So many teams! So little time!
As a result, these are gonna get a bit shorter. It's not because of laziness, but because now, with 7 teams on the slate (and that's not even including the Dominican League), there's just so much to cover and only so much time to cover them.
I will continue to do my best to provide useful content in the process thereof, so HERE WE GO....
VENEZUELA~! VSL Mariners 8, VSL Phillies 2
Jessie Nava: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 walks, 3 K
Danny Ayala: 2.1 IP, 3 H, (2 R) 0 ER, 2 walks, 5 K, 2 wild pitches
Edlando Seco: 3 IP, 1 H, walk, K, hit batter
Yidid Batista: 2-5, 2 doubles
Roberto Velasquez: 1-3, 2 RBI, 2 K (.213)
Jorge Agudelo: 1-4, double, 2 R (.198)
Cesar Fuentes: 2-4, double, 2 R, RBI, walk, 2 K (.296)
Jose Rivero: 2-4, 3 RBI, 2 K (.287)
Phillies starter Victor Diaz hit FOUR batters and failed to finish the 2nd inning. Then reliever Jesus Suarez allowed 5 unearned runs over 4 innings to shave his ERA down to a svelte 7.07.
You can say the VSLM's had some help in yesterday's win, but still, PENNANT FEVER IN AGUIRRE! CATCH IT!
Also, the Venezuelan Summer League has an official website... though it's en español, clearly in its primitive stages and has little more info than you can already get off MiLB.com (who I gather operates the site for local fans).
AZL: Mariners 11, Brewers 3
Ivan Blanco: 1 IP, 1 H, K
Alfredo Venegas: 5.1 IP, 3 H, (2 R) 0 ER, 6 K
Gregory Moviel: pitched to one batter, who reached via error
Jacob Wild: 0.2 IP, walk, K
Javier Martinez: 1 IP, walk
Miguel Marquez: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 walks
Danny Carroll: 1-3, R, RBI, 2 walks, SB
Maximo Mendez: 2-5, triple, GRAND SLAM, 2 R, 2 K
Alfredo Mateo: 1-3, double, R, RBI, walk, K
Mario Martinez: 3-4, 3 R, K
Dwight Britton: 2-3, 3 R, walk
The 1st inning saw the rehab return of Ivan Blanco! He worked a scoreless 1st inning before ceding to actual SP Alfredo Venegas, who pitched into the 7th. Meanwhile, the AZLM's dinked and dunked their way ahead to a 5-0 lead, which the AZL Brew Crew (Cervezas?) chipped at with 2 runs in the 7th. But the AZLM's blew up in the bottom 8th for 6 runs, powered by a Maximo Mendez grand slam, to take the 11-2 lead and turn the ballgame into a wash.
a: Everett 6, Tri City 3
Juan Carlos Ramirez: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, walk, 5 K
Will Brown: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 walks, 4 K, wild pitch, hit batter
Brandon McKerney: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 K
Greg Halman: 4-4, 2 doubles, 2 R
Matt Mangini: 1-4, double, R, K
Manny Pimentel: 2-3, double, solo HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, K
Joe Dunigan: 1-4, triple, R, RBI, 2 K
The top 4th set the tone, as Greg Halman lined a single, then watched the battery screw up three pitches, wild pitch, passed ball, wild pitch, that eventually allowed him to score to the bemusement of Matt Mangini, who then doubled. Then Manny Pimentel doubled. Then Joe Dunigan tripled, and once it was done, Everett had a 4-0 lead. It would prove to be all they needed. Juan Carlos Ramirez only showed cracks a couple of times, keeping the Dust Devils lineup in check for six innings otherwise.
Flyballs: 2
Groundballs: 9 (plus 1 bunt)
Line Drives: 3
Pop Ups: 2
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 5
NEXT: Robert Harmon makes his 2nd start at 7:15 pm PDT.
A: Wisconsin 15, Peoria 3
Justin Souza: 4 IP, 5 H, (3 R) 2 ER, K, 2 hit batters
Shawn Kelley: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 K
Keith Renaud: 2 IP, K
Rollie Gibson: 1 IP, 1 H, K
Gavin Dickey: 3-6, triple, solo HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 K (.216)
Juan Diaz: 1-5, RBI, K (.333)
Trevor Lawhorn: 1-5, solo HR, K
Kuo Hui Lo: 4-5, 4 R (.284)
Joseph White: 1-3, double, 2 R, RBI, walk
Jair Fernandez: 2-4, 2 doubles, 2 R, 2 RBI (.277)
James McOwen: 3-5, double, 2 R, 4 RBI, K
Leury Bonilla: 2-5, R, 2 K (.239)
The T-Rats jumped all over Peoria for a 7-2 lead and after Peoria cut it to 7-3, the T-Rats kept pouring it on, with one in the 5th, 2 more in the 6th, 4 more in the 7th and one more in the 8th.
Also, after 3 solid appearances in Everett, the Mariners decided to promote reliever Shawn Kelley and Keith Renaud to Wisconsin, probably among a couple others. Both had solid outings and bolster a solid single A bullpen.
Also #2, Justin Souza did his emergency starter 4 innings thing. I'm guessing the Mariners decide who from Everett warrants a callup to Wisconsin, brings that guy in and sends Souza back to the bullpen once that occurs. (My guess is Edward Paredes)
Also #3, J informs us that Juan Diaz was named the Midwest Player of the Week after hitting .500 during the span. Nice work, Señor Diaz!
NEXT: DERBY TRIO UNITE! Kyle Parker's turn in Peoria at 4:30 pm PDT.
A+: High Desert 4, Lake Elsinore 2
Marwin Vega: 4.1 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 4 walks, 3 K, balk, hit batter
Roman Martinez: 3.2 IP, 1 H, walk, 4 K, wild pitch
Austin Bibens-Dirkx: 1 IP
Jeff Dominguez: 3-4, 3 doubles, R (.255)
Jesus Guzman: 2-4, R (.293)
Johan Limonta: 1-3, R, RBI (.298)
Jeff Frazier: 2-3, double, R, RBI, walk
Travis Scott: 1-4, RBI, K (.278)
Losing streak over! The Mavs fell behind 2-0 in the 3rd, but pounded away at Lake in the 4th for 3 runs, then added a 4th in the 5th as the bullpen clamped down, namely Roman Martinez, who also got up from a slump to get Marwin Vega out of a jam in the 5th, then throw 3 more solid innings in relief. Nice work, Roman!
Vega himself scattered tons of baserunners despite getting a ton of groundball singles and somehow escaped only with the 2 runs he allowed in the 3rd. It could've been 1 run but Vega got called for a balk that forced in the 2nd run.
Flyballs: 4
Groundballs: 12 (7 for hits)
Line Drives: 2
Walks: 4 (plus 1 hit batter)
Strikeouts: 3
Also, in the interim (and to be honest, J had reported this a couple days back), it appears that Casey Craig's callup displaced Jeff Frazier, who wasn't doing too well in AA anyway and probably needs more time in High A... assuming he has all that much of a future, which is dubious. Frazier did have a good day yesterday, though, with a couple hits.
NEXT: Chris Tillman takes a deep breath and tries to get off the deck against Lake Elsinore. In fact, he's in progress as I type this.
AA: Mobile 5, West Tenn 4
Andrew Baldwin: 6.1 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 6 K, wild pitch, hit batter
Chad Fillinger: 1.2 IP, 2 K
Casey Craig: 3-4, K
Matt Tuiasosopo: 0-3, R, walk, K (.278)
Michael Wilson (!!!): 1-4, 3 run HR, K (.068)
Luis Oliveros: 1-4, double, R (.286)
Okay, Andrew Baldwin got hit and the DIAMOND JAXX fell behind 5-1. It was already a big surprise when Michael Wilson ended up back in the lineup after falling completely off the face of the earth. After a 1 for 40 start, Wilson disappeared and only resurfaced a few days ago in Arizona. He did okay in a game, and then suddenly, here he is, starting in RF! With Sebastien Boucher powershuttled to Tacoma, who better to replace him? Well, probably anyone else in High Desert but that's neither here nor there.
He comes up with two aboard in the top 9th, his team trailing 5-1 with one out... and belts a three run blast!! It was 5-4, and the DIAMOND JAXX still went down quietly, but for a moment, the melted down marginal prospect saw redemption fly off his bat and over the center field wall in Mobile. Good for him and, whether or not he has any realistic hope as a prospect, let's hope he does better than 1 for 40 the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, Andrew Baldwin got groundballs once again, but like Marwin Vega, suffered negative variance as several of them went for hits. He also, early in the game, struck out 4 straight batters, but once the line drives started coming, he and the DIAMOND JAXX were toast.
Flyballs: 2
Groundballs: 12
Line Drives: 6
Pop Ups: 1
Walks: 0 (but 1 hit batter)
Strikeouts: 6
NEXT: Robert Rohrbaugh in Mobile at 5:05 pm PDT.
AAA: Tacoma 5, Tucson 4
Jorge Campillo: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 ER (HR), 6 K
Jamie Cerda: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, K (ERA: 12.91)
Wife Vulture: 3 IP, 3 H, walk, K
Jeremy Reed: 2-4, 2 run HR, 2 R, walk (.286)
WLAD: 1-5, solo HR, 2 K (.321)
Bryan LaHair: 1-5, 2 run HR, 2 K (.256)
Jeff Clement: 2-4, double, K (.282)
It'd be easy to jump on Wife Vulture for vulturing the win, but he only had the chance to do so because Jamie Cerda blew goats, film at 11, and put the tying run on 3rd with no outs in the 8th. And to the Vulture's credit, after back to back singles cashed in that tying run, he got out of the 8th inning with the game tied, held the fort through regulation, and then got the final 3 outs in the 10th after the Rainiers had retaken the lead in the top half.
Also, Adam Jones rested a 3rd straight day. That must have been one heck of a collision with that wall.
NEXT: Justin Lehr at 6:05 pm PDT tonight in Tucson.