JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Here are your Players of the Day for Tuesday (8/31/2010):
- Rookie 3B Danny Valencia of the Minnesota Twins went 2/4 and hit a game-winning RBI single in the 10th inning to defeat the Chicago White Sox 2-1. (Here is video of the hit — and of Valencia being mobbed by teammates afterward.) A mid-season call-up from “AAA” ball, Valencia is batting .332, tops among AL rookies. He is 3rd among AL rookies in on-base percentage (.375) and slugging percentage (.447).
- Two days after going 5/7 against the Albuquerque Isotopes, OF Sam Fuld of the “AAA” Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs) got on base four times in a come-from-behind win over the Isotopes. Fuld had a single, drew three walks, drove in a run and scored 3 more in the 15-13 victory. The 28-year-old Stanford recruit did have one error, but it was his first of the season after 263 chances in the outfield. Fuld is batting .273 and is one of two Iowa starters with more walks (63) than strikeouts (36).
- C Ryan Lavarnway of the “AA” Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) went 2/4 with an RBI single and 2 walks in a 6-5 loss to the Binghamton Mets. (Binghamton 2B Josh Satin contributed a solo HR for the Mets.) In a season split between Portland and the “A-Advanced” Salem Red Sox, Lavarnway is batting a combined .291 with 22 HRs, 96 RBIs, a .397 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage. His 96 RBIs are tops among Red Sox farm hands.
- RP Jason Markovitz of the “A” Clinton LumberKings (Seattle Mariners) pitched 3 scoreless innings in a 4-3 loss to the Beloit Snappers. In a season split between the LumberKings and the “A-short season” Everett AquaSox, Markovitz is 2-2 with a 3.25 ERA, 38 strikeouts and 9 walks.
- SS Jake Lemmerman of the rookie-league Ogden Raptors (Los Angeles Dodgers) hit a solo HR and an RBI single in a 6-2 win over the Idaho Falls Chukars. The top Jewish pick in the 2010 draft (5th round, 172nd overall), Lemmerman leads the league in doubles (23) and runs scored (63); ranks 2nd in slugging percentage (.576), on-base percentage (.428) and OPS (1.003); and has the third-highest batting average (.357).
- RP Andrew Pevsner, Lemmerman’s teammate on the rookie-league Ogden Raptors (Los Angeles Dodgers), pitched 2 scoreless innings and earned a “hold” in the win over the Chukars. A 16th-round pick in the 2010 amateur draft, Pevsner is 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA (3rd best on the team) and has 30 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings pitched.
