If it weren't for Jon Gray and the Tulsa Drillers, the organization would have been shut out completely yesterday.
AAA: Oklahoma City 13, Colorado Springs 6
The Sky Sox fought back from a 4-0 deficit to take a 5-4 lead, but their opponents had six runs in the fifth inning to pull away in this one. Matt McBride led the Sky Sox with a 3-4 night and a homer, while Jackson Williams and Rafael Ynoa each had multi-hit games for Colorado Springs. Brian Burres allowed eight runs on eight hits and five walks with four strikeouts in five innings of work. The loss dropped Burres to 1-6 on the year and raised his ERA to an unsightly 7.90.
AA: Tulsa 4, NW Arkansas 3
Jon Gray (PuRP 1) was nearly unhittable in this one for the Drillers. Gray went seven innings and allowed just two hits and three walks while striking out six in his 93 pitches. Unfortunately, Nelson Gonzalez allowed the opposition to tie it up in relief and Gray didn't get the win, but it was still an impressive performance nonetheless. The outing improved Gray's ERA to 3.78 on the year, but better yet, it appeared that Gray was back to his fireballing self.
This article on the game has some telling quotes.
"The last couple outings, the two before this, I slowed everything down and worked on making pitches, hitting spots and everything like that," Gray said. "This outing, I let go and let the ball fly. It's definitely a lot more fun letting it go. It's an awesome feeling."
...
"I just got away from any thoughts of mechanics and started to just get into a motion with a little bit of rhythm and I just let loose," he said. "I thought, 'I'm going to compete with this guy.' Every guy up, I just tried to find a way to compete with him."
On offense, the Drillers managed only five hits but they made them count. After Gonzalez blew the save, Trevor Story (PuRP 4) hit the tie-breaking homer (4) to improve his line in Tulsa to .235/.343/.409. Tyler Massey had a multi-hit game and his 22nd steal of the year for Tulsa.
High A: Visalia 4, Modesto 0
The Nuts managed only three hits in this one, but David Dahl (PuRP 2) had two of them as well as a stolen base. Dahl is now sporting a .200/.238/.400 line in 42 plate appearances in High A. Devin Burke allowed four runs in six innings off of five hits and a walk while striking out two.
Low A: Greensboro 9, Asheville 3
Alex Balog (PuRP 18) got knocked around a little bit in a rare Asheville loss. Balog allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits and a walk with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 frames. Wilfredo Rodriguez (PuRP 22) had three of Asheville's six hits on the night - all of them singles - to improve his line to .315/.366/.391. Ryan McMahon (PuRP 6) had two more hits to change his line to .286/.355/.500, though he also had his 27th error on the year.
Short Season A: Salem-Keizer 12, Tri-City 2
Ryan Warner had a nightmarish outing for Tri-City in this one. Warner couldn't find the plate, walking seven in his 3 2/3 innings of work. He also allowed three hits and six runs in that timeframe. Of greater interest, we finally have a Sam Moll (PuRP 24) sighting in 2014! Colorado's third round pick last year has been out all year with injuries, but finally made his 2014 debut yesterday. Unfortunately, he allowed three hits, a walk, and two runs while getting two batters out. Still, it's good to see that Moll has escaped the Springfield Mystery Spot.
The Dust Devils had eight hits in this game, including two by Shane Hoelscher, but it only equated to two runs for Tri-City. Hoelscher, Colorado's 17th round draft pick this year, is hitting .291/.419/.372, making him the only player in Tri-City's lineup who is hitting above .230 on the year.
Rookie: Idaho Falls 12, Grand Junction 1
This was not the GJ Rockies' finest hour. The team had four hits in the game and made four errors to go along with them. Strangely enough, the team had a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Dom Nunez (PuRP 19) homer (5) entering the fifth inning, but two runs there took care of that and eight runs in the seventh inning made it a rout. Javier Palacios was actually pitching very well until that seventh inning, but his final line was six innings, six hits, five runs (four earned) with seven strikeouts. Hunter Brothers somehow allowed five runs on two hits, two HBP, and a walk while getting only two outs.
Dominican Summer League: DSL Giants 2, DSL Rockies 1
All three runs in this game were unearned, despite the teams combining for only three errors in the game. In fact, the DSL Giants only had two hits in the whole game and still won thanks to two walks, three wild pitches, and two throwing errors by catcher Elvin Paulino on stolen base attempts (typical Giants). In any case, the DSL Rockies got six innings of two hit pitching from Luis Guzman to lower his ERA to 1.61 on the year. They also got two hits apiece from Manuel Melendez and Jonathan Piron. The 19 year-old Piron, a second baseman who is hitting .286/.323/.451 on the year, is a prime candidate to come stateside by the end of the year.
Today's Probables
AAA: TBD
AA: Christian Bergman (HM PuRP)
High A: Jayson Aquino (PuRP 21)
Low A: Konner Wade
Short Season A: Helmis Rodriguez (PuRP 27)