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AUSTRALIANS IN THE MAJORS

Week in Review 

Here is the latest on the Australians participating in Major League Baseball Spring Training.  Players whose names are in bold are still with their Major League teams.  Note: hyperlinks in this section lead to MLB.com pages wrapping up these particular games, in-text hyperlinks are to video clips of those plays.

Grant Balfour (Glenwood NSW) pitching for the Oakland Athletics is 1-1 with a 2.68 ERA over 36 appearances.  He has earned seven Saves while allowing 11 runs on 23 hits and 15 walks while striking out 30.  The Athletics are 36-39 (.421) in 3^rd place in the AL West 10 games behind the Texas Rangers.

• 22 June – Grant pitched 1.1 innings striking out one in a 5-4 loss to visiting San Francisco.  He came on in the 7^th with the score 3-1 Oakland with runners on 1^st and 2^nd and two outs recorded; he got Joaquin Arias to fly out to right to end the inning.  Grant then pitched a perfect 8th: Gregor Blanco was called out on strikes; Ryan Theriot flied out to right; and Melky Cabrera grounded out to short.
• 25 June – Grant pitched one inning striking out one in Oakland’s 1-0 win over visiting Seattle.  He came on in the 8^th, with the final score in place, and pitched a perfect inning: John Jaso was called out on strikes; Ichiro Suzuki grounded out to short; and Franklin Gutierrez flied out to centre.
  

Travis Blackley (Cheltenham VIC, Melbourne Aces) (Twitter: @Travis_Blackley) pitching for the Oakland Athletics is 1-2 with a 3.69 ERA over 13 appearances including six starts.  He’s pitched 46.1 innings allowing 22 runs, 19 earned, on 40 hits and 11 walks while striking out 28.  The Athletics are 36-39 (.421) in 3^rd place in the AL West 10 games behind the Texas Rangers.

• 21 June – Travis pitched eight innings, six of them perfectly, allowing one earned run on three hits while striking out six and walking none.  He got no-decision in the A’s 4-1 win over the visiting Dodgers in his fifth start for Oakland.  He was perfect through the first three innings; in the 4^th he allowed a double to Elian Herrera who scored two batters later on a Juan Rivera single, he then ended the inning by picking Rivera off first.  He was perfect in the 5^th and 6th; in the 7^th he faced four batters, allowing a double to Juan Rivera.  His 8^th was his final inning and another perfect one.  He left the game with score tied at 1-all and Oakland won on a three-run walk-off Yoenis Cespedes home run.
• 26 June – Travis pitched seven innings allowing two earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out three in the A’s 3-2 loss at Seattle.  He got no decision in his sixth start.  He pitched a perfect 1^st, allowed a lead-off single in the 2^nd; in the 3^rd he allowed two runs on three hits and a sacrifice; the 4^th was perfect; the 5^th he allowed a walk then picked off the runner, then got a ground out and a fly out; the 6^th and 7^th were perfect.  When he was relieved the score was tied at two-all.
  

Liam Hendriks (Carine WA, Perth Heat) pitching for the Minneapolis Twins is 0-5 with a 6.82 ERA over seven appearances, all starts.  He’s pitched 34.1 innings allowing 32 runs on 51 hits and six walks while striking out 22.  The Athletics are 30-43 (.411) in 5^th, last, place in the AL Central, 8.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox.

• 21 June – Liam copped his 4^th loss this season, second since he was recalled from Triple-A Rochester, pitching five innings allowing six runs, though only three earned, on eight hits while striking out three in the Twins 9-1 loss at Pittsburgh.  He faced six batters in the 1^st, allowing one to score; in the 2^nd he faced seven batters with three scoring.  The 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th innings were good with no runs scoring and facing only one batter over the minimum.  In the 6^th he allowed a single and homerun before being relieved.
• 26 June – Liam wore his 5^th loss pitching 6.1 innings allowing three earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out five in the Twins 3-2 loss to the visiting White Sox.  He faced four batters in the 1^st and 2^nd; pitched a perfect 3^rd; two runs scored in the 4^th on a walk and home run; he pitched a perfect 5^th and 6^th.  In the 7^th he allowed another run to score on two singles while striking out one before being relieved.  When Liam came out the score was 3-0 White Sox.  Liam, and manager Ron Gardenhire, discuss this game in video interviews here.

 

 

BALFOUR THRIVING BACK IN SETUP ROLE FOR A’s

 

OAKLAND A’s TRAVIS BLACKLEY TRACKING AHEAD OF THE CURVE

 

BLACKLEY ENJOYING A’s VERSION OF GREEN AND GOLD

 

MINNESOTA TWINS DROUGHT ENDS FOR GAVIN FLOYD, NOT LIAM HENDRIKS

 

AUSTRALIANS ARE THE BEST AND BOB IS, IN FACT, YOUR UNCLE

 

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MLB AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY PROGRAM

 

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