Cannonballs coming: Keller dominates; Hutchison, not so much

Bradenton was rained out.

-- Indianapolis (64-63) beat Louisville, 8-7.  Alfredo Simon helped the Indians out of their hitting slump, as they got to him for five runs in the first two innings.  The lead didn't last, as Drew Hutchison continued to look like the AAA depth guy that Toronto thought he was.  He gave up six runs in the fourth inning.  Four were unearned due to two errors by Josh Bell, leaving him with 15 on the season, but Hutchison gave up a double and two longballs in the inning.  He finished with seven runs allowed, three earned, on ten hits in five innings.  He walked none and struck out three.  Austin Meadows went 1-3 with a walk, his third AAA HR, and three RBIs.  Max Moroff was 1-4 with a walk and his eighth HR.

Alen Hanson:  1-4, 3B
Josh Bell:  1-4
Jose Osuna:  2-4
Willy Garcia:  2-4, 2B, 3B
Elias Diaz:  0-4
A.J. Schugel:  1.1 IP, 2 K

-- Altoona (68-56) got hammered by New Hampshire, 12-2.  Brandon Waddell's struggles continued.  He allowed only one run over the first five innings, but eventually gave up five on nine hits in six and a third.  He walked one and struck out two.  Jason Creasy had a rough return from his forearm strain.  He faced nine hitters, retired only two, and was charged with six runs.  The Curve had only three hits, two of them doubles by Eric Wood, who was 2-3.  Barrett Barnes was 1-3.

-- Mitch Keller (pictured) allowed just two hits over seven innings as West Virginia (62-61) shut out Kannapolis, 4-0.  Keller walked one, struck out five, and needed just 81 pitches.  Carlos Munoz went 2-4 with a double.

Mitchell Tolman:  1-4
Logan Hill:  1-4
Daniel Arribas:  1-3, BB

-- Morgantown (27-32) beat Vermont, 5-2.   Luis Escobar somehow allowed only one run over six innings despite throwing just 41 of 85 pitches for strikes.  He allowed two hits, walked four and struck out four.  Matt Diorio and Erik Forgione each had two hits.

-- Bristol (22-32) got blasted by Johnson City, 15-6.  The Pirates sent out an array of severely struggling pitchers, as shown by their post-game ERAs:

Ike Schlabach:  5.54
David Whitehead:  8.56 (7.83 at Altoona)
John Pomeroy:  7.09
Nick Hutchings:  9.00

Despite not having a young staff for the level, Bristol came into the game easily last in their league in staff ERA, a ranking that won't be helped by today's game.  The box score also (at least for now) lists Elias Diaz as throwing an inning and giving up a run at the same time he was catching for Indianapolis.  Possibly, whoever threw that inning wanted to remain anonymous.  Yoel Gonzalez went 4-4 and Raul Siri 2-4 with a double.  Alexis Bastardo struck out five times.

-- The GCL Pirates (20-27) lost to the Blue Jays, 9-7, in a very rookie-level sort of game.  Eight of the bad guys' runs came off two pitchers, Miguel Hernandez and Francis Rodriguez, who allowed just one hit between them.  Hernandez started and failed to retire a batter or see a ball put in play, as he walked the first three and hit the next two.  He was charged with four runs.  Rodriguez was charged with four unearned runs in the seventh inning.  He retired only two batters, but allowed one hit, walked two and hit one.

Boomer Synek:  2-3, BB
Edison Lantigua:  3-5
Yondry Contreras:  1-5

-- The DSL Pirates (26-39) lost to the Cubs1, 3-1.  Sergio Cubilete gave up one run on three hits and a walk in five innings, with four strikeouts.  The Pirates had only five hits.