Cannonballs coming: Cody Bolton impressive in first start

— Indianapolis (24-21) lost to Charlotte, 2-1. Nick Kingham started, but came out after one inning and three batters. There are various, as-yet uncomfirmed reports around the internet that he’s going to start for the Pirates on Tuesday, which normally would be Ivan Nova’s turn. Casey Sadler followed and gave up two unearned runs in four innings. The Indians drew seven walks, but had only six hits. They had a chance to tie when Jacob Stallings led off the 9th with a double, but Rob Scahill retired the next three hitters. Chris Bostick went 2-4 and Jordan Luplow 1-3 with a double and a walk.

Kevin Newman: 0-2, 2 BB
Kevin Kramer: 1-3
Josh Smoker: IP
Dovydas Neverauskas: IP, BB, K

— Altoona’s (21-22) struggles deepened with a 14-2 disaster against Harrisburg. Curve pitchers walked a dozen hitters in the game, with starter Brandon Waddell accounting for five, along with seven hits and seven runs in five innings. Yeudy Garcia, who seems to be melting down lately, walked four of the six batters he faced, leading to outfielders Elvis Escobar and Bralin Jackson taking the mound. (Escobar accounted for two of the walks.) The Altoona offense continued to slump, getting just six hits and letting Brady Dragmire get through eight innings on 90 pitches.

Cole Tucker: 0-3
Ke’Bryan Hayes, Jason Martin: 0-4
Will Craig: 1-4
Logan Hill: 2-4
Christian Kelley, Stephen Alemais: 1-3

— Bradenton (25-21) lost to Jupiter, 3-2, in ten innings. Cam Vieaux had a rough first inning, allowing two runs, but recovered to last through six and two-thirds. He gave up five hits, walked three and tied a career high with nine strikeouts. Adrian Valerio went 3-4 with a double. The Marauders fell behind on a fake run in the top of the tenth, but after they bunted their own fake runner over in the bottom half, Bligh Madris couldn’t get the run home. Madris, Arden Pabst and Jared Oliva all went 0-4.

— Cody Bolton’s (pictured) first start of the year was a gem as West Virginia (25-19) blanked Kannapolis, 5-0. Bolton threw five shutout innings against one of the league’s better-hitting teams, giving up just two hits and a walk. He fanned eight and threw 48 of 75 pitches for strikes. Cal Mitchell led the offense, going 3-4 with a double. He seems to be heating up again, getting nine hits in his last four games. Mason Martin, on the other hand, increasingly appears overmatched. He went 0-3 with a pair of whiffs before being taken out. In his last ten games, he’s 2-for-31 with 19 strikeouts. I’ve seen quite a few of his ABs and he seldom even manages to foul a ball off. He tries to pull every pitch and is getting a steady diet of pitches away, which he seems unable to handle.

Deon Stafford: 1-3, BB
Oneil Cruz: 1-3, 2B
Rodolfo Castro: 0-4
Lolo Sanchez: 2-3
Blake Weiman: 2 IP, 2 K