Congratulations to Collin Balester who picked up his first major league win in his first start last night in Miami. Balester allowed one run on one hit, three walks, and one hit batter with three strikeouts.
Columbus jumped out to an early 9-1 lead and held on for a 9-7 win over Toledo (box/gamer). 25-year old RHP Garrett Mock moved to 5-2 on the season allowing only one run on six hits and one walk over 7IP, striking out seven. Jorge Padilla was 2/4 with a double, RBI, and three runs scored. Ryan Langerhans was 2/4 with a triple and two RBI. And, a rehabbing Austin Kearns was 1/3 with a walk, strikeout and run scored.
Record: Columbus 46-38, 3rd place IL West (2GB)
Tonight: RHP Shairon Martis (0-1, 5.73) versus Toledo RHP Chris Lambert (7-4, 3.27) at 7:05PM
Harrisburg’s rally fell short as the Senators lost 8-7 to the Bay Sox, extending their losing streak to five (box/gamer/recap). LHP Mike Hinckley was knocked around for six runs on ten hits and four walks over 3 2/3IP. 24-year old Leonard Davis was 2/5 with his first Double-A homer (a solo shot). 23-year old Bill Rhinehart tallied two RBI as part of his 1/3 evening. And, William Bergolla was 1/4 with two RBI.
Record: Harrisburg 44-38, 3rd place EL South (6.5GB)
Tonight: RHP Craig Stammen (0-1, 2.70) versus Bowie RHP David Hernandez (5-1, 2.83) at 6:35PM
Potomac once again pounded Kinston, dumping the K-Tribe 10-2 on Tuesday evening (box/gamer). 23-year old LHP Justin Jones moved to 3-1 on the season allowing one run on five hits and one walk over 5 2/3IP with two strikeouts. Jones is working his way back from off-season knee surgery. 23-year old RHP Josh Wilkie, an undrafted free agent signed in 2006, pitched a scoreless ninth, lowering his ERA on the season to 0.95. 23-year olds Aaron Seuss and Dan Lyons made their first starts for the P-Nats. Seuss, starting in RF, was 2/4 with a double, home run, two RBI and three runs scored while Lyons was 4/4 with a double and one RBI. 24-year old Andrew Lefave was 2/5 with two runs scored. 23-year old Marvin Lowrance hit his thrid home run in two games, finishing 3/4 with two runs and three RBI.
Record: Potomac 9-3, 1st place Carolina North (3 games ahead)
Tonight: RHP Jhonny Nunez (2-6, 5.11) versus Myrtle Beach (pitcher TBD) at 7:05PM
Hagerstown was swept by Lakewood in a doubleheader by identical 4-2 scores (box1/box2/gamer).
2006 12th round RHP Cole Kimball took the loss in the first game despite a solid outing that saw him allow only two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk over five innings of work while striking out six. 25-year old Boomer Whiting, a 28th round selection in 2007, was 1/3 with a run and his 30th stolen base of the season. 19-year old Michael Burgess was 1/3 with a triple and a run scored.
25-year old RHP Zach Segovia made his Hagerstown debut in the second game, taking the loss, allowing four runs on eight hits over 5IP. The former 2002 2nd round selection of the Phillies struck out three as he works his way back from numerous injuries that have thus far derailed his development. 22-year old CA Sean Rooney was 2/3 with a double and run scored. The former 2006 8th rounder is now hitting 338/387/411 in 44 games for the Suns. Whiting was 3/4 with his 31st stolen base. And, Burgess was 1/3 with a double and a run scored.
Record: Hagerstown 8-5, 2nd place Sally North (1GB)
Today: No game scheduled
Vermont swept their series with Tri-City, moving their winning streak to six games with a 4-3 victory(box/gamer). 19-year old LHP Pat McCoy picked up his first win for Vermont, allowing a lone run on four hits and two walks over 5 1/3IP with two strikeouts. The 2007 10th round selection out of Sahuaro HS in Arizona is now 1-2 on the season for the Monsters. 22-year old RHP Carlos Peralta pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings of relief, striking out two and 22-year old RHP Steve Stewart picked up his first professional save despite allowing a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth. 21-year old Michael Guerrero, a 21st draft pick this year, was 1/4 with a double and two RBI. 20-year old Stephen Englund was 1/4 with a double and run scored.
Record: Vermont 9-6, 1st place NYP Stedler (1 game ahead)
Tonight: RHP P.J. Dean (1-0, 0.75) at State College (pitcher TBD) 7:05PM
I am assuming the GCL Nationals doubleheader with the GCL Dodgers was postponed due to rain, MiLB.com has not updated their website.
Record: GCL Nationals 5-3, 2nd place GCL East (1GB)
Today: GCL Nationals at GCL Mets 12:05PM
The DSL Nats1 rallied from an early hole to defeat the DSL Tigers 8-5 (box). 18-year old Eury Perez was 2/4 with a double, RBI, and two runs scored. He is now hitting 406/504/615 in 27 games for the Nats1. 20-year old Eduardo Urbina (who started the season briefly in the GCL) was 2/4 with one RBI, a stolen base and three runs scored. 23-year old LHP Jose Santana made the start, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and four walks over five innings with two strikeouts. 20-year olds LHP Jose Taveras & RHP Julio Perez allowed only an unearned run on two hits while striking out a combined six and 21-year old RHP Ruben De La Rosa picked up his fifth save with a scoreless ninth, striking out two.
The DSL Nats2 held off the DSL Padres 2-1 (box). 20-year old RHP Luis Ortega was dominant over eight innings, allowing only one run on seven hits while striking out eleven. 20-year old RHP Derlyn Tejada picked up his fifth save of the season with a scoreless ninth, striking out a pair. 20-year old Braulio Garcia was 2/3 with a run scored. 18-year old Hendry Jimenez was 0/3 with a walk, run scored, and twelfth stolen base of the season. 17-year old Elvin Cuello was 1/3 with his fifth stolen base.
Record: DSL Nats 1 24-3, 1st place DSL S.D. West (10 games ahead); DSL Nats2 8-19 tied for 3rd place DSL S.D. West (16GB)
Today: DSL Nats1 versus DSL Padres; DSL Nats2 versus DSL Tigers; both games at 10:30AM
A&M | 02-Jul-08 at 9:26 am | Permalink
Brian, thanks for including the players’ ages. Really helps with the context.
Brian Oliver | 02-Jul-08 at 9:28 am | Permalink
No problem … I’ll try my best to keep that up. I had some extra time this AM to doublecheck my stats
e | 02-Jul-08 at 10:06 am | Permalink
Brian –
what’s the deal with Wilkie? Is he really as good as his numbers indicate? What’s his ceiling?
Brian Oliver | 02-Jul-08 at 10:18 am | Permalink
I’ve seen him pitch a couple of times. His ceiling is likely a bullpen arm (along the lines of guys like Steve Shell, Brian Sanches, etc) which is pretty good for an undrafted guy.
It’ll be interesting to see how he handles himself if/when he’s bumped up to Double-A. That’ll be the true test of where his future is.
Chris | 02-Jul-08 at 10:42 am | Permalink
Congrats to Balester, great start
Ronny | 02-Jul-08 at 10:54 am | Permalink
I love what I saw out of Balester last night, it looks to me like he has ACE potential. Who else think so?
Nate | 02-Jul-08 at 12:48 pm | Permalink
Ronny - if that dominance comes at the price of 95 pitches to get through 5 innings every outing, Collin’s the next Tony Armas Jr. and the team’ll need to start buying relievers in bulk.
Mjames | 02-Jul-08 at 12:51 pm | Permalink
I thought it was very heartening to see how Balester pitched. To be honest I was not expecting that performance. I know he will get knocked around but he looked major league ready unlike some of the other players we have seen called up.
Do we have any other power guys in the minors? Is Zimmermann a power guy?
Andrew S | 02-Jul-08 at 12:59 pm | Permalink
Brian, the people on SS are reporting the Nats are in some hot water. I heard this too from a different source. What say you?
Andrew S | 02-Jul-08 at 1:00 pm | Permalink
Mjames - Detwiler is a power guy as is Crow. There are probably others but those are the two biggest names.
Brian Oliver | 02-Jul-08 at 1:01 pm | Permalink
Zimmermann is more of a sinkerballer. From BBA …”heavy, boring 90-94 fastball is an above-average pitch. He entered pro ball with a pair of quality breaking balls, but the Nats had him shelve his slider for now and focus on his plus downer curveball”
Brian Oliver | 02-Jul-08 at 1:02 pm | Permalink
Andrew - Heard the same thing. Obviously no one is going to go on the record with any details regarding an ongoing investigation.
John | 02-Jul-08 at 1:07 pm | Permalink
I assume this is in regards to bonus skimming similar to what happened with the White Sox guy(Since he’s the one allegedly naming names). We’ll see if it’s true.
I still hope to see them sign some guys.
Brian Oliver | 02-Jul-08 at 1:14 pm | Permalink
John - That is certainly the conventional wisdom. It will certainly be interesting to watch to see (a) if it is true and (b) how high up it goes.
Andrew S | 02-Jul-08 at 1:15 pm | Permalink
A few of the bigger names left in the D.R. can’t sign until later this summer so we will see. John I believe you mean Wilder.
John | 02-Jul-08 at 1:23 pm | Permalink
Andrew: Yes. I couldn’t remember his name.
Brian: If it’s proven true, they should fire everyone involved, even if that means Rizzo/Brown.
Ryan Sullivan | 02-Jul-08 at 1:26 pm | Permalink
Brian or whomever-
Can you share what the rumors are about the Nats and what is going around? I am in the dark on this one and am curious.
Marcus | 02-Jul-08 at 1:44 pm | Permalink
Ryan:
Kiley wrote this in the comments section of a SS article:
“Brian,
I was able to confirm the Nationals are being investigated as the comments suggested. This likely explains their lack of news thus far, but they still may make a few moves.
I have no real details beyond that, and simply reporting that generally implies guilt, so I didn’t want to run with it in an article.”
Marcus | 02-Jul-08 at 1:45 pm | Permalink
Heres the link to the article:
http://www.saberscouting.com/2008/07/02/july2update/