting his third double of the
night which drove home the second run, and Brett Roneberg drove in two more giving him four RBIs
In the bottom of the fifth with runners on the corners, Yuniesky
Betancourt hit into a double-play, but a run scored, giving the
Mariners back the lead, 9-8
The Aussies would take
the lead for good in the top of the sixth when both Ben Risinger
and Brett Roneberg each had their fourth hit of the night - it
was also Brett's fifth RBI of the evening - and Australia was
out in front once again at 10-9
Brett Roneberg made it five for five and posted his sixth RBI
of the night in the seventh inning, advancing their lead to 11-9
Roneberg said ... "We played well; it was good to get a
win under our belt, especially against the Mariners"
Risinger was overjoyed with his teams performance ... "Our
teams hitting was awesome, to come out there and hit big league
pitching like that, and for the boys to swing the bat like they
did was a big effort"
Speaking of pitching, the Australian mound hosted seven pitchers
this evening, including Blackley, Anderson, Welch, Wise, Bright
and Crawford, with Queenslander Drew Naylor earning the win
Manager Jon Deeble said Team Australia's offensive output was
very good from top to bottom
Although most of this team has not played together before, Manager
Jon Deeble says there has been a great connection amongst the
players as they have practiced over the last few days
"Australians always play good as a team, the team chemistry
is great and that is something we really work on
We work a lot off the field on that sort of stuff and I dont
think you will ever have a problem with our team chemistry; that
is always going to be fine"
Team Australia will play the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow at Maryvale,
and will face off against the Chicago Whitesox on Friday before
departing for Mexico City that evening
Wednesday's Cactus League
Capsules
Australia 11
-- Seattle 9
Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-1 with
a walk in his first game of spring training as the Seattle Mariners
suffered an 11-9 loss to Australia
Griffey, who had been bothered by a swollen left knee earlier
in the spring, made his debut as a designated hitter eleven days
after he signed a contract to return to the Mariners
The 39-year-old future Hall of Famer began his career with Seattle
20 years ago and played his previous game for the Mariners in
1999
Griffey hit 398 of his 611 career home runs in Seattle
Following the 1999 season, Griffey was traded to Cincinnati and
remained with the Reds until he was dealt to the Chicago White
Sox at last year's trade deadline
Adrian Beltre, Franklin Gutierrez and Ronny Cedeno each homered
in a five-run third inning for Seattle, which failed to contain
the middle of the Australians lineup
Justin Huber, Ben Risinger
and Brett Roneberg combined to go 12-for-15 with five doubles
and 10 RBI
Roneberg went 5-for-5 and drove in six runs
Roneberg
rules with five hits and six RBIs
Australia a
force to reckon with
Team Australia (2009) performed
for the first time as a team this evening, in a game posting
an impressive 32 hits and 20 runs for both teams, as they beat
the Seattle Mariners with a final score of 11-9
Manager Jon Deeble said of Team Australia offensive output ...
"From top to bottom we were very good offensively
Although most of this team has not played together before, there
seems to be a great connection amongst the players as they practiced
the last few days
Maybe it is the pride of donning the green and gold, or not being
known for playing baseball and having something to prove considering
baseball lags dramatically in popularity at home behind the likes
of Australian Rules Football and Cricket
Perhaps it is just the fact that these guys just really like
each other, have a lot respect between one another, and really
take it seriously and work at it"
Deeble added ... "Australians always play good as a team,
the team chemistry is great and that is something we really work
on
We work a lot off the field on that sort of stuff and I dont
think you will ever have a problem with our team chemistry; that
is always going to be fine"
Australia faced off against Seattle in Ken Griffey Juniors first
game back with the Ms, who just recently signed him
Lefty Travis Blackely of Team Australia, who spent all of 2008
with Triple-A Lehigh Valley of the Phillies organization, went
to work against fellow southpaw Garrett Olson for the Ms who
split time between Triple-A Norfolk and the Baltimore Orioles
last year
The Mariners may have had Jr. in their corner, but the Aussies
had two special strong supporters of their own in the dugout,
in former big leaguers Chili Davis and Hall of Famer George Brett
With this support, the boys from down under were ready to have
a go at it
The Mariners, in front of their home crowd, got on the board
first
After Yuniesky Betancourt singled with one out, Ken Griffey Jr.
walked in his debut at bat and Adrian Beltre followed with an
RBI single to make it 1-0 after one
Seattle scored more in the second on a Mike Morse RBI double
and a Ronny Cedeno RBI single
The inning ended when Griffey hit a long fly ball to center that
looked like it may be his first homerun of the spring, but came
down in the mitt of Trent Oeltjen (Triple-A Tucson in 2008)
It was Griffey's final at bat of the game, but Seattle led 3-0
In the top of the third Team Australia batted around scoring
four runs as former Mariner Chris Snelling, who spent time with
the Phillies in 2008, had an RBI groundout to get his team on
the board
Brett Roneberg began
his big night with a clutch two out single that drove home two
to tie it and Justin Hubers (Triple-A
Portland and the Padres in 2008) RBI single gave the Aussies
their first lead of the game at 4-3
The lead did not last long as Adrian Beltre lead off the bottom
of the inning with a solo homer, Franklin Gutierrez hit a three
run shot, and Ronny Cedeno hit a high blast to center for the
M's third homerun of the inning, and the M's led 8-4
In the fourth, Team Australia scored four times for the second
straight dig, when Justin Huber got it going with an RBI single
for the first run of the inning
Ben Risinger was at it again hitting his third double of the
night which drove home the second run
Risinger said after the game ... "Our teams hitting was
awesome, to come out there and hit big league pitching like that,
and for the boys to swing the bat like they did was a big effort"
Brett Roneberg drove
in two more giving him four RBIs, and the game was still not
done for the night, tying it again at 8-8
In the bottom of the fifth with runners on the corners, Yuniesky
Betancourt hit into a double-play, but a run scored as the see-saw
battle continued, giving the Mariners back the lead, 9-8
The Aussies would take
the lead for good in the top of the sixth when both Ben Risinger
and Brett Roneberg each had their fourth hit of the night - it
was also Brett's fifth RBI of the evening - and Australia was
out in front once again at 10-9
Brett Roneberg, who has not played in the States since spending
time with Double-A Altoona in 2007, made it five for five and
posted his sixth RBI of the night in the seventh to make it 11-9,
which would be the final score
Roneberg said ... "We played well; it was good to get a
win under our belt, especially against the Mariners
Team Australia has two more Exhibition Games left before heading
to Mexico City for round one of the World Baseball Classic, and
will take on the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday before finishing
their Exhibition Games on Friday against the Chicago Whitesox
The Brewers will send out right-hander Seth McClung, who was
6-6 with a 4.02 ERA last season, against Damian Moss for Team
Australia who spent last year with at Triple-A with Richmond |
