Luis Mateo and the Ugly, Messy, Foul-Mouthed, Very Bad Game
Luis Mateo started the game as a New York-Penn League All-Star and left six innings later in line for a loss after giving up runs with throws from both sides of the plate. His 9 strikeouts showed a glimmer of the pitcher he is capable of being, but some hard hits and a 2-run throwing error dug the Cyclones into a hole too deep for the light-hitting lineup (missing Brandon Nimmo for the third straight game and Kevin Plawecki) to climb out of. Plawecki entered the game as a pinch hitter in the 9th, but Nimmo only saw action as a first base coach.
I found Nimmo. And so did Julio Concepcion…
Mateo’s day started getting ugly in the bottom of the 2nd when he hit Mookie Betts with a pitch to start things off. Betts followed that up with a stolen base on a strikeout, the second of four stolen bases against the Cyclones in the game; after Dreily Guerrero stole second in the 1st inning on what can only be called defensive incompetence, the Spinners knew they had free rein on the basepaths. The real trouble came when Aneury Tavarez singled to left and Betts was waved home. Stefan Sabol fired the ball to the plate well in advance of the runner, but also well over the head of the catcher. Mateo was in place backing up the catcher and had Betts scrambling back to third. As Betts dove for the bag, Mateo unloaded a pitch up the third base line that missed the third baseman’s glove and kept going deeper into the outfield than the original hit. With nobody in the vicinity of the ball, Betts and Tavarez scored easily. Mateo finished the inning with another strikeout and a pop fly, but the damage was done.
Who’s got the ball? None of these guys…
Mateo mixed strikeouts and multiple runs again in the 6th, which he opened with a strikeout, a single to left, another strikeout, and another single to left. The ball then once more made its way to deep left field, this time by way of an Aneury Tavarez triple, putting the Cyclones down 4-0. Mateo ended the inning on another strikeout, finishing with 6IP, 7H, 4R (2ER), 0BB, 9K, 1HBP, 1 balk, and 1 error.
When he’s bad, he’s bad, but when he’s good, he’s filthy
The Cyclones weren’t alone in making costly blunders in this game. With one out in the top of the 7th, consecutive errors put Cyclones runners on second and third. Jeff Reynolds hit a sac fly for one run, but that’s where the scoring ended for the Cyclones. The Spinners errors did not end there though. In the top of the 9th, another Spinners error put runners on first and second with two outs for pinch hitter Kevin Plawecki. Plawecki watched three called strikes to end the game, much to his disbelief. The umpire walked away as Plawecki disputed the call and expletives were hurled from the dugout by one of the coaches. It’s probably a good thing that most of the kids were up on the concourse getting ready to run the bases; I don’t think their parents would have wanted them to witness the action at field level.
They should know better than to leave these where players can find them…
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