Saturday Pebble Report: Colorado Rockies RHP Jon Gray looks strong in rehab outing

There was tons of free baseball down on the Colorado Rockies' farm yesterday, with three of their four affiliates going to extra innings on Friday.

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 11, Tacoma Rainiers 6

Isotopes Bats Lead the Way to Opening Night Victory - Albuquerque Isotopes News

A big offensive day led the Isotopes to their fourth straight victory and moved them above .500 on the season. There were contributions up and down the lineup as all nine starters either reached base multiple times or drove in a run. Tim Smalling highighted the day with his 2-for-3 performance that included a third inning grand slam. Jordan Patterson (No. 18 PuRP) also reached base four times thanks to a single and three walks. The 24-year-old now boasts an impressive .425 on-base percentage in the early going. On the hill, Shane Carle was serviceable after getting blown up in his first start, allowing four runs on 10 hits in six innings of work. Carlos Estevez (No. 24 PuRP) allowed a run on two hits in two innings of work and has a 4.91 ERA in the early going.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 5, Portland Sea Dogs 2 (17 innings)

Yard Goats Go 17 Innings To Defeat Sea Dogs - Hartford Courant

Hartford and Portland played a marathon 17 inning game that lasted over four and a half hours before the Yard Goats finally pulled out a win to move to 6-3 on the young season. Jackson Williams had the big hit in this one with a 3-run double in the 17th that put the good guys ahead. It was his second double of a game that saw him go 4-for-7. Rosell Herrera went 0-for-7 on the night and is in the midst of an 0-for-22 slump after starting the season 5-for-5. German Marquez, part of the Corey Dickerson trade this offseason, allowed just six hits and no walks during his seven shutout innings and boasts an impressive 0.90 ERA and eight strikeouts to just one walk through his first two outings of the year. Matt Pierpoint struck out four in four hitless innings to pick up the win for the Yard Goats.

High-A: Stockton Ports 12, Modesto Nuts 10 (17 innings)

In his second rehab outing, Jon Gray (No. 1 PuRP) looked very good for the Nuts. Gray allowed three runs (all unearned) on four hits in four innings, walking two and striking out eight. He was overpowering Ports hitters and looks ready to return to the Rockies' rotation.

Yes, you are reading that right, too — 17 innings. Again. Just like the Yard Goats. The game ended after 1:00 am PT. Luis Jean—an infielder—took the loss. Shane Hoelscher went 0-for-8 and made the final out. On the flip side, Wes Rogers got on base five times; Bobby DeMuro recently got a long look at Rogers in action and you can expect an interview with the outfielder to be posted on this site in a few hours. Oh, and Forrest Wall? Still very good.

Low-A: Rome Braves 4, Asheville Tourists 3 (12 innings)

Another Extra-inning Affair in Asheville; Different Result - Doug Maurer, Asheville Tourists News

What, just 12 innings? Come on.

Asheville's early season struggles continued Friday night as they dropped to 2-7 on the year. Brendan Rodgers (No. 4 PuRP) hit his second home run of the season, his only hit in five trips, and has a .763 OPS in the early going. Peter Lambert (No. 21 PuRP), had his second straight solid outing, going five innings and allowing two runs on four hits to go with just one walk and four strikeouts. Through 9⅔ innings, Lambert has posted a 3.72 ERA and an outstanding 10-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The only multi-hit day for the Tourists belonged to Brian Mundell who went 3-for-5 with his second double of the year.

Saturday probables:

Triple-A: Ryan Carpenter

Double-A: Matt Flemer

High-A: Carlos Polanco

Low-A: Trey Killian