Here's a summary of Friday's action:
-P- Rudy Owens had his worst game of the season as Indianapolis lost to Columbus, 10-6. Owens gave up six runs on nine hits and two walks in 3.1 IP. He fanned three. Considering Erik Bedard's struggles, Owens' timing could have been better. Jose Tabata went 2-5 and Starling Marte had his 11th triple in four ABs. Jeff Clement struck out all four times up.
-P- Several Altoona players had big days as the Curve beat Reading, 11-5. Matt Curry came up a triple short of the cycle, going 4-5 with his 6th HR and four RBIs. In his last ten games, Curry is batting .447 and slugging .842. Jarek Cunningham went 3-4 with a double and his 3rd HR, and Quincy Latimore went 2-4 with a double and his 10th HR. Robbie Grossman went 1-3 with two walks and three runs. Matt McSwain gave up four runs, three earned, in the first two innings but hung on to go five with no more runs allowed. Never much of a swing-and-miss guy, he managed to fan eight.
-P- Bradenton got shut out by Palm Beach, 5-0. Starter Tyler Waldron allowed only one run in six innings on five hits and two walks, while fanning five. Dan Grovatt and Benji Gonzalez each had two hits.
-P- West Virginia scored two in the bottom of the 8th to pull out a 4-3 win over Lakewood. Zack Dodson had his first good start in quite a while. He did allow a three-run HR in the 5th after an error had prolonged the inning, so the runs were unearned. He ended up going six, allowing six hits and no walks, and fanning six. Joan Montero, promoted back to West Virginia after dominating in a few outings with State College, managed two scoreless innings despite allowing two hits and two walks. The two usual suspects keyed the offense: Alen Hanson went 3-4 with a walk, and Gregory Polanco went 2-3 with a double and a walk. Taylor Lewis continued to do well at the plate, going 1-3 with two walks.
-P- State College beat Tri-City, 3-1. Barrett Barnes went 2-3 with a double, a walk and his 2nd HR. Barnes is suddenly hitting 311/394/459 after a slow start. Jake Burnette went five innings, allowing one run on five hits and no walks, with two Ks. Dalton Friend threw three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, and fanning two. Friend was an interesting draftee due to a very high K rate in junior college, but he got off to a horrific start, allowing six runs without retiring a batter in his first game. He seems to be settling down.
-P- The GCL Pirates managed to split a doubleheader with the Phillies despite getting only five hits total, all singles, in the two games. The Bucs won game one, 2-1, as Jackson Lodge, Andy Otamendi and Martires Cadet combined to allow just one unearned run. The Pirates lost game two, 3-1. Colten Brewer had a shaky start, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits and two walks, while fanning two, in four innings.
-P- The box score for the DSL Pirates1 is unavailable. Maybe Jordy Mercer knows where it's being hidden.
-P- The DSL Pirates2 lost to the Cubs2, 9-8, in 12 innings. Angel Sanchez, a 6'7" lefty, started and allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in four innings, while fanning four. Luis Rico, an 18-year-old lefty who got a fairly large bonus, gave up three runs on two hits and two walks in one inning. Eighteen-year-old infielder Pablo Reyes went 2-5 with a double.