Minor League Recaps

Tuesday's Games

DSL Athletics over DSL Astros 6-3
Seven pitchers combined in this one with Luis Abad collecting his fourth loss of the season. Hector Roa was three-for-four with a single, an RBI triple and a home run, and scored two runs. Randy Cesar collected the double that Roa was missing for the cycle, and drove in a run as well.

GCL Marlins over GCL Astros 9-2 in 7 innings (Game 1)
Brandon Culbreth went to 0-3 on the season as he gave up six runs (three earned) on two hits and three walks. Errors from four different players and a passed ball from each catcher did not help matters as the Marlins went on to score three additional runs (two earned) off relievers Jose Montero and Rodney Quintero. Darwin Rivera was two-for-three with a solo home run and Jon Carnahan was two-for-two with a double.

GCL Marlins over GCL Astros 2-1 in 7 innings (Game 2)
The pitching and defense was superior to the first game. Unfortunately, the result was the same. Enderson Franco allowed one run on three hits over four innings and Krishawn Holley allowed an additional run in his two innings of work to get pegged with the loss. Gera Sanchez pitched a perfect seventh. The Astros were held to four hits, none for extra bases. And something I don't get to say often -- the catcher (Alfredo Gonzalez) stole two bases.

Pulaski over Greeneville 8-3 (Game 1)
[UPDATED TO ADD: Thanks to Appy Astros for letting me know that this game was a continuation of a suspended game from earlier in the season. I'm frankly not sure what portion happened yesterday and what portion happened before. Sorry for any confusion.] Daniel Minor pitched a really good six innings. It was the seventh that killed him as he gave up four runs (one earned) and Scott Zuloaga didn't help matters as he allowed one of Minor's runs to score and added one of his own. Then Zach Dando was roughed up to the tune of three runs over 1.1 innings before handing the ball to Christian Garcia who pitched a largely uneventful ninth inning. Michael Martinez was two-for-three with a two run double and Ariel Ovando was two-for-three with a walk.

Pulaski over Greeneville 2-1 (Game 2)
Frederick Tiburcio had a nice start but his two runs allowed turned out to be one too many as Greeneville stranded 13 runners. Tanner Bushue pitched two perfect innings. Greeneville only managed one run in the seventh on a Michael Martinez RBI single despite the team getting nine hits and drawing seven walks. Martinez did his part going three-for-four with a double and an RBI but he couldn't drive himself in. Angel Ibanez was two-for-four with a double and Jean Batista doubled as well.

Tri-City over Aberdeen 13-9
Vincent Velasquez got lucky that his offense was on fire as he gave up six runs (five earned) on five hits, including a three-run blast in the first, in only 3.1 innings pitched. John Neely added on three more in his two innings before Kenny Long shut the door with a perfect 3.2 innings for his first professional win. The lead changed three times before Tri-City took charge once and for all with a five-run seventh inning which featured four walks, an error, a hit batter and a Jesse Wierzbicki bases clearing double. Wierzbicki would end the day two-for-six with five RBI and two stolen bases. Tyler Heineman (3x6 2RBI SB), M.P. Cokinos (3x5 2B 2R), Joe Sclafani (2x4 2B 2BB 2R 2SB), and Andrew Aplin (2x5 3B 3RBI BB 4R SB) all had amazing nights. The ValleyCats swiped a total of eight bags. I believe that is enough to go from misdemeanor to felony theft.

Lancaster over High Desert 15-7
After two tough losses and an extra inning win with High Desert at home over the weekend, Lancaster needed this blowout win to set the tone on High Desert's home turf. David Martinez improved to 6-4 for the season as he allowed five runs (three earned) in his five innings of work. Jose Trinidad and Chia-Jen Lo pitched the final four and gave up one run each. Despite a two-run home run from Erik Castro and a solo shot from Drew Muren, most of the scoring was of the small ball variety and taking advantage of High Desert's mistakes. Castro ended the night three-for-five with two doubles, a home run, four RBI and three runs scored, and Muren was three-for-four with a home run, three RBI, two walks and three runs. George Springer, Telvin Nash and Jonathan Meyer each drove in two runs; and Nash and Kike Hernandez both had multi-hit nights as well. Alex Todd gets the Matt Duffy award for getting plunked three times.

Salt Lake over Oklahoma City 10-3
After two terrific starts, Jose Cisnero hit his first road bump since his promotion to AAA as he gave up six runs on seven hits in only 2.2 innings of work. Brian Bass pitched the next 4.1 innings allowing one run and Sergio Perez gave up the final three in his one inning. The Redhawks didn't even get on the board until the sixth inning. They scored two runs on sac flies from Marc Krauss and Mike Hessman and one on a Matt Dominguez double. Marc Krauss was one-for-three with a walk and an outfield assist in his Oklahoma City debut.

Player of the Day: There were so many terrific offensive performances that it was extremely difficult to chose, but I'm going with Erik Castro's prodigious output.

Pitcher of the Day: Kenny Long's first professional win came on 3.2 innings of perfect relief with four strikeouts. I believe that qualifies.