Despite a good enough start for southpaw Jeff Locke to pick up a potential victory, three runs on five hits and one walk, the Indians could not pull the bunny out of the hat. Thanks in large part to a clutch game-tying double in the fifth by backstop Eric Fryer, they were able to vanquish Locke for a no-decision. But an outburst four- run sixth inning for the Braves on the shoulders of Tribe reliever Kris Johnson ended up being the turning point on the night. Johnson was pulled after the abysmal sixth and Duke Welker threw a flawless seventh and eighth. Welker has now allowed Daniel McCutchen handled the ninth and kept the Braves scoreless. Chase d'Arnaud and Jeff Clement both added two hits apiece with d'Arnaud adding his second "trip, trip, triple" of the season and his 16th double. In lieu of Pirates fans desperately wanting his services now, Starling Marte went 0-for-4 with his 19th stolen base. Despite the tough sixth with Gwinnett breaking the game open late, it was good to see a lot of the Indians reach base via the extra base hit. Jeff Clement added his 26th double, Jose Tabata his second double, and Anderson Hernandez's fifth "trip, trip, triple", respectively. Speaking of Tabata, he continues to struggle in the since being demoted to Indianapolis. He is now 3 for his past 20 at-bats, putting his average at a lowly .224 and a .283 on-base percentage. Jeff Clement is now nine for his past 22 at-bats (.409).
AA Altoona | Altoona 2 Richmond 10
Coming into tonight's start, Tim Alderson only had allowed four runs his past 16 2/3 innings in his previous three starts. After possibly reinventing his career as a solid reliever, Alderson was given the green light to return as a starter and had relative success. But he went back to the struggling Tim Alderson of old, getting absolutely shelled by the Richmond bats. Despite throwing a good first two innings, Alderson lasted only two-thirds more as Richmond rolled to a seven run onslaught in the third. They strung together a bunch of walks and singles with a few ground outs sprinkled in to blow the Curve out of the water. Why head coach P.J. Forbes left him out to dry to get destroyed for that long is beyond me. Alderson's final line was eight runs on seven hits and four walks in a brutal two and two-thirds innings of work. Nathan Baker came in for two and a third innings to try and stop the bleeding, but came out surrendering two runs of his own. Mike Colla threw a scoreless sixth and seventh of relief and the same for Victor Black in the ninth. Headlining the Curve offense was Jeremy Farrell's fourth home run of the season and Robbie Grossman's 2-for-4 night. Quincy Latimore also added his 17th double on the season.
A West Virginia | Game 1: West Virginia 0 Augusta 2, Game 2: West Virginia 2 Augusta 0
Game 1:
The Power offense could not salvage a solid start by Zack Von Rosenberg as they dropped a very tough game to start off the doubleheader. With the exception of the two solo shots he allowed in the 2nd and 5th innings, Von Rosenberg's outing was flawless. He finished the night allowing only five hits, walking none, and striking out three in six innings of work. But without the offensive support from his teammates tonight, Von Rosenberg was pegged with his third loss, putting his record at 2-3 now. Speaking of the tonight's anemic offense, the usually productive top of the order of Hanson, Polanco, Osuna, and Lewis suffered a power outage (get it?); combining to go 1-for-13 offensively. Alen Hanson collected one of the five Power base hits on the night in addition to swiping his 23rd bag of the season. Ashley Ponce had himself a nice little game going 2-for-3 in light of the depressing offense. Eric Avila and Francisco Diaz added the other hits for the Power. Surprisingly, Gregory Polanco struggled at the dish in Game 1, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. But no need to worry, the giant Dominican will turn it around and continue his breakout season.
Game 2:
Same score, different result! Wonder how many times in baseball history, minors or majors, where two teams split a doubleheader having the same score? We have to Elias that up, people!
Anyhow, Jose Osuna continued his explosion with his 10th home run of the season to propel the Power in Game 2. Osuna's blast was his fourth in his last 10 games, in which he's hitting .333 with a 1063 OPS as a 19-year-old in low-A. Osuna hasn't had the breakout that fellow teammates Alen Hanson or Gregory Polanco have enjoyed to this point, but he's more than holding his own. Osuna's offense was more than enough to back Nick Kingham, who finally fully shut down an opponent. Kingham pitched six shutout innings without walking a batter and only allowed two hits while fanning seven. The win upped his record to 2-7 and lowered his ERA to 5.63. Kingham still has work to do to overcome his shallow start to the season but a performance like this shows why he was on some Pirates top-10 prospect lists to start the season. Polanco went 2-for-3 to overcome his rough showing in the first game of the twin bill, and Taylor Lewis and Elias Diaz posted the only other hits for the Power in the game.
A Bradenton | Bradenton 0 Clearwater 2
Bradenton's offense went completely in the dark for the team's second consecutive loss to Clearwater. The Marauders mustered only three hits, and threatened to score only in the bottom of the fifth when they loaded the bases on an error, a single and a walk, but Benji Gonzalez flew out to end the threat. Starter Tyler Waldron's strong effort was wasted, as he went seven innings and only gave up one run on a solo homer. He allowed five hits, walked two and struck out three. This was Waldron's third straight solid output on the mound after a disastrous June where his ERA was 11.12 in four starts. Waldron's first start of July was similarly terrible, as he allowed 11 hits and six earned runs in five innings, but since then he's given up four runs combined in his last three starts that span 19 innings. Jhonathan Ramos, who has struggled since being demoted from Altoona a few weeks ago, struck out three in one inning of relief but gave up an unearned run. Elevys Gonzalez, Justin Howard and Kirk Singer notched the only hits for Bradenton, while newly demoted Evan Chambers walked twice. The Marauders struck out 10 times.
A State College | State College 3 Mahoning Valley 7
The Spikes scratched out two runs in the top of the eighth to even the score at 3-3, but Mahoning Valley overwhelmed Jordan Cooper in the bottom half of the inning for four runs to snatch the victory. Cooper allowed all four runs, although three were earned due to a throwing error by him. Those were the first runs Cooper allowed during the State College season, although he struggled mightily during his time in the West Virginia bullpen. Spikes starter Joely Rodriguez pitched decently, only giving up one earned run on three hits without walking a batter, but he didn't strike anyone out either. The 20-year-old lefty has a WHIP under 1.00 on the season and has walked only eight in 29 innings but his strikeout total is only 12. Barrett Barnes homered and walked to pace the Spikes ' offense. The solo shot was Barnes' team-leading fourth of the year. D.J. Crumlich raised his average to .322 with a 2-for-4 evening while also stealing his third base.