The farm went 2-2 and even went 25-25 in terms of runs on Monday night. The evening featured more of the same stuff we've come to expect from the farm: offense from Las Vegas and errors from Gustavo Pierre.
Las Vegas 10 at Iowa 5
I'm starting to think that Las Vegas' recaps could be mad libs. "Lots of great production from the 51s' bats on (day) night. (Player 1) set the table with three hits and two walks, and (Player 2) (2B, HR, BB) and (Player 3) (4 2Bs) provided the power. (Player 4) also had a good day, contributing three hits and a walk. All this led to (number > 8) runs, plenty to beat the (opposition)."
*day = Monday
Player 1 = Mike McCoy
Player 2 = Brett Lawrie
Player 3 = Adam Loewen
Player 4 = David Cooper
number = 10
opposition = Iowa Cubs
While the offense is freakishly consistent in terms of battering its opponents into submission, though, the pitching is more of a mixed bag, featuring prospects, minor-league vets and major league pitchers trying to rediscover their fastball, so the mad lib format won't work. It was Brett Cecil's turn on Monday night, and he had a solid game, allowing five runs over seven innings while striking out eight. Cecil allowed three home runs, which could be a bad sign, or could just be a fluke of PCL ballparks.
New Hampshire 3 at Portland 7
This is what you want to hear, so I'll just get right down to it: yes, Anthony Gose is still hot. The speedster singled, doubled, walked and reached on catcher's interference (and struck out) in five trips to the plate, though despite six doubles, his team could only bring him home once. This proved to be their undoing, as the team went 2-12 with RISP, leading them to score only three runs despite ten hits and a couple walks.
Gose, by the way, is now hitting .280/.366/.379 on the year, with 18 steals in 22 attempts. You would like a bit more power, especially considering his strikeout rate (35 in 43 games), but for a 20-year-old in AA who plays outstanding defense in center field, that is excellent. The OBP/speed package is exactly what one wants from a premier leadoff hitter.
And while Gose's stock is skyrocketing, Zach Stewart has gone in the opposite direction. He went just four innings in this game, allowing three times that many base-runners and surrendering all seven runs. Stewart sports a WHIP around 1.5 for the season and neither his strikeout rate nor ground-ball rate are particularly impressive.
Travis d'Arnaud also had a good day at the plate, singling and doubling.
Charlotte 6 at Dunedin 0
The D-Jays ran into a steamroller named The Combined Charlotte Stone Crabs Pitching Staff. Though none of the Crabs' pitchers lasted more than four innings, they only gave up three hits to Dunedin batters, while striking out fifteen. (They did, however, walk six men.) So, not much to speak of on the offensive side. Justin Jackson singled and walked, but he also struck out twice.
Chad Jenkins was pretty much the opposite of the Crabs' pitching; he actually pitched quite deep into the game (eight innings), but allowed a whole bunch of runs (six, to be precise, though only three were earned). Jenkins actually pitched quite well, allowing seven hits and no walks, and getting an amazing 18 ground ball outs to only four fly-outs. You have to imagine a major league defense would have served him a bit better.
Bowling Green 7 at Lansing 12
Whoa! That's a little more like it. Lansing perfectly balanced the evening for the affiliates - both in terms of wins (2-2) and runs (25-25) by out-scoring the Hot Rods by five. As with Vegas, many hitters are worthy of mention - Carlos Perez singled and scored thrice, Kevin Nolan reached four times, and Michael Crouse doubled, tripled and SFed, driving in four.
On the negative side... actually, on the so-ridiculous-it's-just-kinda-funny-at-this-point side, Gustavo Pierre made three more errors to bring his seasonal total - and may I remind you that it isn't yet June - to TWENTY-SEVEN. Oliver Dominguez and K.C. Hobson also committed errors, and as a result the pitching staff (Sean Nolin for five innings, Sam Strickland and Marcus Walden for two each) actually didn't allow a single earned run.
Three Stars!
3. Mike McCoy - 5 times on base
2. Chad Jenkins - 8 IP, 18 GB outs
1. Adam Loewen - four doubles
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20110524024313706