A Liberal Slugfest

Tuesday, May 03 2011 @ 01:51 AM EDT

Contributed by: Dave Rutt

Oops, I mean literal. Ew, actually that would be gross.

Vegas pounded 15 hits and 8 runs and still lost by a significant margin. That's Vegas for you. The affiliates as a whole went 2-2, and there were a couple of good pitching performances.

Reno 12 at Las Vegas 8

A Las Vegas slugfest. Well, what did you expect? A conservative minority? Ha. There were 33 hits recorded in Vegas on Monday night; same as the Liberals managed. Nearly half of those hits came against Las Vegas starter Mike MacDonald, who allowed 15, leading to 11 runs, in his 4.2 innings of work. Nine of those runs came in the 5th inning, and the Aces added another one against Willie Collazo to put up a true 10-spot. After that the bullpen shut Reno down, but the damage was done.

Okay, let's talk about who we care about. Brett Lawrie managed a single in six trips and didn't strike out or err. Eric Thames walked and K'ed in five changes, while Travis Snider singled twice, walked and struck out. There were actually some better hitting performances from some of the minor league vets, but none so good as to make special mention.

New Hampshire 5 at Reading 0

It was the Reidier Gonzalez show in Reading on Monday night. The 25-year-old righty came within one out of a shutout before letting Evan Crawford record the final out. Gonzalez allowed seven hits and didn't walk anybody in his 8 2/3, striking out four in the process. The Baby Phillies grounded out 12 times to only 6 fly-outs.

The Cats didn't need much offense behind such a dominant pitching performance, but they got plenty anyway. Mike McDade had three hits including two doubles while Robert Sobolewski drove in three on his two singles. A-Hech doubled and tripled while Anthony Gose singled and stole his ninth base.

Dunedin 5 at Daytona 7

Alright, let's address this. I've looked at the Daytona Cubs' line-up before, but it looks just as weird the second time:

Lake
Cerda
Ha
Bour

I dunno, it's just too many short last names in a row. Freaks me out.

Anyway, Asher Wojciechowski didn't have a great start, giving up seven runs on eight hits and four walks, and the offense couldn't climb out of the hole despite outscoring the Cubs from the second inning on. Chris Hopkins singled twice, doubled and drove in three runs out of the lead-off spot, while Justin Jackson singled and doubled. He's slashing .358/.444/.491 in 53 at bats.

Matt Wright was excellent in relief, striking out 5 over 2.1 innings and not allowing a run.

Lake County 3 at Lansing 4 (10 innings)

Unlike the election, this one needed extra time to get itself sorted out. In the bottom of the 10th, Jonathan Jones led off with a single, moved up on a passed ball, and Jake Marisnick hit a walk-off single to defeat the Captains, whose logo could pass for Jack Layton.

Drew Hutchison continued his great start to the year, pitching 5 innings of 1-run ball. He struck out 5 and allowed 6 base-runners.

The Nuts managed to score their four runs without an extra base hit. Jake Marisnick led the singling charge with three, and as mentioned, drove in the winning run. Carlos Perez didn't record a hit and struck out twice.

Three Stars!
3. Drew Hutchison - 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 K
2. Jake Marisnick - 3 hits, walk-off RBI
1. Reidier Gonzalez - 8.2 innings of shut-out ball

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