Las Vegas 8, Salt lake 4
Scott Richmond pitched 6 effective innings, striking out 7 and allowing 3 runs. Four Las Vegas hitters had multi-hit games, including Anthony Gose (his second 2-hit game in a row), Travis SniderDavid Cooper (his double one of only two XBH the team had) and Yan Gomes. Mike McCoy picked up a triple.
New Hampshire 6, New Britain 5
Brett Cecil left the game in the first inning with an apparent groin injury, but not before surrendering a run. Reliever Aaron Loup was the key pitcher in the game, throwing 3 shutout innings to give his team a chance to grab the lead. in the 8th Ron Uvideo started the inning with an error which set up 2 runs by the Rock Cats to blow the save and tie the game.
But Kevin Howard, who was 4/5 on the night drove in the eventual winning run with an RBI single in the top of the ninth. Ryan Goins was the only other player with multiple hits, including a double which was the only XBH of the game for the F'Cats.
Dunedin 5, Brevard County 4
Asher Wojciechowski again, for the second straight start, gave up only one run in six innings of work, though he was not as effective as in the previous start. Previously unscored upon closer Danny Barnes couldn't find the zone, walking four batters which led to two runs and a blown save.
in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs and a runned on 2B,Jake Marisnick singled in the walk-off run to keep the D'Jays rolling. (they are now 11-2)
Lansing 2, Burlington 0
It was Justin Nicolino's turn to start tonight with Aaron Sanchez taking the second half of the tandem-start. Juron Sancilino was as effective as always, tossing 6 innings of 2 hit shutout ball. Brandon Berl followed posting 4 K in 2 IP and AJ Meyer came on for his league leading 6th save, neither reliever allowing a baserunner.
the offense was stirred by Kenny Wilson who delivered an RBI triple i nthe third, and was then driven in by Carlos Perez and that was it for the offense but it was enough.
If I don't count "Juron Sancilino" the three stars are not really eye-popping but there will be nights like that.
Third Star: Asher Wojciechowski - 6 solid IP
Second Star: Kevin Howard - 4/5, game winning RBI
First Star: Jake Marisnick - 3/5, RBI double, walk off RBI single
(VERY brief) Week in Review
Las Vegas
Snider continues to roll, Moises Sierra had a good week, Hech had an 0/16 over 4 games to fall back in the pack. The bullpen continues to be surprisingly effective.
New Hampshire
Offensively, Justin Jackson continues to roll, Brad Glenn had a bad week and little else of note is happening.
On the mound, Jenkins crashed, McGuire began to recover, Hutch was promoted to Toronto (you heard about that right?) and Cecil looks likely to miss a few starts. That creates a need for two SP in this rotation. One spot might be filled by Yohan Pino who did fine work last year in august and September filling in for McGuire, but isn't stretched out.You might also see Carreno return from Las Vegas. another option is promotions, more on that in a sec.
Several good relievers here too, so far.
Dunedin
Marisnick is feeling his groove, Jon Talley had a nice week and Kencht had some key hits. Alex implied in a recent interview that he had his eye on Wojo for a potential promotion if he had a few more impressive outings but this might be too soon. Some observers have suggested John Stilson might already be too good for the FSL and given his injury history, it might be best to get him to AA fast. either might be promoted to fill the gap in NH, but only if the team thinks they are ready for it. Sean Nolin suffered his first misstep of the season this week.
Lansing
Offensively the story is the expected Chris Hawkins and the unexpected Jon Berti leading the way. Many of the other names you are interested in are attached to a pretty low OPS in the early going.
The 12-2 Lugnuts have been carried by insanely good pitching. Of the seven pitchers who have started a game, six of them (Marcus Walden excepted) have combined for the following line:
62.1 IP - 42 H - 5 ER - 16 BB - 69 K - 0.72 ERA - 0.93 WHIP