Two former Madison Mallards had memorable games in their careers Wednesday, as Ryan Spilborghs drove in the Colorado Rockies’ only two runs in a win over the Diamondbacks, and Sea Dog Jay Johnson (pictured) faced future Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens and came away with an RBI from the plate.
Spilborghs started his first Major League game of the season as the leadoff hitter and right fielder for the Rockies, after pinch hitting three games prior to Wednesday.
In the top of the third inning, the former Mallard sent Doug Davis’ sixth pitch of the sequence to center field on an RBI-double, scoring Jamey Carroll from second for the first run of the game. During his next at-bat, Davis delivered a wild pitch, advancing Carroll from second to third. With the count full, Spilborghs sent an another shot to center for his second hit and RBI of the game.
After batting two-for-four with two RBIs, Spilborghs increased his average to .333 and RBI total to three.
Spilborghs played in Madison in 2001, batting .331 in 43 games, predominately as a center fielder. He crossed home 28 times and drove in 20 Mallards during the year, helping him reach co-MVP status on the team.
The former UC-Santa Barbara star was drafted by the Rockies in the seventh round (201st overall) of the 2002 draft. Last season, he appeared in 67 games for the Rockies and compiled a .287 batting average on 48 hits and six doubles. Spilborghs was re-signed to a minor league contract by the team after spring training and has spent the beginning of this season with the Sky Sox before being called up to the Major Leagues to relieve an injured infielder.
Two time zones away, former Mallards outfielder Jay Johnson drove in a run against Roger Clemens during the Rocket’s Major League comeback tour.
Johnson faced Clemens three times in the ballgame as the Sea Dogs’ designated hitter, grounding out once and popping out on two occasions.
With his teammate, Jed Lowrie, on third, Johnson delivered a grounder to the shortstop, who threw him out at first. Lowrie crossed home on the play and drew the Sea Dogs one run back on the scoreboard, 2-1, before Portland plated two more runs in the sixth.
After the Thunder tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on Noah Hall’s solo shot to left field, Trenton snuck away with the win in the bottom of the 10th.
Johnson is currently hitting .254 for Portland and .271 as a minor leaguer. He’s made 18 appearances on the season, scoring nine times and driving in eight.
After playing with the Mallards during the 2004 summer season, the Red Sox drafted the Xavier outfielder the following summer during the 13th round of the MLB Draft. Johnson played with the High-A Lancaster JetHawks, where he led the Red Sox minor league system in runs scored (86) and total bases (230) in 2006. He appeared in eight games for Portland in 2006 and collected the game-winning hit in extra innings in his Double-A debut on April 29. He was called up again this year on May 4.
With the Mallards, Johnson played in 59 games, 53 as a right fielder, and finished the season batting .325 on 209 at-bats. He also scored 38 times, homered three times and drove in 28 runs.
The Mallards season starts Thursday May 31 against the Eau Claire Express at the Duck Pond. All tickets are on sale now. Call 246-4277 or log onto Mallardsbaseball.com for more information.
