Liriano strong in AAA, Hanson/Polanco show returns

Altoona was off, but the other affiliates all coasted to wins on Thursday.

-- Francisco Liriano (pictured) made his first rehab appearance in AAA and keyed a 5-1 Indianapolis win over Lehigh Valley. Liriano went five innings, allowing one run on four hits and no walks. He fanned eight. Liriano started off a little slowly, giving up a single and double, and the lone run, to the first two hitters he faced. It took him 59 pitches to get through his first three innings, but only 20 in the last two. Vic Black finished the game with a 1-2-3 9th, two on strikeouts. He now has 19 whiffs in just 12.1 IP. The Indians had only seven hits, but they were bunched. The top three hitters in the order -- Alex Presley, Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer -- had two apiece. Presley and Harrison also each had a walk and they scored all five of the runs. Mercer had a double and drove in three.

-- Bradenton drubbed St. Lucie, 9-1. Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco led the offense. Hanson went 3-5 with two runs and two RBIs, leaving his average at .267 after a very slow start. Polanco went 2-4 with two doubles, a walk, and four RBIs. He's now hitting a strangely quiet .347. Dan Gamache, Taylor Lewis and Junior Sosa each added two hits. Adrian Sampson started and went four and two-thirds. He gave up three hits and three walks, and fanned two. Sampson left with one runner on and Zack von Rosenberg let the runner score. After that, von Rosenberg, Zac Fuesser and Joan Montero combined for 4.1 scoreless IP.

-- West Virginia scored six in the 2nd and went on to blank Charleston, 7-0. Joely Rodriguez started and went five and a third, allowing four hits and a walk, and fanning four. Ryan Hafner allowed just a walk over an inning and two-thirds, with three strikeouts. Wyatt Mathisen went 3-4 with a double, Dilson Herrera had a two-run triple in five trips and Max Moroff went deep for the second time. Eric Wood and Walker Gourley each went 2-4. Josh Bell went 1-4 and Stetson Allie went 0-2 before leaving the game for reasons as yet unknown.