AAA All Star Game

Subject: AAA All Star Game Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:27 am

PCL waltzes to Triple-A All-Star win
Early grand slam by Laird sets the tone
By Kevin T. Czerwinski / MLB.com

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gerald Laird wasn't supposed to be going to the Triple-A All-Star Game. He was supposed to be heading to a lake in Oklahoma for three days with his girlfriend, taking a respite from baseball and preparing for the second half of the Pacific Coast League season.
But when Albuquerque's Josh Willingham was called up by the Marlins three weeks ago, Laird was tabbed as his replacement. So the Oklahoma City catcher was forced to scrap his vacation plans and head to northern California, forgoing the time at the lake for a few days in the 100-degree heat at Raley Field.

It couldn't have worked out better for Laird and his PCL teammates as the big backstop cracked the first grand slam in Triple-A All-Star Game history to lead the hosts to an 11-5 rout of the International League before a sellout crowd of 14,414. The victory snapped a two-year losing streak for the PCL, which has won five of the eight contests played between the leagues.

The runs were the most the PCL has scored in the series, eclipsing nine-run outbursts in 1999 and 2001.

"It feels great," said Laird, a California native who was named the game's Star of Stars. "I hit a grand slam seven days ago in Albuquerque and that was my first one ever. This one was nice because my girlfriend was here and my parents drove up yesterday from southern California and surprised me, so they were in the stands, too."

Laird's blast set the tone early, pretty much erasing any doubt as to what the outcome would be on this sweltering evening. The IL got off to a quick start, touching Memphis' Chris Gissell for a run in the first inning. Buffalo's Jake Gautreau and Home Run Derby champ Mitch Jones of Columbus put runners on the corners with back-to-back singles before Syracuse's John-Ford Griffin brought home the game's first run with a sacrifice fly.

"It was only one run and there was a broken-bat hit," said Gissell, who earned the victory and Pitcher of the Game honors. "And that was on a slder away. It's just how the ball rolls sometimes."

Gissell needed 32 pitches to make it through the first inning, but he was able to escape having allowed only one run. International League starter Jason Scobie labored through the inning, throwing 35 pitches while not showing the Houdini-like ability that Gissell displayed. He started by walking Oklahoma's Esteban German, and the PCL took off from there.

Andy Green followed with a single before Tucson teammate Conor Jackson brought home German with a base hit. Sacramento's Matt Watson walked two batters later to load the bases, setting the stage for Laird. He lined Scobie's 1-1 offering onto the berm in the corner beyond the left field fence to claim his place in All-Star lore. The shot put the PCL ahead for good.

"It was one of those things where I got up in that spot and I just tried to hit something hard," Laird said. "It was an opportunity to do something great and I was able to get something going. And the ball stayed up long enough to get out of the park."

Louisville's Edwin Encarnacion, who was tabbed as the IL's Player of the Game, smacked a solo homer off Gissell in the second, but Green and Watson drove in runs in the bottom of the inning, cementing the rout. The game was long decided by the sixth, when the PCL scored four more runs, two of which came on Watson's homer to deep left.

While the PCL bats were explosive, its bullpen was no less effective through the middle innings. Portland's Clay Hensley, Memphis' Kevin Jarvis, Tucson's Jason Bulger and Sacramento's Victor Moreno each pitched a scoreless inning following Gissell. It wasn't until the seventh inning that the visitors mounted a comeback, roughing up Salt Lake's Dusty Bergman, Tacoma's Masao Kida and Albuquerque's Jim Crowell for three runs over 2 1/3 innings. But it wasn't enough.

"It was tough early," IL manager Marty Brown of the Buffalo Bisons said. "We scored one run in the top of the first and gave five back in the bottom of the inning. Scobie had trouble with his command and we saw some good arms."

Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971