Rockies Prospects: Butler bounces back, Freeland excellent in Asheville

Eddie Butler tosses five scoreless frames in Tulsa victory

It has been an up and down season for Eddie Butler, one of  the Rockies' top prospects. After struggling to regain his footing following a month-long shutdown due to shoulder soreness, Butler finally turned in a good performance in Tulsa. Butler threw five scoreless innings with four strikeouts, while allowing four hits and three walks. The Drillers held on to win it 5-4.

2014 hasn't been a smooth developmental year for Butler, but if he can finish the year strong it would bode well for his 2015 major league prospects.

Offensively, Taylor Featherston led the way with three hits and two RBIs, including his 13th home run. Ryan Casteel and Chris O'Dowd both doubled in runs. Trevor Story went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.

Kyle Freeland outstanding in Asheville debut

Another day, another convincing Asheville victory. The Rockies' number one draft pick of 2014 Kyle Freeland made his Low-A debut, and he absolutely dominated. He allowed just two hits and no walks in his five shut out innings. He struck out six on the way to his first Asheville win, as the Tourists cruised to an 8-1 final.

Lead off man Raimel Tapia had another pair of hits and walked twice, an encouraging development. He also added his 28th stolen base. Ryan McMahon tripled and drove in two runs and Ashley Graeter doubled. McMahon made his 28th fielding error...yikes. The Tourists were helped by four errors by the Lakewood Blue Claws though.

Colorado Springs 3, Oklahoma City 7

The Sky Sox scored three runs in the top of the first inning, but were shut out the rest of the way to take the loss. Rafael Ynoa and Matt McBride both doubled while Christhian Adames went 3 for 4 in the two hole. He also stole two bases. Dan Houston could only record one out before allowing five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Leuris Gomez allowed two more runs in 3.2 innings, but Christian Friedrich, Rob Scahill, and Brooks Brown all threw scoreless outings. Friedrich K'd three in his one inning.

Former Rockie Alex White got the victory, as he worked six innings and gave up three runs for the Redhawks.

Other games

Modesto ground out a rare victory with their 5-4 win over the Lancaster JetHawks. Jordan Ribera had three hits and three RBIs. David Dahl went hitless. Matt Flemer was cruising, having allowed one run in seven innings before the eighth got to him. He allowed the first three hitters to reach, and they would score off Alving Mejias, so the runs were charged to Flemer. Regardless, the Nuts held on to win it.

The DSL Mariners beat the DSL Rockies 4-3.

The Grand Junction Rockies lost to the Billings Mustangs 6-2. Kevin Padlo and Dom Nunez both hit solo home runs, but that would be it for the Rockies. Carlos Polanco allowed five runs in 4.1 innings while giving up nine hits.