Things looked good for the Tides early. LHP Troy Patton took the spot of the recently recalled Brad Bergesen and held the G-Braves hitless for three innings. Nick Green had doubled in Josh Bell in the 2nd and Nolan Reimold had a solo shot to deep left in the 4th to give the Tides the 2-0 lead against RHP Jair Jurrjens who was on a rehab assignment from Atlanta.
But G-Braves CF Jordan Schaefer led off the 4th inning with a drag bunt between the pitcher and first base. Patton ran and lunged at the ball, missed it, stumbled and fell, landing on his left side. Patton remained on the ground for a full minute or two, then got to his feet and was pulled from the game. (It was later reported that Patton had a wrist injury although it looked like he had fallen on his shoulder.)
Fellow lefty Mark Hendrickson came on in relief and gave up 6 runs in his three innings including back-to-back homers in the 6th. Tides RF Tyler Henson hit a sac fly to plate SS Nick Green in the 7th. RHP Pat Egan pitched the final two frames and gave up a two-run homer in the 8th.
The Tides are now the only winless team left in the International League. They will try to get their first win tonight at Coolray Field in Gwinnett.
Some random notes:
Troy Patton: On a night when Jair Jurjens' fast ball was sitting at 92-93 on the stadium radar gun, Patton was having to really dial it up to touch 91. His fastball sat at 87-88 on the night but it was his breaking stuff and offspeed pitches that were giving Gwinnett fits last night. His changeup seemed to be the swing-and-miss pitch of the evening as he compiled 4 strikeouts and walked no one. I don't remember a well-struck ball all night. His injury looked kind of ominous, hopefully it looked worse than it was.
Mark Hendrickson: I was a big proponent of bringing Henrickson back to the Baltimore organization. I think he pitched better than he showed last year and is generally an underrated reliever. But there is nothing I saw last night that would lead me to believe that he can still pitch in the majors. His fastball was up all night, even the outs he got were loud ones and he gave up two home runs to a lineup that is not exactly an offensive powerhouse. He has a lot to work on.
Josh Bell: Bell was a mixed bag in the field. He had a couple of sharp grounders that he bobbled a little, one bobble of which allowed a runner to reach. But his arm was strong and accurate all night, something that he had issues with in Baltimore last season. At the plate, he looked extremely comfortable, even against a good major league caliber pitcher like Jurjens. Bell went 3 for 4 with a triple.
Ryan Adams: Adams did not get that many chances in the field but on a routine grounder up the middle, I saw his fielding flaws. Admas ranged deep and nearly got to the ball but it skipped under his glove and there was just no sense that he is athletic or quic enough to make the tough plays. His arm is good and makes the routine play with little effort. I see why third could be his ultimate position but there was nothing I saw to indicate his reactions are good enough for that position either. At the plate, Adams has struggled thus far but managed to draw 2 walks and also had 2 strikeouts. I like his approach and he may hit well enough to offset his defensive trouble at second.
Pat Egan: I was a little disappointed in Egan. His first inning of relief was exactly what I was expecting. A fastball that sat at 92 mph and could touch 94 and good enough breaking stuff to keep the oppostion off balance. He gave up a liner to left in the 7th but nothing else was well hit. He fielded his position beautifully twice that inning, once to start a 1-5-3 double play and another leaping stab of a chopper that looked to be over his head and heading up the middle.
His nest inning of work was another matter. I don't think he touched 91 more than once and his fastball looked very hittable. He gave up the homer and was lucky that was all that was surrendered. He may just be a one inning guy...looked like a different pitcher during that second inning. Something to keep an eye on anyway.
Nolan Reimold: Hit a homer to left off Jair Jurrjens. Would've liked to have seen him work the count a little better tonight as he went 1-4 with the homer and a strikeout looking. (The called third strike looked low...) Reimold is now hitting .250/.333/.633 on the young season and made a nice running grab on a sinking liner too.
Keith Law: I wouldn't say done, but it's very bad news for Baltimore. Shoulder problems often lead to long-term velocity loss, and he can't afford that.