Farm Report: Park plays LF now, Rooker kills baseballs

Triple-A: Rochester Red Wings 10, Louisville Bats 5

Byungho Park started in left field for the Red Wings; per myjah, he hasn’t played the outfield since he was nine years old. He didn’t let any fly balls bounce off his head, and was defensively replaced in the eighth. Are the Twins trying to find a way for him to fit on the team, this September or next spring? Who knows. Fellow outfielders Niko Goodrum and Daniel Palka both went 3-5, although Palka negated this a bit by being caught stealing once and picked off first once.

Starter Chris Heston had the baseball pried from his warm, living hand after allowing ten hits and five runs in five innings. The bullpen was boss after this, with Alex Wimmers, my Buddy Boshers and Jake Reed combining for seven strikeouts.

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Double-A: Tennessee Smokies 6, Chattanooga Lookouts 4

Rough starting pitching here, too. 22-year-old RHP Fernando Romero threw 87 pitches in 4.1 frames, and six guys scored on his watch. RHP D.J. Baxendale, of Arkadelphia, AR, was razorback-sharp in relief from then on out. 3B T.J. “Hooker” White stroked a solo dong, and 1B Andy Wilkins went 2-4. The remaining Lookouts had three singles amongst themselves.

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High-A: Ft. Myers Miracle 8, Tampa Yankees 3

I think we can officially call OF Brent Rooker a bust. He homered, just like on Friday, his eighth at this level and fifteenth total since being drafted in July. LF Zander Wiel also went yard, while SS Jermaine Palacios and SS Brandon Lopez both had multi-hit outings.

Nervous muppet Clark Beeker defined a quality start, then magnificently-named Michael Theofanopoulos and Williams Ramirez kept the Steinbrenners from getting so much as a hit afterwards.

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Low-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels 1, Beloit Snappers 0

Drama! Six hits combined for both teams. LF Christian Cavaness accounted for half of the Mean Corn’s four total, while 2B Travis Blankenhorn donged out the go-ahead run. Combo platter pitching; LHP Charlie Barnes struck out four in his five innings, followed by RHP Logan Lombana, RHP Eduardo del Rosario, and closer Hector Lujan, whose team photo looks like he just got told “you’re such a nice guy!” by someone he has a secret crush on.

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Rookie League: Elizabethton Twins 6, Bristol Pirates 2, 12 innings

Baby Twins bashing baseballs by the bushel to finish this game off. Because, c’mon, these boys have a bedtime. (Miracle manager Doug Mientkiewicz, he of the lucky extra-inning dugout floor spot, would heartily approve.) RF Matt Albanese led off with a single, pinch-hitting C Robert Molina moved him to third, and after that it was RBI time for SS Gorge Munoz, Star Wars DH/OF Akil Baddoo, CF T.J. Dixon, and 1B J.J. “Lens Flare” Robinson.

LH starter Riley Widell and RH reliever Moises Gomez both went five innings and allowed one run apiece; Gomez gets the “blown save” because the way baseball assigns these things is stoopid. Venezuelan RHP Jose Martinez finished things off nicely. Sorry, home team fans, who sat through 3 1/2+ hours for this bummer ending.

Elizabethton will be back at home today, and giving out safety glasses for Monday’s MOON EATS SUN event. Tuesday, they will have a Disney princess night, presumably for girl children. C’mon, Florida parents, get those young ladies into science, instead!

[Box Score]

Do you have a picture or pictures you took of tractors, farm animals, land, or other equipment you’d like to see us use for a future farm report? We would love your submissions and happily give you and/or your farm full credit and a shout-out.

Please e-mail myjah at Maija.Varda@gmail.com if you are interested, and include the name of who took the photo (and their permission) so we may give the proper photo credits. If Fillmore uses the photo, though, he’ll just steal it and give you nothing, that’s the kind of guy he is.

Photos must be large! We need at least 1800px width. If you’re not sure if it’s big enough, send the picture and I will tell you (TWSS).