As the new diary at the right and malakian's comments in last night's Pebble Report indicate, the AFL rosters have been announced. There are often adjustments made due to injury or other concerns, so we'll see if this contingent sticks, but I have to say it's the most promising the Rockies have sent that I can remember.
Casper: Alan Johnson ran into some trouble in the seventh and the offense never really got it going against Helena. Plus four defensive errors by the team is never a good thing to see, even if they are such a subjective and problematic statistic.
Tri-City: Michael Paulk and the Dust-Devils continue to push for a playoff spot. Paulk had three singles and knocked in a pair batting clean-up. Andrew Kreidermacher gave up a pair of runs over five innings.
Asheville: A few days after his best outing of the season, Jake Postlewait came back with one of his worst and the punchless without Joe Koshansky (called up to Tulsa for those who haven't heard) offense couldn't dig out of the hole.
Modesto: The Nuts won actually, thanks to a three run rally in the eighth highlighted by Seth Smith's ninth homerun of the season. Smith's on a mini-tear the last couple of days, but his season hasn't been as promising as we could have hoped. For instance, despite playing seventeen more games than Ian Stewart, and with Stewart slumping while recovering from injury early in the season, Smith only has five more extra base hits. We're hopeful that with improved vision we see better things from Smith next season.
Juan Morillo was largely ineffective and pulled one out into the fifth inning.
Tulsa: Clint Barmes went one for three with a single, and Blaine Neal gave up a homerun to Rick Ankiel in their first rehab outings. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched better but still wound up taking the loss as the offense in Tulsa still needs more pop. With Joe Koshansky on board, that wish will soon be granted.
Colorado Springs: I really need to seek some professional help for wishing that Arizona's top prospects, such as Carlos Quentin and Josh Kroeger, bust as major leaguers when they're given regular time in the show. So when I see them contributing so much to Mike Esposito's taking a loss last night, I just seethe for no good reason. I mean really they're probably great people and good ballplayers and should I blame them that the franchise they play for seems to stumble into it's success like a spendthrift drunkard finding a winning lottery ticket discarded on the street while our own much better run club gets the shaft year after year? Anyway, this is yet another reason why I'd be a terrible loser at beauty pageants.
Ryan Spilborghs cashes in again playing at home, going four for five in the loss.