Round Rock has started the week with back to back defeats. Mark Saccomanno hit his 24th homer Monday night but the poor pitching performance by Ron Chiavacci put the Express in a hole they couldn’t get out of. Tuesday, the Express stranded 11 runners as they were shut out 3-0. Felipe Paulino’s rehab outing didn’t go as planned. He came out after 20 pitches complaining of a “shoulder/neck injury”.
Corpus Christi’s Sammy Gervacio blew his 5th save of the season in Monday’s 4-3 loss. They didn’t lose but they didn’t win either. They were off. The Hooks have lost 13 of their last 17.
Salem is on a slide. Their losses on Monday & Tuesday stretched their losing streak to 7. Monday, Corey Bass was hit hard and often as he gave up 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Tuesday, three pitchers combined to no hit the Avs.
Lexington is the hottest team in the org right now. Monday they rallied after being no hit for five innings for a 3-2 victory. Tuesday, they played long ball and won 5-1. Brian Pellegrini hit his 20th HR of the season. Anthony Bello struck out 8 in his 6 2/3 innings of work.
Tri Cities split an unusual double header on Monday. In game one, the ValleyCats lost a home game and then won the night cap as the visitors. Danny Maier hit a grand slam in the night cap. He has 3 homers in his last 5 games but his season average is still below .200.
Greeneville saw the debut of Brad Dydalewicz in Bristol Monday night. He pitched a solid first inning inducing 3 ground outs on less than 10 pitches. The G-stros stranded 12 runners in the 8-4 loss. David Dinelli took the loss but he only walked one batter in his two innings of work. Tuesday, the G-stros got back on the winning track with a 6-1 victory over Burlington. Henry Villar gave up just 3 hits in 6 shut out innings. Colton Pitkin pitched 3 innings of relief work to qualify for his second save of the season. It was Pitkin’s best outing in almost a month. Frank Almonte went 3 for 4 with a homer. He is hitting .500 over his last 4 games.