Colorado Springs: Certain writers have been quick, and refreshingly consistent I might add, in writing off the the performance of Ian Stewart this season as a Security Service Field induced fluke, and continue to insist based on his road performance that his year is proof that he's not going to be a major contributor at the MLB level. Though I like that they stick to their guns, I can't say that I agree with the assessment.
First, Rockies fans know that Matt Holliday has had similarly disturbing splits throughout his career, and those of us that used this as advocating trading him are now eating a hefty plate of crow. I'm not going to make the same mstake with Stewart. His bat speed and tools are similar to Holliday's, only from the left side, and he plays a more premium defensive position. This season has shown a solid bounce from a miserable beginning. Despite his zero for four three strikeout performance yesterday and his cooling off of late in general (Tuesday's game being the notable exception) don't think he's not capable of putting up elite numbers.
Seth Smith seems ready to bounce back from a rough series against Omaha, he had two hits yesterday, as did Alvin Colina and Alexis Gomez. Mike Esposito took the nine to five loss, allowing all the runs scored against the Sky Sox and not getting out of the sixth inning.
Tulsa: Christian Colonel had three hits, and Matt Macri and Jordan Czarniecki each homered and combined for seven RBI in Tulsa's eleven to six win. Macri's season has been a great way to come back from injury, but I still think he's one of the sacrifices the Rox are going to regret losing this upcoming offseason in a roster crunch.
Modesto: Modesto started August by losing a close one after winning twenty-three games in July, many in dominating fashion. Given how this team hs performed lately, I'd be surprised if they didn't bounce back in a big way over the next couple of nights. Jeff Kindel's 26 game hit streak was snapped with a zero for two, two walk performance, leaving him four shy of the threshold set by Baseball America to really pay attention. Que Lastima. At any rate, Daniel Carte had two hits and homered, and Chris Nelson and Eric Young both also had multi-hit games for the Nuts. Xavier Cedeno pitched pretty well, and was in line for the W, but Tomas Santiago let it slip away in the six to five loss.
Asheville: The Tourists' scratched out a five to four victory behind a decent start by Aneury Rodriguez and their usual effective bullpen performance. Michael Paulk was the only T with more than one hit, but the rest perfromed when they had to to get the five runs. Rodriguez struck out seven in five and a third innings, he allowed six hits and walked two.
Tri-City: The Dust-Devils took advantage of poor defense by the opposition in a three run third inning, which was enough to get the win last night. A passed ball and two fielding errors led to the three runs, and then after adding an insurance run in the fourth with a Brian Lapin triple and sac fly, they let the pitching staff hold on for the four to two win. Robinson Fabian had one of his better starts of the season, going six and a third innings and allowing just seven hits and a walk.
Casper: Jhoulys Chacin also pitched well, but Orem's Esmerlin Jimenez was better, and Casper lost three to two. Scott Robinson and David Christensen had two hits apiece for Casper.