Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Grif and Gronk Lead the Way

John-Ford Griffin had five RBI's and Lee Gronkiewicz had six strikeouts in three shutout innings to lead Syracuse to victory. Gustavo Chacin struggled. The Fisher Cats dropped a doubleheader, The GCL Jays lost in 13 innings. Dunedin and Lansing emerged victorious.

Buffalo 5 Syracuse 9

The Chiefs scored four runs in the first inning and four more in the fourth to setup the win. The four runs in the first were quickly given back by Gustavo Chacin who only lasted 2.2 innings giving up four runs and two walks. Jamie Vermilyea returned to the lineup pitching an inning, Lee Gronkiewicz pitched three innings giving up just one hit while picking up six K's. John-Ford Griffin had two hits and five RBI's. Wayne Lydon, Russ Adams and Rey Olmedo had two hits each.

New Britain 3 New Hampshire 0 - game 1

Ricky Romero pitched a seven inning complete game, giving up all three runs on six hits. The Fisher Cats had only six hits, Manny Mayorson went 2-3.

New Britain 4 New Hampshire 3 - game 2, eight innings

New Hampshire led 3-2 going to the top of the seventh but Jesse Carlson gave up the tying run and Seth Overbey the winning run in the eighth. Iriki started and pitched six innings. New Hampshire had five hits in eight innings, Rob Cosby had two and Sergio Santos hit a home run.

Lakeland 3 Dunedin 8

AJ Wideman delivered his usual good start, seven innings, nine hits allowed and two runs. The first four runs by Dunedin came from runners who got on base by error (2) or who were hit by a pitch (2). Cory Patton and Kyle Philips had two hits each.

Lansing 5 Clinton 4

Lansing scored a run in the top of the ninth to win the game. Lansing loaded the bases with one out and Raul Barron hit a sac fly to plate the go-ahead run. Matt Lane and Jon Baksh had two hits each. Four pitchers worked for Lansing with Ron Lowe getting both a blown save and the win.

Auburn 6 State College 1

This game was scoreless until the seventh. Wilfreddy Aguirre pitched five shutout innings, giving up three hits. Baron Frost led the hitters going 3-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI's. Adam Calderone, CJ Ebarb and Darin Mastroianni had two hits each.

Gulf Coast Blue Jays 6 GCL Phillies 7 - 13 innings

The Jays scored three runs in the ninth to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 6-5 lead but then the bullpen coughed it up in the bottom of the ninth. Moises Sierra led the way for the junior Jays going 3-6 with a double and a home run. Brian Letko gave up his first earned runs of the season, three in total to bump his ERA to 0.78.

3 star selection

3rd star - Baron Frost
2nd star - Lee Gronkiewicz
1st star - John-Ford Griffin

Posted by Gerry on Sunday, July 29 2007 @ 12:30 AM EDT.

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BigTimeRoyalsFan - Sunday, July 29 2007 @ 02:07 AM EDT (#172217) #

AJ Wideman is putting up some solid number this year down in the minors. He seems to have the ability to keep his walks down, just by skimming his career stats. I think it would be great to see a Canadian pitcher developed by the Blue Jays. Does anyone have more information on this guy? I wonder if he's in a similar scenario to that of Jesse Litsch - he'll start out next year in New Hampshire, and if he continues to pitch well, can become a part of this team's future.

Also, a question. I was looking at the Fisher Cats rotation, and it really isn't very good. Outside of Purcey and Romero who we are obviously trying to develop, there's Isenberg, Yates, Fowler, and Savickas. I was wondering why these guys (and again I'm judging them purely by stats - I have never seen any of them) are in the rotation, and not guys that seem to be doing a better job in Dunedin. Does that mean they are ahead in the organizational depth chart of a guy like a Wideman - or simply that they are just older, more experienced pitchers in the minors that are at New Hampshire for no other reason than to fill out the roster?

Just to get even more of a feel of how teams control their prospects - Why did Travis Snider jump from last year's rookie ball to Lansing this year. Do they not start everyone out at Auburn? And is the Midwest League a "pitcher's league"? I ask because his numbers seem to have slipped slightly from rookie ball, and while his .311/.380/.492 line is very nice, it isn't exactly off the charts.

Dr B - Sunday, July 29 2007 @ 05:20 AM EDT (#172219) #

I was looking at the Fisher Cats rotation, and it really isn't very good.

Fair enough, but they did lose their best pitcher (Litsch) to the majors. I wouldn't give up on Kyle Yates just yet. He was getting fine reviews for his work last year. From baseballcube, it says that in 2006 he had 102 SO, to 38 BB in 127 IP, with 10 HR. If not complete domination, it's certainly very good. His season this year must be considered a disappointment in comparison.

AJ Wideman has a so-so 74K in 111 innings (according to the minors review posted earlier this week). His other peripherals are decent and he's only given up 25 walks. Those aren't dominating stats, that I can see, that would force a promotion; he's probably still got plenty to learn at high A and he'll just have to wait his turn.

Mike Green - Sunday, July 29 2007 @ 12:07 PM EDT (#172224) #

Travis Snider popped out in the top of the first inning last night, and was removed from the game for the bottom of the frame. There have been no reports of injury in the print press.

Lugnut Fan - Sunday, July 29 2007 @ 03:55 PM EDT (#172226) #

I'll see what I can find out about that this week Mike. Travis strained his back in spring training and I think that he maybe has been kind of fighting it all year. I can't confirm that for sure, but that is just a gut feel on my part. Because of that, I think that if he feels a twinge anywhere they get him some rest, especially at this point of the season where fatigue starts to set in a bit.

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