A very quiet workmanlike night on the farm but the affiliates nevertheless went 3-1 without any real standout performances.
Las Vegas 5, Reno 4
This one was not as close as it looked from the final score, until late in the game. With Charlie Allstaff on the mound, the 51's pitching did their job in most respects. Andrew Carpenter started things off with 2 shutout innings, followed by the belegured Bill Murphy who's already pitched himself out of the rotation but managed to hold Reno to one run in his three innings. The trouble came when Evan Crawford started the 8th and got a rude introduction to the PCL. He offered up two walks, and was tagged for two singles and a double and if he hadn't gotten a double play ball it might have been much worse. By the time he'd gotten 2 outs he'd allowed three runs and the Aces were back in the game. But Jerry Gil got him out of the inning and Chad Beck threw a perfect ninth for his third save.
On offense, things were quite pedestrian. Six batter got a hit, Travis d'Arnaud got 2, but they were all singles. Four of those seven singles came in the first inning, and combined with a walk and an error by Reno led to 4 of the 51's 5 runs.
New Hampshire 6, Reading 8
Casey Lawrence made his second AA start and he was competent, but not dominant in giving up 3 runs in 5.1 IP, and the F'Cats were still clinging to a one-run lead going into the ninth inning where Ron Uvideo was tagged for 3 runs, 2 earned and blew the save.
Offensively, the only real fireworks came when Jon Diaz was hit by a pitch and Mike McDade immediately followed with a 2-run homer in the third inning to put New Hampshire up 4-0. McDade also stole a base, while Justin Jackson was thrown out trying, which is kinda curious.
Dunedin 5, Lakeland 3
Sean Nolin wasn't at his sharpest tonight, but worked around a lot of contact to escape with 2 earned runs allowed over 5 IP. The bullpen, however, chipped in 4 scoreless innings among 4 relievers to make that effort stand up.
This team, as well, had a quietly efficient night on offense, the big blows being Michael Crouse's 2 run double in the second (his only hit of the night) and “Captain Jack” Murphy's solo homer in the 4th to take the lead for good. Murphy and struggling Marcus Kencht were 2/4 on the night.
Lansing 6, Great Lakes 5
Dave Rollins had a short and not particularly impressive night, lasting only 3.2 innings and giving up 2 runs. I'm not sure why he came out in the 4th unless he had thrown too many pitches in the inning, or maybe there was an injury. Kramer Champlin allowed an inherited run to score in relief of Rollins and an inning later 2 of his own, Tyler Ybarra followed with two shutout innings, recording 4 strikeouts, and Ajay Meyer struck out the side for the save.
On offense, Chris Hawkins was the main man. Hitting high in the order for the first time (I think) Hawkins settled into the thee hole by collecting 3 of the 'Nuts 7 hits, including an RBI double in the third. No one else on the team had multiple hits or extra-base hits.
Three Stars-
3rd Star - Chris Hawkins
2nd Star - Michael Crouse
1st Star - Mike McDadfe
----------------------------------------
On transaction news, formerly disabled reliever Trystan Magnuson was transferred to Dunedin Wednesday which is presumably for rehab purposes. As we know, Travis Snider was placed on the DL just this week but he's been out for a week and it's odd they are just now putting him officially on the DL.
for the week in review...
Vegas-
Fill in outfielder Danny Perales hit .448 in the last 7 games in Snider's place
3B Yan Gomes is hitting .423 over the last seven games, and slugging .690
SS Adeiny Hechevarria and RF Mosies Sierra had a cold week.
On the mound, Jesse Chavez and Ryota Igarashi continue to impress. Chavez pitched twice in the last seven days and threw 12.1 innings, allowed 8 baserunners, and one run, while striking out 11. Igarashi
New Hampshire -
Justin Jackson (5 for his last 33) continues to crash back to the mean.
Brad Glenn (5 for 38) likewise is in a huge slump.
AJ Jimenez, hitting .357 over his last 7, is the only offensive standout lately.
LH Reliever Matt Wright deserves your attention. He has't gotten much work but in that sample he has a 5:1 K to BB ratio and that's worth noting.
Yohan Pino is on no one's list of prospects but plug him into the rotastion when there's a need and watch him outpitch a couple who are.
Dunedin
Show unheralded back-up catcher jack Murphy some love, he's hit .375 in his last 7 games and has the highest OPS on the team. (okay so it's just 39 AB)
Jon Talley, like Murphy, has played in only three games in the last week but his OPS is 1.044 in his last 10 games.
SS Kevin Nolan did play every fay this week and hit .407 for the week.
On the flip-side, mega-prospect Jake Marisnick had a cold week, hitting just under .250
Lansing
SS Andy Burns hit .429 over his last seven games. the rest of the Nuts just steadily do what the do. But let's pause and note Jesse Hernandez of the 11:1 K/BB ratio.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20120504031810250