Minor League Recap 7/31

Written by Greg Fertel | 31 July 2008

Scranton defeats Syracuse, 4-1

Kei Igawa followed up the dominant pitching of Ian Kennedy and Chase Wright with a great start of his own, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings of work, and striking out 5. I get the sense that this Syracuse team has a pretty pathetic offense to be completely dominated like this 3 nights in a row.
Scott Strickland got the save with a scoreless 9th, dropping his ERA to 2.11.
Brett Gardner was 2 for 4 with a walk, but was caught stealing.
Bernie Castro was 1 for 5 with a double.
Juan Miranda was 2 for 4 with a double to raise his average to .293. He was also caught stealing, one day after stealing his first base of the season. Take it easy Juan, you're not a basestealer.
JD Closser was 2 for 4.
Eric Duncan was 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts, and is hitting .237 on the season.

Trenton edges Altoona, 1-0 (10 innings)

George Kontos got the start for the Thunder, and was flat-out dominant. In 8 scoreless innings of work, the Northwestern product gave up just a hit and a walk and struck out 13. This kind of outing shows the kind of stuff that he has, though it still remains to be seen if his future in the rotation. His fastball and slider combination would profile well in the bullpen, though he was apparently flashing a good curveball tonight. He must have been pitching with some extra motivation after almost being included in the Nady/Marte trade.
Oneli Perez gave up just a walk in 2 scoreless innings to get the win.
Reegie Corona was 1 for 4.
Walter Ibarra was 1 for 3.
Austin Jackson was 0 for 4 for the 3rd straight game, and is hitting .194 in his last 10 games. He has cooled down after his recent surge, but hopefully he'll get back to what he is capable of doing.
Cody Ehlers was 2 for 4 with a double to pull his average over the Mendoza line, to .201.
Frank Muich was 2 for 4.
Seth Cooper was 1 for 4 with a double.

Tampa downs Dunedin, 6-0

Zach McAllister put up a similarly impressive performance tonight, giving up just 2 hits and 2 walks in 7 scoreless, and striking out 7. He wasn't getting as many groundball outs as usual, with 7 against 7 flyouts, but the strikeouts were encouraging. This lowered Zach's ERA in Tampa to 2.01, and the reckless person in me would like to see what he could do in AA at age 20.
Luis Nunez was 2 for 5.
Eduardo Nunez was 1 for 4.
Kevin Smith, Jose Gil, and Tom Baldridge were each 1 for 4 with a double.
Seth Fortenberry was 2 for 4 with a solo homer.
Mitch Hilligoss was 1 for 3.

Charleston's game against Asheville was postponed. Stupid rain. SI falls to Lowell, 7-2

Brandon Braboy started for the Yankees, and wasn't half bad. In 5 1/3 innings, Braboy gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits and 3 walks, and struck out 4. He had a 7:2 groundout:flyout ratio.
Melky Mesa was 1 for 1 with a pinch-hit home run, his 4th jack of the season.
David Adams was 1 for 3 with a double and a walk.
Brian Chavez had the other 2 hits, going 2 for 3 with a double.

The GCL Yanks' game against the Blue Jays was suspended, and I will post the results when the game is completed (likely tomorrow). The Yankees also added another minor leaguer, dealing AAA shortstop Alberto Gonzalez to the Nationals for AA pitcher Jhonny Nunez, who will be used as a starter for AA Trenton. Nunez has put up solid strikeout numbers this season between A ball and AA, with just over 1 per inning, but 1 homers in 89 innings are problematic. I'm not sure where he fits in with the organization, but he is likely filler for the rotation who will likely never see the Bronx except as a bullpen arm. I could be wrong though. According to BA (via Chad Jennings) he throws a 94 mph sinker. Maybe it's just the political junkie inside me, but I find the idea of Alberto Gonzalez going to Washington quite funny.