Bill Mitchell's Minor League Ramblings

Minor League Ramblings For the week of :
August 30, 2004

Arizona League championship
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Minor League Ramblings is produced by Bill Mitchell for Minor League Watch.

Giants capture Arizona League championship over rival Athletics
September 1, 2004

Osiris Matos

With a crowd of over 100 people in the stands at Scottsdale Stadium last evening, an unheard of crowd for the rookie level Arizona League, there was a buzz in the air seldom experienced in this league that intentionally doesn't cater to fans.

But for one night, it was post-season baseball at its best.

The Giants, winners of the season's first half, squeaked out a thrilling 3-2 win over the Athletics, who had won 16 of its final 17 games to capture the second half lead in the 56-game schedule.

Giants shortstop Johany Abreu throws to first base for the final out

The Giants got on the scoreboard first, plating a pair of runs in the fourth and then sending Athletics starter Jeff Gray to the showers with another run in the fifth inning.

20-year-old right-hander Osiris Matos was the star of the game for the Giants, as the native Dominican pitched six no-hit innings while the home team took an early 3-0 lead. Matos faltered in the seventh, giving up two runs on three hits before giving way to reliever Kellen Ludwig.

Ludwig averted further damage after coming in with nobody out in the seventh inning. The Athletics nearly took the lead in the eighth inning. With a man on base, designated hitter Don Sutton smacked a long foul ball that curved just outside the left field foul pole. Sutton was subsequently retired by Ludwig.

2004 Arizona League champions

Giants manager Bert Hunter sent Ludwig back out for the ninth inning, and the big right-hander from Georgia retired the side in order to preserve the 3-2 victory.

The Giants players and staff streamed on the field for a jubilant celebration before they were presented with the championship banner.

Catcher Pablo Sandoval led the Giants offense with two hits, including a double which resulted in him scoring the first run of the game. No other player on either team had more than one hit.

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Hernan Iribarren (Brewers - 2B) led the Arizona League in hitting in his first season in the United States; the native Venezuelan batted .459, easily outpacing the number two hitter, Lisandro Disla (Giants - 3B), who hit .351. Iribarren also topped the league in Hits (83), Triples (9), OBP (.490) and SLP (.630).

Miguel Vega (Royals - 1B/3B) was the homerun leader with 10, Michael Mooney (Giants - OF) led the league in RBIs with 57, and Marcus Sanders (Giants - 2B) was tops in stolen bases with 28.

Oliver Arias (Mariners - P) and Angelo Morales (Royals - P) tied for the most Wins with six. Southpaw Andy Santana (Cubs - P) turned in the league's best ERA of 1.61. Connor Robertson (Athletics - P) was the Saves leader with 13. Rusty Begnaud (Royals - P) had the most strikeouts with 75.

--- Bill Mitchell