To make things easier for our loyal suscribers we will adopt a new format of
providing news involving AUSTRALIAN Players in yellow text, while 
news about former AMLB IMPORT Players will be in white text.

Grant Balfour

Tampa Bay Rays' hard-throwing Australian reliever GRANT BALFOUR was his typical dominant self today, with yet another overpowering scoreless inning added to his fabulous statistics this season. ‘Balf’ pitched 1.0ip 0h 0er 0bb 0k (1.48ERA) during a 4-0 shutout win over the Oakland Athletics after relieving ace All-Star Scott Kazmir to pitch the eighth inning. His powerless victims on this occasion were Brooks Conrad, who flied out to left field, before Mark Ellis grounded out to the third baseman and Kurt Suzuki grounded out to the second baseman. As usual, Grant was touching 96mph with his predominant fastball attack, while throwing eleven of his fifteen total pitches for strikes!

Backup catcher DAVID ROSS (MLB All-Stars 2001) was effective on offence again today for the Cincinnati Reds, batting 1-2 (.261) with a run scored and two walks, even though his team was defeated 4-6 by the San Diego Padres.

MATT HERGES (Adelaide Giants 1999) was just one of the Colorado Rockies pitchers to take some nasty medicine today during their wild 10-16 loss to an unusually rampant Los Angeles Dodgers. Herges was not the worst of the ‘Rox’ throwers today with his 1.0ip 3h 4er 1bb 0k (4.31ERA).

Grant Balfour

 
Ryan R-Smith

Ron Mahay

Ryan Langerhans

Firstly, going back to Saturday following the All-Star break, Aussie fireballer GRANT BALFOUR was his scorching hot self again while collecting his fourth save of the year for the Tampa Bay Rays in their narrow 2-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. ‘Balf’ was the man for the pressure job once again after replacing J.C Howell with two out and a runner perched on third in the top of the eighth inning. His first task was to strand the runner by having the hard-hitting Alex Rios struck out swinging at a 95mph heater after been fed a steady diet of seven straight fastballs. Back to polish off the job in the ninth Grant had Matt Stairs called out on strikes, Rod Barajas popped out to third base and Lyle Overbay struck out fanning at another 95mph bullet. Balfour’s impressive line was 1.1ip 0h 0er 0bb 3k (1.54ERA).

Australia’s RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH was asked to display his versatility once again yesterday, this time pitching as the “long man” out of the bullpen for the Seattle Mariners during their 6-9 defeat by the Cleveland Indians. Ryan had the always unenviable job of trying to put the brakes on a runaway train after the ‘Tribe’ had plundered seven hits and eight runs from starter Miguel Batista who failed to get an out in the third inning. Our man entered the deluge in the top of the third with two runners still on base and nobody out, but he did a man-sized job to pitch up to the end of the sixth inning with 4.0ip 4h 1er 3bb 5k (3.44ERA). In fact he got better after a wobbly beginning in the third when a throwing error cashed in another run for Bautista, followed by two doubles to left field from Franklin Gutierrez and Jamey Carroll, the latter nailing ‘RRS’ for his only earned run of the outing. The only other serious moment for him was when Franklin Gutierrez doubled again in the fifth but it came to nothing before he handed the ball to R.A Dickey to start the seventh inning.

… and in other games over the weekend:

RON MAHAY (Gold Coast Cougars 1996) recorded his 15th and 16th holds of the season over the weekend, pitching for the Kansas City Royals in two victories over the Chicago White Sox. He pitched 1.0ip 2h 0er 1bb 1k (1.78ERA) in an 8-7 win today and 0.2ip 0h 0er 1bb 0k in their 9-1 triumph yesterday.

A pair of former AMLB imports were in the thick of the action for the Washington Nationals during their most recent road series against the Atlanta Braves. PAUL LoDUCA (Adelaide Giants 1995) batted 1-6 (.230) while RYAN LANGERHANS (IBLA Internationals 2001) batted 2-6 (.267) with a RBI in their most recent 15-6 win. Prior to that LoDuca batted 2-5 with two RBI’s and Langerhans 2-3 in another 8-2 win. In the preceding game ‘Paulie’ batted 1-5 with two RBI’s and Ryan managed 2-4 with a RBI during a 6-7 loss to the Braves.

Catcher DAVID ROSS (MLB All-Stars 2001) contributed 1-4 (.257) with a RBI for the Cincinnati Reds in a 7-2 win over the New York Mets.  

Unable to do enough for the Houston Astros in their 0-9 hammering by the Chicago Cubs were GEOFF BLUM (Hunter Eagles 1995) who batter 1-4 (.213) or reliever CHAD PARONTO (Perth Heat 1998) who pitched 0.2ip 1h 0er 0bb 0k (3.86ERA).

MATT HERGES (Adelaide Giants 1999) pitched a tidy 1.0ip 0h 0er 0bb 1k (3.64ERA) to help his Colorado Rockies to contain the New York Mets 7-1.

Texas Rangers’ veteran “workhorse” KEVIN MILLWOOD (Melbourne Monarchs 1997) was saddled with his sixth defeat of the year after dishing up nearly two hits per inning in a 0-6 shutout loss to the Minnesota Twins. ‘Big Kev’ saw his record slide further to 6-6, 5.23ERA after his battling 6.1ip 11h 5er 1bb 6k performance in this game.

Luke Hughes

Australia’s LUKE HUGHES had the honour of being selected as the starting third baseman for the WORLD Team that triumphed 3-0 over Team USA in Major League Baseball’s prestigious FUTURES GAME. The maturing WA infielder has earned his selection by batting a consistent .328 for the Minnesota Twins ‘AA’ team New Britain Rock Cats this season, with a .589 slugging percentage.

Hughes flied out to centre field to end the first inning then struck out swinging while hoping to protect a stealing runner in the top of the fourth. He was part of traditional mid-game defensive replacements in the bottom of the fifth after batting 0-2, but he did initiate a neat double play during his time in the field.

The big new for Luke Hughes, and many of the other players who played in this showcase game, is that it has proven a conduit for players who have gone on to reach the major league level. Our best of luck to him for the same future!

Ryan R-Smith

Grant Balfour

Paul LoDuca

Aussie RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH may not have enjoyed his return to the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen today after making two starts for the team recently when he found the going tough during the M’s 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals. Ryan replaced starter Carlos Silva to start the bottom of the seventh and he was immediately under pressure after Ross Gload and John Buck both punched singles up the middle to open the inning. The situation became even more sticky when David DeJesus laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. That was all for Rowland-Smith today when he was replaced by Sean Green with one out in the frame. However, by the vagaries of baseball scoring, he collected a hold, even after Green cashed in one of his earned runs for his 0.1ip 2h 1er 0bb 0k (3.53ERA) effort today. RON MAHAY (Gold Coast Cougars 1996) pitched 1.0ip 1h 0er 0bb 1k (1.84ERA) for Kansas City.

Another Aussie, GRANT BALFOUR, had a similar experience yesterday when he came into the bottom of the eighth inning for the Tampa Bay Rays who were well on their way to a 4-8 loss to the Cleveland Indians. Grant would have expected a quick end to the inning with two out and none on, but he dug himself a hole with a six pitch full-count walk to Ben Francisco and a seven pitch full-count walk to Jhonny Peralta. Veteran Casey Blake saddled ‘Balf’ with an earned run with his RBI single to left field, but the inning also ended when Peralta was put out at third base on the play.

Not to dwell on that outing, GRANT BALFOUR was back to his more normal, highly effective, self today when he contributed a strong 2.0ip 1h 0er 1bb 2k (1.64ERA) for the Rays in their 2-5 loss to the ‘Tribe’. This time Grant replaced ace starter Scott Kazmir for the bottom of the seventh to open with a commanding 1-2-3 inning. He had Jamey Carroll struck out swinging, Ben Francisco ground out to the third baseman and Jhonny Peralta ground out back to the mound for his own assist.
Back for the bottom of the eighth he had Casey Blake “whiffed” before Ryan Garko drove a double to right field. Then after getting Andy Marte to fly out to centre field, he filled the open first base with a strategic walk to Sal Fasano. It worked out for him when the light hitting Franklin Gutierrez flied out to right field to conclude his solid day’s work.

… and in other games over the weekend:

PAUL LoDUCA (Adelaide Giants 1995) batted 2-4 (.226) and scored a run, which was not quite enough for his Washington Nationals who were outscored 4-6 by the Houston Astros. In the same game RYAN LANGERHANS (IBLA Internationals 2001) pinch hit with 0-1 (.194) for the ‘Nats’ while GEOFF BLUM (Hunter Eagles 1995) could have been a villain for the ‘Stros’ after batting 0-5 (.212) with SIX left on base!

Veteran starter KEVIN MILLWOOD (Melbourne Monarchs 1997) was hit hard with 5.1ip 10h 5er 4bb 4k to take his fifth loss of the season for the Texas Rangers who were trumped 7-9 by the Chicago White Sox. ‘Big Kev’s’ record slipped to 6-5, 5.11ERA.

Things were even worse for Houston reliever CHAD PARONTO (Perth Heat 1998) the previous day when he took a painful loss for the Astros in a 0-10 hammering by the Nationals. Making his second appearance for the season, Paronto was tagged for 2.1ip 6h 3er 1bb 1k to see his record fall to 0-1, 4.26ERA.

DAVID ROSS (MLB All-Stars 2001) batted 1-2 (.270) with a RBI and two walks for the Cincinnati Reds, helping them to a 6-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Grant Balfour

Newsflash for Australian baseball fans… GRANT BALFOUR is human!! More seriously, he was the unfortunate reliever to be on the mound when the New York Yankees snatched a narrow 2-1 win over his Tampa Bay Rays in the tenth inning. ‘Balf’ entered the game with one out in the ninth inning, but a runner in scoring position on second base. The first action he saw was Yankee runner Justin Christian stealing third base, however, he was left stranded there when Grant struck out Melky Cabrera on a foul tip, then had Jose Molina pop out to the second baseman. Back to start the tenth he immediately had Brett Gardner called out on strikes after four searing fastballs that capped at 96mph. The decisive moment in the game came when star Yankee captain Derek Jeter worked an eight pitch, full-count walk. This set the table for the ever dangerous veteran Bobby Abreu who fought off five trademark Balfour fastballs before latching onto a changeup to slap the game winning double up the middle. While he will not be feeling too happy with the outcome, Grant Balfour has nothing to feel negative about his 1.0ip 1h 1er 1bb 2k effort that saw his record slip slightly to 2-1, 1.37ERA. He has been nothing short of brilliant this season but, as a relief pitcher in the big league, this had to happen sooner or later!

Grant Balfour

Vernon Wells

You’ll have to excuse us if we seem to be running out of ways to praise the OUTSTANDING performances of Australian pitcher GRANT BALFOUR this year. Maybe we can by-pass the superlatives by simply marvelling at his 2-0 record, his three saves, his more than three-to-one strikeout versus walk ratio and his miniscule earned run average that has now shrunk to BELOW ONE!! 
Once again today Grant faced a nasty assignment when asked to blunt a few of the toughest of ‘Bronx Bombers’ in his Tampa Bay Rays 0-5 shutout loss to the New York Yankees in famous Yankee Stadium. ‘Balf’ replaced the Rays’ ace starter Scott Kazmir to start the bottom of the sixth inning and he could hardly have been more imposing by striking out veteran Bobby Abreu with a sinker, then he fanned superstar Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez with a 96mph fastball. He then erased a Jorge Posada single to centre field when he got Wilson Betemit to ground into a fielder’s choice force out. Balfour’s line today was 1.0ip 1h 0er 0bb 2k (0.96ERA) before he handed over the bottom of the seventh to GARY GLOVER (Sydney Storm 1999) who pitched a less impressive 1.0ip 3h 3er 0bb 0k (4.05ERA) which saw the Yankees ice the game.

VERNON WELLS (Sydney Storm 1999) batted a most valuable 2-4 (.284) with two RBI’s and a run scored for the Toronto Blue Jays, helping them to sneak past the Baltimore Orioles 7-6.

Continuing his strong season for the Kansas City Royals in their 5-7 loss to the Chicago White Sox was reliable reliever RON MAHAY (Gold Coast Cougars 1996) who pitched 0.2ip 1h 0er 0bb 0k (1.91ERA).

MATT HERGES (Adelaide Giants 1999) took some lumps during his Colorado Rockies 3-7 defeat by the contending Milwaukee Brewers, pitching 1.2ip 2h 3er 2bb 2k (3.80ERA) today.

From now on we will devote our time to bringing only the HIGHLIGHTS and important updates about former IMPORT players while we will, of course, try to bring you every move made by any AUSTRALIAN players in the big league. We will continue to maintain our stats for both Australian pro players and former imports in the major league as we have in the past. We hope you understand the reason for this small change in our service to subscribers.

Phil Stockman
Australia's
No.23

'Flintoff & Dunn' CONGRATULATES AUSTRALIA'S No.23 player to reach the US major leagues on 15 June 2006 (US time), 6'8", 26yo Queensland RH pitcher PHIL STOCKMAN 
Australia salutes its 23rd player to reach the pinnacle of world baseball in the US major leagues with the debut of Queensland's 6'8" pitching giant PHIL STOCKMAN for the famous Atlanta Braves. Stockman, who arrived at Atlanta from the Arizona Diamondbacks this season, has earned his call-up to the struggling Braves' big league roster after his outstanding form at 'AAA' Richmond and 'AA' Mississippi this season. Stockman made his debut pitching the bottom of the eighth inning for the Braves in their 2-3 loss to the Florida Marlins in front of a paltry 7,162 hard-core fans at Miami's Dolphins Stadium. 
'Big Phil' did not allow any further damage to the scoreboard, even after the first batter he faced, Jeremy Hermida slapped a double to right field on a full count. He then got an assist for fielding a sacrifice bunt from Alfredo Amezaga for his first major league out. Stockman tidied up the inning by leaving Hermida stranded on third when he induced Miguel Olivio to fly out on a 3-1 pitch and then pinch-hitter Joe Borchard lined out sharply to centrefield. In all Stockman threw 9 of his 17 pitches for strikes in a quite impressive debut performance of 1.0ip 1h 0er 0bb 0k (0.00ERA). Nice job "big fella"!

Peter Moylan
Australia's
No.22

'Flintoff & Dunn' CONGRATULATES AUSTRALIA'S No.22 player to reach the US major leagues on 13 April 2006 (US time), 27yo Victorian utility / RH pitcher PETER MOYLAN. 
So, here's one for "Ripleys Believe it or Not?" Peter Moylan, as the commentators at the recent World Baseball Classic would constantly remind us, is the previously unknown pharmaceuticals salesman from Melbourne, Australia who somehow rose from obscurity to find a three-quarter arm fastball in the 95mph range that dazzled some of the major leagues best hitters. 'Big Pete' Moylan is not such a surprise to Australian baseball fans as a guy who has been at the forefront of Aussie baseball for some time. In fact, to explain his versatility, Peter Flintoff recently witnessed him playing at third base and smashing two monster home runs for his Victorian club team Blackburn against the powerhouse club Waverley... he also recently played at first base and pitched in relief for Victoria at the Claxton Shield... that is the type of player that Moylan is! In fact, it was the somewhat eye-catching and remarkable side-arm velocity of Moylan at Blacktown in 2006 that led legendary Australian scout and pitching great Phil Dale to sign Moylan on a minor league contract to join the famous Atlanta Braves. Fast forward to 13 April 2006 and there we find Peter Moylan summoned from the Braves bullpen at Turner Field, in front of 37,107 fans to pitch late relief against the Philadelphia Phillies who were already on their way to a 7-5 victory. Moylan pitched 1.0ip 1h 0er 0bb 1k to become the 22nd Australian player to reach the US major leagues. Pete entered the game in the eighth inning to induce a fly out from Ryan Howard before David Bell drove a two-base hit. He then had catcher Mike Leiberthal pop out to first before halting the inning with David Delluci called out on strikes. In all he threw 16 pitches on debut and nine of them were for strikes. Way to go PETE!