The Undercards: P-Rays Play Mirror Doubleheader; Hak-Ju Lee’s Hitting Streak Snapped

Sometimes you play an outstanding game and it’s the start of a long streak. Unfortunately, other times you play a great game followed up by a not so great one and the  cycle of inconsistency continues.

Triple-A International League: Charlotte Knights (CHW) 6, Durham Bulls 4

The red-hot Henry Wrigley and Chris Gimenez both had 2 hits and Gimenez homered, but the Bulls still fell to Charlotte. Jim Paduch lasted 5 innings allowing 5 runs on 8 hits, striking out 2 while walking 4, and that was enough to provide the Knights’ margin of victory in this one. Gimenez went 2 for 4 with a solo homer, Henry Wrigley went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Rich Thompson went 3 for 5.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 2, Jacksonville Suns (MIA) 1

Nice win for the Biscuits, with one notable thing missing. Alex Colome, who I just talked about yesterday, started for the Biscuits and was great- albeit without any control, going 6 shutout innings allowing 3 hits but 6 walks while striking out 9. His groundout to flyout ratio was 4-1. On offense, Omar Luna went 2 for 3 with an RBI, and Brett Nommensen went 1 for 3 with the other RBI. But Hak-Ju Lee went just o for 3 with a walk and a run scored, snapping his 21-game hitting streak. All good things must come to an end, but nice that the Biscuits came away with a win.

High-A Florida State League: Lakeland Flying Tigers 2, Charlotte Stone Crabs 1

Sam Fuld continued his rehab, and Albert Suarez pitched pretty well, but the Stone Crabs fell to Lakeland. Suarez went 6.1 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, striking out 2 and walking 2 as well (but his groundout to flyout ratio was a terrible 3-11). Fuld went 0 for 2 with a walk in his rehab while the dynamic duo of Derek Dietrich and Phil Wunderlich were the Stone Crabs offense, both going 2 for 4 and with Dietrich hitting a solo homer.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 3, Burlington Bees (OAK) 2

Jake Floethe got back on track in a big way and Ryan Brett did it all on offense as the Hot Rods came away with a win. Floethe tossed 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 2 hits, striking out 6 while walking 1 and posting a great 8-1 groundout to flyout ratio. Floethe got off to a great start before dealing with back issues, but he appears to have gotten right back where he left off. Brett provided his offense with a huge day, going 3 for 4 with a double, his 32nd stolen base, 2 RBI, and a run scored. Keith Castillo also went 2 for 3 with a run scored.

Short Season-A New York-Penn League: Hudson Valley Renegades 5, Batavia Muckdogs (STL) 3

Solid pitching and clutch hitting led the Renegades to victory in this one. Matthew Spann went 5 innings allowing 2 runs on just 2 hits, striking out 1 while walking 2 and posting a 6-5 groundout to flyout ratio. Spann, who I did a scouting report on a while back, forces a ton of weak contact, a little too much in the air, but he’s going to have to strike out some batters. Reinaldo Lopez followed with 3 shutout relief innings, allowing just 3 hits while striking out 3. The run support came from a Leonardo Reginatto 2-run double, a Charles Epperson 2-run single. Luke Maile‘s 2 for 3 game with a walk and an RBI, and Tommy Coyle‘s 2 for 4 day with a run scored.

Advanced Rookie Appalachian League: Game 1: Princeton Rays 12, Danville Braves 1

All smiles in the opener of the doubleheader. Kevin James went 5 innings allowing no runs on 3 hits, striking out 2 while walking 1 although his groundout to flyout ratio was just 4-7. But this game was all about the offense. The P-Rays tallied TEN runs in the third inning to pull away in this one, sending 13 batters to the plate in the inning. Second baseman Reid Redman had a big game, going 3 for 4 with a double, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored, while Ariel Soriano went 2 for 3 with a triple, a stolen base, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. He showed off his versatility in the game, moving from right field to shortstop when Brandon Martin (who went 1 for 3 with an RBI) for some reason had to leave the game. Martin would play in the second game of the doubleheader, so he was OK. Daniel Duran also had a 2-run single in this game, while Alvin Toles and John Alexander each went 2 for 3.

Game 2: Danville Braves 12, Princeton Rays 1

You have to be kidding me, right? Nope. Mirror-image game, but as is the case with mirrors, the sides were reversed. Eli Echarry struggled for the P-Rays but not cataclysmically going 3 innings allowing 5 runs on 6 hits, walking 2 while striking out none. He posted a 6-2 groundout to flyout ratio to further illustrate the plight of groundball pitchers in rookie ball (do a search for Geisel De La Cruz in the upper right-hand corner of the site for more on that). The player who did have a get that will haunt him for a long time with Hugo Duarte, who faced 7 batters, allowing 6 hits and hitting the other on his way to allowing 7 runs. On offense, Alvin Toles went 2 for 3 with an RBI to cap off a nice day at least for him, while Juan Morillo went 2 for 2 with a run scored.