I’m 0-6 over my last two minor league updates, as the three affiliates in action all lost, with two of them being held to one run. The only bright spot came with New Hampshire’s offence, as Travis Snider continued to look good while Scott Campbell demonstrated that even when he isn’t getting hits, he’s still contributing and getting on base. Meanwhile, the Florida State League All-Star Game took place and three Dunedin players were in action.
Syracuse 1 @ Toledo 4 - Boxscore
Davis Romero didn’t have his strongest start against the team that finished second in the A-Rod sweepstakes this offseason. Romero went 4 innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits and two walks. He struck out four and is still looking up at a major league bullpen with four lefties in it, all of whom are performing well and none of which, outside maybe Downs, have significant trade value. Jo Matumoto struck out four over his 2 innings and only allowed two baserunners. Jordan de Jong and Mike Gosling each pitched scoreless innings with a strikeout, but Toledo had done enough damage against Romero.
Four Toledo pitchers, including Joel Zumaya and former SkyChief Blaine Neal, combined on a three hitter. Lauren Gagnier, the starter, gave up all three hits and the lone SkyChief run, which came on a Kevin Melillo homer to lead off the third inning. Buck Coats got both of the other hits and Gregg Zaun was 0-4 with two strikeouts.
New Hampshire 5 @ Erie 9 - Boxscore
Scott Campbell didn’t get a single one of the nine New Hampshire hits on the afternoon. But he made up for it by drawing three walks and finishing with an OBP of .600 for the game. In fact, those were the only three walks the entire team drew during the game. Travis Snider went 3-4 with a run and a double and is now hitting .282. Jacob Butler, playing at 1B, went 2-4 with a double and a home run and 3 RBI. Kyle Phillips added a pair of singles, while Ryan Patterson and Josh Kreuzer each added a hit of their own. Aaron Mathews went 0-4, but scored a run and made an outfield assist at home plate, while Anthony Hatch and Chris Gutierrez went hitless.
Brett Cecil got the start, his 10th of the season for New Hampshire, and it was almost a duplicate of his first career Double-A start. Cecil went the same number of innings (3) and gave up the same number of runs (3), hits (4) and free passes (3). The only difference was he struck out five batters yesterday and only struck out four in his first outing. Seth Overbey relieved him and didn’t have one of his best games either, as he took his first loss of the year. Overbey also went 3 innings, but gave up six hits and three runs. Two of the runs came on a two-out homer by Erie catcher Dusty Ryan, who has a .500 slugging percentage. Not bad production from your backstop. Jamie Vermilyea pitched an inning and gave up a solo homer, while Zach Dials gave up two runs on three hits in his inning. Deik Scram made a pinch-running appearance.
West All-Stars 8 @ East All-Stars 3 - Boxscore
It was the Florida State League All-Star Game yesterday and the Western Division All-Stars won behind a 2-run homer from game MVP and Cincinnati farmhand Drew Stubbs. Cale Iorg hit the other homer for the West, with it coming in the ninth inning off formed first-round pick Jeff Allison, who is trying to salvage his professional career after addiction problems. Rick Porcello started for the West and got the win and the team used nine relievers. The eighth of those nine relievers was Dunedin’s Connor Falkenbach, who retired the two batters he faced. JP Arencibia and Brian Dopirak both started for the West, with Arencibia batting fifth and Dopirak seventh. Dopirak went 1-3 with a strikeout before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter, while Arencibia went 2-3 with a run scored and an RBI and was one of only three West Division All-Stars to finish with a multihit game.
Lansing 1 @ Great Lakes 5 - Boxscore
Marc Rzepczynski started for Lansing and went 5 innings. He struck out a season-high eight and walked a season-high four. He also surrendering three runs on four hits. Rzepczynski gave way to Brian Letko, making his second appearance of the year. Letko’s second outing went much better than his first, as he allowed an unearned run over two innings while striking out three. Michael Barbara pitched the last inning and gave up the fifth run to Great Lakes.
Lansing only got six hits in the game and only one went for extra-bases CJ Ebarb went 1-4 with a double and scored on one of Michael McDade’s two singles in the game. John Tolisano went 2-4 and Justin Jackson picked up a single in the 9-hole. There really isn’t much more to write about.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – JP Arencibia, 2-3, R, RBI, 2 TB
2nd Star – Travis Snider, 3-4, R, 2B, 4 TB
1st Star – Jacob Butler, 2-4, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 6 TB
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