Broncs' season ends dismally, 65-95

San Antonio (AP) - September 29, 2008

After what appeared to be a promising start to the 2008 season by going 17-11 in April, the San Antonio Broncs stumbled to a 48-84 finish the rest of the way, ending up in last place in the Griffin Division.

While the pitching staff held their own as an average to above-average staff in the Ozzie League, it was the bats that failed the Broncs. The offense finished with a .235/.302/.679 triple-slash which were all franchise lows, except for the OBP (CyberSox posted a .299 in 2006).

There were many culprits as to why it happened, but it is an area that needs to be focused on in the offseason if the Broncs are going to get back to be a playoff-caliber team, which they thought they were coming into '08.

"We know we've got a steep road in front of us, but we hope we are turning a corner here," Broncs GM Greg Newgard said. "When this season start turning south, we sat down and focused on what was wrong and how we could fix it and tried to make moves to address those needs."

"We feel right now, as the roster is comprised, we have a roster we could roll out and get 80 wins without any drafting. We've got a top notch rotation set up for next year, a complete bullpen, a full lineup. We just need some bench depth, maybe another arm in the bullpen and a starting catcher. We don't have a lot of money freed up, so those challenges may be tough to fill, but we think we may be able to do something."

The 2008 season was highlighted by below average offensive production from key players. Adam Dunn led the team with 37 HRs, but he was only able to drive in 87 runs thanks to a lack of baserunners at the top of the order. The struggles of Jimmy Rollins were well documented and led to his trade to the St. Louis Apostles for pitcher Adam Miller. Since the trade, Rollins has regained most of his hitting prowess.

"If we looked across the board and our main players and compared what our expectations were versus what they gave us," Newgard said, "are we can see nobody performed like we wanted or needed. We are going to sit back and evaluating our coaching staff and make some changes upcoming. No one is safe right now."

Adam Dunn selected as All-Star reserve

San Antonio (AP) - June 27, 2008

San Antonio continues its tradition of sending at least one player to the All-Star game since 2001 when Adan Dunn was chosen as an Ozzie League reserve outfielder.

Dunn, who is 6th in the OL in home runs with 22 but only has 38 RBI, is hitting just .249. His 50 walks have pushed his OBP to .350. He narrowly lost the starting nod to Sylmar's Carl Crawford, 9-7.

Broncs finish overhaul of minors with draft

San Antonio (AP) - June 27, 2008

After deciding to make some deals to help shore up a weak minor league system, the San Antonio Broncs announced that they cut nine more players and drafted four more to finish the remodeling of the farm.

After the trade, the Broncs roster stood at 55 players, so they would be forced to cut five players. The two relievers that were acquired in the Gorkys Hernandez trade were cut. In addition, several mid-level prospects were cut in order to make room for more promising players.

In the first round of the farm draft, the Broncs were able to land flamethrowing Ryan Perry who was recently drafted in the 1st round by the Detroit Tigers. Perry finished his junior season at Arizona and performed well at last summer's Cape Cod League and he has a fastball that touches 100 mph.

Next, the Broncs were able to acquire another 3B in Conor Gillespie. Conor was a supplemental first rounder drafted by San Francisco who hit .404 for the Witchita State Shockers.

Next, the Broncs focused on players closer to the majors choosing outfielder Matt Sulentic and reliever Brad Ziegler of the Oakland Athletics. Ziegler, a sidearmer, is currently with the big club and could be a nice addition to the '09 bullpen. Sulentic is rebounding from a brutal .07 campaign by posting solid numbers in Advance A ball.

"With getting some of the big young arms via trade, we felt we were able to go out and get pieces in other areas to help shore up some needs at give us some organizational depth," Broncs GM Greg Newgard. "We're still weak in the middle infield with no real options there, but we've got strong bats on the corners and good young talent in the outfield. Add that solid arms we've got and we think we've been able to turn the farm around 180 degrees."

Broncs 9-15 in June, start dealing players

San Antonio (AP) - June 25, 2008

Another month, another 9-win chapter.

Not quite the way a division contender is supposed to play, so the San Antonio Broncs have stopped concentrating on the division title and started looking toward 2009.

"It's a tough thing to do, especially when we are only around six games back," Broncs GM Greg Newgard said, "but our offense continues to come up short and while our pitching staff is good, we just can't score enough to win ball games. Because of that, we've decided to alter our focus and start looking at next year's ball club."

The Broncs won 17 games in the first month of the season, but have only won a total of 18 since that point and at 35-45, they clearly aren't going to be able to make a run. Because of that, the Broncs have made a big splash in the trading pool.

The first deal saw the Broncs pull off a 5-for-1 deal, sending reliever Matt Guerrier to the Salem Cowtippers for prospects Gorkys Hernandez, Gerrit Cole and Jordan Danks, and veteran pitchers Brendan Donnelly and Randy Messenger.

"The deal with Salem was about the prospects," Newgard said. "The veterans were included so the deal would fit under the cap and those two players will likely be cut."

Shortly afterward, the Broncs continued their focus on bringing in young pitching as they send #4 starter Orlando Hernandez to the Southern Cal Sylme in exchange for pitcher Blake Beavan and pitcher Chad Durbin.

"Durbin will be a nice addition to the bullpen in '09 and Blake's arm has a ton of upside in it, if we can mature his skills to get him to the big club."

Lastly, the Broncs sent reliever Trevor Hoffman to the Allentown Ridgebacks in exchange for pitcher Ryan Feierabend.

"These three deals have netted us a ton of young pitching," Newgard commented. "We're hoping that some of these arms will develop to either help out the club, or be trade bait to focus on the offense. At this point of the season, it's hard to add offense, so we're going to go the other way and get the best available deals and sort out the farm club down the road."

The pitching staff held the opposition to only 94 runs with a 3.68 ERA which would normally be good enough to post a decent record. But The struggling Broncs offense managed to score a paltry 80 runs in 24 games, but they did managed to go 8-8 in interleague play. Jimmy Rollins finally turned things around slightly at the plate, hitting .300/.333/.450 which is slightly less than the MVP-type numbers the Broncs were hoping for, they do represent an upgrade in what he had been providing.

Broncs deal for Byrnes, Montero

San Antonio (AP) - May 29, 2008

The San Antonio Broncs pulled off a trade to add a boost to the offense, adding Eric Byrnes from the Great Lakes Sphinx.

Byrnes has struggled this season for the Sphinx, hitting just .214 for the Sphinx, but the free-agent-to-be looks to rebound with a change of scenery.

"We felt like we needed to make a move in light of recent struggles," Broncs GM Greg Newgard said during the press conference, "but we wanted to make a move in a positive direction by adding to the team rather than trying to break it down."

"With Jimmy Rollins struggling, we're initially looking at sliding JR down to 9th while Byrnes can hit leadoff. Once JR gets rolling, we'll make some moves to get the lineup in a better shape to be more productive."

Doumit had hit .263 with 3 HRs and 12 RBI in limited action for the Broncs in 2007, splitting time between catcher and right field. But Byrnes is seen as a full-time center fielder that will solidify the outfield, leaving Austin Kearns in center and pushing Travis Buck to the bench.

The Broncs also received 24-year old catcher Miguel Montero, who will back up starter Ramon Hernandez.

Undertakers steal Broncs' momentum

San Antonio (AP) - May 28, 2008

After clawing their way back to .500, the San Antonio Broncs were just one game behind the Los Altos Undertakers. In the blink of an eye, that deficit grew to five games as the Undertakers dealt a crushing blow to the Broncs, sweeping them.

The Undertakers started early by getting to John Lackey for two runs in the first inning of the opener, thanks to two walks to the first two Undertakers. But, Lackey and the Broncs would settle down and keep Los Altos at bay. The Broncs rallied for single runs in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings to take a 3-2 lead off of a heavily taxed bullpen that was filling in when starter Brandon Duckworth went down with an injury after retiring just one batter.

But the Undertakers rallied off of a shaky Broncs bullpen by stringing together four straight hits with two outs in the 8th inning to retake the lead at 4-3. They added a vital insurance run in the 9th that was needed when the Broncs rallied to score once in the 9th. But the Undertakers held on for the 5-4 victory.

In Game 2, the Undertakers would once again score in the first, this time a single run off of Danny Haren. Haren continue to pitch well until the 6th when he allowed another run. In the 7th, Haren stay in the game and gave up two more runs before getting pulled, but the game was long over at that point since the offense had managed a paltry five hits.

Looking to break things up, the Broncs decided to score in the first inning as Adam Dunn crushed his 19th home run of the season in the first inning. The game would stay that way as Jeremy Guthrie would put up eight innings of zeroes on the board. Los Altos' Jeremy Bonderman would do the same into the 7th. In the 9th, Huston Street took his normal save position. After striking out the first two batters he faced, he allowed a single to Josh Hamilton. Hamilton would score when Hunter Pence would take Street deep for a 2-run game-winning blast.

Needing a win to stem the bleeding, the Broncs fell behind early when Los Altos put up a four-spot in the 3rd inning to take a 4-1 lead. The Broncs clawed back into the game with three runs later, but once again the Broncs bullpen could handle the Undertaker bats as Josh Hamilton's 2-run HR in the 7th was the game-winner.

Broncs take series from New Milford, back to .500

San Antonio (AP) - May 24, 2008

Adam Dunn homered in each game as the San Antonio Broncs took their second straight 3-1 series, this time against the New Milford Blazers.

Dunn's four blasts send his season total to 18 HR, a pace that puts him on track for 54 HRs which would break the Broncs team record of 47 set by Phil Nevin back in 2002.

In the series opener, Dunn's blast, a solo shot in the 6th, was the game winner as it broke a 2-2 tie that the Broncs would not give up. It would also be his 200th home run in the BDBL. John Lackey benefited the most as it gave him his 6th win of the season, pitching seven innings and allowing seven hits and striking out four.

Danny Haren continues to struggle with run support as he left after six innings down 3-2 in the second game. Dunn's 2-run HR in the sixth inning was only the fifth hit of the game by the Broncs. Casey Janssen continued to struggle as he was tagged for three runs in the 7th that put the game out of reach as the Blazers won, 6-2.

Orlando Hernandez continued his recent success by going another 6 1/3 innings without allowing a hit. That ran his streak to 16 innings of no-hit ball, despite nine walks. He allowed two singles in the 7th to break up his streak, but Matt Wise was able to strike out Akinori Iwamura with the bases loaded to preserve the scoreless time. In the 8th, Dunn put up the lone run of the game with a solo bomb off of Chin-Hui Tsao and the Broncs bullpen would let that hold.

Early in Game 4, it looked as if the Blazers would rally to split the series. They scored three times in the first off of a shaky Wandy Rodriguez. Dunn's solo HR in the bottom of the first cut into that lead, 3-1. In the 4th, David Murphy contributed a 2-run single that tied the game. In the 5th, the Broncs managed to load the bases on a walk and two hit by pitches by start Jamey Wright. Tsao came on in relief to face Rodriguez, but he was lifted for a pinch-hitter. Ryan Doumit unloaded with a grand slam that put the Broncs up, 7-3.

The Blazers would score twice in the 6th to make it close, but the Broncs and Huston Street would make sure they got no closer as Street notched his 15th save and his 3rd of the series, by retired all four batters he faced.

The Broncs will face the Los Altos Undertakers in their final series of May, at 9-15, the Broncs have had a bad chapter, but by winning 8 of their last 11 games, the Broncs have managed to climb back within two games of the Undertakers, who have also stumbled a bit.

El Duque no-hits Sylmar, Broncs win series

San Antonio (AP) - May 20, 2008

Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez becomes the 11th picture in BDBL history to hold his opponent to no hits as the San Antonio Broncs blanked the Sylmar Padawans, 2-0, to win the series 3 games to 1.

Hernandez did allow five walks while striking out 10 in his 115 pitch effort. One of those walks was erased on double play in the 9th inning when Garrett Atkins walked to lead off the inning.

San Antonio joins Chicago and Corona as franchise that have had multiple no-hitters. Nate Robertson blanked the Bear Country Jamboree back in 2005. San Antonio has also been involved in the most no-hitters in league history with three. Jamie Moyer of the Los Altos Undertakers no-hit the then Houston Heatwave back in 2003.

The Broncs scored first in the second on a sacrifice fly by Rod Barajas. In the 4th, the Broncs tacked on another run with a Angel Pagan RBI single.

In the opener, John Lackey was shaky as he allowed 10 hits over seven frames, but a timely home run in the 7th by Adam Dunn, his second of the game, put Lackey in line for a win.

The Broncs jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two innings, but the Padawans tied it up in the 3rd with back-to-back triples from Atkins and Ichiro Suzuki after Carl Crawford had doubled to start the inning. But Lackey would settle down and keep Ichiro from scoring by striking out Frank Thomas and then getting Ichiro gunned down at the plate on a ground ball to 3rd. Sylmar would take the lead in the 5th on a Thomas sac fly, but Dunn's bomb in the 5th would tie the game right back up. Later, the Pads would lose Garland to a random injury.

Dunn's homer in the 7th put the Broncs in the lead for good and would be the only two homers hit by San Antonio all series. Those hits give him 14 on the year, but with only 24 RBI.

Game 2 saw Danny Haren pitch seven innings of shutout ball and four relievers would pitch the final two frames to complete a 4-0 combined shutout of the Pads.

RBI singles by Austin Kearns in the 1st would score Rollins. Shelley Duncan would tack on another run-scoring single in the 5th. Travis Buck's two-run triple in the 8th would break the game open. The Pads would rally in the 9th as Trevor Hoffman allowed two hits and Street come on with two outs to get Ichiro to ground out to first base. 

In Game 3, a four-run 9th off was keyed by an Ichiro 3-run bomb and the Padawans stave off a sweep with a 6-2 victory.

The Pads took a 2-0 lead when Jeremy Guthrie was ordered to walk Frank Thomas in the 1st inning with 1st base open after Carl Crawford walked with two outs and stole second. Cliff Floyd would make Guthrie pay with a 2-run double. But Floyd was cut down at the plate when Dunn got him trying to score on a single by Aaron Miles.

The Broncs have trouble getting hits until the 6th when they two straight singles with one out to put runners on the corners for Ryan Doumit. Doumit responds with a weak ground out to 2nd to plate a run to make it 2-1 Sylmar.

In the 8th, Casey Blake doubles in Jimmy Rollins, who didn't get on by a hit, but avoid a double play with his speed. C.J. Wilson and Frankie Rodriguez each strike out a batter to make sure Blake doesn't move up and ends the threat.

In the 9th, Casey Janssen was victimized by a Blake error allowing Miles to reach. Brandon Phillips followed with a walk. Matt Guerrier relieved and Sylmar executed a double steal successfully, forcing the Guerrier to walk Marlon Byrd to set up the force at the plate with no outs. Andy Phillips, no relation to Brandon, hit a sac fly to center to put the Pads in front, 3-2. Ichiro follows with his blast that put the game out of reach.

Losing streak stops at 9, Broncs split with Rebels

Manchester (AP) - May 16, 2008

The San Antonio Broncs finally managed to pull themselves out a dive as they manged to split a series with the Manchester Irish Rebels, halting their 8-game losing streak and trying to stay close in the Griffin Divison race.

The opening game looked like more of the same as the Broncs were victimized again by poor starting pitching. John Lackey was tagged for seven runs, four of which were driven in by Nick Markakis' grand slam in the 5th inning. The Broncs had jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on Conor Jackson's solo shot, but the Rebels put three runs on the board in the second inning.

Markakis would later add a 3-run HR to push his RBI total to seven and the lead to 10-1 until the Broncs scored twice in garbage time.

With the losing streak at 9, the Broncs turned to Danny Haren to stop the bleeding and he was finally able to put the Broncs in the position to do just that. Haren pitched six innings and left the game with a precarious 4-3 lead. The Broncs would push that lead to 7-4 going into the 9th inning when Huston Street was called on to earn what looked like an easy save. But Street gave up a one-out single that was later followed by a Carlos Pena homer that cut the lead to 7-6.  But Alfonso Soriano flew out to center field to end the game and give the Broncs their first win in 10 chances.

Building on that momentum, the Broncs jumped out Rebel starter Scott Kazmir in Game 3 but scoring four times in the first four frames thanks in part to Conor Jackson and Casey Blake for solo homers. The lead would jump to 6-0 and it appeared the Broncs would cruise, but during this month, nothing should be taken for granted.

The Rebels scored once in the 6th on a Markakis RBI single. The score would stay 6-1 into the 9th when Casey Janssen would hit the first batter he faced and then allow a walk. Renyel Pinto would come on and would walk Kurt Suzuki to load the bases with no outs. Street would entered and strike out a batter, give up a sacrifice fly to Eric Bruntlett, and then strike out Jamey Carroll to end the game, 6-2.

The Broncs failed to keep that momentum going in the finale as Pena would crush another grand slam off of Wandy Rodriguez and would later add a 2-run blast to score all of the six runs the Rebels would need in a 6-2 series-splitting victory.

Losing streak reaches eight as Jamboree sweep

Bear Country (AP) - May 12, 2008

The San Antonio Broncs are in an absolute free fall.

The middle series of a 12-game road trip would provide no better outcome that the first series as the Broncs would drop four games a division contender, the Bear Country Jamboree. The Broncs have gone from tied for first to tied for lost behind a 1-11 start to Chapter 2.

San Antonio is also in danger of posting their worst chapter ever, which currently sits as 5-23 efforts in both September 2001 and May 2006. Those seasons saw the Broncs lose 106 and 99 games respectively.

The opener started as a marquis pitching matchup as John Lackey squared off with Tim Hudson. But Lackey would give up a two-run home run to Ross Gload in the 6th that would break open a 1-1 game. In the 7th, the Jamboree would put the Broncs away with a 4-run inning and Bear Country cruised to a 7-1 win. Lackey started out the season at 4-0, but has since lost his last four decisions.

The next game would see the Broncs jump out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning behind a Casey Blake HR. That lead would be short lived as Dmitri Young would then club a 3-run blast in the bottom of the 1st. David Murphy broke out of his slump and added a tying solo HR in the 2nd, but a four-run third would put Bear Country comfortably out in front, 7-3. The Broncs rallied late against the Jamboree bullpen, scoring three times in the 7th and 8th to close the gap to 8-6, but Murphy flew out to center field with the bases loaded to end the threat and the Broncs would not mount a 9th-inning rally.

Jeremy Guthrie would pitch well in Game 3, allowing just four hits and two runs over seven innings. The problem is that Brandon Webb was a little better and the Jamboree bullpen allowed one hit over the final four innings and the Jamboree won 3-1.

A.J. Burnett and company shut out the Broncs in the finale, 7-0. Bear Country pounded San Antonio pitching for 12 hits and four walks and every Jamboree starter had a hit.

Slumping Broncs swept by Badgers, fall to .500

New Hope (AP) - May 8, 2008

It appears that any momentum that the San Antonio Broncs had gather during a 9-2 stretch to end Chapter 1 has been completely lost as they were swept in New Hope by the Badgers that put the Broncs in a 1-7 hole to start Chapter 2.

The Badgers jumped all over John Lackey to build a 4-0 lead after three innings. The Broncs managed to close the gap to 6-4 over the next three innings, but Guillermo Mota served up a 3-run HR to Ty Wiggington that put the game away and the Badgers cruised to a 9-5 victory.

Game 2 turned into a pitchers duel as Joe Blanton and Danny matched zeroes over the first six frames. The Broncs took their first lead of the series behind a Jose Lopez sacrifice fly, scoring Ryan Doumit in the 7th. But Miguel Tejada stroked a 2-run single in the 8th and Jason Isringhausen shut the door to give the Badgers a 2-1 win.

The Broncs offense outhit the Badgers in Game 3, 9-8, but San Antonio hit into five double plays that killed numerous rallies and the Badgers were able to confortably take a 4-1 victory. Andy Pettitte would go to 6-3 as his 7 2/3 innings of work saw him give up eight hits and four walks, but benefited from three of the twin killings.

The Broncs had been in a position to avoid a sweep two prior times this season, but couldn't make it a third as the pitching staff blew another late lead. San Antonio managed to jump out to a 4-2 lead behind Conor Jackson's three hits and two RBI. But Marco Scutaro hit a 2-run HR in the 6th off of Wandy Rodriguez to tie the score. In the 7th, Ronny Paulino would strike the final criticial blow with an RBI double that would eventually gave the Badgers a 5-4 series sweep.

Broncs drop disappointing home series to Infidels

San Antonio (AP) - May 4, 2008

After a strong finish to April, folks in San Antonio were hoping that their hometown Broncs could keep the momentum going. But the Ravenswood Infidels had other ideas taking the first three games in San Antonio to take a series victory.

In Game 1, Roy Halladay and the Infidels jumped out to a 6-0 lead off of John Lackey, who is pulled after just 4 1/3 innings. Macier Izturis, let me repeat that, Macier Izturis cranks a pair of 2-run homers to pace the visitors. The Broncs bullpen is up to the task and they shut out Ravenswood the rest of the way.

Adam Dunn hits a solo bomb in the 5th, gets an RBI in the 7th off of a passed ball, and then hit another solo HR, the back half of a back-to-back job off of J.J. Putz to help pull the Broncs within a run. But Putz settles down and get the next three batters to secure the 6-5 win.

In the next game, Fausto Carmona is slapped around to the tune of 11 hits over seven innings, but the Broncs have two runners gunned out at the plate and that would end up being the difference in a 3-2 loss. Izturis and Robinson Cano get back-to-back RBI singles in the 6th to put the Infidels up for good as the bullpens do their job.

The next game featured another pitchers duel as Mark Buerhle and Jeremy Guthrie locked horns. Through six innings, the score stood tied at 1-1, but the Infidels get the Broncs in the 7th for three runs. The Broncs rally for a pair of runs in the 8th and had two runners on with one out when Ramon Hernandez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the rally and the Broncs would get no closer.

In the finale, the Broncs sent Wandy Rodriguez to the hill to try and stave off the sweep and he did just that. The Broncs built a 6-1 lead early en route to a 7-3 victory.

April in review

San Antonio (AP) - April 29, 2008

The San Antonio Broncs needed a 9-2 finish along with some limping by the front-running Los Altos Undertakers to finish in a first place tie after the first month of the season.

"We're 17-11 and we're near the bottom of the league in offense?" asked Broncs manager Tony LaRussa. "I can't believe it."

"We haven't had much hitting beyond Adam Dunn. We've gotten good starting pitching but the relievers have been somewhat inconsistent. We're very fortunate to be where we are and at this point, we'll take it."

The Broncs are hitting a measly .227/.305/.360 over the first 28 games. Leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins went 0-for-19 against Marlboro and is hitting a paltry .186 from the leadoff and #2 spots in the lineup. Austin Kearns is hitting .202 while Travis Buck hit .162. Up and down the roster, you can see evidence of a lack of hitting.

Adam Dunn, who was named Hitter of the Month, only hit .241, but his 21 walks pushed his on-base percentage to .362. His 8 HRs and 19 runs scored lead the team.

Pitching is another story. The team amassed a 3.35 ERA which is near the top of the Ozzie League. The contributions are coming from the entire staff as starters have a 3.36 ERA while the bullpen owns a 3.33 ERA. The 51M Man, John Lackey, got off to a fine start, but cooled a bit toward the end of the month. He ended up with a 4-1 record with a 3.00 ERA in 48 innings. Lackey was named Pitcher of the Month for that line.

Danny Haren was even better, posting a 1.88 ER, but going 1-2 due to poor run support and blown leads by the bullpen.

Overall, the bullpen was fairly solid, but there was once standout performance that soured the entire effort. Casey Janssen pitched 13 1/3 innings and allowed 15 runs for a 10.13 ERA.

Broncs take three from Marlboro, finish April 7-1

Marlboro (AP) - April 28, 2008

Coming off of a sweep, the San Antonio managed to keep their momentum going forward as they took the final three games against the Marlboro Hammerheads to finish April on a 9-2 run that has them currently one game out of first place.

John Lackey rebounded from a couple of tough starts by limiting the Hammerheads to just one run over seven innings, but it was a Matt Stairs 3-run HR off of Guillermo Mota that ended the Broncs current four-game win streak. The Broncs had taken a 3-1 lead courtesy of two solo homers by Adam Dunn and another by Casey Blake.

But the brightest news was that Danny Haren finally won a ball game. He finished April with a 1.88 ERA but his record stands at a paltry 1-0 after watching lead after lead get blown by his bullpen. This tine, his bullpen was perfect over the final 1 1/3 inning as a 7-0 held up for a 7-3 victory.

Game 3 was a pitching clinic as Orlando Hernandez and Sean Marcum locked horns. Both pitchers shut out the offense through seven, with Marcum only allowing one hit. The bullpen continued to throw up blanks until the 11th when the Broncs finally got to Franklin Morales. A one-out triple by Dunn started the threat. Casey Blake drew a walk which out a potential inning-ending double play in line, but Ramon Hernandez responded with a two-run double instead. Austin Kearns would double Hernandez home and would give Huston Street more than enough room to work to earn his seventh save of the season.

Game 4 featured a 5-run outburst by the Broncs in the 2nd inning that ended up just being enough as San Antonio held on to a 5-3 victory. The Broncs batted around in that second inning thanks in part to an inning-extending error by Yuneski Betancourt and Wandy Rodriguez held on to even his record at 2-2.

Broncs blow out Flamingos

San Antonio (AP) - April 24, 2008

After watching a lousy offense spoil good pitching performances, the San Antonio Broncs broke out of their doldrums when the Las Vegas Flamingos came to town. The Broncs hit .281/.388/.508 in a four-game sweep that helped close the gap with the Los Altos Undertakers to just two games.

Conor Jackson was the big hero with two homers and seven RBI while Jimmy Rollins scored seven runs while hitting .412.

John Lackey had one of his worst starts as a member of the Broncs with a six-inning, 10-hit affair that spotted the Flamingos five runs. But the Broncs bats opened up the flood gates late against the Las Vegas bullpen scoring single runs in the 6th and 7th and four times in the 8th to cruise to a 8-6 win. Rollins 2-run double tied the game in the 8th, while Gabe Gross and Ramon Hernandez added RBI singles that put the Broncs on top for good.

Danny Haren was spotted to a 4-0 lead, but watched two runs get charged to him after he was pulled in the 7th and the Flamingos rallied to tie that game at 4-4 through seven and spoiled Haren's shot at his first victory. But Austin Kearns put the good guys over the top with a one-out RBI single in the 9th to boost San Antonio to the 5-4 victory.

Both teams bats started strong in Game 3 when they erupted for five runs each over the first four innings. It would remain that way into the 8th when the Broncs erupted for six runs, highlighted by Jackson's grand slam. Casey Janssen earned his third consecutive win in the series as he continues to be on the mound at the right time.

The only suspense in the finale was not whether the Broncs would sweep, but would Wandy Rodriguez complete his bid for a complete game shutout. He would not, as he gave up an unearned run with two outs in the 9th, but that effort was more than enough as the Broncs romped, 8-1. Rodriguez allowed five hits and four walks, but struck out a career high 10 batters.

Key series in Griffin ends split

San Antonio (AP) - April 20, 2008

The San Antonio Broncs continued their home stand and continued to play .500 ball as they split a key series against what many people think are Griffin Division contenders, the Bear Country Jamboree.

John Lackey suffered his first loss of the season, despite racking up a quality start, when he allowed three runs over six frames, striking out eight.  But he left with a 3-1 deficit that his offense could not bail him out of. The Jamboree tacked on five runs in the 9th off of Casey Janssen to seal an 8-2 victory.

Danny Haren continued to pitch lights out, shutting out the Jamboree over six innings, but Matt Guerrier bloew a 2-0 lead in the 8th. Matt Wose earned the victory in the 11th inning with a two shutout innings of work and a Conor Jackson two-out pinch-hit RBI single. Haren's record stands at 0-0 despite a team leading 1.23 ERA.

The late rally continued to stay in force as the Broncs scored five times after five innings to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 victory. Broncs pitching was top notch again, limiting the Jamboree to four hits and two walks.

Bear Country shifted  the momentum as they pounded Orlando Hernandez for eight runs over six innings in a 10-4 rout to split the series. A.J. Pierzynski's 3-run bomb highlighted a five-run third inning for the Jamboree.

Broncs split with Salem on return home

San Antonio (AP) - April 16, 2008

After a 12-game West Coast road trip to start the season, the San Antonio Broncs finally played a game in front of their home crowd and they couldn't ask for a more marquee team than the Salem Cowtippers.

The Broncs gave the fans an exciting and frustrating series all at once as they were limited to three runs or less in each game, but got good enough pitching to win two of those games and had a 9th inning rally fall short in another.

17M pitcher John Lackey continued to impress the Broncs as his six innings of shutout ball in the opener set the tone and the 2-0 victory pushed his record to 4-0. Danny Haren allowed just one earned run in Game 2 to keep his ERA at 1.54, but a costly error allowed two runs to score and that was just enough to lose a 3-2 ballgame and push Haren to 0-2 in a tough luck story so far.

West Coast road warriors get split in Corona, go 6-6 on roadie

Los Altos (AP) - April 12, 2008

The San Antonio Broncs completed a tough 12-game swing through California to open up the 2008 season and managed to come away with a 6-6 records thanks to a series split in Corona.

The Broncs struck first taking the opener from the Confederates, 3-1, behind another strong effort by John Lackey. Lackey moved to 3-0 on the season with a seven-inning outing allowing just five hits and one run while striking out eight. The big blow was struck by Geoff Blum who jacked an Aaron Harang pitch for a 3-run home run in the 2nd inning that would be all of the scoring for the Broncs, who managed just three hits in the game.

Danny Haren continued his tough luck streak by taking a 3-2 loss in Game 2. Haren's 0-1 record is not indicative of his performance and he has managed a 1.56 ERA after three starts, but his bullpen has blown two wins for him. Adam Dunn hit a 2-run HR in the 3rd to tie the game at 2-2, but a Howie Kendrick RBI double in the 4th would give the Confederates just enough cushion in a 3-2 victory.

Aaron Cook and Jeremy Guthrie locked horns in Game 3 as each shutout out the opposing lineup for seven innings each. In the bottom of the 8th, Corona broke through when Mark Ellis pinch hit for Prince Fielder and jacked a 2-run HR to put Corona out in front. But the Broncs managed to rally.

David Murphy walked, Casey Blake singled and Dunn walked to load the bases. Travis Buck then popped out to second for the first out. Ryan Doumit hit a sacrifice fly to left to push one run across while Blum followed with a 2-run single. Jose Lopez added another RBI single to push the Broncs' lead to 4-2 and this time the bullpen held on as Matt Guerrier recorded a 1-2-3 save.

The series finale saw the Confederates jump out to an early thanks to a five-run 1st inning, but San Antonio countered with their own five-run frame. In the 5th, Corona scored three more time, but San Antonio stayed close with a 2-run 7th. But the Corona bullpen managed to hold on from there and provide their team with a split with a 9-7 decision.

Broncs play 5 straight extra innings, lose 3 to Los Altos

Los Altos (AP) - April 8, 2008

After winning a tough 18-inning affair to close out the Sylmar Padawan series, the San Antonio Broncs traveled to Los Altos where they played four more extra inning games, losing three.

"It's been a little tight around the clubhouse so far as guys are pressing to get going," Broncs manager Tony LaRussa. "We've had to push the bullpen hard and they have responded for the most part, except for some very key situations that put us into extra innings. They're bullpen did respond."

In the first two games, the Broncs carried leads, including a 5-0 lead in the opener, only to fall into late ties. In the first game, Lackey, after being staked to the 5-0 lead gave up three runs on three straight hits in the 5th. After getting what looked to be an insurance run in the 7th, the Broncs' bullpen blew the three-run lead in the 8th when Josh Hamilton drilled a 3-run HR. In the 14th, 5th starter Wandy Rodriguez was called in to try and do some long relief, but the outing lasted all of 1/3 inning as he allowed a single, a stolen base and then a single to give the Undertakers a 7-6 victory.

In game two, the Broncs led 3-1 after six innings, but closer Huston Street blew a 9th inning save and allowed the tying run to score in the 10th after an Adam Dunn homer had put the Broncs back on top. But in the 12th, Jimmy Rollins led off with a triple and scored on a passed ball on a Mariano Rivera pitch. Rodriguez was called on again to pitch and retired all three Los Altos batters to get the win.

In game three, it was the Undertakers who were staked to an early 2-0 lead while the Broncs chipped away and tied in at 2-2 in the 9th on a Casey Blake sacrifice fly. But Casey Janssen couldn't have the save opportunity for a tired Huston Street as he allowed a walk and two singles as Los Altos took a 3-2 decision in 10 innings.

Game 4 would see a repeat performance as Los Altos took a 2-0 lead while the Broncs ralled to tie. But in the 10th, Trevor Hoffman managed to load the bases and Guillermo Mota could walk Adrian Gonzalez to force the game-winning run in.

The Broncs will stay on their 12-game West Cost road trip as they will travel to Corona next week.

New ace Lackey wins twice, Broncs take 3 in opener

Sylmar (AP) - April 4, 2008

 In a typical hard-fought series between the two heated rivals, the San Antonio Broncs needed to go 18 innings in the finale to get a season-opening series victory over the Sylmar Padawans.

John Lackey also proved to the San Antonio front office that he was worth the 51 million he was signed for in the auction as he earned two wins in the series, thanks to a three-inning relief stint in Game 4.

In the opener, Lackey went seven frames and left with a 5-3 lead, which the San Antonio bullpen who make stand up with Huston Street earned his 1st save. Lackey allowed just five hits and two walks and struck out six. Ryan Doumit's 2-run home run in the 3rd inning proved to be the game winner as it put San Antonio up 4-2.

In Game 2, both teams had put up another hard fight through seven innings with Sylmar leading, 2-1. San Antonio scored in the 8th behind a David Murphy RBI single. Casey Janssen was asked to pitch the 8th, but coughed up five innings on five hits and two walks in his debut and Sylmar took a 7-2 victory.

Game 3 was another tight game as it was scoreless through five frames. In the 6th, the Broncs managed to load the bases with two outs and got an error and as single by Gabe Gross to push across two runs, which would be just enough as the Broncs would hold on for a 2-1 victory. Jeremy Guthrie would earn his first victory as a Bronc and Street would nail down his 2nd save of the young season.

In Game 4, the Broncs would rally from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to send the game into extra innings at 3-3. But at that point, the Broncs had already used five pitchers and most of their bench. Ryan Rowland-Smith would pitch three innings and fifth starter Wandy Rodriguez would pitch 2/3 of an inning. Street was stretched out to 2 1/3 innings as he was the last reliever in the Broncs bullpen.

After 15 frames, the Broncs were forced to go to a start and Lackey was the obvious choice as he had pitched the earliest in the series. Lackey came on and pitched three scoreless innings allowing two hits and striking out two. In the 18th, Ramon Hernandez singled in Adam Dunn from second base for the game-winner. Lackey manged to give up a two-out triple in the 18th before striking out Carl Crawford to end it.

Offseason moves give Broncs nod to win Griffin

San Antonio (AP) - March 28, 2008

Going into the offseason, the San Antonio Broncs had several areas they need to strength for the 2008 squad. According to the BDBL press, that may have been enough to push them over the edge to win the Griffin Division.

By landing John Lackey, Jeremy Guthrie, Trevor Hoffman and Matt Guerrier, the Broncs addressed one of their weakpoints and made it a strength as the Broncs now boast five starters with CERAs under 4.00. The bullpen was totally revamped and reloaded.

All of that was done with little impact to the offense. Only Aaron Rowand and Jeff Keppinger were seen as components to the lineup.

"Again, we knew we needed some help, but we went out and landed a #1 and #3 starter, several bullpen arms and a starting catcher," Broncs GM Greg Newgard said. "We would have liked to have added a bat, but between the moves during the season and the moves from this offseason, we like the way we are set up not only for 2008, but for the next few years."

Auction/Draft Results

San Antonio (AP) - January 24, 2008

Broncs throw 51M at rotation, lands Lackey

San Antonio (AP) - January 5, 2008

With a rotation of Danny Haren, Jeremy Guthie, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and Wandy Rodriguez, the San Antonio Broncs thought they needed one more arm in the rotation. They wanted a #2 guy to slot between Haren and Guthrie. They had some money in the war chest to make a big splash and they did just that.

The Broncs won the rights to pitcher John Lackey and agreed to a 3-year deal at 17M a season.

"Our current rotation totaled less than 5M, but only two of those guys will be here next year, so we needed to focus on bring a big name arm in here long term," Broncs GM Greg Newgard reasoned. "So we made a play for Lackey and got it done."

With new rules in place, the deal had to be a 3-year deal and Lackey has a no-trade clause during the first season. But the Broncs don't seem concerned.

"The budget looks tight going into the future, but we've got a core of players that is going to be here the next 2-3 years, so we see this as a window to get something done. Bringing Lackey in will help augment that nucleus and give us a serious chance to a be a contender during that time."

2008 Farm Draft Recap

San Antonio (AP) - January 4, 2008

With each new year, an annual ritual occurs within the BDBL: The Draft. The first piece of that is always the Farm Draft. With the finalization of rosters, the San Antonio Broncs had a need to pick up four farm players and the Broncs are happy with the lot they have signed.

With the first pick, the Broncs went for offense, landing 3B Chris Davis form the Texas Ranger organization.

"Any time you can add a slugger who hit 35 homers and 35 doubles in AA ball, you try and target him," Broncs GM Greg Newgard said.

With a good stable of young pitchers and lack of catching prospects, the Broncs decided to try to fill that void in the next round and settled on catcher Max Ramirez, also from Texas.

"We liked what Max brings to the table from both the the offensive and defensive side of things."

The Broncs then choose a pitcher in Round 3 by taking Jordan Zimmermann from the Washington Nationals ranks. But the Broncs went back to the plate for their final pick and landed Mat Gamel, 3B from Milwaukee.

"We were a little hesitant to take Gamel in the 4th round, as it gives us four 3B prospects," Newgard said. "But we liked his bat and thought highly enough of him to select him. We'll handle the 3B glut during the season."

Broncs deal Molina, Garko for Jones

San Antonio (AP) - November 9, 2007

In what would be their final move in the 2008 offseason, the San Antonio Broncs sent starting catcher Yadier Molina and newly-acquired 1B Ryan Garko to the Southern Cal Slyme in exchange for young OF Adam Jones and RP Guillermo Mota.

Garko was acquired from the Allentown Ridgebacks just days before, but was redundant the Broncs were finalizing a long-term deal for 1B Conor Jackson.

"We hate to give up such a strong defensive catcher and a leader on this ballclub in Yadier," Broncs GM Greg Newgard said, "but to land a player of Adam Jones quality, we had no choice.

"We had the luxury of getting a bat like Garko's for our bench, but he really would have been taking time away from Jackson and we thought they were very similiar players, so it made sense to deal one. We floating Garko's name out and got some bites. Southern Cal inquired but it didn't seem like a good fit, but we asked about Jones and was surprised when a counter-offer arrived with Jones in it."

With the free-agent catcher pool very thin, it's not clear if dealing Molina at this time was going to be a good move.

"We know what the market is for catchers," Newgard added. "We could have easily said no and had catcher settled, but we do have Ryan Doumit and Rod Barajas who can play most of the way for us, so we'll look to see what we can add in the draft."

Broncs gamble, deal Rowand for Guthrie

San Antonio (AP) - November 7, 2007

San Antonio takes a chance selling offense for pitching as they send CF Aaron Rowand to the Allentown Ridgebacks in return for SP Jeremy Guthrie and 1B Ryan Garko.

"Guthire will slot in the #3 slot behind Haren," Broncs GM said during the media conference call announcing the deal. "El Duque and Wandy Rodridguez will slot behind Guthrie, leaving us a #2-type pitcher that we'll target in the auction or draft.

"We loved Rowand's potential in our lineup, but felt we need to gamble and lock up another cheap starting pitcher now, especially since we lose two pitchers next offseason."

Broncs re-acquire Hoffman, dump Rolen

San Antonio (AP) - November 5, 2007

Deal Tom Glavine. Check.
Get relief pitching. Check.
Deal Scott Rolen?

San Antonio Broncs GM Greg Newgard can check off that final item on his 2007 to-do list as the Broncs have come to terms in a trade with the Villanova Mustangs. That deal sends 3B Scott Rolen and pitching prospects Garrett Olson and Trevor Cahill to Villanova for RP Trevor Hoffman.

Hoffman, acquired by San Antonio in the 2007 Auction, was traded to Villanova along with 2B Brian Roberts and C David Ross at the trade deadline in a deal that landed SS Jimmy Rollins and pitching prospect Matt Harrison.

"We've been talking with Villanova about Rolen for a week or so now and I thought any deal was dead," Newgard said. "But talks renewed a day or so ago and things moved quickly.

"Scott played well for us over the last two months as we tried to keep up with Los Altos, but we knew his contract was prohibitive for us going forward."

During his first stint with the team, Hoffman signed a two-year deal in 2005 and appeared in 128 games and pitched nearly 120 innings and compiled a 3.54 ERA and 104 strikeouts.

Then, in the 2007 Auction, San Antonio used its advantage in being Hoffman's previous employer and won the bidding for a 5M contract with a team option to sign for more years. Over the first four months of the deal, Hoffman disappointed a bit by racking up a 4.20 ERA over 45 innings and allowed 42% of inherited runners to score.

"We see Trevor coming in filling out a 6th or 7th inning role for us," Newgard said. "With Huston Street and Casey Janssen, we think the final two innings are taken, so we want to help bridge the gap from our starters to those guys."

Ridgebacks, Broncs hook up on small deal

San Antonio (AP) - November 3, 2007

In a move that seemed to push recently-acquired 3B Scott Rolen out of town, the San Antonio Broncs traded RP Jason Grilli and 3B Jack Hannahan to the Allentown Ridgebacks in return for 3B Casey Blake.

"Blake gives us the opportunity to platoon with Rolen at 3B, but to also play a little 1B with Conor Jackson and fill in RF for any injuries," Broncs GM Greg Newgard said.

The move was somewhat surprising see they would take on another 2.4M to sign Blake versus keeping Hannahan and Grilli since the last trade that the Broncs made was to shed salary.

"Hannahan was a nice addition and would have been a solid bench player for us, but the opportunity to land a full-time 3B gives us the chance to try and move Rolen and get that salary back and more," Newgard added. "If not, I think we'll be able to strengthen our bench a little."

Glavine dealt as Broncs cut salary

San Antonio (AP) - November 1, 2007

Shortly after the Kansas Law Dogs were crown the BDBL Champs for 2007, the San Antonio Broncs announced their first move of the 2007 offseason.

San Antonio managed to dump 11M of salary by sending P Tom Glavine, SS Jeff Keppinger and 1B/OF Ben Broussard to the New Milford Blazers in return for RP Reynel Pinto.

"Tom was slated to be a #4 for us and at 7.5M, we felt would get more value by trading him and using that money elsewhere," Broncs GM Greg Newgard said.

Glavine was 13-11 for the Broncs in 2007 with a 4.47 ERA over 37 starts. For his BDBL career, Glavine is 131-84 with a 3.94 ERA. Keppinger was a 500K mid-season pickup and Broussard was going to be released from his 3.1M contract.

Pinto is a young RP that appeared in 54 games with the Blazers and went 3-0 with two saves and a 3.62 ERA.

"Pinto gives us a nice young arm in the bullpen and we get to free up a ton of contract space," Newgard said.

Sources inside the Broncs organization are estimating the team will have somewhere in the neighborhood of 23M to spend. "I won't comment on our numbers now," Newgard added, "because we still have contract decisions to make and players to inform. It'd be premature to start throwing numbers around in the media before communicating with our players."