Farm Report: Kyle Gibson strikes out ten in Red Wings loss

Triple-A: Lehigh Valley IronPigs 1, Rochester Red Wings 0

Damn, this one was a heart breaker for SP Kyle Gibson. Gibby went 6.1 innings, struck out ten, and gave up only one run—a solo-shot to IronPigs SS J.P. Crawford—but that was enough for the loss.

Kyle Gibson spoke to reporters after the game:

So why was Gibson’s performance it enough for the loss? SP Aaron Nola and the IronPigs bullpen totally shut down the Red Wings offense. Seriously, they only got two hits and one walk in the game. SS Engelb Vielma—who was just promoted from Double-A—hit ninth and went 0-for-3.

A fun note: Old friend RP Casey Fien pitched 0.2 perfect innings for the IronPigs.

[Box Score]

Double-A: Chattanooga Lookouts 6, Birmingham Barons 0

SS Nick Gordon led off the game with a triple and scored on a RF Edgar Corcino sac-fly to give the Lookouts an early first inning lead, and they never looked back. Corcino scored the Lookouts’ second run of the game on a sac fly by DH Travis Harrison in the fourth inning.

If was the eighth inning when the Lookouts offense exploded—or, rather, the Barons fell apart—leading to four runs. The Lookouts loaded the bases for CF Levi Michael, who walked in the first run run. Harrison was then hit by a pitch to score the second run. New face 3B T.J. White hit an infield single for the third run of the inning, before C Dan Rohlfing walked in yet another run. Ouch.

SP Randy LeBlanc started the game for the Lookouts, and pitched 6.0 scoreless innings with zero strikeouts—true pitching to contact. RP Randy Rosario pitched the last three innings perfectly, and ven got a save for it!

[Box Score]

High-A: Ft. Myers Miracle 7, Clearwater Threshers 3

Holy extra-base hits! The Miracle hit eight of them yesterday as they thrashed the threshers 7-3.

Here’s a run down:

• Doubles: DH Alex Perez, 3B Chris Paul, CF Tanner English, C Brian Navarreto.
• Triples: 2B Nelson Molina, 1B Zander Wiel.
• Home Runs: RF Max Murphy, LF Bradley Strong.

Wowsa!

The offense was clearly enough to power SP Cody Stashak to the win. He went six innings and gave up two runs while striking out three.

[Box Score]

Low-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels 2, Peoria Chiefs 0 (Game 1)

Before starting their originally scheduled night contest against the Chiefs, the Kernels played a make-up game from April 29th. They were able to make the most of it, squeaking out with the 2-0 win.

The first run of the game came in the fourth inning when DH Lewin Diaz hit a lead-off single. Diaz then reached third on a 1B Mitchell Kranson double and subsequently scored on a C Caleb Hamilton RBI single. The hot-hitting SS Jermaine Palacios hit a solo home run the following inning to score the Kernels’ second run of the game.

Still, I say the Kernels squeaked by with this one because they needed three pitchers to get through the shortened seven-inning game. SP Max Cordy started and lasted three innings before RP Colton Davis and RP Tom Hackimer each came in and pitched two. All three pitchers had three strikeouts each.

[Box Score]

Low-A: Peoria Chiefs 12, Cedar Rapids Kernels 8 (Game 2)

Game two of the doubleheader was a bit of a pitching duel in the sense of “whose pitching can suck worse?” Unfortunately, the answer was the Kernels. SP Eduardo Del Rosario gave up seven earned runs—including three home runs—over five innings, yet somehow did not lose the game. That was RP Logan Lombana, who came in for the save, but gave up four runs and got the loss instead.

Still, the Kernels offense did manage eight runs. LF Christian Cavaness had the biggest hit of the game with a two-run homer in the third inning, while Diaz went 1-for-3 but had three RBI. Also impressive was 2B Travis Blankenhorn, who went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.

[Box Score]