Down on the Pond (Formerly Farm Fishing): April 15th

When I picked the name Farm Fishing for these daily minor league recaps, it was intended to be a temporary name. The staff of Puckett’s Pond recently put our heads together to come up with something better and hopefully long-lasting. To that end, I’ve settled on Down on the Pond, which was suggested by Paul.

Record for the Day: 2-1 / Record for the Year: 20-15

Rochester Red Wings:

Lost 9-4 to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Box Score)

This was far from a stellar game for Rochester.

Offensively the Red Wings had only 1 extra-base hit – a triple off the bat of SS Chase Lambin. DH Dustin Martin had the best day at the plate by going 2-3 with 2 walks.

The pitching side of the ledger was even worse. Scott Diamond allowed 5 hits and walked 3 in 4.1 innings but somehow allowed only 2 runs to score. Carlos Gutierrez pitched the next 2.1 innings and thanks to some shoddy defense allowed 4 runs, none of which were earned. He wasn’t free from blame however since one of the errors was of his own doing. RHP Anthony Slama saw his first action of the year and the rust was certainly visible. In 1 inning he gave up 1 H, 2 BB, 3 ER and uncorked 2 WP. Yorman Bazardo finished things off and while he didn’t give up a run and struck out 2, he did allow 2 baserunners (1 hit and 1 walk) in 1.1 innings pitched.

Current Record: 3-6

New Britain Rock Cats:

Won 2-1 over the Portland Sea Dogs (Box Score)

New Britain won the game but it took them a while to get going. The Rock Cats didn’t get their first hit until the bottom of the 5th, waited until the 8th to score the tying run and waited until the 9th to score their 2nd (and game winning run).

3 of the team’s 7 hits came off the bat of Yangervis Solarte who had a perfect day at plate, drew a walk and swiped a base. Solarte is 7-12 in his last 3 games and his now hitting 0.375/.394/.531 on the year. DH Chris Parmelee (5) and 1B Deibinson Romero (2) hit doubles to account for the team’s only two extra-base hits.

RHP Steve Hirschfeld put together another excellent start making him 2 for 2 on the year. He went 6.0 innings with 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB and 4 SO. Hirschfeld now has a 0.82 ERA and 0.64 WHIP which a great sign considering how much he struggled last season. LHP Jake Stevens followed and put up goose-eggs for 2.0 innings. It was his 4th appearance of the year and he has yet to give up a run. LHP Tyler Robertson allowed 2 hits in the top of the 9th but kept the score at 1-1 and as a result picked up his first win of the year when Solarte scored in the bottom of the 9th.

Current Record: 7-2

Fort Myers Miracle:

Won 9-1 over the Bradenton Marauders (Box Score)

As you can imagine, when a team scores 9 runs they most likely racked up a good number of hits. This game fit the bill nicely as the Miracle finished the night with 15 of them. LF Steven Liddle, who went 0-3, was the only one that didn’t participate in the party. Don’t feel too badly though, he still got on base with a walk, scored and hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run as well.

CF Jonathan Goncalves went 3-5 for the second straight day. SS Brian Dozier, 1B Nathan Hanson, C Danny Rams, 2B James Beresford and DH Anderson Hidalgo each had 2 hits. 5 of the Miracle’s 15 hits went for extra-bases. 3B Nicholas Romero hit a double and Hanson hit 2. Hidalgo and RF Chris Hermann each chipped in with a solo HR.

From the mound, RHP Brad Stillings went 6.0 IP with 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 5 SO. LHP Edgar Ibarra followed Stillings and threw 2.0 scoreless innings. He allowed 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 3. LHP Matthew Tone finished things off throwing a clean inning with a strikeout.

Current Record: 5-4

Beloit Snappers:

Game against the Cedar Rapids Kernals was postponed due to rain and wind. The game will be made up as a part of a doubleheader on Sunday.

Current Record: 5-3