By Javaris Jamar Javarison-Lamar | JavarisJamarJavarison-Lamar@3Wolves.net
Madison, WI
On-again-off-again newly signed right-hander Gerald Sizemore pitched his team to victory over the Portland Lumberjacks at Shotz Stadium. In 5.1 innings, Sizemore surrendered 3 hits, while striking out 5 and walking 2. He allowed no runs. Todd Stone closed the door for Madison, picking up his 7th save of the year. On the offenseive side of the ball Eitor Vasconcellos had an important at-bat with two out in the bottom of the first, when he hit a bases-clearing triple. His 2nd triple of the season put Madison on top, 4-0. The Wolves end out splitting the 4-game set with Portland. The Wolves will see Portland one more series this year out in Portalnd. Final Score: Wolves 7 - Lumberjacks - 5
After a day off for travel the team was ready to face the last place Cyclones for a quick 2 game set. In game one Right Fielder Manobu Shimizu put on a superb performance, but still, it wasn't enough to beat Omaha. The Cyclones won the game, 6-5. Shimizu was 3 for 3 with a home run, a double, and a walk. He drove in 2 runs and scored once. The victory puts Omaha at 26-38. Omaha took a 6-5 lead on Eric Wagner's 15th home run of the season. The 2-run home run came off Madison pitcher Todd Stone in the bottom of the eighth. Final Score: Wolves 5 - Cyclones - 6
The Cyclones lambasted the Wolves staff for 12 runs and 10 hits. Yorikane Miyamoto was the biggest culprit going 3.2 innings allowing 6 runs and 5 hits and 4 runs (in the bottom of the 1st). Luckly there wasn't much of a crowd at Morales Field (16,631) to witness this apathetic display of effort by the Wolves. DH Jose Hernandez and RF Shimizu collected 3 of the 5 Wolves hits on the day. "It seems like when we score more runs than our opponents we seem to win a lot more games." said Wolves fan Carrol Newman. Final Score: Wolves 3 - Cyclones - 12
Shortly after the game in Omaha, the Wolves jumped a red eye to open up a four-game series vs the River Monsters. In the opening game of the series the Madison Wolves beat the Twin Cities River Monsters by a score of 9-4. Madison right fielder Manobu Shimizu led the way again. Shimizu was 4 for 5 with 2 doubles and 2 singles. He scored 2 times and drove in 2 for the Wolves. Rookie phenom Buwono Mainaky got the win, improving to 8-2. He held the River Monsters to 4 runs on 6 hits over 7.1 innings, while striking out 4 and walking 1. Today's win puts Madison at 29-35, while Twin Cities falls to 26-39. Steven Bursey helped his team jump on top from the get-go. His first time up in the top of the first, he cranked a run-scoring triple to give Madison a 1-0 lead. Final Score: Wolves 9 - River Monsters - 4
In game two of the series Gerald Sizemore (3-3) on the year pitched well enough for a W, but once again the Wolves (nearly ranked last in everything) offense failed to provide any support. Sizemore threw 5.1 innings allowing 2 runs, while the bullpen combo of Pualani, Lopez & Stone allowed only 1 additional run. Overall the game was a low scoring / hitting affair. Only eight hits, and 5 runs in total for both teams in this game. CF Jorge Lopez went 2-4 in the game. Bin Wan and Shimizu scored the only 2 runs. Final Score: Wolves 2 - River Monsters - 3
If Lenoard Thornton was on a team that provided any semblance of run support this season, there would be more talk about him. Thornton threw 6 innings allowing only 1 run, leaving the game tied 1-1. The game was turned over to the usually reliable Wolves bullpen what allowed a walk-off bottom of the 9th victory for the River Monsters. Senen Subandrio took the loss (2-3) allowing a leadoff double to Ricard Mendoza, then two sac flys later the Wolves lose anohter. Once again Thornton was named player of the game where his team did not win it. Final Score: Wolves 1 - River Monsters - 2
