(7-9, 3rd–PCL American South)
Game Notes:
A 4-run explosion in the 3rd followed by a 5-run 4th inning propeled the Express on their way to the 10-5 crushing of Iowa.
CF Charlton Jimerson swung the big wood, stroking his PCL-leading 4th triple as he went 3-5. 2 ribbies, 3 runs scored and his 4th SB of the year were all part of the former Miami Hurricane’s resume for the evening.
LF Luke Scott (hitting his 4th homer), 1B Alan Zinter and C Humberto Quintero all drove in 2 runs apiece as well.
Chris Sampson makes it 4 excellent outings in a row at the start of his AAA career. He allowed just one run on 3 hits and zero walks over 6 innings. Swinging the bat, the Texas Tech-ex went 1-2 and saw his BA plummet to .714.
Reliever David Lee pitched like a guy on his 4th organization in a year, giving up 4 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks in just a third of an inning in his Express debut.
Brandon Puffer (1.2 IP) and Justin Huisman (1 IP) blanked the I-Cubs in their outings.
(9-7, T1st–Texas League South)
Game Notes:
The Hooks could’ve piled on Frisco early but failed to do so and ended up on the wrong side of a 6-4 score, snapping their 4-game win streak in the process.
Thomas Diamond, of the Rangers’ much discussed “DVD” trio of pitching prospects, struggled terribly with his command. Throwing 79 pitches and lasting just 1.1 innings, Diamond walked 7.
CC took advantage of the wildness in the 1st inning by plating 3 runs in the 1st, 2 coming on a double by Derek Nicholson. But after Diamond was pulled after walking the bases loaded in the 2nd frame with one out, neither C J.R. House (lined out) nor 3B Josh Bonifay (whiff) could come up with a hit off the reliever to bring in a couple of more runs.
House did come up with a couple of hits elsewhere in the game to run the hit string to 16 straight.
Bonify added enough additional K’s that he had to be fitted for the golden sombrero. In all, Cam’s son was responsible for 8 of the Hooks’ 11 LOBsters.
SS Ben Zobrist singled and walked twice, driving in one and scoring once.
RF Hunter Pence and CF Josh Anderson each drew a couple of walks but were otherwise dry at the plate and saw their 7-game streaks go poof.
Starting pitcher Juan Gutierrez made it through 3, yielding a pair of runs on 4 hits (but also whiffing 5) before exiting.
Jon Skaggs came on for Guti and sparkled, with 3 scoreless/hitless innings (though the 3 walks made it a tad less shiny).
Skaggs’ bullpen mate Aaron Williams had not allowed a run in 6 prior appearance (4 in CC, 2 in RR), but blew up for 4 7th-inning runs in this one which cost the Hooks the game (though again the offense should have done more with that early opportunity).
House picked off a runner at 1B in the 1st inning.
(7-8, T3rd-Carolina League Southern)
Game Notes:
Awful defense, a starting pitcher struggling with his control and the opposition running wild all spelled doom for Salem in their 8-2 loss to Lynchburg.
Troy Patton’s line (2.1 IP 4 H 4 R 1 ER 4 W 3 K) was one of the poorer that we’ve seen in his young career. The 1st 2 pitches he threw in the game were extremely wild, setting the tone for what would be a short evening.
How many times do you see a game in which 3 errors occur as a result of missed catches? And in just the 1st 2 innings? And 2 of the muffs was by your 1B who actually has a reputation as pretty steady glove man? In addition to the those two errors, 1st sacker Scott Robinson also had a throwing error in the 1st inning. So with 4 errors behind him during his time on the mound, Patton must have felt kinda snake bit.
The other muffed catch was by 2B Drew Sutton on a pickoff attempt. The Baylor-ex also made a fielding error in the 3rd. So he and Robinson were responsible for all 5 Lex errors in the game and all 5 came over a span of three innings.
The Hillcats, with several speedy players in their lineup, were successful on 5 of 6 SB attempts. Pretty surprising given Lou Santangelo was behind the plate and who, entering the game, had been erasing over 50% of would-be basestealers.
Anthony Dewitt made his season debut with 2 scoreless frames. Less successful in terms of ’06 initial appearances was Jeff Wigdahl, who gave up 2 runs on 2 hits in his one inning.
At the plate, Santangelo was 0-4 with 3 whiffs.
Robinson did have 2 of the Avalanche’s 7 hits in the game. And if you guessed that those 2 hits were singles, you’d be right since the power-challenged Mr. Robinson rarely hits anything but. Just what you want to see in a first baseman.
SS Edwin Maysonet doubled and homered (#1), driving in 2.
Other News and Notes:
(1) Speaking of speedy Hillcats, leadoff man Nyjer Morgan already has 11 stolen bases this season. (2) Double or nothing: Salem OF Matt Cunningham now has 2 hits on the year in 18 ABs, both 2-baggers.
(10-6, 1st–SAL Northern)
Game Notes:
The Legends lose their 3rd in a row as the West Virginia Power visit Applebee’s Park and take the series opener 7-3.
2 singles, 2 doubles and 2 homers sums up the Lex offense.
Corner outfielders Eli Iorg and Ryan Reed had the longballs, the 1st of the year for both. It was also Reed’s 1st extra-base hit of the year and just the 2nd for Iorg.
And speaking of first extra base hits of ’06, SS Tommy Manzella logged his with a 2-bagger in the 3rd inning. If he hits another, the .077-hitter will match the number of singles he’s hit this season.
DH Ole Sheldon went 2-4 with a double.
Starter Tip Fairchild wasn’t awful (7 IP 9 H 5 R 3 ER 1 W 2 K) but takes the loss.
After Sammy Gervacio maintained his spotless 0.00 ERA with a scoreless 8th, Brandon Stricklen came on for the 9th and allowed the Power 2 more runs to pretty much put the game out of reach for Lexington.
An error by CF Josh Flores and a passed ball by C Eric Cavers resulted in 3 West Virginia runs scoring in the 4th inning.
Other News and Notes:
(1) Ned Yost IV plays 1B for the Power and his dad of course is the Milwaukee manager. He hit his 2nd longball of the season in the game. (2) Hitting streaks: Sheldon has a 7-gamer.
Quoting:
Iorg, who hit his dinger in his final AB:
“Every year, I’ve been a slow starter. And once I get going, I get going. I hope this gets me going. It’s tough right now. Real tough. Not very much sleep, and relationships have suffered. But, as of now, a good swing to end the day on, and I’ll try to build on that tomorrow.”