Score Three (or Five) or Die

Tuesday, May 31 2011 @ 12:48 AM EDT

Contributed by: Dave Rutt

Nobody particularly distinguished themselves on the farm on Monday night. That's a good thing - there were just a lot of hitters who had equally impressive performances. And New Hampshire staged an amazing comeback.

Tacoma 8 at Las Vegas 5

Here's what you want to know: Brett Lawrie: 2-4, double, walk. Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, we can recap the game.

Las Vegas scored an extremely un-Las Vegas-like five runs, and predictably, it wasn't enough. The team put lots of men on base, as usual, but couldn't get (enough) hits when they needed them, going 5-20 with runners in scoring position. Adam Loewen had three hits including a double, while David Cooper singled, doubled and walked twice.

Ace Brad Mills was on the hill, and he pitched well despite giving up four runs in six innings - he was unlucky that the hits were bunched together, as he only allowed eight base-runners and struck out eight. Winston Abreu allowed three runs in the ninth to put this one out of reach.

New Britain 6 at New Hampshire 7

Callix Crabbe walks.
Darin Mastroianni walks.
Adeiny Hechavarria singles on the infield. Bases loaded.
Anthony Gose reaches on an error. Two runs in.
Mike McDade singles. Another run in.
Anthony Gose induces another error, moving up on a botched pickoff attempt.
Moises Sierra walks. Bases loaded again.
Travis d'Arnaud strikes out. First out.
Yan Gomes walks. Another run in.
Mark Sobolewski singles. The fifth run of the bottom of the ninth scores, and New Hampshire comes all the way back from 6-2 to win. Sobolewski, by the way, was the ninth batter of the inning, so everyone got in on the action. That must have been a great one for the players.

Gose hit a homer earlier in the game, his fourth, and Sierra had a great day, reaching base four times. Rey Gonzalez was roughed up, allowing six runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Dunedin - scheduled off-day

Lansing 11 at Bowling Green 7

Man, do the affiliates ever know how to score this year. Six Nuts had multi-hit games, seven drove in runs, and eight scored runs. Where to begin? Maybe I'll just let you go look at the offense yourself, and tell you that Drew Hutchison had a solid outing, allowing two earned runs in five innings with a 5/1 K/BB ratio.

Three Stars!
David Cooper, Adam Loewen, Brett Lawrie, Moises Sierra, Adeiny Hechavarria, Markus Brisker, Jonathan Jones, Lance Durham, Bryson Namba and Oliver Dominguez all had pretty indistinguishable, but great, days at the plate.



A couple weeks ago I gave the progress report on Lansing. Let's look at Dunedin.



The standout, to me, has been Justin Jackson. He's hitting for average and power, and his plate discipline has been excellent. Tons of walks, and a not-unacceptable number of strikeouts. A.J. Jimenez has also been very good, especially considering his position. Brad Glenn has been one of the best hitters in the FSL, but is old for the level and striking out a ton.



Who thought Nestor Molina would be the clear ace in a rotation with Chad Jenkins, Deck McGuire and Asher Wojciechowski? Molina's 55/5 K/BB is just ridiculous, and he could be climbing some prospect charts this winter.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Jenkins. His walk rate is very good, and he's been getting a ton of ground balls, which should turn into outs at a higher rate as he ascends the ladder with better fielders. The strikeouts could use a bump, though. McGuire and Woj have pitched pretty well for their first pro season going straight to high A.

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