AAA Colorado Springs had their game postponed last night, so it is the AA Tulsa Drillers that take the lead in this morning's Pebble Report.
2008 first rounder Christian Friedrich got back on track in AA in a big way, going seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and striking out 12 men and picking up the win (2-5, 4.94) in his last start before a scheduled appearance in the 2010 Futures Game. 2009 supplemental first rounder Rex Brothers struck out two more in a scoreless inning of relief. With the win the Drillers moved to 7-3 in the second half, 2.5 games back of the division lead, while Corpus Christi fell to 0-12 in the second half. Yikes.
Modesto (8-7, 3 GB) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first but they would get no more. Meanwhile Kenny Durst gave up four runs on nine hits over six innings to take the loss. Particularly of note though was the Ryan Franklin-esque relief outing turned in by Tyler Trice. Trice only got one out and gave up eight hits and nine runs in a nightmarish eighth inning.
Chris Balcom-Miller (2009, 6), the victim of some pretty bad run support thus far in his stint with the Tourists (9-6, 1 GB), lost this one on his own. CBM went 4.1 IP, giving up six runs on eight hits and four walks to get the loss (1-5, 3.91). Eliezer Mesa, Delta Cleary, and Angelys Nina all had multi-hit games in a losing effort.
Salem-Keizer 6, Tri-City 4 (F-14)
This was a frustrating loss for Tri-City (8-11, 2.5 GB), who held a 3-1 lead going into the ninth, only to lose it on a blown save by Billy Vopinek (2009 UDFA). The two teams went scoreless until the 14th, when Salem-Keizer pushed across three runs and Tri-City just couldn't match it. A fine outing by Edwar Cabrera (2008 DR) was wasted in the process. Cabrera went 6.2 IP with 8 Ks and 1 R on 3 H. Chandler Laurent (2009, 21) continued his hot start to the season (.342/.370/.630) with a 2-6 effort.
Casper (7-11, 3 GB) got homers from Blake McDade (2010, 20) and Jordan Ballard (2010, 34) but couldn't quite pull off the victory. The Ghosts jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind McDade's 2-run shot but the pitching didn't quite hold up, giving up the 3-0 and then a 4-3 lead.
DSL Rockies 3, DSL White Sox 0
Jefri Hernandez (2008 DR) threw 6.2 scoreless innings and the DSL Rockies improved to 21-14 on the year (4 GB). Hernandez has been impressive so far (2-0, 0.55 in 32.2 IP) but it should be noted that he is 18 and in his third year in the DSL.