Minors Recap, 5/16

Scranton and Trenton (who was supposed to play a doubleheader) were both rained out tonight.

Tampa defeated by Dunedin, 5-3

• Dellin Betances started for Tampa, and pitched fairly well.  In 6 innings, the tall righty allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 5.  Dellin’s 2009 so far has looked like the first half of 2008, but hopefully he can cut down on the walks.
• Tim Norton, working out of the pen since returning from injury, pitched a perfect inning and struck out 2.  I have always thought that he would profile better as a reliever with his fastball-splitter combo, so hopefully he can progress and get back to the upper minors.
• Jonathan Ortiz blew the save, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits in 1 inning.
• Jesus Montero, DH’ing, was 2 for 5 with a double to raise his average to .326.
• Brandon Laird was 1 for 5, and is batting a measly .233.
• Austin Romine, catching, was 1 for 4 with a double and a walk, and also gunned down both runners who attempted to steal.
• Damon Sublett was 1 for 4.

Charleston defeats Bowling Green 6-2 (7 innings, game 1)

• Andrew Brackman started, giving up 2 runs on 2 walks and 5 hits in 5 innings of work, while fanning 2.  He also posted a 7-4 groundout-flyout ratio.  Not a dominant outing by any means, but a solid one.  It’s possible that Charleston’s horrendous infield defense is hurting Brackman, especially since he is geting so many grounder (2.35 GO-AO on the season).  His BABIP (batting average on balls in play) against him is .339, which is higher than league average, which would support this claim.  Brackman made an error himself tonight (his 5th), so that didn’t help things either.
• Brad Rulon gave up 3 hits and a walk in 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
• Pat Venditte retired the last batter to get a cheap save.
• Dan Brewer was 1 for 2 with a double and 2 walks.  He’s hitting .375 on the year, and is a catalyst at the leadoff spot.
• Ray Kruml and David Adams were each 2 for 4 with a double.
• Corban Joseph was 1 for 3 with a double and a walk.  He’s hitting .300 since being added to the Charleston roster on May 11th.

Charleston falls to Bowling Green, 5-4 (game 2, 7 innings)

• Manny Banuelos started, and was also hurt by Charleston’s defense.  In 4 innings, Banuelos allowed 5 runs (though only 2 were earned) on 3 hits and a walk, while striking out 6.  Manny’s peripherals were solid in this game, but 3 errors certainly didn’t help his cause.  On the season, Banuelos is posting a 3.38 ERA, with 31 strikeouts against 9 walks in 26 2/3 innings.  Is he the lefty Jairo Heredia?
• Carmen Angelini was 2 for 3 with a walk, bringing his average closer to surpassing the Mendoza line, to .197.  Plus, he didn’t make an error.  Huzzah!
• David Adams was 2 for 4 with a double, raising his average to .294.
• Melky Mesa was 1 for 3 with a wlak.
• Corban Joseph was 1 for 4 with an error.
• Abe Almonte was 2 for 3 with a triple and a walk.  He has been hot of late, going 12 for 28 (.429) in his last 9 games, and hopefully he can keep this up.

That’s all for tonight.  It’s good to be done with school and finals and have time to write again, so look forward to more frequent posts from me.

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