Tigers Minor League Baseball Blog

Virgil Vasquez continued his subpar season and he fell to 2-4 in the Hens 9-3 loss to the Bulls.  He gave up six runs (five earned) on eix hits and a walk with one strikeout.  Three of those six hits left the yard.

Erick Almonte belted a solo homer.  Michael Hollimon singled, drew two walks and scored a run.

Rick Porcello didn’t get the win, but he had another nice start in Lakeland’s 4-1 win over Dunedin.  He gave up just one run on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.  Zach Simons got the final batter out in the sixth and he got the win while Guillermo Moscoso had an impressive outing.  He struck out five of the six batters he faced over two perfect innings.

Jeramy Laster and Brandon Timm both hit solo shots.  Brennan Boesch went three for four with a double and a run.

The Tigers supplemental first round pick in 2007, Brandon Hamilton, made his minor league debut with the White Caps and he definitely showed some promise.  While he walked four, he didn’t give up a single hit and he struck out six in four innings.  Santo Mieses gave up three runs in two innings and he fell to 1-3 on the season.

Audy Ciriaco was the hitting star in the loss.  He went three for four with a homerun and two RBIs.  Cory Middleton belted a solo homer, drew a walk and scored twice.

Matt O’Brien didn’t get the win, but he threw a nice game as Lakeland topped Tampa 1-0.  He gave up just two hits with two strikeouts in six shutout innings.  Jordan Tata picked up his first win with two shutout frames.

Scott Sizemore drove in the lone run of the game for either side.  Shawn Roof singled and he scored the only run.

Erie had a tough time getting anything done at the plate and a nice start by Luis Marte went to waste.  He gave up one run on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts in eight innings of work.

The SeaWolves scored their lone run via the longball.  Wilkin Ramirez went deel in the fourth inning with a solo shot.  It was his ninth homer of the season.

Chris Lambert left the game tonight with a 4-2 lead after six solid innings of work only to see the pen melt down in a 14-4 blowout loss.  Three relievers combined to give up 12 runs in just two innings in an ugly game.

Clete Thomas belted a two run homer but he’s still below the Mendoza line since getting sent down to Toledo.  Mike Hessman continued his impressive season with his eighteenth homerun, a solo shot in the first inning.

As I was pulling into the parking lot this past monday to leave for our four game road trip to Fort Wayne, my phone rang. It was one of the other pitchers, Rudy Darrow, calling to ask where I was. I thought it was a little odd that he was calling me when I was a half hour early, but he said that the bus was leaving. At this moment I kind of start to panic because I don’t want to have to drive all the way there. Once I gathered myself I then thought wait, I am positive I am still early because it was just before 9 am and we were scheduled to leave at 9:30 which made me think it was just a joke. Well apparently the bus time changed the night before, after I had left the locker room and never received the notice. Now I am really starting to panic because as I am driving slightly over the speed limit through the parking lot I see the bus start to move so I start honking and put my hand out the window. To my relief the bus stopped and I was able to load everything and hop on. After I calmed down from almost missing the bus I started to get mad at the fact the time changed and no one let me know. That feeling left me too once I was just grateful to just be on the bus. Our strength coach Jake Tabor was not as lucky however, he was forced to make the drive of shame. Sorry Jake, on this trip game time was not on time.

The Hens scored three runs in eighth inning but it wasn’t enough as they lost to Durham 5-3.  Michael Hollimon had two hits including a solo homer while Mike Hessman drew two walks and scored a run.

Jeramy Johnson lost his first decision of the season.  He fell to 4-1 and he gave up three runs on eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts in five innings.

Anthony Tomey fell to 2-3 on the season after he gave up a two run homer in the bottom of the tenth inning in a 5-3 loss to Bowie.  Casey Fien was the most effective hitter with 2 1/3 shutout innings.

All three SeaWolves runs came via solo homers.  Dusty Ryan, Ryan Roberson and Jeff Frazier all went yard for Erie.

The White Caps piled on the runs in a 11-3 beatdown over the Fort Wayne Wizards.  There were plent of hitting stars but Casper Wells was a notch above the rest.  He went three for five with a pair of homers and five RBIs.  In all, the White Caps picked up nineteen hits and seven of those were for extra bases.

Jonathan Kibler picked up the win and he improved to 3-1.  He gave up one unearned run on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

Lakeland had a tough time at the plate as they lost a close one to Tampa 3-1.  Cale Iorg went two for four with the lone run and Ryan Strieby went two for two with a walk and an RBI.

Jonah NIckerson took the loss despite a solid start and he fell to 3-3.  He gave up three runs on eight hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

It took ten innings but the Flying Tigers took care of the Tampa Yankees 6-2.  Duane Below didn’t get the win, but he threw a nice enough game.  He gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk with ten strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.  Angel Castro threw two shutout innings and he improved to 2-1 on the season.

Scott Sizemore singled and scored two runs in the win.  Cale Iorg scored once and drove in two despite not getting a hit while Michael Bertram singled twice and scored a run.

The White Caps had a tough time at the plate and they were held to just six hits in a 2-1 loss to the Wizards.  The lone run of the game came on a solo homer in the fifth inning by Adrian Casanova.  Kyle Peter was the only White Cap with two hits.

Lauren Gagnier had a nice start go to waste.  He fell to 1-4 and he gave up two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.

The Mud Hens scored two in the eighth inning and one in the ninth to edge the Charlotte Knights 6-5.  Dane Sardinha drove in the winning run with a solo homer while Jeff Larish, Mike Hessman and Michael Hollimon all went yard.  For Hessman, it’s his 17th homer of the season and six homeruns in his last six games.

Dontrelle Willis had a tough time in his rehab start.  He gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.  Preston Larrison threw 2 1/3 innings of shutout ball and he improved to 2-1 while Blaine Neal threw a shutout ninth to pick up his 13th save of the season.

Yorman Bazardo and the rest of the Hens pitching staff had a tough time in their 10-6 loss to the Knights.  Bazardo gave up three homers in five innings while Anastacio Martinez fell to 0-1 when he gave up four runs in just 1 1/3 innings of work.

Brent Clevlen belted a solo homer, walked twice and scored three runs in the loss.  Michael Hollimon went two for four with a homerun and three RBIs.

Jonathan Connolly was shelled for seven runs (five in the first two innings) on nine hits and three walks in six innings.  The loss dropped his record to 0-2 on the season.

Wilkin Ramirez was the hitting star in the win.  He went two for four with a double, a homerun, three RBIs and two runs.

Being demoted in any line of work is never fun, nor does it lend much room for confidence in any further hope for success. But in baseball whenever a player is hurt or gets sent down a level, it is especially hard because once again you are back at square one. For me I had to start from lower than scratch. With an injury right out of the gate into my pro career, I had to do more than get healthy, I had to prove that I was worthy of the opportunity I had been given. When you struggle because of something that is happening on the field, you are still on the field. When you don’t even get to throw or hit because of injury, it’s like taking the ability to lie from a lawyer; Your best assets are gone. The best metaphor I can think of for professional baseball is that it is like a highly functioning industrial machine. Sometimes parts of the machine break down and have to be thrown out or don’t work like they used to, and need to be tuned up. However, for the whole machine to work it has to be running at all times. So, whenever a part is taken out, a new one has to be brought in. Then once the machine is up and running smoothly again, the old part has to wait until another kink in the line appears where they can be put back in. For those who are promoted it’s a huge step forward because it means you are one step closer to the Major Leagues. However there is never any room to let up because once you are a key part of the machine, it is your job to make sure things keep running smoothly because there will always be another just like you, waiting in the wings to step up and take your spot in the line.

There’s only one sound in the universe that when you hear it, one is immediately taken back to their fifth grade cafeteria. This is the sound of 5,000 excited school kids all gathered in one place on a field trip. The field trip location today was Fifth Third Ballpark, also known to me as home field. The second I stepped out of the tunnel I said to myself, “God, I’m right back in my elementary school cafeteria.” My next thought was, “Is this a good, or bad thing?” Well we never really got the chance to find out because the game was rained out in the bottom of the first inning, when we were threatening I might add. I can sympathize with the little kids however because I can remember going to games that got rained out. So we all tried to do our part and have some fun and sign a few autographs to give them something to go home with. From inside the clubhouse though, I can’t say that there was all sad and sorrow going around. Like I said before any rest is good rest, but I have to admit, it would have been nice to take one back from Kane County.

Michael Hollimon belted a walk off homer in the bottom of the tenth as the Hens knocked Lehigh Valley 7-6.  It was Hollimon’s only hit of the game while Brent Clevlen went two for three with a double, a triple and three RBIs.

Jeremy Johnson gave up four runs in his five innings of work.  Preston Larrison picked up the win with three shutout innings to close out the game.

Brandon Timm had a nice day at the plate as the Flying Tigers doubled up Vero Beach 8-4.  He went three for four with a homerun, three RBIs and two runs.  Santo De Leon doubled twice and drove in three.

Jonah Nickerson improved to 3-2 with a good enough start.  He gave up four runs on eight hits and one walk with four strikeouts in seven innings of work.