I'm going to post some of the positive highlights of the first month of the season from each affiliate later this evening, but in the meantime, here are the recaps from last night. My new Farm Report at the Rocky talks about the oddity of Casey Weathers' groundball tendencies thus far.
Colorado Springs: L 10-5
For the first four innings, it looked like things were finally turning around for ol' Vic Zambrano. Yep. He was cruising along with a shutout, just three walks and three hits allowed, things were finally going his way. He'd be in Denver in no time, especially considering what Mark Redman was doing just up the road. Of course, reality had to hit sometime, in Zambrano's case it was with the nine runs he gave up in the fifth and sixth. The Sky Sox scored five in the last two innings to halve the margin, starting with an Ian Stewart solo shot, but the comeback was too little, too late.
Tulsa: L 5-4
Tough luck for Brandon Hynick in this one, Brandon pitched into the seventh and allowed just a pair of runs on seven hits and six strikeouts. As David Ohno mentioned in yesterday's comments, in his last four starts Hynick has gone at least six innings each time and he has a 19/1 K/BB margin. The two runs both were solo homeruns, which is a little troubling, but overall it looks like Hynick's adjusted to AA. Corey Wimberly had a pair of hits, and he and Dexter Fowler each stole two more bases, but the Drillers offense is otherwise still slumping.
Modesto: L 8-5
Aneury Rodriguez apparently took off for the week and left his less effective twin as a replacement. This Rodriguez couldn't get through the third inning and gave up five runs on six hits, two walks and a wild pitch. Cole Garner and Geoff Strickland hit well for the Nuts, but otherwise the offense was still flat. Speaking of, Jay Cox is hoping a different uniform brings him better luck.
Asheville: W 11-7
A solid start by Cory Riordan and a nine run sixth inning fueled the Tourists win last night. David Christensen had his second straight three for four game -including two two run hits in that big inning. He told Jason McGill that he's changed his stance over the past week. We can all hope that the solution to his hitting woes is that simple, because the kid has a ton of talent.