AAA: Round Rock 1, at Salt Lake (LAA) 2
Round Rock: 6 hits, 8 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 35-27, 9 GB
SP Robert Dugger: 6 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 SO, 94 P / 60 S, 4.98 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 10.13 ERA
RP Chase Lee: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.62 ERA
CF JP Martinez: 0-1, 3 BB, HBP, SB (16), .340/.484/.511
DH Blaine Crim: 2-4, 2B, BB, .284/.388/.468
The Bees gifted 11 runners in the form of walks, HBPs and errors, but the Express couldn’t take advantage. JP Martinez reached four times but only advanced past first once, eventually getting tagged at home on a would-be sac fly. Conversely, the total for Salt Lake’s hitters in those categories was zero, but they strung together four singles to plate two, enough to win a game in Utah for the first time since last August.
Oklahoma City (44-18) is close to clinching the first-half league title. In 2023, the Pacific Coast League switched to a split-season format with no divisions. The Express are in second place but nine games back. Recall that OKC swept the six-game series between the two in Round Rock.
AA: Frisco 9, at Corpus Christi (HOU) 4
Frisco: 11 hits, 2 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 25-30, 5.5 GB
SP Ryan Garcia: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 83 P / 58 S, 6.70 ERA
RP Michael Brewer: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 4.26 ERA
SS Luisangel Acuna: 1-4, 2B, BB, SB (25), .293/.374/.420
2B Thomas Saggese: 2-4, HR (6), .278/.335/.431
CF Kellen Strahm: 1-4, HR (3), .209/.333/.314
3B Jax Biggers: 3-4, .212/.335/.303
Ryan Garcia had never exceeded five innings professionally before last night.
Thomas Saggese’s first three weeks: .203/.254/.281
Since then: .309/.368/.493
Hi-A: Hickory 7, at Rome (ATL) 0
Hickory: 8 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Record: 21-31, 9 GB
SP Mitch Bratt: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 67 P / 44 S, 3.05 ERA
RP Jackson Kelley: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 8.44 ERA
RF Alejandro Osuna: 2-5, 2B, .273/.394/.385
LF Geisel Cepeda: 2-4, 2B, .258/.358/.305
Six innings tied a professional high for Mitch Bratt, who is being handled with unusual care for a someone in his second full season. Bratt has exceeded 78 pitches only once. Although drafted in 2021, he’s a month younger than 2022 4th-rounder Brock Porter.
Newcomer Geisel Cepeda is showing a nice eye at the plate (18 walks, 18 strikeouts in 148 trips to the plate) but is working out the contact part. Cepeda is Cuban, but not Cuban like Luis Robert Jr. or even JP Martinez. He’s 25 and signed for $200,000.
Lo-A: Down East 7, at Delmarva (BAL) 5 (11)
Down East: 10 hits, 9 walks, 17 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 5 walks, 17 strikeouts
Record: 32-20, 3 G up
SP Luis Ramirez: 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 6 SO, 63 P / 39 S, 4.67 ERA
RP Leandro Lopez: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 SO, 3.86 ERA
RP Adrian Rodriguez: 2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1.80 ERA
RF Tommy Specht: 2-5, BB, .366/.509/.439
2B Danyer Cueva: 3-6, 3B, .257/.309/.389
LF Yosy Galan: 1-5, HR (9), BB, .231/.326/.462
The staff combined to strike out 17 of 43 Shorebirds (40%). Leandro Lopez fanned seven, his most since his first appearance of 2023.
Yosy Galan is very close to last year’s version, the difference being about seven more balls in play (as opposed to strikeouts) and three of them resulting in singles.
I believe Down East’s magic number is eight with 11 to play. The math is tricky because of multiple cancellations and uneven numbers of games between the competitors, but I took two semesters of calculus in college so it’s all good.
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Down East had six Carolina League Southern Division All-Stars: RHP Edgar Arredondo, INF Andretty Cordero, INF Charles Leblanc, LHP C.D. Pelham, OF Leody Taveras, and INF Anderson Tejeda.