The Bronx View

In promotion news, Andrew Brackman was promoted to Trenton & Zolio Almonte was promoted to Tampa. Almonte is a 21-year old center-fielder. This is quite the leap for the young man. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Neil Medchill was demoted from Tampa to Charleston.

I am going to break from the normal format and start in Trenton, where a lot of today’s action was.

Trenton:

Brandon Laird hit two home runs and drove in seven as Trenton put up an 11-2 victory.

Laird had three hits overall, including a grand slam and a three-run home run. He is hitting .293/.344/.558 with 17 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs and 76 RBI. He’s even 2-for-2 stealing bases, for good measure. He has eight home runs in 82 June at-bats.

Austin Romine couldn’t quite live up to that, but went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in. Romine is now up to .294/.360/.447 on the season and has put up a 2-for-4 game in each of his last three games. To show how bad his slump was prior to this, he is now hitting .224 in June.

Hector Noesi threw another solid game. Noesi tossed seven innings of four-hit ball. He allowed two runs, walked three and struck out 10. He is now 4-1 with a 2.20 ERA for Trenton (45 IP, 36 H, 9 BB, 44 K, 5 HR). He allowed five earned runs in his first start for Trenton – he has allowed only six in his last six starts combined. Tim Norton continued his impressive relief work, throwing a scoreless inning while walking one and striking out two (5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K since promotion to Trenton). Norton is older (27) but is having a solid season that is hard to ignore (1,32 ERA; 5 BB, 41 K in 27.1 innings)

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Scranton:

Eduardo Nunez went 2-for-4 with a run scored, a double, and an RBI as Scranton won, 5-1. Nunez is now hitting .320 on the season. Reegie Corona contributed two hits (including a home run) and two runs scored to the winning effort. Corona is still only hitting .232/.301/.350 on the season, but is hitting .324/.343/.588 in his last 10 games and .259/.302/.420 in June. Corona’s numbers are weighted down a bit by an awful April (.488 OPS), but has picked it up a bit since then. He’s only 23, and a strong showing in Scranton could potentially put him on the trade radar as he has played short & second in his minor league career. The win went to Tim Redding, and that’s as far as we’ll go there.

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Tampa:

The Shaeffer Hall Express continues to cruise through minor league lineups. Hall went six innings tonight, allowed two unearned runs on seven hits to lead Tampa to a 5-2 victory. He walked nobody and struck out six. Hall has been unbelievable since Day 1 this year. For Tampa, he is now 4-0 with a 0.77 ERA in 4 starts (23.1 IP, 20 H, 2 BB, 23 K). Overall, he is 6-2 with a 1.58 ERA (14 starts, 91.1 innings, 72 H, 13 BB, 69 K). As always, I am not sure what to make of him; other than the fact that all he does is dominate in every game he pitches.

In his debut, Zolio Almonte went 1-for-2 with an RBI, two walks, and a stolen base. The raw talent this kid has is really impressive.

21-year old shortstop Jose Pirela contributed three hits to the cause, driving in one and scoring one. He also drew a walk. Pirela is hitting .238 overall but is hitting .343 in the month of June.

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Charleston:

JR Murphy is still playing here instead of in Staten Island…and tonight, he made a bid to make sure he stays here. Murphy went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI but Charleston ultimately lost, 7-6. Slade Heathcott, who also has hung around Charleston, contributed a 1-for-4 night with a run scored. Heathcott is hitting .292 on the season. Murphy has his average up to .250 thanks to a 10-for-26 run (.385).

20-year old catching prospect Kyle Higashioka hit his 4th home run of the season in the losing effort.

Francisco Gil (21) pitched three innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit. He walked nobody and struck out two (6 games, 0-0, 1.59 ERA, 11.1 IP, 11 H, 0 BB, 6 K) Gil has a very good arm, and just needs to stay healthy. Easier said than done sometimes. He missed the entire 2008 season due to surgery on his right elbow. He missed the beginning of 2010 as well. He threw 45 effective innings for the GCL Yankees last year.

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GCL Yankees:

Anderson Felix, a 18-year old second baseman, went 3-for-5 today to raise his average to .500 (9-for-18) with four doubles, a triple, and two RBI. 18-year old OF/1B Ramon Flores also improved to .500 today (8-for-16) with three hits of his own. Flores even got to play in a game for Tampa earlier this year.

Charleston was off tonight as they are on their All-Star Break.

Scranton:

Eduardo Nunez went 2-for-5 with two RBI but it wasn’t enough as Scranton fell, 7-6. Nunez is now hitting .317 on the season. A right-handed bat, Nunez has posted good splits against both types of pitchers: .313/.378/.418 vs. lefties; .316/.345/.409 vs. righties. Those splits were entering tonight’s action.

26-year old catcher Rene Rivera hit a home run and drove in three in the loss. If someone actually claims Chad Moeller (hahahahahahaha), Rivera would be the next emergency catcher in line.

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Trenton:

A nice night for Trenton’s offense, as they scored 12 runs on 10 hits in a 12-7 slugfest victory.

Austin Romine hit his second home run in two days in the win. He also hit a double, drove in two runs, and drew a walk. He increased his line to .290/.355/.446 on the season. He had a two-hit night in Game 2 last night, and had three hits two games prior to that. Perhaps his slump is over.

Daniel Brewer, Austin Krum, and Jose Gil also homered for Trenton. Brewer (22) hit his 6th home run to go along with 17 doubles and two triples. He has also stolen 19-of-22. He is hitting .244 overall. Krum, who has no real power to speak of, actually homered for the second time in three games to give him three overall on the season. (.259/.356/.328). The home run was Gil’s fourth and he is hitting .218/.279/.436 in 78 at-bats as Romine’s backup.

Brandon Laird went 1-for-5 with a double and two more RBI.

On the hill, DJ Mitchell didn’t benefit from the huge run support. He only lasted 4.1 innings, allowing all seven runs (six earned) on seven hits. He walked two and struck out two as his ERA climbed to 4.91. The sinker-baller also allowed three home runs (something in the air in Trenton tonight?) to double his season output to six. Mitchell has pretty much been up and down most of the year – in his previous start, he threw seven 1-hit innings.

The bullpen did a fine job obviously – no runs on two hits in 4.2 innings. Ryan Pope pitched 1.2 of those innings, allowing both hits while allowing a walk and striking out two.

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Tampa:

Graham Stoneburner only wishes he had a few of the runs Trenton tried to give to Mitchell. Stoneburner pitched six impressive innings, allowing two unearned runs on two hits while walking nobody and striking out four. However, those two unearned runs were huge as Tampa lost, 2-0. Stoneburner fell to 4-3 for Tampa with a 1.93 ERA (42 IP, 21 H, 1 HR, 11 BB, 39 K, 1.64 GB/FB). The guy is no Jack Morris, though – he just does not know how to win. He is 5-6 in two stops this year with an ERA of 2.00. Obviously, he is demoralizing his teammates at all levels and needs to stop allowing anybody to score if he wants to be a big-time winner in the big leagues.

Tampa was only able to muster three hits in this game, two of which were by Corban Joseph (.302/.368/.424).

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Not much of anything to note in the low-low minors today (Staten Island/GCL). Again, I will report on players who get off to hot starts in these leagues (and are legit prospects), but that’s about the extent of it. I’ll also follow the 2010 draft class.

Scranton:

Zach McAllister pitched a solid game, but still took the loss as Scranton fell, 3-1. McAllister went seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked two, struck out one, and allowed a home run. McAllister is now 5-5 on the season with a 4.50 ERA (14 starts, 78 IP, 88 H, 19 BB, 47 K, 8 HR). The not so great home run rate coupled with a bad strikeout rate is concerning.

Marc Melancon pitched two innings of scoreless relief, walking two and striking out four.

At the plate, Jorge Vazquez hit his first AAA home run in the losing effort. Vazquez also doubled and is hitting .273 in 33 at-bats since his promotion.

Reegie Corona contributed three hits, his third consecutive multi-hit effort…raising his average to a still pedestrian .233. ————————————————————————————————————————————

Trenton:

Austin Romine hit his fourth home run of the season in the completion of a suspended game…then went 2-for-4 with a double (19) and run scored in the regularly scheduled game as Trenton earned the split. Romine is now hitting .286 on the season. He had a three-hit game a few days ago, so perhaps he is starting to break out of his slump.

Brandon Laird went 1-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, and two RBI (now up to 67 on the season) in the victory.

Lance Pendleton earned the victory with six innings of three-run, four-hit ball. He walked one and struck out six. He is 6-3 with a 3.72 ERA (77.1 IP, 62 H, 31 BB, 65 K, 5 HR) on the season. As I have stated before, Pendleton is no longer a prospect – but he has done a solid job for Trenton this year.

Tampa:

It probably takes a special kind of talent to do what Dellin Betances is pulling off.

In his third start since coming back from his injury, Betances was dominating, pitching six innings of one-hit baseball to help Tampa to a 3-0 victory in game one of a double-header. Dunedin turned the tables in game 2, winning 4-0. Betances allowed one walk and struck out eight to get the victory. In those three starts, Betances is 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA (18 IP, 6 H, 0 HR, 2 BB, 21 K). It is very obvious want this kid to stay healthy.

A two-run double by 21-year old shortstop Jose Pirela was the big hit in the game. Pirela is at .227/.281/.340 on the season. He has a lot of speed (8 doubles, 8 triples, 9-for-12 stealing bases) and is another interesting middle infield prospect in an organization that suddenly is starting to show life at the two middle infield positions. Pirela put up a .295/.354/.381 seaon in Charleston last year, so he does have some hitting ability.

In the second game, Adam Warren didn’t fare quite as well as Betances. Warren lasted four innings, allowing all four runs on nine hits. He walked nobody and struck out two. He also allowed a home run. Warren (22) is now 6-5 with a 2.86 ERA on the season (63 IP, 60 H, 14 BB, 48 K, 2 HR). Rehabbing right-hander George Kontos pitched an inning of scoreless relief in the loss, as did Pat Venditte.

Corban Joseph was only able to go 1-for-7 in the two games, as his average fell below the .300 mark (.299). Melky Mesa picked up his 18th steal in the second game and had a hit in each game. ————————————————————————————————————————————-
Charleston:

Charleston was off as the Sally League played their All-Star Game tonight.

There are quite a few promising prospects on this team right now….but only three guys made the team, one of which couldn’t make it due to injury.

Zolio Almonte is the most intriguting name on the list. The recently-turned-21 year old outfielder is hitting .278/.341/.485 on the season with 13 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, and 35 RBI. He has stolen seven bases (also caught six times), and has 21 walks to go along with 65 strikeouts in 227 at-bats. Obviously, there is room for growth here; but the 10 home runs jump out at you the most at this stage.

Luke Murton couldn’t make the game due to injury. The 24-year old corner player is hitting .291/.375/.498 on the season with 23 doubles, 8 home runs, and 37 RBI. Drafted in the 19th round of the 2009 draft, he is old for the league in terms of age…not quite so in terms of experience. However, at the age of 24, he’d need to move pretty quickly to get to the majors in his prime. he has a .927 OPS vs. lefties.

Ryan Flannery was the third player chosen. A 24-year old closer, Flannery is 5-2 with a 1.91 ERA and 7 saves for Charleston. In 37.2 innings, he has allowed 27 hits while walking 7 and striking out 27. In April, Flannery had an ERA of 6.75 in 9.1 innings. Since then, he has allowed two runs (one earned) in 28.1 innings. Wow. He has allowed 15 hits during that stretch with four walks and 20 strikeouts.

Charleston would likely have produced more All-Stars, but Graham Stoneburner and Shaeffer Hall were both promoted to Tampa earlier this season. I will assume Jimmy Paredes was on the radar for the team (.279/.309/.368 with 24 steals in 30 attempts for the shortstop), but he is far from an oversight. Third baseman Robert Lyerly (22) may have the biggest beef after a .314/.367/.411 first half.

A light schedule overall down on the farm as Trenton & Charleston were off while Tampa was postponed; so some of the focus will turn to teams deep down in the farm. So deep down you can barely see the players playing there. Typically speaking, I don’t report too much on these leagues; most of the players will be lost to attrition before they’ll register on anyone’s radar. But it doesn’t hurt to focus on the true standouts.

Scranton:

But we will start in the upper minors.

Ivan Nova continues to cruise along, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings as Scranton took care of Pawtucket, 4-3…..courtesy of a walk-off wild pitch that scored Justin Christian.

Nova, who didn’t factor in the decision, allowed five hits. He walked one and struck out seven. In 13 starts for Scranton, Nova is 5-2 with a 3.14 ERA. In 77.1 innings, he has allowed 78 hits while walking 26 and striking out 60. In his last four starts, his stat-line reads like this: 3-0, 1.33 ERA, 27 IP, 25 H, 7 BB, 19 K. How about dumping Burnett and inserting Nova? Just kidding…..maybe.

Eduardo Nunez went 1-for-4 with a triple (his 2nd) and a run scored in the win. Jesus Montero had his second consecutive 0-for-4 showing. Maybe I should just stop typing about him?

GCL Yankees:

Gary Sanchez immediately lived up to his advanced billing, torching a grand slam to help the GCL squad to a 10-8 slugfest victory. Sanchez, a 17-year old catcher signed during last year’s international signing period, has already been regarded by some as one of the Yankees’ top prospects; given this was his first ever professional game, that is a bit hasty. But I’d say that is a pretty good start for him.

19-year old center fielder Kelvin Duran contributed a home run of his own to the winning effort. Duran hit .302/.366/.462 for the Dominican Summer League Yankees last year in 262 at-bats. He stole 28 bases in 35 tries.

Top pitching prospect Manny Banuelos finally got on a mound, pitching two hitless innings. Despite that, he did give up an earned run while walking one and striking out two. Fellow rehabber Brett Marshall came in relief of Banuelos. He pitched three innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on three hits. He walked three and struck out three. Marshall is a 20-year old right-hander drafted in 6th round of the 2008 draft. He pitched for Charleston last year before going down with an arm injury. In 17 starts, he put up a 3-6 record with a 5.56 ERA (87.1 IP, 98 H, 7 HR, 37 BB, 60 K).

Tampa had the day off. Scranton:

One of those days where there isn’t too much to report on in Scranton.

Jesus Montero went 0-for-4 as Scranton was able to pound out eight hits…but only one run. That run came off of the bat of Reegie Corona (23, IF), who hit a solo home run. Corona is actually an interesting prospect in his own right – but he hasn’t hit in Scranton this year (.218/.292/.331; 25 walks, 42 K in 69 games). Last year for Trenton, he put up a solid .287/.397/.397 line with more walks than strikeouts (56/50). He still flashes some speed, as he is 7-for-8 stealing bases this year and was 16-for-20 doing it last year. Eduardo Nunez contributed a hit, dropping his June line to .333/.358/.436.

Rumolo Sanchez was all over the place today, lasting only 4.2 innings, allowing six hits and five walks. Amazingly, he also only allowed one run. He struck out three.

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Trenton:

Well, he did it again. Brandon Laird connected on home run #16 today, while little Austin Krum hit a game-winning two-run home run in the 8th inning of a 4-3 decision.

Laird is at .293/.345/.545 on the season. In his last ten games, he’s put up a bit of a weird line: .200/.289/.600. That’s because he has eight hits in those 10 games…five of which went over the fence.

Krum’s blast was his second of the season and he is now hitting .262/.360/.323 with 12 steals in 19 attempts. Any future he has is of a backup outfielder – and to make himself more valuable, he has to be better stealing bases.

David Phelps had an off-day for him, as he hit the lowest possible outing to qualify for a quality start. He went six innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked only one and struck out 10. In 13 starts, he is 5-0 with a 2.19 ERA (82.1 IP, 57 H, 21 BB, 77 K, 2 HR, 1.23 GB/FB).

Tim Norton pitched two scoreless innings in relief to get his first Double-A victory. In four innings with Trenton, he has allowed one hit and no walks while striking out seven.

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Charleston:

A bit of a heart-breaker today as Charleston allowed a run in the first inning….and went on to lose, 1-0. They were only able to muster three hits in the loss, one of which was by JR Murphy (.244/.296/.309).

On the hill, Michael Solbach was the hard-luck loser, allowing that one run on just one hit in five innings. He did walk three though, while striking out one. The 24-year old is 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA this season (17 games, 3 starts, 44 IP, 43 H, 11 BB, 46 K, 2 HR).

Scranton:

Wouldn’t it be nice if Jesus Montero is going on a bit of a power surge?

Montero went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run, while Eduardo Nunez added two hits (including a double) and a run batted in…but it wasn’t enough as Scranton lost, 5-4.

Montero’s home run was his fourth of the season, and he now has nine extra base hits in his last 10 games played. After struggling mightily for weeks, he finally has his slugging percentage back up over .400 (.402) and he has 15 hits in his last 10 games.

Nunez just keeps motoring along, and is all the way up to .322 on the season. He is hitting .410 in his last ten games.

On the mound, Mark Melancon pitched well in relief, going two scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and no walks while striking out three. Melancon has had some struggles this season, but it will be interesting to see what the Yankees do if he gets on a roll. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last five appearances, though I think in one of those appearances he gave up some inherited runs. ————————————————————

Trenton:

Brandon Laird hit his organization leading 15th home run of the season, but Trenton’s furious late comeback was all for naught in a 10-9 loss. Trenton scored two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to tie the game at 9, only to lose it in the tenth.

Laird has been pretty much all or nothing as of late. He only has four hits in his last seven games, but three of them have been home runs. He is hitting .293 with 15 doubles, two triples, 15 home runs and 64 RBI.

Austin Romine, mired in a 3-for-34 slump entering the game, went 3-for-5 with a double, a walk, an RBI and two runs scored. He is now hitting .288.

The rejunivated Marcos Vechionacci contributed a 3-for-4 night with a home run, two RBI, a walk, and two runs scored. He is now all the way up to .301 on the season, thanks in part to a .424 number in his last 10 games. In June, he is hitting .442/.539/.628. Probably nothing more than a random hot streak, but wouldn’t it be fun if he has finally tapped into all of the potential he once had? Luis Nunez (23, IF) went 2-for-4 with a walk in the loss to raise his line to .252/.298/.401 on the season. He has seven hits in his last three games.

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Tampa:

Andrew Brackman has been rolling along over his last several starts, but tonight he put up a clunker as Tampa lost, 5-1. Brackman lasted only five innings, giving up five runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out five. He allowed two home runs.

The outing rose his ERA back above 5.00 on the season (5.10). In 60 innings this year, he has allowed 67 hits while walking nine and striking out 56. He has allowed five home runs.

Pat Venditte pitched the final three innings, allowing no runs on three hits. He walked nobody and struck out six. He has a 2.23 ERA in 20 games, striking out 48 in 36.1 innings. He has also allowed only one home run while walking nine. I think he should be promoted after Trenton’s All-Star break at the latest.

At the plate, Corban Joseph went 2-for-4 with two doubles to raise his average to .303. He has 17 doubles and four home runs in 244 at-bats.

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Charleston:

Slade Heathcott continues to hit, going 2-for-5 today with a walk, a run scored, and a stolen base…but it wasn’t enough as Charleston lost an 11-6 slugfest.

Heathcott is now hitting .313 with six steals in seven attempts. He has three doubles, a triple, six walks and 15 strikeouts in 64 at-bats.

Fellow teenager JR Murphy also contributed two hits to the losing effort. He drove in a run, scored two, and drew a walk of his own. He raised his average to .242.

Jimmy Paredes (21, SS) went 3-for-6 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored. He is hitting .280 on the season and .342 in his last ten games. After a slow start to the season (.236/.263/.303 in April), Paredes has really turned it on: .313/.339/.416 in May and .273/.324/.379 in June. Not bad for a young, developing shortstop.

Scranton:

Does Jesus Montero think he is Brett Gardner all of a sudden? Montero went 3-for-4 tonight with a single, double, and a triple (his second in two games!) to help Scranton take a 4-1 victory.

All of a sudden, Montero is hitting .405 over his last ten games, and has eight extra base hits in those games (6 doubles, 2 triples). He has three three-hit games in his last seven games played. He is up to .248 overall and his slugging percentage is starting to creep up – it’s still only .390, but that is a big climb from where he was.

Eduardo Nunez went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI and is now hitting .320 on the season.

Dustin Moseley struck out 10 hitters for the second consecutive start to get the victory.

Jonathan Albaladejo earned yet another save, his 23rd. With the current state of the Yankees bullpen, they seriously need to consider giving him another try. He is 1-1 with a 1.10 ERA for Scranton this season. In 32.2 innings, he has allowed 16 hits, two home runs, and has walked 11 while striking out 44.

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Trenton:

Hector Noesi threw yet another good game…but it turned out to be nothing more than a Vazquez type of night, as the Thunder fell 1-0.

Noesi, like Vazquez, went 7 innings. He allowed six hits, walked nobody, and struck out five. His only mistake ended up in the stands for a home run. Noesi is now 3-1 with a 2.31 ERA for Trenton (35 IP, 31 H, 5 BB, 30 K). In two stops, he is 8-3 on the season (78 IP, 66 H, 11 BB, 82 K).

Daniel Brewer hit his 17th double in the losing effort.

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Tampa:

George Kontos is back from his surgery. His first performance didn’t go very well in terms of the scoreboard, but that wasn’t the important thing. Kontos gave up three runs on four hits in 2.2 innings as Tampa lost, 9-4. He walked one and struck out four. He pitched a scoreless first, gave up three in the second, then got two outs in the third. Obviously, he was given X number of pitches tonight to do whatever he could do with them. Overall, the most important thing is that he is back throwing. Kontos is a 25-year old hard throwing right-hander who could have a future in the bullpen. Before going down to injury last year, he was 4-5 with a 3.15 ERA (71.1 IP, 63 H, 30 BB, 63 K).

JB Cox was brilliant in his second game back from no man’s land – he didn’t allow an earned run in two thirds of an inning! The only problem? He allowed four unearned ones.

Neil Medchill went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI, but that was only enough to get him up to .192 on the season.

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Charleston:

Not much to report here for the second night in a row, as they only mustered five hits in a 4-1 loss. What, the entire organization can’t hit now?

JR Murphy contributed a hit, as did Zolio Almonte. Almonte hit a double and scored the team’s only run. His average is at .288 and his slugging percentage is at .502.

Scranton:

Jesus Montero actually legged out a triple tonight, but that was one of the three hits Scranton was able to muster as they got shutout, 2-0.

The triple was Montero’s second of the season (which probably means that if Brett Gardner was running, they would have been inside-the-park home runs).

Zack McAllister only lasted four innings in this one, laboring through 88 pitches. He allowed both runs on six hits, walking two and striking out three. McAllister (22) is now 5-4 with a 4.56 ERA (71 IP, 83 H, 17 BB, 46 K) on the season.

Some minor promotion news: Reliever Eric Wordekemper (26) has been promoted from Trenton. He went a scoreless inning tonight, allowing two hits and striking out two. For Trenton, Wordekemper pitched very well (3-0, 2.88 ERA, 34.1 IP, 26 H, 8 BB, 35 K). I wouldn’t expect much of anything from him, though he could make a major league appearance or two. ———————————————————

Trenton:

Shortstop Luis Nunez did his best impression of Scranton’s Eduardo, going 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs scored to lead Trenton to a 8-4 victory.

Nunez (23) hit well in limited duty for Tampa in 2009, putting up a .304/.362/.462 line in 158 at-bats. Eduardo is the much bigger prospect, but Luis has a little bit of talent too.

Marcos Vechionacci went 2-for-4 with two runs scored to raise his line to .295/.367/.456.

In other minor promotion news, Tim Norton was promoted from Tampa to Trenton. Tonight, he pitched two scoreless innings of relief, striking out 3. The now-27 year old pitcher has bounced around a bit in the organization, starting & relieving while battling injuries. It’s never too late for a reliever to bloom, but his time is obviously running out. He was 0-0 with a 1.69 ERA for Tampa, striking out 32 while walking only 3 in 21.1 innings.

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Tampa:

Shaeffer Hall continues to befuddle minor league hitters, though he only lasted 5.2 innings in this one. In those 5.2 innings, he allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on six hits, while walking one and striking out five as Tampa took the win. Hall is now 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA in three starts for Tampa, and 5-2 with a 1.69 ERA in 13 starts overall. (85.1 IP, 65 H, 13 BB, 63 K, 1 HR, 1.40 GB/FB)

At the plate, Melky Mesa went 1-for-4 with a two run home run, his 6th of the season. He is now hitting .244/.325/.407 on the season, and is at .326/.404/.652 in 42 June at-bats.

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Charleston:

Slade Heathcott had one of Charleston’s lowly three hits as they fell, 6-1. Heathcott is now 18-for-55 and is on an 8-game hitting streak.

Emerson Landoni, who went 5-for-5 last night, went 2-for-3 tonight with a solo home run.