Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (50-64)
W: Roberts (1-3, 4.71); L: Northcraft (2-4, 6.54)
Albuquerque won behind a very strong start by John Lannan, who gave up two runs on our hits over seven innings while striking out six without walking a batter. As strong as Lannan start was, the five innings of hitless relief by Miguel Castro, Jairo Diaz and Ken Roberts, who combined to strike out six batters and walk one, provided a big assist. Diaz has had an up and down time in Albuquerque, but he's struck out eight and walked one in his last three outings. Let's hope this is a sign of the talented right hander turning a corner.
The pitching was backed by strong performance by Roger Bernadina, who had two doubles, and Cristhian Adames, whose 2-4 night included his ninth home run of the season.
Double-A: New Britain Rock Cats (53-58)
W: Shackleford (4-1, 2.68); L: Broyles (0-5, 3.98)
Jeff Hoffman made his second start as a Rock Cat—so far so good for the Rockies top pitching prospect that is still in the minors. Hoffman went five innings, allowing just an infield hit; it was a ball that bounced off third baseman Pat Valaika, before being corraled by short stop Zach Osborne. Hoffman did walk three and hit a batter, but in a game where 13 walks were issued, those may not have all been on the big righty. The encouraging thing about the start was that all five of Hoffman's strikeouts were swinging, indicating that his stuff is as advertised as he moves farther from last year's Tommy John surgery.
Osborne led the offense. He had two hits, which isn't rare, but one was for extra bases. Osborne is hitting a DJ Lemahieuesque .328/.375/.388 for new Britain. Jordan Patterson has hit and hit and hit for New Britain, adding his 10th double in 20 Double-A games during this contest.
High-A: Modesto Nuts (59-52)
W: Misell (4-6, 5.00); L: Burke (2-2, 3.82)
Kyle Freeland had a strong start, recording eight groundouts and two strikeouts in his five innings of work. He allowed just one earned run in the process. Johendi Jiminian, who has worked multi-inning relief for both of Freeland's starts, had a nice three inning scoreless outing where he struck out three.
The offense was pretty quiet, but all five singles came from the four top of the order hitters: Raimel Tapia, Michael Benjamin, Rosell Herrera, and Ryan McMahon.
Single-A: Asheville Tourists (56-54)
W: Burnette (4-3, 4.91); L: Lomangino (2-3, 4.55)
Another game, another extra ininng bullpen loss. Starter Jesus Tinoco allowed two runs on six hits over his five innings on the mound. Unfortunately, the bullpen coughed up another five in their seven innings. The offense got great nights from Dom Nunez, whose three hit night included two more doubles, and Yonathan Daza, who is now hitting .352/.377/.454 in his second crack at Asheville this year.
Short Season-A: Boise Hawks (17-30)
W: Mejia (5-3, 5.64); L: Lawrence (0-2, 6.00); SV: Greer (1)
Javier Palacios had maybe his best stateside start, working six innings, striking out three, walking none, recording 11 ground outs, and allowing just one earned run for a second straight start.
Carlos Herrera lead the offense. The 18 year-old shortstop is hitting .307/.357/.376 with 34 stolen bases in 51 games between the DSL and NWL. The teenager is hitting .348 over his last ten games.
Rookie: Grand Junction Rockies (22-24)
W: Schultz (3-1, 4.86); L: Medina (0-2, 8.10)
Don't blame the bullpen on this one. Javier Medina gave up ten earned runs in 2 1/3 innings of work after allowing just two runs in his first three starts. Medina saw his ERA go from 1.64 to 8.10 in his first tough outing.
On a brighter note, fellow high school draftees Brendan Rodgers and Tyler Nevin had nice games. Rodgers got on base in three of his four opportunities, and Nevin collected his 11th double of the young season.
Dominican Summer League: DSL Rockies (27-32)
W: Garcia, H (2-1, 2.12); L: Gil (1-2, 4.08); SV: Rodriguez, Jose A. (4)
The DSL Rockies bumped off the DSL Twins despite being out hit by them 15-10 by out walking them four to on and by out running them four stolen bases to two caught stealing.
Today's probables
Triple-A Albuquerque: Boone Whiting
Double-A New Britain: Ryan Carpenter
High-A Modesto: Antonio Senzatela
Single-A Asheville: Sam Howard
Short Season-A Boise: David Hill
DSL: TBD
Rookie Grand Junction: Peter Lambert