Casper: Chaz Roe went six innings and allowed just one hit to go along with three walks and five K's, but didn't figure in the decision as Brett Strickland had one of his shakiest relief outings of the year and would have lost it had it not been for a three run Chris Cook homer in the eighth. As it was, though, Strickland did scratch through the ninth and received the "W" whether he earned it or not. That's okay by me, because in the cyclical nature of the game, he's probably been shorted some credit due in the past -as his season has been pretty good so far. As for Roe, well, we've got something special in that guy. Casper stole four more bases while keeping Helena from taking any to retake the Pioneer League lead in that category and the win put the team a game up on Ogden for the second half South Division lead. Eric Young Jr had two more errors, giving him nineteen on the season thus far.
Tri-city: After the Dust-Devils rallied to take a four to three lead in the eighth due to some wild two out pitching (four walks a single and an HBP before the third out was recorded) George Delgado blew his first save of the year in allowing Everett to score twice and retake the victory. Jason Van Kooten had two doubles and was the eighth inning HBP, scoring in that rally. There's a nifty article on Travis Becktel (who likes swinging with wood bats more than aluminum - the discrepancies in his performance with the two make sense now) in the Tri-City Herald and this quote came from Daniel Carte in a game recap of his two homer night Saturday:
You can't argue with the results, but I wonder how long his swing was in the first place and if not being patient with the adjustment will be something to haunt him in higher levels. We'll see.
Asheville: Frankie Morales also did his part to live up to my advance billing but the Tourists wound up losing on a late rally anyway. Morales struck out nine in five innings and gave up only two hits but did walk five and hit one batter so it wasn't all good.
Joe Koshansky gets the star treatment in this article from the Citizen Times. It makes me wonder just what exactly it does sound like when he connects.
Modesto: I won't tell you how badly Marc Kaiser pitched last night, but needless to say in a seventeen to six loss, it wasn't very pretty. It didn't help that errors (including two more by Ian Stewart last night) contributed to several runs, but Kaiser fell apart -very Joe Kennedy like- after things didn't go his way initially in the fourth. Stewart did wind up going two for four at the plate with a triple. Seth Smith had three hits including a double, and lest you be tempted to think Kyle Wilson's power was merely a product of McCormick Field, go ahead and compare his SLG percentages since being called up. Wilson hit his fourth homerun as a Nut in the loss.
Tulsa: Off
Colorado Springs: A reader asked last night what we thought about Ryan Spilborghs and after adding to his remarkable year by going three for five last night with two doubles, he does seem to have turned some kind of corner. Long range, he's probably still just a fourth outfielder, but he may prove to be a very useful one to the Rockies, or at leat be useful as a piece in a trade to a team that doesn't already have five or so fourth outfielders to begin with. If the Rockies do wind up losing Dustan Mohr in the offseason, Spilborghs could be a prime candidate to become a part of the team. Especially if Brad Hawpe and Matt Holliday perform to the point that the need for added power is mitigated as that is probably his last sticking point.
Ryan Shealy doesn't have to worry about that as he has power in spades, but of course he's kind of without a place. He went three for five as well with another homerun. Jeff Baker and pitcher Christian Parker each also hit long shots in the ten to five home victory for the Sky Sox.