And to be honest with you, when the farm goes 0-3, I'm just not all that motivated to be clever.
Sacramento 12 at Las Vegas 7
Don't worry, it was just Brian Burres pitching. No need to get all up in arms about someone important having a bad start.
The good news for Burres: 4 strikeouts and 1 walk in 5 innings isn't bad. But 9 runs on 12 hits, um, is. Lucky for me the 51s scored a few runs of their own so I have some positive stuff to write about. J.P. Arencibia went 1-5, but the 1 was a 3-run homer. Arencibia's OPS is almost over 700 now! Seriously though, while a .230 average and .263 OBP aren't particularly good, an isolated slugging of just over .200 (he's slugging .434) is respectable, and he looks to be heating up. Some other 51s had good days at the plate: Howie Clark had 3 singles and a walk, Jason Lane doubled and walked twice, and Angel Sanchez knocked in 3, 2 on a triple. The bullpen was mostly solid: after Adrian Martin allowed 3 runs without recording an out, Jonah Bayliss, Dirk Hayhurst and Bryan Bullington combined to throw 4 scoreless innings allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 4.
Binghamton 3 at New Hampshire 2
After falling behind 3-0 on single runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 6th, the Fisher Cats nearly came back in the late innings. In the 8th, New Hampshire put runners on the corners with nobody out, but Al Quintana buzz-killingly popped out. Sean Shoffit walked, and the Cats managed a run on a sac fly by Luis Sanchez, but Brad Emaus grounded out to end the inning, an ultimately disappointing one despite the run. In the 9th, Brian Dopirak hit a solo bomb to bring the Cats within 1, but it was all they could manage against the B-Mets' Roydrick N. Merritt.
Reidier Gonzalez pitched well to keep New Hampshire in the game: 6 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 3 walks, 2 Ks. Luis Perez came out of the bullpen for the first time all year on regular (starter's) rest and pitched a scoreless 7th, presumably to accommodate rehabbing big leaguers (Casey Janssen goes tomorrow). Rommie Lewis was great in 2 innings, allowing but a hit and striking out 4.
As far as interesting hitting prospects go: Brad Emaus went 0-4 with a K, Brian Jeroloman was 1-4 with 2 Ks and David Cooper doubled in 4 trips while also striking out.
Lakeland 5 at Dunedin 3
Andrew Liebel got the start for Dunedin looking for his first win on the year and pitched pretty well: in 6 innings, he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 7. For the season, Liebel has allowed 26 runs in 34 innings, which is a ton, but he's allowed 41 hits and 7 walks for a WHIP around 1.4. I'm not saying this is good, but he's probably pitching better than the ERA would indicate, and his line from tonight is no different. Then again, further digging reveals that 4 of the 7 hits Liebel allowed went for extra bases - 3 doubles and 1 HR. In conclusion, I'm just babbling and don't have any definite statements to draw about Liebel.
Anyway, Dunedin couldn't muster enough offense to get him the win, despite knocking Lakeland starter Charles Furbush from the game after just 3 2/3 innings. Unfortunately, the 7 hits in those 3.2 innings only resulted in 2 runs, and the Lakeland bullpen mostly shut the D-Jays down the rest of the way.
Darin Mastroianni went 1-3 with a walk and... wait, no steals? Despite being on base twice? Weird. Anyway, John Tolisano was 1-4 with a SF, Moises Sierra was 2-5, Jesus Gonzalez collected 3 hits, Kevin Ahrens was 0-4, and Adam Loewen went 2-3 with a walk. Oh, and a B.J. Ryan sighting! The Beej pitched a perfect inning with 2 Ks.
Lansing - scheduled off day
3 Stars!
3. Reidier Gonzalez - quality start - 6 innings and 3 runs
2. Rommie Lewis - 2IP, 1H, 4K
1. Howie Clark - 3 singles and a walk?
Man, weak 3 stars.
Sacramento 12 at Las Vegas 7
Don't worry, it was just Brian Burres pitching. No need to get all up in arms about someone important having a bad start.
The good news for Burres: 4 strikeouts and 1 walk in 5 innings isn't bad. But 9 runs on 12 hits, um, is. Lucky for me the 51s scored a few runs of their own so I have some positive stuff to write about. J.P. Arencibia went 1-5, but the 1 was a 3-run homer. Arencibia's OPS is almost over 700 now! Seriously though, while a .230 average and .263 OBP aren't particularly good, an isolated slugging of just over .200 (he's slugging .434) is respectable, and he looks to be heating up. Some other 51s had good days at the plate: Howie Clark had 3 singles and a walk, Jason Lane doubled and walked twice, and Angel Sanchez knocked in 3, 2 on a triple. The bullpen was mostly solid: after Adrian Martin allowed 3 runs without recording an out, Jonah Bayliss, Dirk Hayhurst and Bryan Bullington combined to throw 4 scoreless innings allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 4.
Binghamton 3 at New Hampshire 2
After falling behind 3-0 on single runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 6th, the Fisher Cats nearly came back in the late innings. In the 8th, New Hampshire put runners on the corners with nobody out, but Al Quintana buzz-killingly popped out. Sean Shoffit walked, and the Cats managed a run on a sac fly by Luis Sanchez, but Brad Emaus grounded out to end the inning, an ultimately disappointing one despite the run. In the 9th, Brian Dopirak hit a solo bomb to bring the Cats within 1, but it was all they could manage against the B-Mets' Roydrick N. Merritt.
Reidier Gonzalez pitched well to keep New Hampshire in the game: 6 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 3 walks, 2 Ks. Luis Perez came out of the bullpen for the first time all year on regular (starter's) rest and pitched a scoreless 7th, presumably to accommodate rehabbing big leaguers (Casey Janssen goes tomorrow). Rommie Lewis was great in 2 innings, allowing but a hit and striking out 4.
As far as interesting hitting prospects go: Brad Emaus went 0-4 with a K, Brian Jeroloman was 1-4 with 2 Ks and David Cooper doubled in 4 trips while also striking out.
Lakeland 5 at Dunedin 3
Andrew Liebel got the start for Dunedin looking for his first win on the year and pitched pretty well: in 6 innings, he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 7. For the season, Liebel has allowed 26 runs in 34 innings, which is a ton, but he's allowed 41 hits and 7 walks for a WHIP around 1.4. I'm not saying this is good, but he's probably pitching better than the ERA would indicate, and his line from tonight is no different. Then again, further digging reveals that 4 of the 7 hits Liebel allowed went for extra bases - 3 doubles and 1 HR. In conclusion, I'm just babbling and don't have any definite statements to draw about Liebel.
Anyway, Dunedin couldn't muster enough offense to get him the win, despite knocking Lakeland starter Charles Furbush from the game after just 3 2/3 innings. Unfortunately, the 7 hits in those 3.2 innings only resulted in 2 runs, and the Lakeland bullpen mostly shut the D-Jays down the rest of the way.
Darin Mastroianni went 1-3 with a walk and... wait, no steals? Despite being on base twice? Weird. Anyway, John Tolisano was 1-4 with a SF, Moises Sierra was 2-5, Jesus Gonzalez collected 3 hits, Kevin Ahrens was 0-4, and Adam Loewen went 2-3 with a walk. Oh, and a B.J. Ryan sighting! The Beej pitched a perfect inning with 2 Ks.
Lansing - scheduled off day
3 Stars!
3. Reidier Gonzalez - quality start - 6 innings and 3 runs
2. Rommie Lewis - 2IP, 1H, 4K
1. Howie Clark - 3 singles and a walk?
Man, weak 3 stars.
