Washington Sweeps Richmond, Beats Duluth April 22, 1999
(AP) DULUTH, MN--They're not the best team in the PVBL yet, but they're
definitely the hottest.
Washington completed a three-game sweep of Richmond to take the division
lead yesterday. And today, Chuck Knoblauch hit a three-run homer in the
top of the seventh inning to create an insurmountable lead as Washington
beat Duluth 6-2 to win their fourth straight.
Knoblauch, whose homer was his second of the season, had two hits and
three RBI on the day. While he has been a leadoff hitter for most of
his career, Knoblauch says he's becoming very comfortable in an RBI role.
"If anything, there's less pressure batting fifth than at the leadoff
spot," Knoblauch said. "You don't have to take quite so many pitches and
get yourself in holes."
Ben McDonald threw seven innings of four-hit ball, just two of them after
the first inning. He walked two and struck out five, and picked up his
second victory of the season.
Catcher Ben Petrick was impressed with McDonald's performance.
"He must have hit my glove a dozen times today, exactly where I put it,"
Petrick said. "I don't know if I've ever seen him pitch better."
McDonald was also excited about the outing.
"I think I'm starting to find my groove this season," said McDonald, who
lowered his ERA to 3.0. "It took me a couple games last year too, but
once it happened I had it all year long."
The win keeps Washington in first place in the Data Division, one game
ahead of the also-surging Phoenix Gila Monsters. While they'd like their
lead to be bigger, Washington is somewhat grateful for the Gila Monsters'
streak.
"It's kept pressure on us to perform," shortstop Barry Larkin said. "So
we've had our game faces on every single day, even though it's early in
the season."
Washington will play three more in Duluth. Tomorrow, Washington will
throw young aces Mackenzee Leefenhaufenhauz and Shawn Estes against
Duluth in a doubleheader. Scheduled starters for Duluth are Garth
Kitchens and Chris Gott, but Duluth's earth-shaking trade of Alex
Rodriguez may change their rotation.
"We're guessing that we're gonna end up facing Neagle but not Dickson in
this series," manager Aaron Weiner said. "We're sure of one thing; the
Duluth pitching staff is no longer the joke of the league."
Washington moved to 9-4, best record in the Defiant's young season.
Duluth fell to 5-8.
Notes and Quotes:
"When I see players like Alex Rodriguez and Greg Maddux changing hands,
I'm thankful for the job security a team like Washington provides. I know
I'm not going anywhere for a long time."
-Shortstop Barry Larkin
* * *
Washington GM Aaron Weiner revealed today after the Alex Rodriguez trade
that the Sea Dogs were indeed trying to acquire the young shortstop before
he was traded to Edmonton.
"We were offering some pretty major stuff to Duluth," Weiner said. "We've
got a pretty deep farm system, and I'll tell ya...it wasn't gonna look too
deep if we pulled the deal we were offering."
It is assumed that part of Washington's offer included the top shortstop
prospect in the minors, Dennis Abreu, and starting pitching prospect Buddy
Moisan.
"You'd be surprised at some of the names that were floating around there,"
Weiner said. "We threw out some pretty big guys, some people that we're
fortunate enough to be able to keep."
* * *
Washington's pursuit of Rodriguez betrays their greatest weakness - a lack
of consistent powerhitting. Though Washington has four players with .500
slugging percentages, the entire team has less homers than Calgary's Frank
Thomas.
Despite this fact, and despite the fact that cleanup hitter Robin Ventura
is fighting the Mendoza line, manager Aaron Weiner is not fretting.
"We're not dissatisfied with our cleanup position," Weiner said. "Robin's
driven in 10 runs in 13 games; that's no slouch."
When it was suggested that with Lance Johnson leading off and Barry Larkin
batting third, a monkey could drive in runs, Weiner retorted, "But he's
OUR monkey. And he'll eventually hit like an ape."
