The affiliates were 3-2 yesterday, plus an exhibition loss to an independent league team by Grand Junction.
Triple A: Colorado Springs 6, Las Vegas 3
The Sky Sox (31-36, 9.5 GB) pounded out 14 hits in this win. PuRP 8 Tim Wheeler provided 3 of those hits, as did Brandon Roberts. Brandon Wood, Matt McBride, and recent acquisition Omir Santos all added 2 hits, while Brendan Harris hit a homer (3). Carlos Torres went 5 innings in this one, allowing 1 run on 6 hits with 3 punchouts to get the win (3-3) and lower his ERA to 3.11.
Double A: Tulsa 5, Arkansas 1
The Drillers (37-28, 1st) reduced the magic number for winning their division's 1st half title down to 3 with their 5th straight win last night. Tulsa had 7 hits on the night, with PuRP 9 Josh Rutledge the only one with multiple hits. After a slow start, Rutledge's line is now .305/.341/.478. PuRP 26 Ben Paulsen added a 2-run shot (5) for Tulsa. Dan Houston went 8 innings, giving up 1 run on 7 hits to get the win (7-5).
In other news, Tulsa had 8 players selected for the Texas League All-Star game, which will be held in Tulsa on June 28th. The Drillers that were selected were PuRP 2 Nolan Arenado, Rutledge, PuRP 13 Edwar Cabrera, Paulsen, Houston, Nick Schmidt, Coty Woods, and Lars Davis.
Arenado, Rutledge, and Davis will be starters. The team is drawn from a 4 team division, so the number represents about a quarter of the North division squad.
High A: San Jose 6, Modesto 5
After pushing across 3 runs in the top of the 6th to get even on a Juan Crousset homer (2), a run in the 8th off Nick Schnaitmann (2-4) put Modesto (33-35, 7 GB) behind for good. Brett Tanos and Mark Tracy added 2 hits each for the Nuts. PuRP 5 Tyler Matzek went 6 innings in this one, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits, striking out 8 and walking only 1.
Usually Matzek is pretty un-hittable -- this was the most hits he's allowed in a start this season and opponents are hitting just .192 against him -- but gives up a lot more walks (6.24 BB/9), so at least he was consistently in the strike zone in this one, raising his K/9 to 9.96.
Low A: Asheville 5, Lexington 4
The Tourists improved their league leading (and 1st half division title clinching) record to 46-21 thanks to a run in the top of the 9th as Delta Cleary doubled and scored on a Taylor Featherston single. Cleary was the star of this game, going 4-5 with 3 runs, 2 RBI, 3 doubles, and a homer (4). The game raised his season line, hitting out of the lead-off spot, to .305/.386/.429.
Meanwhile, PuRP 11 Rosell Herrera, PuRP 21 Will Swanner, and Brian Humpries all had multi-hit games for Asheville. Alex Gillingham went 7 innings, allowing 4 runs on 9 hits and striking out 5.
Short Season: Tri-City begins their season tonight with a home game. Roberto Padilla will take the mound.
Rookie: Grand Junction lost an exhibition game 9-8 against an independent league team, the Greeley Grays. They begin league play on Monday.
DSL: DSL Padres 7, DSL Rockies 6 (F-10)
This one was a tough loss for the Rockies (7-4, 1 GB), who gave up a 4 run lead in the bottom of the 9th where the tying run scored on a fielding error (1 of 2 in the inning) that would have ended the game, then lost on a walk-off in the 10th.
Joel Payamps was once again solid, throwing 6 innings of 2 run ball, allowing 5 hits. Miguel Dillone led the offense with 2 hits (a double and a triple), 3 runs, and 2 RBI, while Jairo Rosario also had 2 hits and Yonathan Daza had a solo homer (1).
True story -- the DSL Rockies have the best names of any Colorado minor league affiliate. My personal favorites are Hamlet Marte and Denzel Richardson, but there's something in there for everyone.
Spring 2012 PuRPs List: look for the 1st installment to be posted this morning. The rest of the list will be revealed 5 players at a time over the next week.