Another 3-1 day on the farm.  And another strong performance from a former first rounder.

Syracuse 3 @ Rochester 2: Boxscore

Things started well for the SkyChiefs as they sent seven men to the plate in a two-run first.  Adam Lind smacked his third double of the year and, an out later, Robinzon Diaz drove him home.  Hector Luna later scored on an error providing starter David Purcey with a two-run cushion.

Purcey took the mound today hoping to build off his strong 2008 debut.    He kicked things off in somewhat typical Purcey fashion with a walk, single, and a wild pitch.  A groundout and flyball later and Purcey had given back both runs.  But that's when Good David Purcey took over by retiring 21 of the next 25 batters on 7 Ks, six groundouts and eight flyballs.  While we all know Purcey similarily started the 2007 campaign strongly, it's likely that he has shown enough progress to be the first starter called up in case of injury.

While Purcey was mowing down the Red Wings, the SkyChiefs offense likewise took a few innings off.  However, Chip Cannon led off the seventh with a double and was later driven in on a Wayne Lydon sac fly.  That would be all Syracuse needed as Tracy Thorpe provided two innings of relief in which he struck out four including the side in the ninth.  His final victim was old friend Howie Clark who went down swinging.  No word on whether catcher Diaz confused Clark by yelling "strike!" as Thorpe made his delivery.

Purcey's final line was 7IP, 4H, 2ER, 2BB, 7K in moving to 2-0 on the year, with an ERA of 1.89

The victory moved the SkyChiefs to 5-6 on the year, two games behind the division lead (and five games ahead of the 0-11[!!] Lehigh Balley IronPigs.

Connecticut 4 @ New Hampshire 5: Boxscore

Nothing much went on for the first third of this matchup.  Jean Machi started for the Fisher Cats and was, as the backhanded compliment goes, effectively wild.  Or something.  In any event, he put batters on in each of the first three innings but escaped unharmed.  The fourth was another story, though as two lead-off walks quickly came back to haunt Machi.  Like their AAA counterparts, the New Hampshire offense was fairly dormant on Sunday.  However, they started the fifth frame with a Brian Jeroloman walk and a single by Eric Neilsen.  A passed ball, an Anthony Hatch groundout, and a Ryan Patterson sac fly later and the Cats had knotted things at 2-2.  But they weren't done there!  Marcos Cabral promptly doubled and scored on a Chris Gutierrez single to give New Hampshire their first lead of the game.

New Hampshire then scratched across another run in the seventh capped by another RBI for Gutierrez.  Things stayed much the same until Sean Stidfole emerged in the ninth to close things out for the Cats.  Unfortunately, it took him only three batters to load the bases on a single, double, and a walk.  Daryl Harang relieved Stidfole and promptly allowed a two-run single to tie the affair before escaping further damage by striking out Simon Klink and enducing an inning-ending double play off the bat of Carlos Sosa.

Eager to get to the post-game spread, Cabral led off the ninth with a walk and advanced to second on a Scott Campbell single.  Gutierrez quickly erased Cabral with a failed sac bunt but Kyle Phillips sent 2,983 folks home happy with a game-winning single to centre.  Unless of course, there was a strong Connecticut contingent there.  Then they went home sad.  Screw 'em.

Despite blowing the save (though with a huge assist to Stidfole), Harang picked up the victory for the Fisher Cats who moved to 2-7 on the season, sitting dead last in the Eastern League standings.

Dunedin 9 @ Fort Myers 3: Boxscore

Not wanting to mess around with nailbiters like the SkyChiefs and Fisher Cats the D-Jays blew open a 5-3 game with a four spot in the 8th inning en route to a fairly comfortable 9-3 victory.  Jonathan Diaz and J.P. Arencibia both homered for Dunedin.  Arencibia's was the big blow, a three-run job in the 8th, essentially securing the victory for the Jays. 

Travis Snider had a nice day at the plate, going 3-for-5 in raising his average to .293.  And Toronto born Chris Emanuele picked up four hits, and 2 RBI to bump his average nearly 70 points to .273.

On the mound, #2 prospect Brett Cecil continued on his return from arm soreness to give the D-Jays 3 innings of work, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out two.  He also allowed a first inning HR.

Julio Pinto was excellent in relief, however going five strong with only one run and punching out four batters in getting his first win of the year.

Dunedin moved to 8-3 on the year and stretched their lead in the FSL Eastern division to two games over Palm Beach.

Lansing 5 @ Cedar Rapids 9: Boxscore

Apparently the Lugnuts missed the memo.  Needing a victory to ensure a 5-0 day for the Jays and their affiliates, Lansing was thoroughly demolished by the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 9-5 in a game they trailed 9-1 after five. 

I'll keep this one short as there weren't too many notable 'Nuts on Sunday.  Mike McDade led the offense, I guess, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.  Johermyn Chavez kicked in a couple of hits as well, but also struck out three times.  He's still OPSing .932, though so give him a break, k?

On the mound, Luis Perez and Randy Boone both kinda sucked.  Each lasted three innings and combined to allow nine runs on nine hits and seven free passes.  Brian Pettway continued his Dave Stieb transformation from fielder to pitcher by allowing a single hit in two innings work.  And that's all there is to say about this one.

The loss dropped Lansing to 7-3 on the year and cut their lead over Dayton to a single game.

Three Stars:

3rd Star: Chris Emanuele: 4-5, 2RBI

2nd Star: Julio Pinto: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K- W (1-0)

1st Star: David Purcey: 7IP, 4H, 2ER, 2BB, 7K- W (2-0)