Auburn-Alabama FRIDAY
Hey everyone. It's baseball night at the ol Ball Yard.
As a tribute to Virginia Tech, the teams are going with an unusual uniform scheme. Auburn is in orange. Alabama is in maroon. It's an attempt to mimic the Hokies' color scheme. I thought it was pretty cool. There was a moment of silence before the game as well.
There are several VT hats and shirts in the crowd tonight.
ALABAMA (22-16, 7-8)
2 Salem cf
6 May 2b
16 Avila dh
22 Matthes rf
25 Bentley 1b
32 Belcher lf
14 Smith 3b
1 Moore c
3 Paiml ss
7 Miers Quigley 4-2, 2.89 era
AUBURN (25-15, 4-11)
1 Edwards cf
8 Greinke 1b
4 Donaldson c
3 Bianucci lf
18 Sanders 3b
14 Spruill dh
5 Brooks 2b
7 Smith rf
2 Stringer ss
27 Paul Burnside 6-1, 2.87
--------GAME UPDATES--------
Top 1: Burnside looks good. Gives up a single to Avila, but strikes out two. No problem.
Alabama 0, Auburn 0.
Bot 1: Quigley is a slow worker. I hope he doesn't last long or else we'll be here all night. He struck out Bruce Edwards on a pitch that seemed low. Edwards wasn't happy with the call. Greinke grounded out. Donaldson singled to left field. Bianucci popped out to second base. Three poor ABs; one good one.
Alabama 0, Auburn 0.
Top 2: Burnside made a mistake. After hitting Bentley, he tried to sneak a full-count changeup by Belcher. That landed over the right-field wall. The next three batters were retired without incident. I was surpried to see former Edgewood Academy star Kyle Moore starting at catcher. I think of him as a SS/3B guy. He struck out.
Alabama 2, Auburn 0.
Bot 2: Spruill singled, Brooks drew a walk after a 12-pitch at-bat, then Smith hit a homer over the wall in left field. Immediately before the pitch to Smith, Alabama coach Jim Wells met with Quigley on the mound. Must've been some swell advice.
Getting worse for the Tide. Stringer and Edwards singled, Greinke drove them in with a single up the middle. Two more runs.
Bianucci hit a 92-mph fastball moments later that drove in another two runs.
Quigley is out. He threw 47 pitches in this inning alone. Only got two outs.
A reliever by the name of Kebodeaux came in. He coaxed two quick outs. Rally over at eight runs and six hits.
Auburn 8, Alabama 2.
Top 3: Alabama managed a couple of singles, but couldn't score. Burnside hit 94 mph at one point. He's working in the 89-91 range most of the time. His breaking pitches are anywhere from 83-88. He threw one changeup: 79.
Auburn 8, Alabama 2.
Bot 3: Two strikeouts and a weak pop-up to shortstop. Weak.
Auburn 8, Alabama 2.
Top 4: Belcher pop-up to right. Smith groundout. Kyle Moore nubbed one to Burnside's right. The pitcher snagged the ball bare-handed and threw out Moore. It was an outstanding play by Burnside.
Auburn 8, Alabama 2.
Bot 4: Edwards leads off with a bunt single, steals second, advances to third on a pass ball. Greinke singles to right to score Edwards easily. That's 3 RBIs for Greinke tonight already. I'd say that's a wrap. This place is loaded with people. Haven't seen it this full in a long time.
Auburn 9, Alabama 2.
Top 5: 1-2-3. Nothing.
Auburn 9, Alabama 2.
Bot 5: Mostly uneventful inning. Brooks reached on a single, then stole a base. Auburn is 4-for-4 on steal attempts tonight. I guess Kyle Moore has some work to do with his footwork. His arm looks plenty strong -- he just doesn't get the ball away quickly enough.
Auburn 9, Alabama 2.
Top 6: Matthes reached on a walk; the other three guys were retired without incident. Burnside is dominating. He's only thrown 86 pitches.
Auburn 9, Alabama 2.
Bot 6: Bianucci ripped a mammoth homer over the left-field wall with two outs. It was a majestic shot.
Auburn 10, Alabama 2.
Top 7: Sac fly by May scores one. Single by Avila scores another. Burnside's stuff is flattening out. This game is 2.5 hours old and he's probably just tired.
Auburn 10, Alabama 4.
Bot 7: Four up, three down. Not much happening.
Auburn 10, Alabama 4.
Top 8: Burnside is back out. I'm surprised. Alabama scores one after an awkward throwing error on Donaldson. Burnside is at 125 pitches. Surely that's enough for him. That's five consecutive 100+ pitch outings for Burnside.
Auburn 10, Alabama 5.
Bot 8: Bianucci went deep again -- his second homer of the game. It was good for two runs. He now has 5 RBIs.
Auburn 12, Alabama 5.
Top 9: Nothing happened. Nice win for the Tigers.
Auburn 12, Alabama 5.
-----END OF GAME-----
PLAYER OF THE GAME -- OF Mike Bianucci (3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBIs)
Auburn (26-15, 5-11)
Alabama (22-17, 7-9)
W -- Burnside (7-1); 8 ip, 6 h, 4 er, 3 bb, 7 k
L -- Quigley (4-3)
Att -- 3271
Time -- 3:02
***I won't be covering Saturday's game because of family stuff. I'll be back for Sunday's game, so check out this blog for in-game updates.
As a tribute to Virginia Tech, the teams are going with an unusual uniform scheme. Auburn is in orange. Alabama is in maroon. It's an attempt to mimic the Hokies' color scheme. I thought it was pretty cool. There was a moment of silence before the game as well.
There are several VT hats and shirts in the crowd tonight.
ALABAMA (22-16, 7-8)
2 Salem cf
6 May 2b
16 Avila dh
22 Matthes rf
25 Bentley 1b
32 Belcher lf
14 Smith 3b
1 Moore c
3 Paiml ss
7 Miers Quigley 4-2, 2.89 era
AUBURN (25-15, 4-11)
1 Edwards cf
8 Greinke 1b
4 Donaldson c
3 Bianucci lf
18 Sanders 3b
14 Spruill dh
5 Brooks 2b
7 Smith rf
2 Stringer ss
27 Paul Burnside 6-1, 2.87
--------GAME UPDATES--------
Top 1: Burnside looks good. Gives up a single to Avila, but strikes out two. No problem.
Alabama 0, Auburn 0.
Bot 1: Quigley is a slow worker. I hope he doesn't last long or else we'll be here all night. He struck out Bruce Edwards on a pitch that seemed low. Edwards wasn't happy with the call. Greinke grounded out. Donaldson singled to left field. Bianucci popped out to second base. Three poor ABs; one good one.
Alabama 0, Auburn 0.
Top 2: Burnside made a mistake. After hitting Bentley, he tried to sneak a full-count changeup by Belcher. That landed over the right-field wall. The next three batters were retired without incident. I was surpried to see former Edgewood Academy star Kyle Moore starting at catcher. I think of him as a SS/3B guy. He struck out.
Alabama 2, Auburn 0.
Bot 2: Spruill singled, Brooks drew a walk after a 12-pitch at-bat, then Smith hit a homer over the wall in left field. Immediately before the pitch to Smith, Alabama coach Jim Wells met with Quigley on the mound. Must've been some swell advice.
Getting worse for the Tide. Stringer and Edwards singled, Greinke drove them in with a single up the middle. Two more runs.
Bianucci hit a 92-mph fastball moments later that drove in another two runs.
Quigley is out. He threw 47 pitches in this inning alone. Only got two outs.
A reliever by the name of Kebodeaux came in. He coaxed two quick outs. Rally over at eight runs and six hits.
Auburn 8, Alabama 2.
Top 3: Alabama managed a couple of singles, but couldn't score. Burnside hit 94 mph at one point. He's working in the 89-91 range most of the time. His breaking pitches are anywhere from 83-88. He threw one changeup: 79.
Auburn 8, Alabama 2.
Bot 3: Two strikeouts and a weak pop-up to shortstop. Weak.
Auburn 8, Alabama 2.
Top 4: Belcher pop-up to right. Smith groundout. Kyle Moore nubbed one to Burnside's right. The pitcher snagged the ball bare-handed and threw out Moore. It was an outstanding play by Burnside.
Auburn 8, Alabama 2.
Bot 4: Edwards leads off with a bunt single, steals second, advances to third on a pass ball. Greinke singles to right to score Edwards easily. That's 3 RBIs for Greinke tonight already. I'd say that's a wrap. This place is loaded with people. Haven't seen it this full in a long time.
Auburn 9, Alabama 2.
Top 5: 1-2-3. Nothing.
Auburn 9, Alabama 2.
Bot 5: Mostly uneventful inning. Brooks reached on a single, then stole a base. Auburn is 4-for-4 on steal attempts tonight. I guess Kyle Moore has some work to do with his footwork. His arm looks plenty strong -- he just doesn't get the ball away quickly enough.
Auburn 9, Alabama 2.
Top 6: Matthes reached on a walk; the other three guys were retired without incident. Burnside is dominating. He's only thrown 86 pitches.
Auburn 9, Alabama 2.
Bot 6: Bianucci ripped a mammoth homer over the left-field wall with two outs. It was a majestic shot.
Auburn 10, Alabama 2.
Top 7: Sac fly by May scores one. Single by Avila scores another. Burnside's stuff is flattening out. This game is 2.5 hours old and he's probably just tired.
Auburn 10, Alabama 4.
Bot 7: Four up, three down. Not much happening.
Auburn 10, Alabama 4.
Top 8: Burnside is back out. I'm surprised. Alabama scores one after an awkward throwing error on Donaldson. Burnside is at 125 pitches. Surely that's enough for him. That's five consecutive 100+ pitch outings for Burnside.
Auburn 10, Alabama 5.
Bot 8: Bianucci went deep again -- his second homer of the game. It was good for two runs. He now has 5 RBIs.
Auburn 12, Alabama 5.
Top 9: Nothing happened. Nice win for the Tigers.
Auburn 12, Alabama 5.
-----END OF GAME-----
PLAYER OF THE GAME -- OF Mike Bianucci (3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBIs)
Auburn (26-15, 5-11)
Alabama (22-17, 7-9)
W -- Burnside (7-1); 8 ip, 6 h, 4 er, 3 bb, 7 k
L -- Quigley (4-3)
Att -- 3271
Time -- 3:02
***I won't be covering Saturday's game because of family stuff. I'll be back for Sunday's game, so check out this blog for in-game updates.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
6:08 PM
1 Comments
