Minor League Recap 6/4

Written by Greg Fertel | 04 June 2008

Scranton falls to Norfolk, 5-4

Dan McCutchen got the start, and was not very impressive. In 6 innings, he gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 10 hits and 1 walk, with 5 strikeouts. His ERA in AAA is 4.76 since his promotion, though he has only walked 2 in 17 innings there, a great sign.
Scott Patterson, in his return to the minors after making his major league debut, gave up a run on 3 hits and 1 walk in 1 inning of relief.
Brett Gardner was 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Alberto Gonzalez, playing 3rd base was also 1 for 4 with a stolen base.
Jason Lane, who will be staying with the organization despite a clause in his contract that would allow him to be a free agent by now, was 2 for 4 with a homer, his 12th of the season.
Ben Broussard was 2 for 4 with a double.
Eric Duncan was 0 for 4.
Greg Porter was 1 for 3 with a double.

Trenton defeats Connecticut, 3-1

George Kontos got the start, and was dominant. In 7 innings, the righty from Northwestern gave up 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 7.
Anthony Claggett pitched 2 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits and a walk while dropping his ERA to 0.98.
Mark Melancon earned the win, allowing just 1 hit in 3 shutout innings. He also struck out 2, and lowered his ERA to 1.53. With this outing, he is up to 43 innings on the season, a relatively high number for a reliever at this point, especially one coming off elbow surgery. It seems like the high inning totals are an attempt to build arm strength.
Ramiro Pena was 2 for 5 with a walk.
Austin Jackson was 1 for 4 with a walk and a strikeout.
Jose Tabata, who left yesterday's game after getting hit in the left arm with a pitch, was out of the lineup again. No word yet on whether there is any significant injury, or if he is just bruised and sore.
Edwar Gonzalez and Kevin Russo were both 1 for 5.
Chris Malec was 1 for 4 with a walk.

Tampa's game against Clearwater was postponed, presumably due to rain. Charleston conquered by Rome, 5-2

Jason Stephens, fresh off his 12 strikeout outing last time around, was the starter. He was not as effective this time, however, giving up 5 runs on 9 hits and 1 walk in 5 innings, though he did strike out 4.
Craig Heyer struck out 4 in 3 innings of 1-hit relief.
Ryan Zink pitched a perfect 9th.
Abe Almonte continued to hit, going 2 for 5 to bring his average up to .289 on the season. He was up to his old tricks on the bases unfortunately, as he was picked off first base, and subsequently thrown out attempting to advance to second.
Justin Snyder was 0 for 3, but he walked twice.
Jesus Montero and Austin Romine were each 1 for 4.
Brad Suttle was 1 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and a throwing error.
Carmen Angelini was 1 for 4.
Dave Williams was 1 for 4 with 2 walks and a steal.

In other news, Alan Horne is back with Scranton, and is set to start on Sunday. This news comes courtesy of Chad Jennings and Mr. Horne himself. That's all for tonight, but get excited for the next two days of drafting heaven. There will be plenty of discussion, liveblogging, ranting, predicting, and much more. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm psyched.