Friday Pebble Report: Tommy Murphy clubs another homer

Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes (5-3)

Tacoma 3, Albuquerque 1

W: Germano (1-1, 1.50) ; L: Castro, S (3-1, 3.60)

Simon Castro, the former Padres top prospect, has looked great out of the pen and like most relievers is best in small doses. Castro entered with the game tied 1-1 in the 10th inning thanks to a second strong performance from John Lannan. Castro promptly struck out two batters then induced a fly out to end the inning.

When Castro came back out for the 11th inning, he allowed two runs on a leadoff double followed by a bunt single, then a two-base error and another single to Jesus Montero to take the loss. Cristhian Adames drove in the Topes' only run and is now hitting .345/.406/.414 in the young season

Double-A New Britain Rock Cats (3-5)

New Britain 8, New Hampshire 5

W: Schlosser (1-1, 5.06) ; L: Burns, C (2-1, 9.53) ; SV: House (1)

First thing's first, Tommy Murphy is a BOSS. Murphy hit his third home run in a Rock Cats uniform to raise his season line to .379/419/.862. I will be really happy if Murphy has that last number for an OPS let alone a slugging percentage at year end. Gus Schlosser collected the win in middle relief by being the pitcher of record when the Rock Cats broke through for four runs on a walk and six hits, including three doubles. PuRPs David Dahl (2) and Trevor Story (7) would mostly want this one back, going a combined 1-for-10 with 6 Ks.

High-A Modesto Nuts (3-5)

Inland Empire 8, Modesto 4

W: Cooney (1-0, 3.72) ; L: Jiminian (0-2, 6.35)

Last year's Asheville wonder twins Dahl and Raimel Tapia must share some sort of mental link as the usually contact-heavy Tapia went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in a similarly disappointing effort. Johendi Jiminian took the loss in a game in which he struck out six and walked none, cruising though five innings before leaving the bases loaded in the sixth. Matt Pierpoint allowed those three, plus four more, runs to score. Michael Benjamin had a nice night, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Low-A Asheville Tourists (5-2)

Asheville 5, Greenville  4

W: McCrummen (1-0, 0.00) ; L: Tellez (0-1, 13.50)

Asheville won this one on the strength of a second consecutive outing without an earned run from Helmis Rodriguez. Rodriguez and Zach Jemiola, the top two starters in Asheville, have started four games, pitching 23⅔ innings with 16 strikeouts and four walks to go along with just one earned run. That's extra impressive considering Asheville's home park factor makes Coors Field look like Petco Park.

The offense was led by two-hit performances from Drew Weeks, Emerson Jimenez and Randy Reyes, who was activated earlier in the week and is coming off what must be the quietest .321/.351/.565 season I can remember. Reyes stole two bases on Thursday and has three steals in his first two games. Fellow outfielder Wes Rogers also stole a base, his ninth in seven games, Asheville is so loaded with talent that it will be hard to find all these players the plate appearances they deserve as the year goes on.