The Saturday roundup:
-P- Indianapolis broke a 2-2 tie with four runs in the 9th and went on to a 6-2 win over Syracuse. The game marked Phil Irwin's AAA debut, which had its good and not so good points. Irwin took 96 pitches to get through four innings, but he managed to allow only two runs on five hits and two walks. He fanned eight. Dan McCutchen followed with four scoreless innings, striking out five. Matt Hague went 3-5 and Dallas McPherson had a two-run triple.
-P- Altoona lost to New Hampshire, 8-3. Brandon Cumpton gave up six runs on 11 hits over five innings. Hunter Strickland gave up two more. Vic Black pitched a scoreless inning, fanning two. Andrew Lambo returned to the Curve lineup with a bang, hitting his first two HRs of the year and driving in all three Altoona runs.
-P- Bradenton got hammered by the Jupiter . . . uh . . . Hammerheads, 9-1, in a game that I had the misfortune of attending. The Marauders were overmatched at the plate all night, especially against the starter, Miami's 2011 first round draft pick, Jose Fernandez. He fanned eight in five innings and allowed nothing hard hit. He also was involved in one of the strangest ejections I've seen. After striking out the side in the 5th on nine pitches, Fernandez tried to take the ball with him to the dugout. The umpire insisted he hand it over and Jupiter's manager came out to argue. He ended up getting tossed. Bradenton fared little better after Fernandez left, hitting nothing hard until Dan Grovatt launched his 8th HR over the CF wall in the 8th. Grovatt and Mel Rojas, Jr., divided the Marauders' four hits, and Rojas made two diving catches in center. Alex Dickerson struggled at the plate and in the field, and Gift Ngoepe looked completely lost in all three ABs. Gustavo Nunez played short, with Ngoepe moving to second. I didn't get an impression of Nunez in the field. At the plate, he appeared to be interested only in bunting or slapping the ball. Eliecer Navarro started and looked good for five innings before running out of steam in the 6th. Matt Benedict relieved and got battered.
-P- West Virginia beat Kannapolis, 7-1. Zack von Rosenberg started and gave up seven hits and two walks in five innings, but only one run. He fanned four. Rinku Singh pitched three hitless innings in relief. Eric Avila, who's been red hot lately, hit his 7th HR. Alen Hanson went 2-5 with a double. Taylor Lewis went 2-2 and Junior Sosa 2-4. Gregory Polanco is still out.
-P- State College blew a 5-4 lead by allowing six runs in the top of the 9th, then scored three in the bottom half, falling short against Auburn, 10-8. Luis Heredia started and struggled, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks over three and a third. He fanned two. Dalton Friend allowed no hits and one walk over 2.2 IP, with two Ks. Tyler Gaffney reached base five times, going 3-3 with a double, two triples and two walks. Jesus Vasquez went 3-5 with his 3rd and 4th HRs. Jacob Stallings went 2-5 with his 1st pro HR. D.J. Crumlich went 2-4 with two doubles.
-P- The GCL Bucs beat the Tigers, 7-3. Tyler Glasnow started and threw four hitless innings, walking two and striking out six. Dovydas Neverauskas allowed three runs in 2.2 IP, but got the win. Elvis Escobar went 3-3 with a double, and Dilson Herrera and Wyatt Mathisen each went 2-4.
-P- No box score is available for either DSL affiliate.