James Venes

Catching up on some things since the last entry, with another to come after this.

I stayed busy with that lens I rented about a month ago, finishing up with a few more games to begin July. More worth noting was a game where Oakland’s Dallas Braden went back to pitch for Stockton in an injury rehab start. While coming up through the A’s system he briefly played for Stockton in 2005 and 2006 but I never saw him pitch. The only thing I really remember of him was a photo I took from the seats of a few players before a game.  Braden was in it and he was goofing around.  Sounds about right.

When the City of Stockton honored him in May, that was a pretty special moment.  Braden himself admitted before the rehab start that he was going to be the most excited person there by far but he had to remember the purpose of the outing. As expected, it brought out a pretty good crowd.  I’ve got pictures from that and a few more, including a 4th of July game in Stockton:

7/15/10: Visalia Rawhide at Stockton Ports

From Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton. The Ports won, 10-9. Mike Spina’s 3-run walkoff homer capped a wild game that featured hometown hero Dallas Braden making an injury rehab start. He pitched 4+ innings, allowing 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K and 2 HR on about a 75-pitch limit. Jermaine Mitchell led off the 1st with a homer & Yusuf Carter hit a 3-run homer in the 4th for Stockton. Marc Krauss, Paul Goldschmidt & Josh Ford all homered in the 5th for Visalia (the first two were back-to-back against Braden).

7/4/10:  Modesto Nuts at Stockton Ports

From Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton. The Ports won, 7-5 in 12 innings. Stephen Parker’s walkoff home run gave Stockton the win after they came back from a 4-0 deficit only to see Modesto tie it on a single by Jordan Pacheco with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the 9th. Brandon Pinckney, who replaced Grant Green after an 8th inning ejection, singled with 1 out in the 12th before Parker ended it with a blast that was gone the moment it left his bat. Todd Johnson, who had 3 hits for the Ports, drove in 3 with a bases-clearing triple in the 7th. Modesto’s Scott Robinson had 3 hits, 3 runs and 2 stolen bases.

7/3/10: Fresno Grizzlies at Sacramento River Cats

From Raley Field in Sacramento. The Grizzlies won, 5-1. Brett Pill doubled twice and drove in 3 runs to lead Fresno to the victory. Eugenio Velez & Tyler Graham also had a couple hits. Kevin Pucetas couldn’t finish the 5th inning and Alex Hinshaw picked up the win. Matt Carson had a double for Sacramento and Michael Taylor drove in their only run with a single. Graham Godfrey took the loss.

7/2/10: Fresno Grizzlies at Sacramento River Cats

From Raley Field in Sacramento. The River Cats won, 4-3 in 11 innings. Matt Watson had an early 2-run homer and drove in 3 for the River Cats, who rallied late to tie it before winning in extra innings. Matt Downs & Jesus Guzman both homered for the Grizzlies. Fresno’s Joe Martinez pitched 5 innings and allowed a couple runs, while Sacramento’s John Halama gave up the same in 5.2 innings.