There are just 10 days left in the 2020 MLB season before playoffs, and the two teams with Aussies on their 40-man rosters are in the postseason picture.
West Australian Liam Hendriks leads the league with 13 saves while Victorian Lewis Thorpe remains at Minnesota's alternate training site after appearing in seven games. LIAM HENDRIKS WA's Liam Hendriks recorded the final five outs for his Major League-leading 13th save of the year as Oakland improved to 31-19 on Wednesday, 16 September. Hendriks struck out two and allowed one hit across 1 2/3 innings as the A’s topped Colorado 3-1 at Coors Field. The 31-year-old took over for left-hander Jake Diekman with one out in the eighth and retired five of six batters faced in his first outing since September 10. Not only did Hendriks have to record two extra outs to record the save, but he also had to deal with the high altitude of Denver, a challenge given his medically diagnosed altitude sickness. “I ended up getting on medication to alleviate it,” Hendriks told MLB.com. “I pitched in Colorado Springs before and had issues there. But I told BoMel I wanted to pitch today, regardless. Luckily, it came in a save situation, and we were able to finish this road trip off on a high note.” Kevin Pillar singled with two out in the eighth but Hendriks fought back, striking out Josh Fuentes to end the inning. Hendriks retired David Dahl on the 10th pitch of a long at-bat to start the ninth before recording the final two outs to move clear of Cleveland’s Brad Hand with a 13th save of 2020. A two-run sixth put Oakland on top as the A’s magic number to win the American League West shrunk to five. Mark Canha broke a 1-1 tie with a run-scoring groundout off Rockies starter Germán Márquez. Jake Lamb’s RBI-single extended Oakland’s lead to two runs. The A’s have a three-game home series against San Francisco this weekend before facing the L.A. Dodgers and Seattle Mariners to finish the 60-game season. LEWIS THORPE Thorpe's last appearance for Minnesota came in game one of a doubleheader against Detroit on Saturday, 29 August. The left-handed pitcher has thrown 16.1 innings across seven outings, giving up 24 hits for 11 earned runs for an ERA of 6.06 and 10 strikeouts. He pitched 4.2 scoreless innings across his first two games. Overall, the Twins sit in second in the American League Central division with a 31-21 record. They swept the Indians to start the week but dropped three out of four to the ladder-leading White Sox. Minnesota plays the Chicago Cubs this weekend before rounding out the regular season at home vs. the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds. For up-to-date schedules, scores and live action from the Twins, visit the official MLB website here. MLB ON KAYO If you’re wondering where to watch MLB, Kayo has you covered with some of the biggest games streamed live each week. In addition to MLB Strikezone showings, the Australian sports streaming service has the following lineup for games this next week:
Click HERE to check out Kayo and follow along with the MLB action live. New to Kayo? Sign up for a free 14-day trial HERE. The 2021 Australian Senior League Championship in Lismore will open next year’s national Little League circuit.
Baseball Australia today announced Lismore’s Albert Park Baseball Complex will host the event from May 8-12 next year. The winner of the five-day event will represent Australia Region at the 2021 Senior League Baseball World Series, tentatively schedule for July 31 to August 7 in South Carolina. WA’s Western Suns secured gold at the 2019 Senior League Championship after topping Queensland’s Brisbane Metro in the decider. For more details from baseball.com.au, click HERE. North Coast Breakers and Baseball WA are pleased to advise that Raleigh Pelkonen has been appointed to the newly created position of Sun City Charter Development Officer.
Raleigh's role will focus primarily on the developmental needs of the North Coast Breakers Ball Club. The new development officer will be based at North Coast Club for three months commencing on 5 October and will work with both players and coaches two days per week including on Saturday morning gameday with both the Little League and Intermediate League teams. The role's key responsibilities are to increase the knowledge and skill base of the club's coaches. Raleigh has a strong baseball pedigree coming from State League programs at Wanneroo Giants and more recently Morley Eagles as well as being a member of the Perth Heat development squad. He is also attending Arizona Western College in the United States where he will be returning early next year. This is an exciting development for the growth corridor along the northern coastal area of Perth and a vital investment into the coaching and player base. We hope you will share our congratulations to Raleigh on his appointment. The 2021 Australian Youth Championship has been cancelled and will be replaced with a range of localised content to ensure the development of the country’s up-and-coming talent is not negatively impacted. Baseball Australia and the state and territory bodies have unanimously agreed to the move – which comes in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – following an extensive review which included consultation of athletes and teams that would likely have featured in the event. Instead a range of local events will be held in each market to ensure players are afforded the opportunity to continue their development. Baseball Australia performance pathways and player development general manager Michael Crooks said a number of factors came into the decision, including health implications, logistical challenges presented by quarantine measures and financial risk. “It’s a bitterly disappointing outcome,” he said. “But our goal now is to ensure with the support of states and territories we provide enough opportunities to affected athletes to continue their development. “By doing this we can minimise the long-term disruption on our up-and-coming prospects and keep open the pathway they’ve worked so hard to climb.” The tournament, which traditionally takes place during the January school holiday period and includes U-16 and U-18 age brackets, will be replaced by local series. Details for the local series will be released in coming weeks but each event would be preceded by a showcase for college and professional scouts. The local series will see each market’s top talent given the chance to go head-to-head. Following the events the U-16 and U-18 National Junior Squads will be selected from the participants. Both squads would be invited to a camp in Canberra over the Easter period should government restrictions allow it.
The squads, subject to restrictions, would also head to Florida for a Perfect Game event prior to the U-18 World Cup later in the year. If international border restrictions prevented it, athletes would again attend a National Junior Squad camp in Canberra. Crooks said Baseball Australia’s strong relationship with technology providers would ensure international exposure for players. “Through our technology partnerships Rapsodo and Driveline’s TRAQ software will allow player profiling to be produced for all players competing in the local competitions,” Crooks said. “This information will be collated and distributed to the professional scouting and college network to ensure international exposure for all players. “This will minimise the medium to long-term impact on the development of our junior talent.” Baseball WA is working closely with Baseball Australia to confirm details of the local series which will be communicated accordingly. Baseball WA is pleased to announce a new partnership with Garment Exchange, the official uniform and merchandise supplier of WA baseball programs.
“Baseball WA is excited to partner with Garment Exchange for fantastic uniforms and apparel,” Baseball WA CEO Lachlan Dale said. “We recognise their innovative approach to sourcing, creating, and supplying custom apparel, which allows us to share products of the highest quality with the WA baseball community. We can’t wait to offer an extensive selection of baseball clothing merchandise to our clubs and players, and we look forward to a bright future with the Garment Exchange.” The Garment Exchange is a next generation, end-to-end product and multi-brand service solution changing the way customised garments and apparel are sourced, created and supplied. The West Australian based business specialises in the distribution of custom apparel and promotional garments whereby consumers can quickly and effectively source a variety of uniforms based upon quality, price and production time. With operations in both Australia and the USA, the Garment Exchange distributes the Alleson Athletic, Badger Sport, Cap America, Garb Athletic, ID Athletic and Teamwork Athletic brands throughout Australia and New Zealand. “We offer a number of established brands and products specific to diamond sports, and this partnership with Baseball WA will introduce the broader WA baseball community to our business and varietal marketplace model,” Mike Keeley, Garment Exchange Chief Commercial Officer, said. “Baseball clubs and consumers are able to access an unrivalled selection of on and off field apparel to meet their performance and budget requirements such as jerseys, trousers, hoodies, tees, headwear and much more.” “Growing up playing teeball and baseball in WA and as an avid fan of the Perth Heat, it is personally very pleasing to be able to supply quality performance-based uniforms and merchandise to the WA baseball community.” Click HERE to learn more about Garment Exchange. |
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