Alfaro, Chukars slam Casper 13-3

Heading into the game Thursday at Melaleuca Field against the Casper Ghosts, the Idaho Falls Chukars hadn’t hit a grand slam all season. In fact, neither had their opponents.

The Chukars and their opponents combined for 122 at bats with the bases loaded. While there were hits struck, walks taken and errors made, not once did the ball find its way out of the park.

That changed Thursday in the second inning when J.D. Alfaro sent a 2-2 pitch screaming over the left field wall with the bases juiced to give the Chukars a 6-1 lead over Casper. The Chukars never looked back, racking up 14 hits in a 13-3 blowout.

The homer was just Alfaro’s third of the season and first since June 30. Alfaro hit nine jacks last season in Idaho Falls, but his power has lessened as he’s worked to become less hack-happy at the plate.

Alfaro said he’s changed his approach, trying to hit liners up the middle instead of towering bombs.

“The home runs will come,” Alfaro said. “I’m not a home run hitter. There are guys on this team that are a lot bigger. I’m trying to get on base for them to drive me in.”

Chukars manager Darryl Kennedy said managers around the Pioneer League have wised up to Alfaro’s strengths his second year in the league.

“They know he’s got some power, and they’re going to attack him a little differently,” Kennedy said. “He’s made a good adjustment by using the whole field and not swinging for the fence so much.”

Alfaro’s knock was the most dramatic, but most of the Chukarrs enjoyed big days at the plate. Salvadore Perez batted 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Angel Franco had two hits to reach base for his Pioneer League-leading 24th straight game. Joey Lewis had two hits to run his on-base streak to 15 games spanning his entire time with the Chukars.

Deivy Batista, Wil Myers and Ryan Stovall each had two hits.

Chukars starter Bryan Paukovits pitched 5.2 innings to pick up the win. Paukovits gave up a solo home run but held Casper to two runs on six hits.

Paukovits ran into trouble in the second when he loaded the bases with no outs, but he struck out two Casper batters and induced an inning-ending ground ball to post a zero on the scoreboard.

“He bared down and made some great pitches,” Kennedy said. “It was good to see him get out of the inning, go deep in the game and get the win.”
The Chukars (18-12 in the second half, 37-28 overall) wrap up a three game series with Casper (13-16, 25-40) tonight at Melaleuca Field.

Kennedy waves home winning run against Ogden

Managers, in a way are figureheads.

They don’t turn hit singles, or locate fastballs, or turn double plays. Their strategic impact on the game, from aligning defenses, filling out the lineup card and calling for substitutions, account for runs here and there, but seldom swing games.

Wednesday night at Melaleuca Field, however, Chukars manager Darryl Kennedy won the game for the Chukars, who beat the Ogden Raptors 7-6 with a bit of heads-up base coaching in the bottom of the ninth.

With the score tied at six and runners on first and second with one out, Chukar Angel Franco laid a bunt down the first base line. Ogden’s catcher, Gorman Erickson, charged out to retrieve the ball and throw to first. Just as the ball reached first to beat the quick Franco by a step, Kennedy waved the slow-footed Tito Espinosa around third and to the undefended home plate for the winning, walk-off run.

“The catcher did a real good job coming out aggressively to get the out at first,” Kennedy said as the Chukars whooped it up in the locker room. “The pitcher went after the ball, and there was nobody at home plate.”

Kennedy said he tried to be sly as he sent Espinosa home.

“I didn’t want to start screaming, start throwing the red flag,” Kennedy I was glad Tito recognized it, too.”

The win was the second straight for the Chukars (14-8 in the second half, 34-24 overall) over Ogden (11-11, 35-24). The teams wrap up a three-game series tonight at Melaleuca Field.

As exciting as the finish was, Kennedy said he was more proud of how his team responded to Ogden posting four runs in the fifth. The Chukars immediately fired back, scoring five in the bottom of the inning on five hits, including a 2-RBI triple by J.D. Alfaro and an RBI double by Wil Myers, who played his second game with the Chukars after being drafted this year out of high school.

It was the second straight game the Chukars replied to big Ogden inning with a big inning of their own. On Tuesday, Ogden took a 5-0 lead in the top of first, but the Chukars came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning and eventually won, 8-5.
“If you look at the hit total, it’s not like we banged it around the ball park,” Kennedy said. “What I’m proud of is how those guys answered after they scored four runs. We came right back and put up five. The guys are refusing to quit. They battled their butts off tonight.”

Chukars fall short of a sweep

The Chukars took the first three games in Great Falls but fell short of a four-game sweep when it gave up a five-run eighth inning in a 6-5 loss Sunday afternoon.

Great Falls struck first with a Nick Ciloli solo home run in the first before Idaho Falls rallied with five consecutive two-out hits in the fifth to take a 3-1 lead. Tito Espinosa tacked on another run in the seventh with an RBI single and back-to-back doubles from Joey Lewis and J.D. Alfaro made it 5-1 in the eighth.

That’s when it all fell apart. With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Chukars reliever Richard Folmer walked two consecutive batters before hitting the next to load the bases. Two runs came home thanks to a fielder’s choice and an error. And then Ciloli hit another home run, this time a two-run homer, to give  Great Falls the win.

In his first professional start being selected by the Royals in the fourth round, Chris Dwyer gave up one run in 1.2 innings. He was on a limited pitch count.

Right-hander Carlos Arias pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless relief and Mitch Hodge bailed Ryan Morgan out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the seventh.

The Chukars finished their road trip into Montana 4-3, but lost more ground to Orem, which is 18-2 in the second half, six games ahead of the Chukars.

Idaho Falls is off Monday before starting a six-game home stand against Orem and Ogden.

Lamb, Chukars nearly perfect in win at Great Falls

Playing on the road, the Idaho Falls Chukars used dominant pitching and quirky offense to take a 2-0 win over Great Falls.

Chukars starter John Lamb retired the first 14 Great Falls batters before giving up an infield single to Jordan Cheatham in the fifth.

However, Lamb picked Cheatham off of first base and pitched through seven innings without allowing another base runner, then Richard Folmer pitched two perfect innings.

In all, 27 Great Falls batters stepped to the plate, and 27 Great Falls batters found their way back to the dugout after making an out. Lamb struck out seven Great Falls batters.

“Without a doubt, that was probably our best game of the year,” Chukars manager Darryl Kennedy said. “Everything was working (for Lamb). He was able to locate his fastball in and out, up and down, and he changed speeds when he needed to. An impressive outing.”

Lamb said picking off the lone Great Falls base runner was satisfying.

“Absolutely,” Lamb said. “Giving up a hit wasn’t the end of the world.

It’s going to happen. (J.D.) Alfaro nearly made a great play on the ball. (The base runner) got on, and we picked him up three pitches later.”

Despite Lamb’s near-perfect performance, the score was tied 0-0 when he left after seven innings. He picked up the win only after the Chukars used some unconventional offense in the top of the eighth.

Ryan Stovall led off the inning with a double. With two strikes, Julio Aparicio laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Stovall to third. Alfaro laid down a suicide squeeze bunt to bring home Stovall and give the Chukars a 1-0 lead. Alex Llanos then bunted for a single. After a Hilton Richardson double and an Angel Franco single, the Chukars led 2-0 and put Lamb win in position for the win.

Folmer struck out two batters while pitching a perfect eighth and ninth innings to earn his sixth save of the season.

Chukars have more errors than hits in loss to Billings

At Billings, Mont., the Idaho Falls Chukars lost 6-3 to the Billings Mustangs on Wednesday in a Pioneer League game that wasn’t as close as the final score.

Billings starting pitcher Oscar Castro held the Chukars to one hit over six innings to pick up the win. The Chukars ended the game with three hits and five errors, a losing combination, manager Darryl Kennedy said.

“The box score tells it all,” Kennedy said. “If you make more errors than hits, you don’t deserve to win. That’s

exactly how we played. We were lucky it was only 6-3.”

The Chukars (7-7) lost two games in the three-game series at Billings (5-8). Orem beat Missoula to improve to 14-1 for the second half and pull 5 1/2 games ahead of the Chukars in the Pioneer League South Division.

Errors bit the Chukars all night.

Billings hit well, racking up 11 hits, including five doubles. However, because of the Chukars fielding miscues, only two of Billings’ runs were earned.

The only offense the Chukars generated off Castro came in the sixth, when Angel Franco doubled home Ryan Stovall.

Stovall then scored on a Castro balk, one of the pitcher’s few mistakes. Castro struck out seven batters and walked one.

“You have to give (Castro) some credit,” Kennedy said. “He was doing everything we couldn’t’ do. He changed speeds and we swung at it.”

The Chukars scored a meaningless run in the ninth when J.D. Alfaro singled, then eventually came around to score on a single by Tito Espinosa.

The lone bright spot for the Chukars was reliever Scott Kelley, who pitched two scoreless innings. Kelley hasn’t given up a run is six innings since joining the Chukars.

“He’s got a good fastball, and he’s pretty deceptive with his motion,” Kennedy said. “I don’t think the hitters see the ball off of him. He pitched well again tonight.”

The Chukars begin a four-game series at 7 tonight at Great Falls, the one Pioneer League opponent the Chukars haven’t visited this season.

Chukars bounce back with win in Billings

Carlos Arias pitched five solid innings while Angel Franco and Deivy Batista each went 3-for-5 with a triple to lead the Idaho Falls Chukars to a 6-4 win over the Billings Mustangs on Tuesday in Billings, Mont.

The Chukars (9-6) scored a single run in the first, two in the fourth, one in the sixth and two more in the ninth.

The final two runs were needed after Billings hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth.

“That was a big inning for us,” Chukars manager Darryl Kennedy said. “It turned out to be huge. We missed a couple situations earlier in the game with a runner on third, and I was worried about those coming back to bite us, but we were able to scratch out a couple more runs in the ninth.”

Julio Aparicio led off the ninth with a double and J.D. Alfaro then reached first base on an error. After Alex Llanos struck out, Hilton Richardson belted an RBI double and Franco hit an RBI single to center.

Arias gave up two runs on three hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

One of the three hits was a two-run homer by Mariekson Gregorius.

Franco tripled and scored on Batista’s single in the first, and Franco singled and scored on Batista’s triple in the sixth.

Mitch Hodge pitched two scoreless innings of relief, giving up two hits and two walks. Richard Folmer gave up a two-run homer to Mark Fleury in the ninth to close out the scoring.

Rally wasted in loss in Billings

The Chukars mounted a rally Monday night in Billings, but ultimately a six-run deficit was too much to overcome in a 12-5 loss to the league’s worst team.

Billings starter Blair Carson kept the Chukars quiet through the first six innings when he faced three over the minimum as Billings built a 6-0 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Salvador Perez doubled, Ben Theriot singled and Julio Aparicio doubled to lead off the inning, push one run across and chase Carson.

The rally continued as Theriot scored on a J.D. Alfaro fielder’s choice, Aparicio scored when Alex Llanos reached on an error and Alfaro scored on a Hilton Richardson sacrifice fly.

Theriot made it 6-5 in the top of the eighth with a line-drive single to center, but that’s when it all fell apart.

“We dug ourselves hole, climbed out of then jumped back in it,” Chukars manager Darryl Kennedy said.

Reliever Pernell Halliman started the bottom of the eighth inning in relief of Scott Kelley and promptly walked four batters and gave up six runs while only getting two outs. One run scored on one of Halliman’s two wild pitches and Halliman walked in another to ruin any chance of a comeback.

The outing ballooned Halliman’s ERA to 7.18.

“We couldn’t throw a strikes,” Kennedy said. “We’d get two strikes on them and we couldn’t put them away. It was just a bad night on the pitching side with all the walks.”

Llanos went 3-for-4 with a double to lead the Chukars at the plate while Perez went 2-for-4 with two doubles.

The Chukars (8-6 in the second half, 28-22 overall) fell 4.5 games behind Orem in the second-half race and 3.5 games behind Orem in the full season standings. To qualify for the playoffs, the Chukars will either have to win the second half or finish ahead of Orem in the full season standings.

CHUKARS EXTRA: Still looking for a cleanup hitter

Outside of Deivy Batista, front, and Carlo Testa, who is out with a dislocated finger, the Chukars haven't been able to find a power bat in the middle of the order. Robert Bower / rbower@postregister.com

After a prolific start, the Chukars offense has fizzled and now ranks fifth in the eight-team Pioneer League in runs scored per game (5.51).

Part of the problem has been the cleanup spot. The No. 4 hitters in the Idaho Falls lineup have combined to hit just six home runs and drive in 23 runs in 47 games, paltry sums for the position usually afforded the most opportunities with runners aboard.

Four current Chukars have batted cleanup. Outfielder Carlo Testa has manned the spot 15 times, most on the team. Since July 18, Testa played more like the big bomb-hitting cleanup hitter prototype, clubbing three homers and driving in eight runs. But Testa’s pinky dislocation will keep him out of the lineup until the road trip and returns the four-hole to a state of flux.

Catcher Salvador Perez is most likely to bat fourth. Perez has batted cleanup 11 times, and at 6-foot-3 and a muscular 200 pounds, the Venezuelan certainly looks the part. However, while Perez hits for a .320 average, he doesn’t hit for much power. He’s hit two home runs.

Second baseman Deivy Batista, who has nine homers, has batted second or third all season. Testa, who has six, is the only other Chukar with more than three.

Of course, teams don’t need Babe Ruth to be successful, manager Darryl Kennedy pointed out.

Chukars fall again

Ben Theriot

The struggles continued for the Chukars on Wednesday as they lost 9-3 to make it five losses in the past six games.

The skid has turned a one-game lead in the Pioneer League’s South Division into a 2.5-game deficit with four games left on the first-half schedule.

“I wish I had an answer for it,” Chukars manager Darryl Kenned said a day after a 20-minute team meeting following Tuesday’s loss. “I don’t know. I don’t know. Teams are making the adjustment to us and we haven’t made an adjustment to them. I think offensively, they’re throwing a lot more breaking balls and we’re chasing a lot more. Pitching wise, we just haven’t commanded the zone very well.”

Orem shelled Chukars starting pitcher Ryan Morgan, making a spot start for Santiago Garrido who has a blister on a finger on his pitching hand, in the top of the first inning. All nine batters came to the plate in the first as Orem put up five runs off four hits, all of which were for extra bases.

While nine of the Chukars’ 18 wins are come-from-behind wins, it was just too much to ask for another one.

“I think it’s starting to wear on us a little bit,” Kennedy said. “It takes the wind out of our sails when you give up five in the first inning.”

Orem took an 8-0 lead before Idaho Falls could even get on the board. The Chukars scratched their first run on a Salvador Perez groundout in bottom of the fourth.

A Ben Theriot single to right field and an error from Orem second baseman Jean Segura accounted for the Chukars’ final two runs in the bottom of the six.

Theriot’s single extended his hitting streak to 10 games, the second longest by a Chukars this season. Deivy Batista, who was pulled from the game in the top of the third inning, has the longest streak at 11 games.

The Chukars wrap up a three-game series with Orem tonight at Melaleuca Field before hosting Ogden for a three-game set to end the first half. Ogden takes on Casper in a doubleheader today after a rainout Wednesday.

“I think coming down the last of the first half, everybody is pressing,” shortstop J.D. Alfaro said. “Like our skipper said, the team’s are adjusting to us on how we played at the beginning. They’re making changes and there are changes that we haven’t made yet. But I think we’ll come around.”

To see a breakdown of every scenario possible for the Chukars to take the first-half title, go to http://www.chukarscorner.com.

Chukars fall two games back with 2-0 loss

The Chukars fell two games out of the division lead Tuesday with a 2-0 loss at Melaleuca Field to the Orem Owlz.

The Chukars could only muster four hits of Orem’s pitching trio of Garrett Richards, Patrick Corbin and Jonathan Garret to suffer its second shutout of the season.

Corbin picked up the win and was particularly impressive, throwing five scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and striking out five. He and Garret’s seven scoreless innings out of the pen extended the Orem’s bullpen scoreless streak to 22 consecutive innings for.

Tuesday night problems were the opposite of Idaho Falls’ woes on the road, where it went averaged 6.4 runs a game. The trouble was a pitching staff that allowed eight runs a game and the club went 2-3.

But on Tuesday, despite giving up 10 hits and having the defense surrender three errors, pitchers Justin Garcia, Carlos Arias, Aneidy Toribio and Mitch Hodge combined to strand 11 runners and hold Orem to two runs.

“They pitched a good ball game,” Chukars manager Darryl Kennedy said. “They didn’t deserve to lose. But still, we’re making too many stupid mistakes, everywhere, the whole game, too many stupid mistakes.”

But fixing one problem to trade it for another isn’t helpful when Ogden, the current division leader, is pulling off eight-run eighth innings for a comeback win in Casper to extend its division lead.

The Chukars held a team meeting for 20 minutes in center field after the game.

Orem’s only runs came via its No. 9 hitter, Travis Witherspoon. Witherspoon, who went to high school and college with Chukars outfielder Allen Caldwell, tripled into the left-field corner to lead off the fifth inning of Arias.

The next batter, Jean Segura, grounded out to Angel Franco at second, allowing Witherspoon to score and make it 1-0.

Segura doubled in the third inning and singled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 21 games, 11 off the league record of 32.

Witherspoon struck again in the sixth inning. After third baseman J.D. Alfaro threw out a runner at home plate, Witherspoon followed with his second triple in as many innings. This time it went into the right-field corner, bringing home catcher Braulio Pardo.

The Chukars squandered their best run-scoring opportunity in the top of the eighth, when Angel Franco doubled with one out. But Alfaro and Deivy Batista both promptly struck out on a diet of low-and-away sliders from Garret.

Box score