7/6/10 Minor League Report – Great Lakes & Rookie League Offenses Come Alive

I'm up in Mammoth this week doing some fishing and hiking, but luckily the cabin I'm staying in has internet so I'm able to continue with the minor league updates.  There were several solid performances tonight, including several offensive outbursts.  The best news of the day, however, is probably the fact that James McDonald pitched so effectively for 6 innings, demonstrating that he is healthy. 

AAA Game 1 – James McDonald dominated for 6 innings in the first game of Albuquerque’s double header, giving up just 2 hits and zero runs.  While he struggled in the 7th and ended up allowing 4 earned runs, the fact that he threw 6 shutout innings is great news, especially since the Isotopes still ended up winning the game.  Lucas May provided the majority of the offense in this game via a 2-run homer and a sacrifice fly.  The homer was May’s 11th of the season, and he is now hitting .316.  In terms of the other AAA hitting prospects, Ivan De Jesus went 2 for 4, Russell Mitchell went 1 for 4 with a double, and Jamie Hoffmann stole his 13th base of the season.

AAA Game 2 – The Isotope pitching staff threw a 1 hitter in the 2nd game of their double header to beat the Iowa Cubs.  Starter Charlie Haeger allowed the only hit of the game as Ramon Troncoso, Jesus Rodriguez, and Jack Taschner combined for 5 inning of no-hit ball.  Troncoso was especially good in his 2010 AAA debut, striking out 3 in his 2 innings of work.  Since both games of minor league double headers are only 7 innings long, this game technically went into extra innings even though it ended after the 8th.  It was in the top of the 8th that Albuquerque scored all 5 of their runs, with 2 of those runs scoring on a RBI single by Ivan De Jesus.  Russell Mitchell also had an RBI single in the inning.

AA – Even though the Lookouts lost this game 9 to 1, Aaron Miller wasn’t quite as bad as you might expect.  Miller did last just 4 innings and walked 4 batters, but he only allowed 1 earned run and struck out 6.  Cole St. Clair was the real victim in this game as he gave up 7 hit and 5 runs in 4 innings of work.  The fact that St. Clair was forced to pitch 4 innings shows that Chattanooga pitching is a little under-staffed.  On offense, the Lookouts only managed 2 hits.  Sands picked up one of those hits (a double), and the other hit was a solo homer by Jaime Pedroza.  Kyle Russell returned to the lineup after a few days off and went 0 for 3.

High A – Clay Calfee and Matt Wallach hit back to back homers in the top of the 9th inning in Lancaster to break a tie and give the 66ers an 8 to 6 win.  The offensive player of the game, however, goes to Alfredo Silverio who continues to demonstrate that he shouldn’t be written off as a prospect just yet.  Silverio hit 2 solo homers in 4 at bats and has been very hot over the past few weeks.  On the mound, Jon Michael Redding continued his disappointing season by allowing 5 runs in 6 innings.  Geison Aguasviva allowed a run in relief, but Matt Sartor hurled 2 scoreless innings to pick up the win.

A – Great Lakes exploded for 14 runs on Tuesday as the doubled up on the South Bend Silver Hawks 14 to 7.  Several Loons had big offense games in this one, starting with Brian Cavazos-Galvez who went 4 for 5 with 3 doubles, a homer, and 4 RBI’s.  Blake Smith continued his torrid hitting streak as he singled twice and homered in his 4th straight game, giving him 11 for the season.  The other offense stars were Mario Songco (3 for 6 with 2 RBI’s) and Rafael Ynoa (2 for 5 with 3 RBI’s).  Elisaul Pimentel was the starting pitcher for Great Lakes but unfortunately he lasted just 3.2 innings.  In his short outing Pimentel allowed 8 hits and 6 runs.  Luckily J.B. Paxson was able to restore order out the bullpen as he threw 3.1 shutout innings in relief.

Rookie Ogden – The Raptors continued their offensive onslaught with another 11 runs on Tuesday night.  6 players had multi-hit games, including Jonathan Garcia’s 2 for 2 effort.  Both Casio Grider and Bobby Coyle had homers for the Raptors, and Jessie Bosnik knocked in 3 runs.  In addition, Leon Landry went 3 for 5 and Michael Pericht went 2 for 5.  Greg Wilborn continues to succeed as a starting pitcher as he allowed just 2 runs and struck out 7 in 5.2 innings.  Ji-Mo Lee provided solid relief with 2.1 innings of one-hit ball.

Rookie Arizona – The Arizona Dodgers won 11 to 4 behind the strong pitching of Arismendy Ozoria and the outstanding offense performances by several players.  Ozoria lasted 5 innings and allowed just 1 run while striking out 6.  Beyker Fructuoso also chipped in with an inning of scoreless relief.  At the plate, Nick Akins went 4 for 4 with a homer, and Tae-Hyeok Nam had 3 hits in 4 at bats.  The 3 big run producers, however, were Bladimir Franco (3 for 5 with 3 RBI’s), Jan Vazquez (1 for 4 with 3 RBI’s), and James Baldwin (3 for 5 with 2 RBI’s).  All three players are finally coming alive after slow starts to their seasons.

DSL – 19 year old Giordanny Chavez pitched 4.1 solid innings, but the Dominican Dodgers lost to the Red Sox 4 to 2.  The only offense to speak of was the 2 for 3 effort by 19 year old Ricardo De La Rosa.

Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score Game 1

Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score Game 2

Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score

Inland Empire 66ers Box Score

Great Lakes Loons Box Score

Ogden Raptors Box Score

Arizona Dodgers Box Score

DSL Dodgers Box Score

http://firstinning.com/daily/la

http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/dodgers-recap.html

http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/milb-recap.html