The PCL was off on Wednesday, it is reported that attendance at mid week Bible studies were up at churches through out the western US.

Corpus Christi

Corpus took a beating last night in an 11-0 shut out. When your batters have more strike outs (6) than hits (5), it is not a good sign. Jose Oyervidez struggled in his second straight appearance, giving up 4 runs in an inning and a third.

Salem

The first inning spelled doom for Salem Wednesday. The Avs loaded the bases in the first with one out but Van Ostrand and Florentino struck out to end any hopes of an early lead. In the bottom of the first, Kinston scored 5 runs aided by an error by Florentino. The Avs came back with 3 runs in the 7th but couldn’t get any more. Cory Bass took the loss in the 5-3 decision despite only giving up 2 earned runs.

Lexington

The Legends troubles at home continued with a 12-2 thumping at that hands of the West Va. Power. Colt Adams gave up 7 runs on 13 hits in just 3 2/3 innings. The Legends offense could only muster 7 hits compared to the Power’s 22.

Brandon Barnes ended an 0-22 slump with a single in the 9th to bring his average out of the bingo range. His single was sandwiched between doubles by Taylor and Fixler. Fixler’s double brought Taylor and Barnes home ended the shut out.

“I’m not looking for moral victories,” he said. “It was pretty evident what happened.”….”We’ve got to show up for the game tomorrow,” Langbehn said. “We’ve got to play again. So they need to respond. They’ve got to figure out a way to win at home.”

Lexington is 1-9 at home this year.

The Express lost to the Redbirds 10-4 last night. Nieve wasn’t sharp giving up 3 runs off 9 hits but left the game leading 4-3. He was aided by some stellar defense to get out of a bases loaded no out jam in the sixth.

Memphis led off with three straight singles off Nieve to load the bases. Cazana-Marti grounded a ball to Saccomanno, who touched third base to force out Freese before throwing home, where catcher Josh Paul tagged out a charging Stavinoha.

On the next play, Redbirds catcher Mark Johnson lined a single to right field. Round Rock’s Reggie Abercrombie fielded the ball cleanly and fired a strike to Paul, nailing D’Angelo Jimenez, who was trying to score from second.

The Express had two run triples from MarK Saccamanno and Danny Klassen. Both were hit with no outs and neither was able to score. Those extra runs would have helped as the Redbirds scored 7 runs off the Express bullpen.
Corpus Christi

Bud Norris pitched 5 strong shut out innings and Ryan Thompson pitched 4 shut out innings to finish the game. The only problem was what occurred in the 4 innings in between. Norris left with a 2-0 lead after 5 and Thompson came in to a 5-5 game in the 10th. THe Hooks won 6-5 in 13.

Rob Cosby got the game winner on a hit that should have been an out but the Hooks will take it.

On a 2-0 count, Cosby, denied a chance to provide the game-winner in the 10th, lofted a towering fly that Myron Leslie appeared to lose in the pitch-black sky. The ball landed behind Leslie and bounced into the left-field berm, scoring Sutton.

Salem

Chris Salamida got his first start of the season and earned the win in Salem’s 7-4 victory. Tim Torres went 2-3 with 3 RBI to lead the offense.

The key turning point in the game was Salamida’s ability to get out of 5th inning where Kinston hit the ball hard 4 times but got no runs out of the innings.

Jerad Head’s leadoff single was followed by a failed Cirilo Cumberbatch hit-and-run attempt that saw Head gunned down easily at second. Cumberbatch — as hitters do after baserunning mistakes when things are going badly — promptly followed with a sharp single to left, and Alex Castillo singled to the same spot to put runners on first and second with one out.

The Indians, trailing 4-2 with leadoff man Adam Davis coming up, were in business.

But Davis’ rope of a line drive was stabbed by Avs second baseman Greg Buchanan, who flipped to second to double off Cumberbatch and give the threat a fitting end….

“It was important for us to get a win,” said Salem manager Jim Pankovits. “We’ll take one any way we can get it. This is a tough place to get them historically.”

Lexington

Sergio Severino had control problems last night. He only gave up 3 hits and struck out 6 batters but he walked 4 and hit two batters. That resulted in a short night for him only lasting 3 innings after giving up 3 runs.

The defense was ready for a line dance because the had their boots on. Six errors resulted in 4 unearned runs on the night. Manager Greg Langbehn is frustrated to say the least.

“Our inability to make … relatively routine plays, it’s killing us,” Manager Gregg Langbehn said. “We’re digging our own grave and not covering it up. We did it a couple of times on the road trip; we were able to do it.

“You can’t give teams 31, 32, 33 outs and expect to win. It’s not realistic.”…

“We didn’t pitch well. We didn’t play defense very well,” Langbehn said. “Quite honestly, offensively we benefitted from two balls that were lost in the sky. Otherwise, we probably don’t score.”

The result was an 8-2 loss.

Injury updates:

Legends C Max Sapp (groin) missed his ninth game in a row and probably will miss the rest of the homestand. … Legends LH Jeff Icenogle (calf) will throw off a mound Wednesday. If all goes well, he could be activated in about a week.

The Express got rained out and their flight got canceled. They were like many other travelers impacted by American Airlines wiring inspections. So, the AAA boys got reminded of life at the lower levels with an 830 mile bus ride from Omaha.

We had to make a decision to just get on the bus,” said Express chief executive Reid Ryan.

The Austin Paper this morning has a story about Lance Niekro and growing up in the Astros’ clubhouse.

Reid Ryan recalled that Niekro, who had a surprisingly deep voice for a 6-year-old, once hunted down his father in the clubhouse. The young Niekro was on a mission to warn his dad to eat the clubhouse spread because mom was cooking meatloaf at home.

“Every time I look at Lance, I get a smile on my face,” Ryan said. “I think it would be a real neat story if he made it back to the big leagues.”

Corpus Christi

If the chicks who dig the long ball were at the game last night, they were happy because all the runs scored were the result of homers thanks to a 27 MPH wind blowing out to center. However, the Hooks didn’t win the the home run derby. All 3 of the Drillers HR were hit off Brian Bogusevic. Iorg and Sutton homered for the Hooks both have been impressive at the plate to begin the season.

Drew Sutton, who has a hit in all six games he has started, ripped his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the third that drove in Kazuo Matsui. That brought the Hooks within 3-2. Eli Iorg’s solo homer, his first, accounted for Corpus Christi’s final run. Iorg has hit safely in six of seven games.

Iorg also struck out for the first time this season giving him 1 K in 27 AB. Kaz Matsui went 2 -4 in his rehab start, hitting 2 more doubles.

Salem

After back to back last at bat wins, the Avs lost a late one last night. Wilmington scored 4 in the 9th for a 5-4 win. Polin Trinidad had another solid start, allowing 1 run off 5 hits in 5 innings. The Av’s pitching and defense fell apart in the 9th. Here is how the local paper described it:

Dominguez came in to close out the game in the ninth, but instead allowed a leadoff single and followed it with a walk. A wild pitch put the runners at second and third, and then, Wilver Perez — Wednesday’s losing pitcher and Thursday’s DH — hit a grounder to Sutil at short.

Sutil made the scoop, but his throw was low and bounced past first baseman Ori. One run scored and Perez went to second on the error.

The next batter, Josh Johnson tripled to the gap in left-center field, bringing Anthony Seratelli and pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson home to tie the score with still no outs in the inning.

Jeff Howell’s single to left brought the winning run to the plate.

Sutil took the loss hard:

“When you don’t feel comfortable with yourself … ” Sutil started. “When you don’t have security, that’s when it [errors] happens. … I’m not hitting good. Maybe it’s the problem. I’m thinking too much about hitting when I’m on defense.”

Lexington

The Legends had visitors from Houston arrive yesterday. A bunch of them:

Tom Wiedenbauer, minor-league field coordinator, was joined by pitching coordinator Britt Burns, hitting coordinator Orv Franchuk and Matt Galante, an infield instructor and special assistant to the general manager.

And they got to see first hand what Manager Greg Langbehn has been fussing about in the Legends 5-2 loss to Greenville. Langbehn on this team last night.

“But the bottom line is we competed for one inning and that’s not good enough. They need to figure out, to learn, how to compete every night for all nine innings. Right now, we’re just not doing it.”….”it just wasn’t a good night,” Langbehn said. “We get to come back tomorrow and try to get better. That’s all we can do. It’s early. We’ve just got to try to figure out a way to be more consistent and keep competing.”

Craig Corrado is off to an impressive start this season hitting .429 and has stolen 4 bases. He has yet to be caught stealing in his pro career (14 out of 14).

The Express made the most of their 3 hits and 4 walks by scoring 3 runs but their pitchers gave up 10 hits, one walk and 4 runs in their loss to Omaha.

The catcher position is getting very deep in RR with the news that Humberto Quintero has accepted his assignment to RR. That gives them Q, recently signed Josh Paul, J. R. House, Joshua Johnson and James Goethals (inactive bullpen catcher). Something is going to have to happen soon.

Salem

The Avs scored 4 runs in the 9th to come back and win 8-7. Orlando Rosales, celebrated his birthday by hitting a game tying double in the 9th and then coming around to score on Jordan Parraz’s double. It was Rosales’ 24th birthday and a fan had provided some cookies for him. If the result of those cookies is a 2-5 night with 2 RBI, keep em coming.

David Qualben had started the game and was solid for the first 3 innings but allowed 2 runs in the 4th, 5th and 6th to dig the hole for the Avs. Qualben picked up his pick offs where he left off last year getting 2 pick offs in his first start of the year.

The Av bullpen was thin after last nights 14 inning marathon.

Salem (6-1) — which won in extra innings Tuesday — went to Chris Salamida in the seventh inning, a couple of days before he was scheduled to pitch again, because the bullpen was in “dire straights,” Pankovits said. Tellam, Salem’s emergency pitcher last year, was already out of the game.

“I don’t know who it would be, maybe [Sal] Iacono,” Pankovits said.

Lexington

Greg Langbehn’s serious talk he had with the Legends before Tuesday’s game only lasted one day and according to the manager it is time for another one after the 7-1 loss last night.

“It was a frustrating night, and it’s going to be addressed tomorrow,” Manager Gregg Langbehn said of his Legends.

So what was he frustrated about?

“With those guys, you have to be patient. You have to make them get the ball up. Those pitches are starting at the knees and ending up at the shoe tops, and we’re still swinging at them and pounding them into the dirt.” — Legends Manager Gregg Langbehn, who wants his hitters to be aggressive, but to be patient when facing a sinker-ball pitcher such as Greenville’s Chris Province.

It took 14 innings but the Avs got the win. Koby Clemens went 3 for 6 at the plate, just a HR short of the cycle. The Blue Rocks were testing him on the base paths with 8 stolen base attempts. They were successful in 5. Jimmy Van Ostrand also went 3 for 6.

In the 11th and in the 13th, Wlad Sutil was at the plate with two outs and the go ahead run on 3rd. He struck out both times. The second strike out caused Avs play by play man, Jason Benetti to quip that the base runners were heard saying “You picked a fine time to leave us Sutil”.

In the 14th, with two outs, Jordan Parraz walked and stole second and scored the winning run on Cesar Quintero’s double.

“As soon as Parraz went to second I was thinking, get a base hit, get him home,” Quintero said through the translation of teammate Osvaldo Fernando.

On the 14 inning game, Manager Pankovits said:

“I’m just happy nobody got hurt.”

Lexington

Manager Greg Langbehn had a heart to heart meeting with his players Tuesday afternoon, and it appears to have worked.

“We addressed some things before the (afternoon) workout today. So, hopefully, we can put some things together and get on a little better roll.”

Langbehn didn’t specify what was addressed, but in general the topic was “just being ready to play everyday and getting after it a little bit more. … Create some things and make things happen.”

The Legends responded by tying a team record for runs in a game in a 13-2 victory.

Max Sapp, Craig Carrado and Russell Dixon all had 3 hits, with Sapp driving in 3 runs on a double and a HR. However, he wasn’t the big RBI guy of the night. That distinction belonged to Steve Brown who drove in 4 runs on a 1 for 4 night, bringing this praise from his manager.

“We don’t really have a true four-hole hitter. He just seems to be a fit for us right now. … He’s putting the ball in play. He was 4-for-4 in situational hitting.”

Langbehn also heaped praise on his starter Leandro Cespedes who had another solid start.

“I like how he responded after the first inning,” Langbehn said. “He was a little lethargic the first inning. His command wasn’t there and it just didn’t seem like he was into it. He picked it up a little bit and started attacking the zone.”

Sacrifice double play? That is something you don’t see too often in game logs but here it is:

Steve Brown flies into sacrifice double play, right fielder David Marks to catcher Luis Exposito to third baseman Manuel Arambarris. Craig Corrado scores. Russell Dixon out at 3rd on the throw.

Corpus Christi

The Hooks lost their first game of the season. Brad James pitched well but was out dueled in the 2-0 defeat. Kaz Matsui started his comeback with a lead off double and was the only Hook to get to second base on the night.

“With three hits, you usually don’t get to second base too much,” Hooks outfielder Eli Iorg said. “(Rosa) made some good pitches, he worked fast and he threw strikes. Sometimes you hit the ball and it just doesn’t find holes. It was just one of those nights for us.”

Luis Pujols is on his teams league leading 12 errors in the first 6 games.

I am concerned about the errors and I already told the coaching staff I’m concerned because we’ve made too many throwing errors,” Pujols said. “Normally you don’t see that. It’s something that we’re going to have to address quickly.”

Round Rock

Brandon Duckworth took out his frustration at being snubbed by the Royals in favor of Hideo Nomo and helped Omaha defeat the Express 2-1.

Duckworth nearly got an opportunity to return to Kansas City last week, as the team was looking to add a non-roster pitcher (Peralta and Musser were ineligible because they had been optioned less than 10 days earlier). The Royals decided to go with Hideo Nomo.

“You can (get caught up in it),” Duckworth said. “I’m not going to lie. You hear about it, and you’re hoping because you’d much rather be in the big leagues. But they made their decision. When the time comes that they think they need me there, I’ll be there.”

Round Rock split a day night doubleheader Saturday. They lost the opener 4-3 and won the nightcap 16-8 thanks to a 9 run 7th. In game one, Jack Cassell surrendered 4 runs in the second inning and that was enough for the I-Cubs to hold on despite a rally by the Express in the ninth. The second game looked like it would be a repeat with the I-Cubs getting 4 runs in the first off Runelvys Hernandez. The Express rallied with a 9 run 7th to erase a 8 – 3 deficit.

Corpus Christi

Bud Norris was impressive in his AA debut. He went 5 strong innings giving up 5 hits and striking out 8, while only walking one batter. Mitch Einertson went 3 for 4 and Rob Cosby hit a 3 run homer for the offensive production in the 5-1 win. The Hooks are off to a franchise best start of 3-0.

“I’m not going out there looking for strikeouts,” Norris said. “I’m just going out there to throw strikes and help my team. But yeah, it definitely started off on the wrong foot, but I kept my composure and made pitches with Lou Santangelo behind the plate and that was all I could really focus on.

Salem

The Avs played through rough conditions and benefit from bad footing in their 5-4 victory. After a 4 run 8th that put the Avs up 5-4, the Nationals were threatening when the conditions gave them a boost. With a runner at second and no one out, a pick off was just what Salem needed.

When Baez took a large lead and then slipped a bit trying to get back to the bag, Tellam threw a bullet to Torres for the out. The throw doused Potomac’s comeback attempt and the Avalanche scored a 5-4 Carolina League victory at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

“If they bunt the guy over in those conditions, there’s no telling what would have happened,” Avalanche manager Jim Pankovits said. “Those were about as tough conditions as you can play in.”

Lexington

Lexington split their double header as well. They lost the opener 2-0, mustering only 3 hits off Cory Riordan in the 7 inning affair. Eric Taylor got two of the three Legends hits. Carlos Ladeuth took the loss despite pitching 5 solid innings.

In the late game, Sergio Severino, was effectively wild. He allowed only two hits but gave four free passes in 5 innings. He struck out 6. The offense responded with the 2-5 batters in the line up getting 2 hits each and at least one RBI each for the Legends 7-1 victory.

The Legends won the base path war. They went 4 out of 5 in stolen bases with Brandon Barnes stealing 2 bases. The Tourist were caught stealing in their two attempts.