Report from Rancho 4/9

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I had the opportunity to go to the RC Quakes game this last Friday evening (4/9) to see Scott Kazmir make his rehab start with our High-A affiliate.  I took some pictures, however I really only focused on players that have been discussed here (Kazmir, Willits, Baird, and Alexi Amarista).

via i967.photobucket.com. More game analysis + PICTURES! after the jump.

The game wasn't incredibly exciting, but the baseball gods were looking out for me, as our #28 prospect, Dillon Baird, hit a walk-off double in the 10th inning.  Reggie Willits, who is on a rehab assignment, also appeared in the game.  He went 2-3 with a double to the RCF gap, showing a little more pop than I'm used to seeing from him. I went to the game with a couple of friends, and naturally ended up getting there towards the end of warmups. Just missed Kaz's long toss, and the bullpen mound was back in a corner where I couldn't see.

 But I got this at least (notice Kazmir's Angels Red cleats):

Our #12 prospect, Amarista, warming up:

This kid really is comparably short-statured when around the more "normal" sized baseball players (I'm only 5' 8", so this isn't a knock on us shorter people):

But at least he's strong enough to lift his teammates:

Kazmir, done with warm-ups, heading to the dugout:

The one and only Reggie Willits up close & personal:

Someone next to me asked Reggie if he was going to be back with the Angels soon. His humble response: "I'm not sure right now, but I sure do hope so!" (Looks like he's getting his wish!)

"Ladies and Gentlemen, starting pitcher for your Quakes, #16 Scott Kazmir!"

Kazmir looked pretty good, blowing away hitters at will, but he didn't seem overly excited about pitching against A-ball hitters in an A-ball ballpark.  I was scared for a second in the 4th inning when timeout was called and a trainer came to the mound to talk to Kaz, but it was obviously nothing, as he pitched into the 7th.  For a stretch there, every RH hitter grounded out softly to 1st base, and every LH hitter to 3rd, meaning these kids had a lot of trouble catching up to a big league fastball.  He did seem to tire out during the 7th inning, which is when 2 of the 3 runs charged against him scored.  He left the game with runners on1st and 2nd, removed likely due to reaching his pitch limit.  

His final line in the boxscore: 6.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 6 K to 0 BB.

"Leading off for your Quakes, playing RF, #33 Reggie Willits!" (2-3 with a 2B):

Amarista went 0-5 with 2 K's, which was kind of a bummer for me:

And last but not least, the hero of the night, Dillion Baird!  He was 1-5 with 3 K's, but he made the 1 hit he did get count, blasting a walk-off 2B in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Quakes the win!:

In the field:

And at the plate:

Overall, I had a lot of fun seeing the young guys (yes, I'm only 23, but most of these guys look pretty damn young), and I would suggest getting to a Quakes game or two if you live around the area.  The most expensive seats are only $12!  

Hope you guys enjoyed the pictures, I did my best considering I suck at taking pictures! LOL. I have more pictures on my Photobucket page from this game, as well as some that I took from LF at the Angels game on Saturday (4/10). Enjoy! And just so you guys that are going to the May 15th Halosheaven game have an idea to what I might look like (that's me on the left):