MVN - Most Valuable Network

Tigers’ Minor League Recap (7/7/08)

Toledo

The Mud Hens beat Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 8-1, with the story of the game being Chris Lambert (9 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K) getting the complete game. Lambert not only pitched a complete game; he did it while throwing just 104 pitches. He’s run a little hot and cold in his last few starts, but his body of work this year is pretty easily the best among Mud Hen starters.

Of course, it’s always nice when you’re working on a good game to get some cushion to work with. Brandon Inge (1 for 3, HR, BB) provided that in the third inning when in the first game of his rehab assignment he hit a three run homer to put Toledo up 3-0. The next three runs came in the sixth.

With the bases loaded and one out, Max St. Pierre (1 for 3, HR) lifted a fly ball to right to score Jeff Larish (1 for 3, 3B, BB) from third. According to the call on the radio, the throw beat Larish in but he made a nice slide to avoid the tag just long enough to get a piece of home plate. The other runners moving up when Larish came in allowed both Brent Clevlen (2 for 3, 2B) and Mike Hollimon (0 for 3, BB) to score when Ramon Santiago (4 for 4, 2B) singled.

The Hens probably had their best infield defense of the year with Santiago at short and Hollimon at second. That was a little surprising since it was Santiago ending his rehab that caused the Tigers to send Hollimon down. But the Tigers were off so Toledo had both players on this day.

Erie

The SeaWolves lost to Bowie, 4-3, with the final score coming from a three run fifth inning by the Baysox. Erie had built a three run lead with a single run in the second, third and fifth innings. Bowie struck in the fifth, though, and it started with a home run off starter, Luke French (6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 6 K). Two more runs scored on a walk, a single, an error and a sac fly. Neither team would score again after that, in part due to Brendan Wise (1 IP, 1 K) and Casey Fien (1 IP, 1 K) each throwing a perfect inning of relief.

Erie’s offense was efficient if not prolific. They had just three hits, but two of those led to runs. In the second, Ryan Roberson (0 for 2, BB, SB) walked, stole second and scored on a single by Pedro Cotto (1 for 2, BB). In the third, Wilkin Ramirez (0 for 3, BB, SB) walked, stole second and took third when the throw to second was bad, and scored on a wild pitch. Casper Wells (1 for 3, HR, BB) scored the third run in the fifth when he led the inning off with a homer.

Lakeland

The Flying Tigers were lit up in a 9-5 loss to Brevard County. Matt O’Brien (5.1 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 2 K) continued to struggle and in his three starts since the All Star break he’s given up 25 hits in 18 2/3 innings, leading to three losses and a 5.79 ERA over that time.

Perhaps the most crucial runs for the Manatees, however, came off Nick Martin (1.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K). The Flying Tigers had just pulled within two runs with three in the seventh, when Martin gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning. That stretched the lead back out to four and Lakeland didn’t have four runs in them.

They were probably lucky to have five in them considering they only had six hits and three walks. The first two came when Ryan Strieby (1 for 4, HR) continued a pretty good Marcus Thames imitation and hit a two run homer. His last five hits have been home runs.

In the seventh, Jeramy Laster (1 for 3, 2B, BB) hit a two out double to score Brandon Timm (1 for 4, 2B) and Devin Thomas (1 for 3, BB), and then scored himself when James Skelton (1 for 4) roped a single to right.

Zach Simons (1.1 IP, 2 K) retired all four batters he faced, including two strikeouts.

West Michigan

The Whitecaps were smoked, 9-1, by Dayton. The Caps had just three hits in the loss and the only run came when Audy Ciriaco (1 for 4, HR) hit his seventh homer of the season. That wasn’t even close to enough since Andrew Hess (5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K), Kelvin Cedano (1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 K) and Noah Krol (1 IP, 3 H, 4 R) were all less than stellar in their respective outings.

None of Krol’s runs were earned, but he still gave up three hits that included a three run homer. At least Brett Jacobson (1 IP, 1 H, 2 K) seemed to pitch well, picking up a couple Ks in his inning.

Oneonta

The Tigers beat State College, 4-1, thanks to fine pitching and good production from the latter part of their lineup. Trevor Feeney (5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K), Anthony Shawler (3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K) and Tyler Stohr (1 IP, 1 H, 1 K) combined to give up just one run on eight hits - seven singles - and two walks.

Carlos Ramirez (1 for 4), Wade Lamont (1 for 3, 2B) and Eric Harryman (2 for 3) batted fifth, sixth and eight and combined for four of the team’s six hits and scored all four runs.

GCL Tigers

The Tigers lost, 8-6, to the Blue Jays despite Josh Workman (2 for 4, HR) hitting a grand slam and the pitchers racking up sixteen strikeouts. The problem was Luis Sanz’s (2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 3 K) strikeout total - three - was less than half the number of runs - seven - he allowed. The bullpen combo of Nick Cassavechia (4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 8 K), Santo Mieses (2 IP, 2 H, 4 K) and Hayden Lackey (1 IP, 1 K) tallied the other thirteen Ks and gave up just one run while doing it.

There was other offense besides Workman’s grand slam. Chao-Ting Tang (2 for 4, 2B, HR) hit his first pro home run and Luis Grullon (2 for 4, 2B) picked up a couple hits as well.

Brent Dlugach (1 for 2, 2B), who is rehabbing, left after the third inning. Hopefully, it wasn’t due to his aggravating an injury or suffering a new one.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 6:19 am and is filed under Game Recaps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.