Farm Report: Sunday With the Kids

Pacific Coast League (Triple-A)

New Orleans Zephyrs (32-36)

The Zephyrs sent Chris Reed to the mound to take on the Dodgers in game three of their current four-game series, and dropped their third contest in a row. Reed went five innings and gave up four earned runs on five hits and a walk, striking out four. He took the loss to drop to 1-3 and grew his ERA by 52 points, to 2.93 for the season. His OKC counterpart, Brock Stewart, allowed five hits and struck out 10 in seven innings earning the victory in the 5-2 Dodgers win. Zephyrs left fielder Xavier Scruggs went two-for-three and third baseman Matt Juengel hit an RBI-groundout in the first and an RBI-double in the eighth to account for all of New Orleans' RBI. Here's theneworleansadvocate.com with the recap.

28-year-old right handed pitcher Paul Clemens earned a promotion to the parent club early in the day, and in his place with the Zephyrs will be Justin Nicolino.

Tomorrow, the Zephyrs and the Dodgers will close the series with the first pitch scheduled for noon. Paul Clemens was the expected starter, so one can surmise the probable starter is Justin Nicolino. Nico, who was 2-4 with a 5.17 ERA with the Marlins, is 2-2 with a 3.60 ERA at the triple-A level this season.

Southern League (Double-A)

Jacksonville Suns (30-40)

The Suns and the Biloxi Shuckers were cancelled due to rain yesterday, so took the field at 1PM for a planned pair of seven-inning contests.

In the first game, newly acquired Asher Wojciechowski got his first start in the Marlins system, and went 4.2 innings while giving up two hits and a walk for one earned run, striking out five. He earned a no-decision, although he left the game with the Suns leading by the eventual final score of 2-1. Sean Donatello earned the win, allowing just a single over 1.1 innings. Ryan Chaffee earned his first save of the season, pitching a perfect seventh and striking out one.

The Suns got on top early, on a Moises Sierra walk and a Brian Anderson RBI-double in the first inning for a 1-0 lead, then tacked on the second run in the fourth on a Ronnie Mitchell RBI-single. The two clubs combined for just seven hits, with the Suns collecting four of them. The Suns clinched the five-game series win with the victory.

The back-side of the twin bill would see the Shuckers reverse the score on the Suns, earning a 2-1 win and two-of-five through the five game series. Biloxi opened the scoring in the second on losing pitcher of record Patrick Johnson (3-3, 4.45), on a Tyrone Taylor RBI-double and a Jorge Ortega RBI-single. Nobody on Jacksonville earned more than one hit as the team totaled five. Catcher Cam Maron earned the only RBI on a second-inning single, scoring third baseman James Roberts. The sunherald.com has a full double-sized recap.

Tomorrow's a day off for the Southern League as that circuit takes their mid-season all-star break. The game is scheduled for Tuesday, and the Suns will return to action on Thursday with a five-game series against the Tennessee Smokies.

Florida State League (Single-A Advanced)

Jupiter Hammerheads (30-35)

The Florida State League concludes their all-star break tomorrow night. The Hammerheads will face the Bradenton Mauauders at McKechnie Field at 6:30PM.

South Atlantic League (Single-A)

Greensboro Grasshoppers (38-32)

The Grasshoppers wrapped up their last pre-all-star break series with a three-games-to-one series win over the last-place Rome Braves with an 8-2 win on Sunday afternoon. Greensboro starter Steven Farnworth pitched five innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits while striking out three. He left as the losing pitcher of record on the short end of a 2-1 score. Fortunately for him and the rest of the Grasshoppers, Josh Naylor hit the eventual game-winner on an eighth inning RBI-double. The twin-bagger gave reliever LJ Brewster (2-2) a win after having pitched two innings and striking out two while allowing two hits. Andy Beltre struck out three and earned a two-inning scoreless save. Shortstop Anfernee Seymour had three singles, three runs, a stolen base and an RBI, left fielder Kyle Barrett had two singles, a double, a run, and two RBI, and first baseman (and Miami top prospect) Naylor also racked up three hits. Here's the greensboro.com recap.

The Grasshoppers get a day off before the South Atlantic League all-star game scheduled for Tuesday night, then return to action with a four-game series against the Hickory Crawdads starting on Thursday.

New York-Penn League (Class-A Short Season)

Batavia Muckdogs (0-3)

After totaling one run over their first two games, and losing both to the Auburn Doubledays, the Muckdogs started a three-game road series against the West Virginia Black Bears. Before the game, the Muckdogs activated left-handed hitting 20-year-old shortstop Garvis Lara. Lara, who spent a season each with each of Miami's rookie-level squads, made his first appearance at the class-A level, starting at shortstop and going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. The rest of the team went three-for-28 in Batavia's 12-2 loss to West Virginia.

On the pitching side, Jose Diaz lost in his first start, giving up seven earned runs in just 1.2 innings, on six hits and two walks. Connor Bach went 2.2 frames and allowed two runs on six baserunners, Aneury Osoria allowed four walks and four hits in 2.2 innings, and Ty Provencher allowed two earned runs on three hits in one inning. Here's a recap.

In tomorrow's game, the Muckdogs will send 19-year-old righthander Humberto Mejia to face the Bears. Mejia went 3-3 with a 1.69 ERA last season with Miami's Dominican Summer League.