Farm Fishing: April 14th

Record for the Day: 2-3 / Record for the Year: 18-14

Rochester Red Wings (AAA):

Split their doubleheader with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. In game 1 the Red Wings won 3-1 in 7 innings (Box Score) and in game 2 they lost 5-3 in 8 innings (Box Score).

Game 1: The two teams combined for 7 hits and no player on either side managed a multi-hit game. Of the Red Wings 4 hits, however, 3 of them went for extra bases. DH Dustin Martin hit a solo HR (1) in the 4th inning while RF Rene Tosoni hit a 2-run walk-off HR (2) in the 7th. LF Ben Revere chipped in with a 2B (2) and 1B Jeff Bailey had the team’s lone single. Eric Hacker was the game’s star on the mound pitching 6.0 innings of 2-hit, shutout baseball. He struck out 5 and didn’t issue a walk. Phil Dumatrait recorded just one out in the 7th, walked 2 and gave up a single to load the bases. Jim Hoey came in to put out the fire and whiffed the 1st batter he faced before plunking Iron Pigs C Erik Kratz to tie the game. Despite blowing the save, Hoey struck out the next hitter which set the stage for Tosoni’s walk-off in the bottom of the 7th.

Game 2: If you’re keeping tabs on the Twins pitching prospects who might help the major league team this year, then this was the game for you. Kyle Gibson got the start and threw 83 pitches in 5.0 innings. He allowed 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB and struck out 3 in a solid, but not dominant, outing. Gibby gave way to Carlos Gutierrez who pitched a scoreless inning, giving up just 1 hit. Kyle Waldrop pitched 2/3 of an inning also allowing just 1 hit. Between Carlos and Kyle was Chuck James who blew game and earned the loss by surrendering 3 ER in 1.1 innings. At the plate, 3B Matt Brown went 2-3, RF Dustin Martin hit another HR (2) and Rene Tosoni (3) and Chase Lambin (1) both hit doubles.

Current Record: 3-5

New Britain Rock Cats (AA):

Won 6-2 over the Portland Sea Dogs (Box Score)

RHP Bobby Lanigan turned in his 2nd strong start of the young season (6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO), but Eden Prarie native Cole DeVries was even better. Cole went 3.0 innings, allowed 1-hit, struck out 4 and picked up an old-school save in the process. This season, he’s thrown 7.1 scoreless innings and has a 10/0 SO/BB.

Offensively, Chris Parmelee went 1-3 with a 2B (4) and Ray Chang hit a solo HR (1). Joe Benson, however, went 2-4 with 2 2B (4), 1 R and 3 RBI and continues to pace the Rock Cats offense. He’s now hitting 0.406/.441/.625 in 32 at bats this season.

I was a bit surprised that Benson was sent back to New Britain to start the season. Based on his Double-A performance in 2010 and some of the positive signs he showed in spring training this year Triple-A seemed like the logical destination. I recognize he has things to work on and I also recognize that the Rochester OF already has fellow prospects Revere and Tosoni in need of regular at bats. All that aside, at some point the organization has to promote the raw but extremely talented Benson to allow him to maximize his talents.

Current Record: 6-2

Fort Myers Miracle (Hi-A):

Lost 8-7 to the Bradenton Marauders (Box Score)

The Miracle scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th and outhit the Marauders 12-9, but couldn’t quite pull the game out.

Tom Stuifbergen got dismantled as Bradenton scored all 8 of their runs off him. His final pitching line; 3.0 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB and 3 SO adequately sums up how his day went. No matter how badly things go, there is always a silver lining, and yesterday’s lining came in the form of 5 no-hit innings from LHP Ryan Mullins and LHP Blake Martin.

Four players for the Miracle had multi-hit games. CF Jonathan Goncalves went 3-5, 1B Nathan Hanson went 2-4, LF Steven Liddle went 2-5 and 2B James Beresford went 2-5. Liddle and Hanson each had a double but the rest of the team’s hits were singles.

Current Record: 4-4

Beloit Snappers (Lo-A):

Lost 3-0 to the Clinton LumberKings in 13 innings (Box Score)

The Snappers managed just 6 hits in the game and 3 of them, including their lone extra-base hit, came off the bat of Gunner Glad. C Kyle Knudson went 1-3 and Oswaldo Arcia went 2-6. Arcia is hitting 0.345/.394/.552 and has reached base in all 10 games this season.

LHP Logan Darnell bounced back from a forgettable 1st start to throw 8.0 innings. He gave up just 2-hits and struck out 6. RHP Blayne Weller (1.2 IP) and RHP Matthew Hauser (0.2 IP) also had scoreless outings. LHP Clint Dempster was not so lucky and gave up the only 3 runs scored in the game.

Current Record: 5-3