7/28 Minor League Wrap-Up

- It was mentioned in today's off-topic thread but three DSL Cardinals players got suspended 50 games for positive steroid tests. The thing is that not only have the players not helped the DSL Cards, who are 17-28 and in last place in the DSLMs division, but the players in question haven't played much and haven't done well when they have:

P Braulin Beltre (4 app, 12.46 ERA, 4.1 IP, 9/4 BB/K)
P Yedilson Peña (5 app, 4.15 ERA, 4.1 IP, 8/5 BB/K)
OF Andres Beras (140/196/163 in 43 ABs)

Once again, folks: performance enhancing drugs don't make you play better. They simply help you recover from physical wear more quickly so you can get back out there at full speed faster. And for these three... full speed must not be that great.

- In DSL news involving teams not getting busted for roids, the DSLMs played two, with the 2nd game going to "extras", requiring an 8th frame after the doubleheader-shortened 7 regulation innings left the DSLMs and DSLA2s in a 2-2 tie.

Top reliever Nelson Germocen lost the game without allowing a hit in his 3 innings of relief. After a leadoff walk from Gernaldo Castillo and a sac bunt for one out to move the runner to 2nd in the 8th, Germocen uncorked a wild pitch to move Castillo to 3rd. Franklin Toussaint then drew a walk, stole 2nd, and his steal attempt got catcher Hassiel Jimenez to throw YIKES AND AWAY, allowing Castillo to score the go-ahead run.

Hassiel himself did draw a leadoff walk in the bottom 8th and stole 2nd, but the next three batters went down, stranding Hassiel at 2nd to end the game.

- Thanks to Marc for the heads up, but I missed recapping one of the two games the T-Rats played on Sunday, an 8-4 win that was originally suspended on July 7. We'll leave those results to the annals of time, save for notes that Juan Ramirez worked a solid 4.1 IP, Robert Harmon got blasted in the 9th and needed Jose Escalona to bail him out, Joe Dunigan hit a double and a triple, and original starter Johnny DuRocher hurt his elbow and hasn't pitched since the game's original start on July 7.

- Taylor Lewis left Pulaski's game after walking the leadoff batter in the 2nd. I couldn't find further info. However, given there was a 2+ hour rain delay and the other hurler left after an inning, I'd guess that Lewis made the mistake of trying to pitch after a long delay. Maybe he just realized he wasn't loose and took a seat after his ill-advised attempt, and is okay. Let's hope so... whether or not Lewis is all that much of a prospect.

Meanwhile, Jose Jimenez returned from a brief and painful stint in High Desert, and got lit up a bit over his 4 innings of relief. The org must not think much of the converted Venezuelan closer to shuffle him around like this, but it looks like he has a talent for missing bats, so if he can get on track and the org stops giving him the Korey Feiner treatment, he may be able to develop into a useful starter.

- Last night's 13-11 Memphis win over Tacoma isn't bolstering AutoZone Park's rep as an offense-neutral exception to the PCL launchpad rule. The culprit? Aside from heat... how about poor pitching? Sean White got destroyed, Memphis starter Mike Parisi got destroyed, Oscar Villarreal got destroyed, Memphis reliever Blake Hawksworth... well, he sucks in general, but he got destroyed too. Both teams hit 3 home runs in the first 4 innings, but Memphis had the 13-10 advantage going into the 5th, when the smoke finally cleared, and that was enough.

Then Mystic Tan goes and throw 4 shutout innings in relief, striking out 6. Buhhhh...?

Every Rainier in the starting lineup knocked in a run. On the other end, Josh Phelps went nuts for the Redbirds, knocking in SEVEN runs, mainly with a pair of 3 run bombs. Meanwhile, on the heels of yet another big game, with 4 hits, Rob Johnson has probably earned himself a serious look with the M's in September once he and the rest of the 40 man groupies are called up.

STATS!

VENEZUELA~! The VSLMs' game with the VSL Pirates got cancelled due to rain. With only 5 games left in the season and these teams not scheduled to play again, it will not be made up.

They played two in the Dominican!

Game 1: DSL Mariners 4, DSL AthleticsDos 1, 7 innings

Henry Perez: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 walks, 5 K, hit batter (8 GS +3, 1.76 ERA, 46 IP, 21/57 BB/K)
Ambioris Hidalgo: 1 IP (7 GS +5, 4.86 ERA, 33.1 IP, 4 HR, 14/28 BB/K)
Marbin Beltre: 1-3, triple, RBI (285/416/333)
Rudy van Heydoorn: 1-3, 3 run HR, 2 K (231/424/394)

Game 2: DSL AthleticsDos 3, DSL Mariners 2, 8 innings
DSLMs: 31-16... DSLA2s: 20-20
(League: 237/339/321... 3.73 ERA)

Bruno Mercedes: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 walks, 6 K, wild pitch (17 app, 5 GS, 2.05 ERA, 57 IP, 2 HR, 9/61 BB/K)
Nelson Germocen: 3 IP, (1 R) 0 ER, 2 walks, 4 K, 2 wild pitches (19 app, 1.14 ERA, 31.2 IP, 14/49 BB/K)
Axel Wel: 1-3, R, RBI, walk (250/349/306)
Oliver Garcia: 1-2, double, RBI (191/328/255)

Rk-AZL: Mariners 4, Cubs 0
(League: 268/351/386... 4.53 ERA)

Brian Oates: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 walks, 4 K, hit batter (5 GS +3, 4.54 ERA, 35.2 IP, 2 HR, 22/36 BB/K)
Randy Castillo: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 walks, K
Richard Ortiz: 2 IP, 2 H, K (10 app, 2.08 ERA, 17.1 IP, 1 HR, 11/15 BB/K)
Terry Serrano: 1-5, triple (269/289/407)
Jharmidy De Jesus: 2-3, solo HR, 2 R, walk (356/422/587)
Alfredo Mateo: 2-4, double, 2 RBI (264/365/387)
Robert Rodriguez: 2-4, K (281/294/377)
Randy Molina: 1-4, triple, R, K (167/288/229)
Henry Contreras: 1-4, RBI, K

Rk+: Princeton 6, Pulaski 1
PMs: 25-15... PRI: 15-21
(League: 260/333/389... 4.18 ERA)

Taylor Lewis: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, walk, K (4 GS +3, 9.49 ERA, 12.1 IP, 3 HR, 7/13 BB/K)
Jose Jimenez: 4 IP, 7 H, (5 R) 3 ER (HR), 2 walks, 2 K, wild pitch
Kyle Brown: 2 IP, 5 K
Brent Gaphardt: 2 IP, 1 H, walk, K, wild pitch (5 app, 1.80 ERA, 10 IP, 2/7 BB/K)
Guy Welsh: 2-4, solo HR (367/453/519)
Mario Martinez: 2-4, K (320/350/483)
Kris Sanchez: 0-1, 3 walks (313/415/588)

A-: Spokane 11, Everett 7
EVE: 16-25... SPO: 31-10
(League: 254/344/367... 4.16 ERA)

Kenn Kasparek: 4 IP, 7 H, 6 ER (HR), 5 K, wild pitch
Christian Staehely: 2.2 IP, 4 H, (5 R) 2 ER, 2 walks, K (11 app, 4.91 ERA, 22 IP, 1 HR, 17/13 BB/K)
Robbie Dominguez: 2.1 IP, 1 H, walk, 3 K (10 app, 9.19 ERA, 15.2 IP, 1 HR, 11/13 BB/K)
Nate Tenbrink: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, walk, 2 K (227/337/369)
Dennis Freaking Raben: 2-4, solo HR, walk (339/481/629)
Brandon Fromm: 1-4, RBI, K (259/296/380)
Welington Dotel: 1-4, solo HR, 2 K (261/313/391)

A: Wisconsin 10, Beloit 0
WIS: 10-27... BEL: 18-19
(League: 252/323/373... 3.70 ERA)

Keith Renaud: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 walks, K, wild pitch (5 GS +1, 3.82 ERA, 33 IP, 20/16 BB/K)
Joe Kantakevich: 1.1 IP, 1 H (14 app, 7.91 ERA, 19.1 IP, 2 HR, 9/11 BB/K)
Jose Escalona: 1 IP, 1 H (26 app, 5.10 ERA, 30 IP, 5 HR, 17/29 BB/K)
Denny Almonte: 2-3, 2 run HR, solo HR, walk (259/303/448)
Edilio Colina: 2-3, 2 R (284/344/374)
Alex Liddi: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, walk, K (229/298/335)
Joe Dunigan: 1-4, double, 2 R, RBI, 2 K (227/285/392)
Juan Diaz: 1-3, triple, R, 2 RBI, 2 K (240/283/311)
Blake Ochoa: 2-4, double, 2 run HR (220/302/333)

A+: The Mavs had Monday off and are home for a series with Lake Elsinore (17-20... 273/354/394...4.96 ERA).

AA: Birmingham 5, West Tenn 3
WTN: 15-22... BIR: 19-18
(League: 260/340/396... 4.15 ERA)

Doug FISTER: 5.2 IP, 9 H, (4 R) 3 ER, 2 walks, 3 K, wild pitch (22 GS, 5.05 ERA, 119.1 IP, 12 HR, 40/90 BB/K)
Jason Kershner: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER
Shawn Kelley: 1 IP (19 app, 0.69 ERA, 26 IP, 10/23 BB/K)
Marshall Hubbard: 2-4 (324/446/560)
Adam Moore: 2-3, 2 doubles, R, RBI, walk (324/395/510)
Jon Nelson: 2-4, double, 2 RBI, K (276/318/437)

AAA: Memphis 13, Tacoma 11
TAC: 54-55... MEM: 60-49
(League: 276/347/442... 4.82 ERA)

Sean White: 1.1 IP, 8 H, (8 R) 6 ER (2 HR), 2 walks, 2 K (21 app, 5.59 ERA, 122.1 IP, 12 HR, 42/51 BB/K)
Oscar Villarreal: 1.2 IP, 4 H, (5 R) 3 ER (HR), 4 walks, K, wild pitch
Jake Woods: 4 IP, 2 H, 6 K (32 app, 4.08 ERA, 64 IP, 7 HR, 27/54 BB/K)
Jorge Sosa: 1 IP, 1 H (19 app, 3.80 ERA, 23.2 IP, 5 HR, 8/26 BB/K)
Tug Hulett: 2-5, R, RBI, walk, K, SB (307/388/528)
Matt Tuiasosopo: 1-5, double, R, RBI, 3 K (255/342/398)
WLAD: 1-6, double, RBI, 2 K (252/348/549)
Victor Diaz: 3-5, 2 doubles, R, RBI, K (288/369/533)
Craig Wilson: 1-5, RBI, K (291/435/618)
Shawn Garrett: 2-5, solo HR, 3 R, K (290/322/427)
Rob Johnson: 4-4, double, 2 run HR, 3 R, walk (306/374/465)
Luis Valbuena: 1-4, R, RBI, walk (198/303/256)
Oswaldo Navarro: 1-5, 2 run HR, 4 K: The Golden Sombrero (271/339/349)