Yesterday, I mentioned that first-round picks Tyler Matzek, Greg Reynolds, Christian Friedrich, Casey Weathers and 2009 sixth-round stud Chris Balcom-Miller had combined for zero wins this season. Upon further review, no first-round pick in Rockies history had a minor league win this season. That changed just hours later, as two of the names mentioned above posted W's.
AAA Colorado Springs, W 10-5 - (34-40, 3rd, 6.0 GB)
Brad Eldred (2010, MiLB FA) clubbed his 17th and 18th home runs on the season, driving in five with an additional single and Travis Metcalf (2010, MiLB FA) hit his 7th big fly. Cole Garner (2003, 26th round) doubled twice and Omar Quintanilla (2005, trade) doubled and walked two times to give Josh Muecke (2010, MiLB FA) his second win on the year.
Muecke gave up two home runs himself and was touched for four runs in five innings. Matt Reynolds (2007, 20th round) served up a solo shot (and no, this game was not in Colorado Springs), but the biggest story from the rubber involves Taylor Buchholz (2006, trade), who used just six pitches to post a spotless inning (2 FB, 1 GB). It was his first time on the mound since May 25.
Esmil Rogers (1-2, 8.33) (2003, DR) gets a chance to right his AAA ship tonight in Reno. First pitch is at 8:05MDT.
AA Tulsa, W 12-7 - (1-1, 2nd, 1 GB)
Greg Reynolds (2006, 1st round) earned was awarded his first victory of the season after allowing three runs (two earned) in five decent innings. Brandon Durden (2005, 4th round) surrendered three more and Stuart Pomeranz (2010, MiLB FA) piled on another, but the Drillers won this game with a suddenly awakened offense.
Twenty-four hours after reaching 10 runs for the first time, they did it again, plating 12 runs on 18 hits. The top four in the lineup were particularly deadly, as Charles Blackmon (2008, 2nd round), Bronson Sardinha (2010, MiLB FA), Scott Beerer (2003, 2nd round) and Ryan Harvey (2010, MiLB FA) combined to go 9-for-20 with 2 HR, 2 BB, 7 runs and 10 RBI. Harvey hit two home runs, while Blackmon slugged his fourth this season in just 87 ABs. He hit seven in over 550 ABs last season. Jason van Kooten (2003, 46th round) singled three times, while Wilin Rosario (2006, DR) and Kiel Roling (2008, 6th round) also had multi-hit games.
Bruce Billings (2007, 30th round) will pitch tonight at 6:10MDT, hoping to improve on his last performance, where he gave up a season-high nine hits.
A-ball recaps and lower are under the following link.
High-A Modesto, W 7-2 - (1-0, 1st)
Rob Scahill (2009, 8th round) pitched six effective innings and Kurt Yacko 2008, 8th round) and Adam Jorgenson (2008, 26th round) combined to retire the final nine batters of the game (four via strikeout) to provide the Nuts with a victory in the second half opener. Jordan Pacheco (2007, 9th round) hit his third home run of the season and singled twice, Thomas Field (2008, 24th round) singled and doubled, Ryan Peisel (2008, 12th round) drove in two with three singles and David Christensen (2006, 2nd round) hit his first home run in eight weeks to raise his wOBA to a disappointing .278.
Low-A Asheville, W 2-0 - (1-0, 1st)
Tyler Matzek (2009, 1st round) was truly unhittable last night, going 5.2 scoreless hitless innings to secure his first professional win. However, his start definitely fell into the category of "effectively wild," as he walked five batters on the evening, including three in the sixth inning. Alan DeRatt (2008, 17th round) cleaned up the mess, and Paul Bargas (2009, 13th round), Rhett Ballard (2009, 26th round) and Sheng-An Kuo (2007, Taiwan) completed the shutout. Matzek's season line looks solid at 1-0, 1.59, but he is walking more than one out of every six batters he faces, walking at least four in three straight starts and 4 of 6 this year. Mike Newman was at the game, though he didn't tweet hardly at all. He did say his fastball reached 93mph but mostly sat at 89-91.
Both runs scored as a result of a Joey Wong at-bat. In the ninth, he followed two singled with one of his own. In the fifth, he bunted with two men on, and the ensuing throwing error by the catcher plated a run. Eliezer Mesa (2008, DR), Delta Cleary (2008, 37th round), Nolan Arenado (2009, 2nd round) and Joseph Sanders (2009, 5th round) combined to go 0-for-17 at the top of the order. It was just the third time this season that Arenado failed to reach base.
Short-A Tri-City, L 0-9 - (4-2, 1st)
The Dust Devils' offense has gone completely missing, as they followed their one-run showing Wednesday with getting shut out last night by Padres' prospect Matthew Lollis in the organization's only minor league loss. Joseph Scott (2009, 42nd round) reached on a third inning single, and Nathan Hines (2009, 50th round) walked two batters later; otherwise, no other Dust Devil reached base.
Parker Frazier's (2007, 8th round) night went quite differently, as the first four batters (and seven of the first eight) reached base. He departed after four innings, surrendering 10 hits and 7 runs (6 earned). That's quite the contrast to his June 18 debut, where a double was his only blemish in five dominant innings.
Chad Bettis (2010, 2nd round) made a dominant pro debut. He faced eight batters, struck out three and induced four ground ball outs. He was removed after allowing an infield single, and the ensuing home run allowed by Tyler Trice (2008, 21st round) resulted in a run charged to Bettis. Casey Weathers (2007, 1st round) also pitched and struck out two in a scoreless inning. Weathers has now struck out eight, walked one and gave up one hit in three shutout innings this season.
Rookie Casper, W 5-2 - (3-1, 1st)
David Dinatale (2009, 28th round) doubled in two runs, Corey "McKenzie" Dickerson (2010, 8th round) singled home two (following two walks and an error) and Jordan Ballard (2010, 33rd round) drove in a run with a single to give Casper its first road win in their first attempt. After leading the roster in OBP through the first three games, Dickerson was moved from third in the order to first.
Tyler Gagnon (2009, 15th round) got the start and worked through a wobbly four innings, allowing two runs on two hits, but he hit a batter, walked three and committed a throwing error. Ricardo Ferrer (2007, VZ) threw three hitless innings for the victory.