Game 13: Bears 9-5

	Jeff Muessig 1-2, 4.86 ERA*		Pat Stanley 0-0, 4.00 ERA

The Barnstormers get their first look at a Freedom Division rival tonight. It happens to be the defending Atlantic League champ. Newark doesn’t much resemble its 2007 form. There’s no more Vic Rodriguez. No more Javier Colina. The Bears are off to a 5-7 start, mostly because their team ERA is 5.91.

Jeff Muessig will make his debut for the Barnstormers. The righthander was acquired in a trade with the Joliet Jackhammers of the Northern League on Tuesday. He’s another Von Hayes guy. Muessig played for Hayes most recently at Double-A Midland in 2006.

This is a one-time start for Muessig and he’ll be on a 70-80 pitch count. After this outing, the Barnstormers hope he’ll bring some stability to the bullpen. He has a lifetime 3.64 ERA and terrific K/9 and H/9 stats from his previous stops in the minors.

*Stats above are from Muessig’s time at Single-A Stockton last season.

---

Who is Yamel Guevara?: The righthander was a phenom on the Cuban National Team prior to defecting to the Dominican Republic via boat in October of 2004. In one season in Cuba, he posted a 10-2 record and 2.06 ERA. Following his defection, he was expected to ascend to the major leagues.

Guevara’s career never got going in the States. Some minor league sites speculated the pitcher was injured and lost velocity on his fastball. He says he was never hurt. At any rate, the last time Guevara pitched professionally was in Nicaragua in 2006. He worked out for the Toronto Blue Jays about two months ago and wasn’t signed.

Once a 95 mph fireballer, Guevara threw 88-90 in his workout for the Barnstormers earlier this week. They signed him to fill the fifth slot in their rotation. He’ll be available in the bullpen until his first scheduled start on May 17. This is a chance for Guevara to re-establish himself.

“It means a lot,” Guevara said through Juan Francia, who was serving as an interpreter. “This is a big opportunity to see if I can have a chance to play in a major league organization.”

---

Links:

*Game 12 box

*Stormers stats … Bears stats

*Ross Peeples has been released

---

Lineups …

(4-8 )	(5-7)
Mike Woods, RF	Bobby Hill, SS
Lloyd Turner, DH	Brian Burgamy, 2B
Brian Stavisky, LF	Cory Aldridge, LF
Vasili Spanos, 3B	Randall Simon, DH
Ian Bladergroen, 1B	Jose Herrera, RF
Lance Burkhart, C	Keith Reed, CF
Danny Gonzalez, SS	Val Majewski, 1B
Jutt Hileman, CF	Scott Knazek, C
Juan Francia, 2B	Tim Sweeney, 3B

Scoring summary …

Barnstormers	001	100	102	5	5	2
Bears	010	004	40x	9	8	2

FINAL: Bears 9, Barnstormers 5

Bears 2nd: Reed’s triple scores Simon.
Newark leads 1-0.

Stormers 3rd: Burkhart’s groundout scores Stavisky.
Game tied at 1.

Stormers 4th: Woods’ single scores Francia.
Lancaster leads 2-1.

Bears 6th: Francia’s throwing error scores Hill. Reed’s home run scores Burgamy and Herrera. Newark leads 5-2.

Stormers 7th: Spanos’ groundball scores Turner.
Newark leads 5-3.

Bears 7th: Hill’s double scores Sweeney. Burgamy’s double scores Hill. Simon’s single scores Burgamy. Herrera’s fielder’s choice scores Aldridge.
Newark leads 9-3.

Stormers 9th: Woods scores on Majewski’s fielding error. Spanos’ sacrifice fly scores Turner.
Newark leads 9-5.

---

RECORD: 4-9

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Keith Reed (2-for-4 with 4 RBIs)

Reed’s three-run homer in the sixth inning was the turning point. It snapped a 2-2 tie and put the Bears ahead to stay. The CF also had an RBI triple in the second.

---

*The pitchers:

*Ricardo Gomez made an emergency start because Jeff Muessig was not yet cleared to pitch. Gomez responded with a solid performance. His line …

4 IP

1 H

1 R

1 ER

2 BB

4 K

Even with his 90+ velocity, which is above average by Atlantic League standards, Gomez hadn’t gotten many swings and misses in his previous appearances. So the four Ks in this outing were encouraging. The team said it plans to use newcomer Yamel Guevara in the rotation. If that doesn’t pan out, perhaps Gomez is worth considering. He started in the South Coast League last year.

*Nate Hoelscher allowed four unearned runs in the sixth. He was nearly out of the inning unscathed, but 2B Juan Francia’s throwing error kept the Bears’ at-bat alive. Reed followed with his three-run homer to give Newark a 5-2 lead. Hoelscher doesn’t match up well against right-handed hitters, but you can’t play matchups when you’re shorthanded in the pen.

It unraveled for Hoelscher in the seventh as he was pushed longer than the Barnstormers would have liked. His line …

2.1 IP

5 H

7 R

3 ER

1 BB

2 K

*Pat Cassa worked the final 1 2/3. He only allowed one run, but also allowed two more inherited runners to score.

*It was another disaster for the bullpen, although bullpens aren’t built to withstand games like this one. The Barnstormers’ lack of a fifth starter has wrecked them early in the season.

---

The hitters:

*It was a rough night for the offense. The Barnstormers left 10 runners on base. They were handed nine walks and a hit batter – most of that coming in the first four innings — and couldn’t capitalize.

*Mike Woods extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the fourth and scored his eighth run.

*Vasili Spanos reached base safely three times and drove in a run. He’s not a prototypical cleanup hitter because he doesn’t hit a ton of home runs. The Barnstormers really don’t have righthanded bopper with Matt LeCroy out. But Spanos’ .458 on-base percentage is a nice contribution.

*Francia committed two errors in his second start at 2B. That’s not going to endear him to the defensive-minded skipper. On the plus side, he stole two bases and scored a run.

*The Barnstormers are 0-7 on the road. Those with good memories will recall they started 0-9 on the road last season.