Three Memorial Day games, with Bradenton off:
-P- Indianapolis had eight extra base hits, including four HRs, in beating Durham, 7-4. Jeff Clement went deep twice, giving him four on the year after he started the weekend with just one. Clement, Jeff Larish and Jake Fox should be kicking themselves for the opportunity they've missed by not dominating AAA. Starling Marte added his fourth HR, his only hit in four times up. Alex Presley went 2-3 with his third HR and is now hitting 275/362/675 in AAA. More importantly, he has six walks and seven Ks after seeing his plate discipline completely evaporate in the majors. Maybe he just needed to get away from Clint Barmes. In other slugging news, Chase d'Arnaud went 2-4 with a double and a triple, and #FreeJordy went 2-4 with a double and is now hitting .303. Kris Johnson got the win with three scoreless innings in relief of Daniel Cabrera. Duke Welker faced two batters and retired both, and Tim Wood had a 1-2-3 9th.
-P- Altoona was on the wrong end of a two-hit shutout, losing to Bowie, 4-0. There's very little good to say about this game. Phil Irwin wasn't awful. Tony Sanchez walked twice. And I didn't go. Good call.
-P- West Virginia's bullpen didn't get torched, enabling a 4-3 win over Lakewood. Kirk Singer went 3-3 with a walk, and Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco each went 1-3 with a walk. Hanson continued a recent trend, getting thrown out stealing for the 10th time in 23 attempts; just a reminder that he's still 19 and has a lot of work to do. Hanson had an errorless game as the DH, as org. guy Francisco Aponte played short. I've seen Aponte a good deal in camp and he's a very good defensive player. Since he moved up to West Virginia he's been playing semi-regularly, moving around the infield. I have to wonder whether the team wanted to improve the defense behind the Power's beleaguered pitching staff. Speaking of which, Zack Dodson had another uneven outing, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and three walks in 4.2 IP. He fanned four and evidently had to come out due to his pitch count. Vince Payne allowed one run in 2.1 IP on one hit (a solo HR) and no walks, with three Ks. That lowered his ERA to 10.38.