Busy, busy, busy . . .
-P- Indianapolis dropped a 4-2 decision to Pawtucket. Rick VandenHurk, who hasn't been able to continue his early success with the Indians (4.66 ERA in June, 4.50 in July) allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits and two walks over six innings. He did strike out eight. Starling Marte, in what could be his last AAA game, went 1-4 with a double.
-P- Gerrit Cole struggled again as Altoona lost to Reading, 6-1. He gave up two unearned runs in the 2nd on multiple errors and a couple weak hits. In the 5th, though, he gave up a three-run bomb. In all, he went five, with six hits, two walks and five Ks. The Curve offense managed only three hits, two by #FreeBrockHolt.
-P- Jameson Taillon also had a weak start as Bradenton fell to St. Lucie, 6-5. The Marauders actually managed to take a one-run lead in the 8th, mainly on St. Lucie errors, but Zach Foster gave up a run in the 8th and another to lose it in the 9th. Taillon gave up four runs on eight hits and a walk in six innings. He fanned six. Carlos Mesa hit his 3rd HR.-P- West Virginia used the longball to beat Greensboro, 4-2. The runs all came on HRs: Jose Osuna and Dan Gamache hit back-to-back shots in the 2nd, their 12th and 3rd, respectively, and Elias Diaz hit his 3rd, a two-run HR, in the 5th. As an aside, Osuna had no HRs in April and at that point was hitting everything to the opposite field, which made me wonder about his bat speed. In July, though, with six days left in the month he has six HRs and is slugging .590, so he seems to have made some adjustments. On the mound, Zack Dodson threw five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walking four, while striking out three. Ryan Hafner threw one inning in relief, allowing no runs or hits and walking one.
-P- State College rode the usual strong start from Clay Holmes to a 2-0 win over Connecticut. Holmes went five and faltered a bit, allowing three hits this time. He walked two and fanned four. Dalton Friend followed with three scoreless innings of his own. Tyler Gaffney got on base in all five of his plate appearances, with three singles and two walks. His OBP is now .530; in 66 plate appearances he's walked a dozen times and been hit with eight (!) pitches. You have to wonder how interesting the Spikes' outfield would be if Brandon Thomas had signed. Jacob Stallings also stayed hot, going 2-4 with a double.
-P- The GCL Pirates lost to the Tigers, 4-2. Tyler Glasnow had a good start, allowing just an unearned run on three hits and no walks in four innings. He fanned four. Jin-De Jhang went 2-4 with a double.
-P- The DSL Pirates1 shut out the Yankees2, 4-0. Mervin Del Rosario started and allowed just one hit over five innings. Daniel Arribas was 2-4 with a double and Tito Polo was 2-3 with two steals.
-P- The DSL Pirates2 beat the Mets1, 8-7. Henrry Rosario went 1-2 with his 1st HR and three walks. Edgardo Munoz and Jose Salazar each went 2-5, with Munoz hitting one double and Salazar two. Julio Perez went 3-4.