RGV Capsules: Sanchez leads 'Wings past Colts
HARLINGEN – Jesus Sanchez (4-1) pitched 7 2/3 innings of four-hit baseball to lead the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings past the San Angelo Colts 5-3 on Saturday night at Harlingen Field.
Sanchez retired the first seven Colts (38-19) he faced before allowing a single to Hunter Jobes. Sanchez then retired the next five hitters he faced before Aaron Cone reached on a passed ball after striking out. After retiring three more batters, Travis Calloway led off the sixth inning with a walk and Ronnie Gaines singled.
Juan Diaz tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but the out was recorded at second. Sanchez then struck out the league’s leading hitter, Bryan Frichter, and got the league’s leading home run hitter, Jason Landreth, to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
After a scoreless seventh inning, Diaz drew a seven-pitch two-out walk in the eighth. After a Frichter single, Juan Diaz came in and allowed a home run to Landreth to make it 5-3.
In total, Sanchez struck out five while allowing two walks.
The WhiteWings (26-31) got on the board against Drew Coffey (2-2) in the third. Sandy DeLeon hit a leadoff single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Agustin Septimo reached on an infield-single, moving DeLeon to third. Joaquin Rodriguez followed with an RBI infield single. The throw went wide, allowing Septimo to move to third and Rodriguez to second. A balk scored Septimo and moved Rodriguez to third. Rico Santana followed with an RBI-single to make it 3-0.
Septimo led off the fifth inning with an infield single, stole second and scored on a one-out single by Santana to make it 4-0.
Coffey allowed eight hits in four and one-third innings after allowing eight hits in 16 innings over the course of three starts against the WhiteWings earlier this season.
Welinson Baez led off the sixth with a fourth pitch walk against Jacob Ramos. One out later, DeLeon hit a single, moving Baez to third. The throw to third went past the base and was backed up by Ramos. DeLeon took off for second and Ramos’ throw went into centerfield, allowing Baez to score to make it 5-0.
Julio Santana pitched a scoreless ninth for his league-leading 15
The WhiteWings return to Harlingen Field to host the San Angelo Colts at 7:05 p.m. Sunday night. Left-hander Jesus Sanchez (3-1) is expected to face left-hander Drew Coffey (2-1).
th save.
Another former big-leaguer joins WhiteWings
HARLINGEN – United League Baseball’s Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings announced today they have signed former San Francisco Giants second baseman Juan Melo.
The 32-year old native of Bani, Dominican Republic, played in 11 games for the Giants in 2000, going 1-for-13 (.077) with one RBI. He received the call-up after hitting .295 with 26 doubles, six triples, 12 home runs , 50 RBI and 58 runs scored in 123 games as a shortstop and second baseman for Triple-A Fresno of the Pacific League.
Melo was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Diego Padres in 1993. He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1999 for Isabel Giron, who pitched in three games for the WhiteWings in 2007.
He reached Triple-A for the first time in 1997 and stayed there until getting his call-up the majors. Melo returned to Triple-A Fresno in 2001 and 2002 before going to the Mexican and Northern leagues in 2003. He also played in the Northeast League and Atlantic League before
returning to the Pacific Coast League in 2005. He spent 2007 with Double-A Harrisburg (Eastern League), Fargo-Moorhead (Northern League) and St. George (Golden League). He played for St. George last year, going 18-for-63 (.286) in 15 games with one home run and 11 RBIs.
Melo is a career .285 hitter in 1,570 minor league games with 132 home runs and 773 RBIs. He has experience at all four infield positions.
