How often do the Fisher Cats win? Rarely. How often does Tim Collins give up a run? Almost never. What are the odds of both happening on the same day? 157,823,719,444:1. Well, it happened.
A three run first was more than enough for David Purcey as the Chiefs cruised to a 4-0 win over the Bisons. Purcey had his good stuff today as he went seven innings allowing just four hits and one walk. He struck out seven. Brian Wolfe pitched a scoreless ninth to close things out. Since his demotion, Wolfe has merely thrown 7.2 scoreless innings while striking out six.
Offensively, the Chiefs had four doubles, led by Curtis Thigpen's two and one each from Hector Luna and Matt Watson. Luna had a nice day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI. The other two runs came off a Kevin Mench first inning single.
The Fisher Cats snapped a nine-game losing streak in style today as they pounded out eleven hits four of which went for extra bases. Like he often does, Scott Campbell starred for New Hampshire with a 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI day. In 19 day games this year, Campbell is hitting .459 with an OPS of 1.261. With stats like those, he should be a Cub.
Travis Snider doubled home two giving him 47 RBI in 70 Double-A games. Kyle Phillips and Brian Jeroloman also had multi-hit games for New Hampshire.
On the mound, Kenny Rodriguez picked up his first Double-A victory on a day which he could be described as 'effectively wild'. Rodirguez allowed a run on four hits in six innings while striking out two. Unfortunately, he also walked four. In two AA games, Rodriguez has a 9:2 BB:K ratio after going 12:69 in Dunedin. Newish Fisher Cat Orlando Roman worked two perfect innings in relief, while striking out two. He's almost 30, though, so don't hold your breath.
Clearwater @ Dunedin- Postponed
Just so you know, the Great Lakes Loons play out of Midland, Michigan. That's a pretty all-encompassing name. They might want to think about pulling an LA Angels of Anaheim stunt or something. The Great Lakes Loons of Lake Michigan has a nice ring to it. But what do I know?
In any event, if you arrived late and left early to this one, you missed all the scoring. The Loons picked up two in the first off starter Brian Letko. No worries, though, as the Lugnuts scored once for every Great Lake in the bottom half of the first. After Matthew Liuzza doubled home John Tolisano and Jonathan Jaspe, Manny Rodriguez walked. With two down, Moises Sierra crushed a three-run homer, his seventh of the year. And that was it for the Lugnuts. The rest of the way, they picked up a single and three walks.
The big news on the day, though came from Tiny Tim Collins. After striking out the side in the 8th, Collins did something he's only done one other time in his 40 innings. He gave up an earned run. And a homerun, to boot. No word on whether he was injured or something but with his ERA ballooning to 0.44, he might be looking at a demotion to Auburn or even his outright release.
The Doubledays ruined a chance at a perfect 4-0 day for the affiliates by dropping a close one to the hated Staten Island Yankees. Twenty year-old Castillo Perez picked up his third straight loss for Auburn. Perez has allowed 26 baserunners in 20.1 innings pitched. That's not so bad. What's weird is that 12 of them have scored. He strikes out more than a batter an inning so perhaps he's just being incredibly unlucky. Whatever the case, he struck out six in 5.2 innings today and held the Yankees to four hits and two walks. But three of them scored.
Offensively, the Doubledays had 8 hits. Five guys, who I'm not going to list, singled. And then there was David Cooper. The Coop went 3-for-3 with a double and a walk to put the rest of the team to shame. In 20 games, the First Round Pick is hitting 358/429/580 with a 10:14 BB:K ratio. Clearly, Short Season A-ball isn't proving difficult. He'll likely see Dunedin soon. Interestingly, he's almost exactly one year older than Travis Snider. Kinda puts Snider's 'struggles' with Double-A pitching in perspective, eh?
GCL Blue Jays had the day off. That's two Sundays in a row. So I'm pretty unfamiliar with those guys by this point.
Three Stars:
3rd Star- Scott Campbell- 2-for-4, HR (5), 3 RBI
2nd Star- David Cooper- 3-for-3, 2B, BB
1st Star- David Purcey- Win (7-6), 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
