The International League-leading 60-36 Indians had to hold off another sub-part outing by All-Star southpaw Rudy Owens. This is coming after his last start on July 6th, which was his worst this season, where he allowed six runs on nine hits in only three and a third innings. Tonight, he luckily picked up his eighth victory on the season thanks in large part to his fellow teammates at the plate. He finished the night allowing four runs on seven hits in only five and a third while walking three. Owens has now allowed ten runs and walked five in his past eight and a third innings pitched (which is very unlike Rudy Owens this season). Chris Leroux made his voice heard coming in relief for Owens in the sixth. He stranded a runner at 3rd by getting the hitters he faced to strike out and ground out, respectively. Doug Slaten came in and through a flawless eighth inning of relief. So gather up your jackets and move it to exits ("Closing Time" by Semisonic) as Evan Meek came in and threw a scoreless ninth to notch the save.
What has become a common theme this season, the offensive charge was led by none other than Starling Marte. He finished the night 3-for-4 at the plate and was, of all things, a single away from the cycle. He got his night rolling in the fourth when he racked up his 17th double on the season. Then the pivotal moment of the game for Marte came in the fifth, where he launched a go-ahead three-run tater to put the Tribe up 6-4. That In the seventh he notched up his Minor League leading 13th "trip, trip, triple" of the season. He obviously came up short of , but it does not take away from the incredible night he had at the dish. Marte likes it when you call him big poppa!
Tony Sanchez also had himself a solid night at the plate, going 2-for-4 while clubbing a two-run shot in the fourth; his fifth of the season. Impressive enough, all five of Sanchez's home runs have come within the past 11 games.
AA Altoona | Altoona 3 Richmond 5
After jumping ahead to a 2-0 advantage in the first inning, Altoona allowed one run each in the third through the seventh innings to fall to the Flying Squirrels (yes, that's Richmond's nickname). Stefan Welch went 3-for-4 to spike his average back to .341 after a mini-slump, but he also committed two errors at third base although neither led to unearned runs. Oscar Tejeda went 2-for-2 with two walks and Robbie Grossman added a 2-for-5 performance, but all 11 Curve hits were singles and they couldn't string enough of them together to get long innings going. Brandon Cumpton suffered the loss during his second consecutive substandard start. Cumpton finished five innings, but gave up seven hits and four walks for a WHIP of over 2 on the night. He gave up three runs and struck out only three batters. Jeff Inman continued to struggle at the AA level. In relief of Cumpton, Inman gave up two runs, five hits and one walk in only two innings while fanning no one. His ERA hiked to 4.67 in 27 innings for the Curve, with 15 walks and only 17 strikeouts.
A West Virginia | West Virginia vs. Augusta GreenJackets PPD
Tonight's game against the Augusta GreenJackets was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up tomorrow (July 17th) in a doubleheader against those same Augusta GreenJackets. Game 1 will begin at 5:05 P.M. as Zack Von Rosenberg will take his 2-2 record and 4.73 ERA to the hill for the Power.
A Bradenton | Bradenton 5 Clearwater 7
Quinton Miller was "fightin' fire with fire" ("Burning Down the House" by the Talking Heads) as he threw an abysmal two innings in relief of Colton Cain tonight. Speaking of Cain, he finished the night surrendering three runs on five hits and two free passes in six innings of work. But he got off the hook in large part to a rally in the top of the 5th, which included Carlos Mesa's solo shot. But back to Miller, who did in fact throw a scoreless seventh inning. But the tracks came off the train in the eighth, where he gave up a two-run lead by allowing the first five hitters to reach base and eventually blowing the lead. He ended the night
Offensively, backstop Kawika Emsley-Pai went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk but still remains under the Mendoza Line with a .171 average. Alex Dickerson also went 1-for-3 with his third "trip, trip, triple" on the season and an RBI. Dickerson's average now sits at .295 on the season. Mel Rojas Jr, Kirk Singer, Justin Howard, and Benji Gonzalez also added hits for the Marauders. Gift Ngoepe struggled mightily at the plate, completing the infamous "Golden Sombrero" going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts.
A State College | State College 4 Brooklyn 7
Reliever Thomas Harlan allowed four runs in the fifth inning that raised his early ERA to 6.19 in a loss to Brooklyn for the Spikes. Harlan allowed six baserunners in one inning of relief, giving up three hits and three walks. This was in relief of starter Adrian Sampson, who gave up two runs in only 3.2 innings of work. This was only Sampson's second start since being selected in the fifth round of June's draft. Sampson gave up five hits, walked one and struck out three. Alex Fuselier, the ninth man in the order, had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Spikes' offensive attack. D.J. Crumlich and Tyler Gaffney each doubled, while Yhonathan Barrios stole his seventh base of the season.