Not a good day for the Loons' or Isotopes' bullpens as they minor league affiliates lost 2 out of 3 games on Tuesday.
Minor League Player of the Day – Ryan Christenson - 6.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 ER, 9 K's. Christenson lowered his FIP to 2.23 and his WHIP to 1.11 with yet another dominate outing. His K/9 is almost 10, and the lefty has given up just 3 earned runs over his past 5 starts, which spans 29.1 innings.
AAA – It was a crazy game in Albuquerque as Colorado Springs (Rockies) scored 10 runs in the 9th to beat the Isotopes 15 to 6. The Topes were actually leading this game after 8, and sent closer Merkin Valdez to the mound to close it out. Unfortunately Valdez allowed 8 of the 9 men he faced to reach base and was charged with 8 earned runs. I'm sure the wind didn't help his cause, which was recorded in the box score at 28 mph out to right. The blown save kept starter Dana Eveland from picking up his 5th win, although Eveland wasn't too sharp himself (5 hits, 5 walks, 3 ER in 6 IP). At the plate, JD Closser continued his torrid hitting with another homer and 3 RBI's, while Trent Oeltjen went 2 for 5 with a run batted in. Casey Blake went 1 for 2 with a double and 2 walks in his second rehab game.
AA – Stat-wise Chris Withrow didn't have a very glamorous game, but he did enough to get his first win of the season in the Lookouts 8 to 3 victory over the Mudcats (Reds). Withrow threw 5 innings and gave up 7 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs while recording just 2 strikeouts. Justin Miller threw 2 shutout innings in relief, while David Pfeiffer and Josh Lindblom tossed a scoreless inning each. The offense was again dominated by Kyle Russell who continued his hot streak with 3 doubles and 2 RBI's in 5 at bats. His 5 doubles over the past 2 games have given Russell the Southern League lead with 18 two-baggers. Alfredo Silverio and Brian Cavazos-Galvez both caught the fever from Russell as Silverio had a couple of doubles of his own and BCG had one as well.
HiA – Off day
LoA – The Loons did not allow an earned run in this game, but they still ended up losing to the Dayton Dragons (Reds) 6 to 0. Starting pitcher Ryan Christenson was outstanding yet again, allowing just 2 hits and an unearned run over 6.1 innings while striking out 9. It was Christenson's 5th straight start in which he's given up one run or less. Pete Budkevics allowed 4 hits in relief which resulted in 5 runs, but as mentioned above all 5 of those runs were unearned. Mike Drowne finished off the game with the best outing of his young pitching career, throwing 2 hitless innings. Not much happening at the plate for Great Lakes as 7 of their 8 hits were singles. The highlight was that both Jonathan Garcia and Casio Grider went 2 for 4.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Great Lakes Loons Box Score (LoA)
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