A strong day at the plate for Triple-A batters on an otherwise losing day on the farm

Colorado Rockies Affiliates Recap for Tuesday, April 21, 2015.

Tuesday was an incredibly busy day down on the farm with double headers at both the Double-A and Single-A levels. On the whole the organization went 2-4 with a couple of truly standout performances, and several that left a little to be desired.

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (8-5)

MILB Recap

Albuquerque 8, Tacoma 6

W: Hernandez, C (1-0, 4.50); L: Gaviglio (1-1, 3.60)

The Isotopes got a nice start (certainly by PCL standards) from Carlos Hernandez, who made his Albuquerque debut with a six inning performance where he allowed three earned runs on two home runs. But the Topes offense was the real story in this one. Ben Paulsen started the game out in left field before finishing in right, along the way extending his hitting streak to 11 games. His line for the season now stands at .357/.438/.524. Paulsen has now started as many games in the outfield as at first base, which is a signal that the Rockies are looking for ways for him to contribute at the MLB level.

As far as hot Isotopes go Paulsen is Radium to Tim Wheeler's Plutonium-241. Wheeler hit home runs numbers four and five, raising his season line to .417/.500/.917. Cristhian Adames also hit two home runs, which I won't lie to you was a sentence that even I, as one of the bigger Adames honks, wasn't really expecting to ever write. Adames' line now stands at .373/.439/.569—that line is maybe U-238, which is impressive coming from a SS who is more than four years younger than the other Paulsen and Wheeler. If any of you can think of a team in need of a left-handed outfielder or a slick fielding switch hitting infielder, maybe you could mention these guys to them.

Double-A: New Britain Rock Cats (7-6)

MILB Recap

Game 1

New Britain 4, Portland 0

W: Carpenter (1-2, 4.41); L: Haley (0-2, 8.38)

The Rock Cats got something that was in pretty short supply in the entire organization on Tuesday: great starting pitching. Ryan Carpenter threw a complete game shutout, going seven innings, allowing just two hits, striking out seven, and walking one. The three big PuRPs David Dahl, Trevor Story, and Tommy Murphy went a combined 1-8 with a walk and two strikeouts, but New Britain were able to push four runs across thanks to small contributions up and down the lineup.

Game 2

Portland 8, New Britain 1

W: Mercedes, S (1-0, 6.23); L: Schlosser (1-2, 9.82)

This one wasn't nearly as much fun, as Portland jumped on Gus Schlosser early, and the offense managed just four singles all day, although two were off the bats of Story and Murphy. Not a lot of notable performances in this one, but Murphy's single did raise his line to .390/.479/.756

Class A Advanced: Modesto Nuts(5-8)

MILB Recap

Visalia 7, Modesto 1

W: Weller (1-1, 3.63); L: Wade (1-1, 5.29)

Konner Wade gave up six earned runs over five innings, and the offense managed to wring just one run out of three walks and six hits. Most of the big bats went pretty silent in this one, as Raimel Tapia, Ryan McMahon and Corelle Prime went a combine 1-9 with five strikeouts and two walks. As a whole, the offense struck out 16 times. The bright spot in Modesto all year has been Mighty Mouse Short Stop Zach Osborne, who went 2-3 with a double to bring his season line to .371/.421/.514. The 25 year old is in line to win the Taylor Featherston Memorial Old For Level But Still Intriguing award.

Class A: Asheville Tourists (6-6)

MILB Recap

Game 1

Hickory 10, Asheville 0

W: Wiles (2-0, 0.00) ; L: Howard (0-2, 6.43)

Sam Howard got the start in this one, going four innings while allowing four runs, three of them earned. Two relievers, James Lomgarino and Scott Firth, replaced Howard and didn't do much better, allowing six more runs to plate over three innings. Wes Rogers had a double, which was one of just two hits the struggling Asheville squad was able to muster. They didn't score any runs.

Game 2

Hickory 5, Asheville 4

W: Gardewine (2-0, 0.00); L: Bello, Y (0-1, 5.40); SV: Hernandez, Je (1)

Randy Reyes has been pretty good in his seven games since being brought up to replace the injured Omar Carrizales. He went 2-3 with a home run. Wes Rogers is not done being ridiculous. The center fielder's line of .333/.412/.467 is great, even for the high run environment in Asheville. Rogers also stole two bases, which brought his season total to 14 in 12 games. He's been caught twice. To compare, the Rockies as a team have four stolen bases in 12 games this season. Unfortunately, the Tourists were not able to push enough across to overcome the early deficit. Asheville's losing streak is now at four.

Today's Probable Starters

Triple-A Albuquerque:

Bettis (1-1, 5.23)

Double-A: New Britain Rock Cats

Carle (2-0, 1.32)

Class A Advanced: Modesto Nuts

Jiminian (0-2, 6.35)

Class A: Asheville Tourists

Jemiola (2-0, 0.75)