A full slate of Friday action, and then some:
-P- Indianapolis dropped Louisville, 4-1. Alex Presley came in hitting .179 since his demotion, but went 3-4 and came up a HR short of a cycle. Jeff Larish went 2-4 with a double and Brian Friday 2-4 with a triple. Justin Wilson started and allowed only three hits and a run over 5.1 IP, but struggled to throw strikes. He walked five and threw only 57 of 101 pitches for strikes. He did fan six. Duke Welker made his AAA debut, getting the last two outs of the sixth, one on a K. Bryan Morris threw three scoreless innings for the save, allowing two hits and fanning two.
-P- Altoona also overcame control problems from a starting pitcher and beat Bowie, 5-3. Tim Alderson started, but hit his pitch count before he got out of the fifth, costing him a win. He went 4.2 IP and allowed five hits and four walks, while fanning two, and threw only 52 of 93 pitches for strikes. His velocity ranged from 86-92, sitting at 88-89. He had several stretches in which he had trouble getting anything close to the strike zone, and it was then that his velocity sometimes fell below 88. He frequently got into the low 90s, but was more effective in the upper 80s. He consistently bounced his curve up to the plate, leaving Tony Sanchez to block pitch after pitch. Alderson allowed all three runs, two earned. Mike Colla and Kris Harvey pitched the last four and a third without allowing a run. Robbie Grossman broke an 0-26 streak by doubling his first two times up, finishing 2-4. Jeremy Farrell added his second HR.
-P- Bradenton fell behind 7-1 early and couldn't quite come back, leaving the tying runs on base in a 7-5 loss to Jupiter. Eliecer Navarro started and allowed all seven runs in four innings. Gift Ngoepe went 2-3 with a double, two walks and three runs. He's got a huge split that suggests maybe switch-hitting isn't the best approach for him: he has an .815 OPS against RHPs and .432 against LHPs. Alex Dickerson went 3-4 with a double and three RBIs.
-P- West Virginia and Kannapolis played an unusual morning/evening doubleheader, with both games going nine innings. The Power won the morning game, 3-2. Matt Benedict allowed just the two runs over seven innings, and Rinku Singh finished with two scoreless innings to get the win. Willy Garcia went 2-3 with a walk and Gregory Polanco went 1-2 with his 8th HR and two walks. Dan Gamache added a triple. The Power scored two in the first, then went hitless until the 8th, when Garcia broke a 2-2 tie with a two-out, RBI single. West Virginia dropped the second game, 12-5, with the help of another tragicomic performance from its bullpen. Orlando Castro and Emmanuel De Leon allowed eight runs, seven earned, in four innings of relief. Utility player Chris Lashmet was more effective, allowing one run in one inning. Gamache went 2-4 with a three-run HR, his second. Garcia went 2-4 with a double and Alen Hanson, who sat out the morning game, went 1-3 with a walk.