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Duggan, Senators Let One Escape in Loss to Raiders |
July 21, 2008. Fairfax, Va. -- Vienna Senators closer Jimmy Duggan has been dominant for most of the season. Except for a couple of blips on the radar screen, he has shut the door on opponents. He had a 0.00 ERA at the all-star break, and currently leads the Clark-Griffith League in saves with 6. Those sparkling numbers made it all the more surprising when Duggan was very wild Monday night, in blowing the save and the game for the Senators. The McLean Raiders touched up Duggan for two ninth inning runs to steal a victory from the Senators 5-4.
The Senators and Raiders had been deadlocked at 2 for much of the day, before a series of sloppy defensive plays decided the game in the late innings. In the top of the seventh inning, the Senators went ahead when a fielding error by Raiders first baseman Chris Duffy allowed Matt Goulas to score.
With Goulas on third and two outs, Nick Boullosa chopped a grounder to second base. Dan Lopez bobbled the ball before throwing a low ball to Duffy at first. However, the Raiders still would have had the out if Duffy could have squeezed his glove on the ball.
The Raiders answered right back in the bottom half of the inning. Senators second baseman Seth Henry dropped a routine pop up off of the bat of Wade Kirkland. Kirkland then took second on a passed ball, and third when catcher Eric Walker threw the ball into center field. He came around to score on a Dan Lopez single.
The Senators put another run on the board in the eighth, although not aided by a defensive error this time. Matt Goulas' sacrifice fly plated Martin Parra, and the Senators seemed set for a victory heading into the ninth.
Matt Frazee started the inning with an infield single to shortstop Alfred Rodriguez deep in the hole. Rodriguez made an excellent play just to get to the ball, but air-mailed the throw past Martin Parra at first base. Frazee advanced to second with no outs.
Kirkland then came to the plate in a sure-fire bunting situation. Kirkland attempted the bunt, but fouled off the first pitch. On the second attempt, he pulled the bat back and took the pitch. However, Frazee was running on the play and with third baseman Gunnar Terhune charging for the bunt, no one covered the third. Frazee was in standing up.
Things really fell apart for Duggan when he hit Kirkland. He then attempted a pickoff throw to first, but sailed the throw high. Frazee scored, and Kirkland advanced to third. Finally, when he had Dan Lopez down in the count, he fired a ball high over Walker, allowing Kirkland to score the winning run.
After the final play, Duggan laid face first over home plate, in disbelief over his performance.
“I think I lost a little focus tonight,” said Duggan. “I tried to overpower guys too much, and my control was off tonight. I just have to bounce back and not let it affect me.”
The team does have other options at closer should Duggan continue to falter. The team recently added Mason Griffin, who has been the closer the past two years, as well as an All-CGL selection.
While manager Chris Burr didn't rule out going in other directions or going to a closer-by-committee approach, he said that he plans to stick with Duggan for now.
“[Jimmy] is going to be our guy,” said Burr. “We'll use our bullpen as best we can, depending on who is ready and who is available. That wasn't a great outing, but we have to go off of his track record, and he's done a good job so far.”
The team did not appear sharp from the get-go. The Senators only runs were scored on a two-run home run from Seth Henry until the seventh inning. Starter Ryan Woolley struggled through five innings, allowing seven hits. However, he did manage to hold the Raiders to just two runs and keep the team in the game.
Part of that could be attributed to the team wrapping up their 10 th CGL Title on Saturday, guaranteeing them a spot in the NBC World Series in Wichita, Kansas at the beginning of August. Their remaining games hold little significance, apart from gaining experience and improving for Wichita.
“We're trying to figure out what our strongest team is going to be,” said Burr. “We're trying to figure out who can handle tough situations without caving. These games are critical in a lot of respects.”
Andrew Struckmeyer
Vienna Senators