Fish Farm Report: June 20th

Pacific Coast League (Triple-A)

New Orleans Zephyrs (33-36)

The Zephyrs sent Justin Nicolino to the mound. Due to the timing of his return to New Orleans, he essentially took Paul Clemens spot in the rotation. After a rough first inning where he gave up a run on a single and a double, he pitched the next six without allowing any more runs. He pitched perfect innings for the second, third, fourth, and seventh, giving up singles in the fifth and the sixth. His efforts dropped his ERA by 51 points in triple-A, down to 3.09 to go with a 3-2 record. He also struck out three Dodgers and didn’t give up any walks. Nico was in the zone all day, getting 60-of-88 pitches over the plate and earning a 74 GameScore.

Offensively, the Zephyrs capitalized on an Isaac Galloway single, a Nicolino sacrifice bunt, and a Robert Andino RBI-single to even the score at one in the third inning, then took the lead in the fourth on Destin Hood’s 10th round-tripper of the season. The solo shot went about 20-feet past the right-center field wall, and counted as the eventual game-winning run. New Orleans added two insurance runs in the sixth on an Austin Nola walk, a Matt Juengel RBI single, and a Destin Hood RBI double. Jo-Jo Reyes allowed one hit and struck two out to earn a two-inning save, his third of the season.

New Orleans will send 30-year-old Dylan Axelrod (4-3, 3.84) to the mound for a start tomorrow as the Zephyrs start a four-game road series against the Omaha Storm Chasers.

Southern League (Double-A)

Jacksonville Suns (30-40)

The Suns take a day off as part of the Southern League midseason All-Star Break. The game will be played tomorrow at 8:30PM in Pearl, Missouri. Jacksonville will start a four-game set on Thursday against the Mississippi Braves.

Florida State League (Single-A Advanced)

Jupiter Hammerheads (30-36)

The Hammerheads commenced their second half of the season with a 1-0 loss to the Bradenton Marauders. Kendry Flores started for Jupiter in a rehab start and went five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out two batters. Nefi Ogando, also in his first start after time spent on the DL, allowed the only run of the game Michael Suchy home run in the sixth inning. Jose Adames came on to pitch two innings, allowing two walks and a hit while striking out three. Offensively, Dexter Kjerstad hit a double, Jeremias Pineda hit two singles, and Brad Haynal had a single and a stolen base for the Hammerheads.

Along with Nefi Ogando and Kendry Flores, outfielder Junior Sosa also joined the Hammerheads from the injured list earlier in the day.

Tomorrow night, Jorgan Cavanerio (5-5, 3.44) will get a turn to pitch for Jupiter in Game two of the three game series against Bradenton.

South Atlantic League (Single-A)

Greensboro Grasshoppers (38-32)

The Grasshoppers are getting the day off in preparation for the South Atlantic League all-star game, to be played tomorrow night at 7:05PM in Lexington, Kentucky. The Grasshoppers will resume play on Thursday when they open a four-game series against the Hickory Crawdads.

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

Batavia Muckdogs (0-4)

The Muckdogs faced off with the West Virginia Black Bears for the second game of a three-game series, and dropped a 4-1 decision due to a ninth inning meltdown for Jordan Hillyer. Hillyer only went one-third of an inning and allowed three hits, including the walk-off three run blast by opposing catcher Kevin Krause. Going into the ninth, the score was knotted at one and the Muckdogs had an even chance of earning their first win of the season after Travis Neubeck’s strong five inning scoreless start. Neubeck allowed three hits. The Muckdogs scored in the sixth inning on a Samuel Castro RBI single, and the Bears tied it in the bottom of the seventh on a Hunter Owen RBI-single.

Dominican Summer League (Rookie)

DSL Marlins (2-11)

The Astros Blue squad defeated the GCL Marlins, 5-3 in early action on Monday. It was the Marlins 11th loss in a row. Fielding was again an issue, as the Marlins committed six. Catcher Luis Arcaya and relief pitcher Edison Suriel had two each, and third baseman Diego Brito and starting pitcher Anderson Vera had one each. Vera pitched pretty good, allowing just one unearned run on six hits and a walk over five innings, while striking out eight for a GameScore of 61. Suriel blew the save and took the loss, allowing four runs (just one earned) on four hits and two walks in three innings, although he struck out four. Arcaya collected two singles, Wiklerman Rasquin had a single and a double, and second baseman Felix Arosemena hit a solo home run in the seventh inning for the baby Fish.

Tomorrow, the Marlins will visit the DSL Phillies early for a 10:30 AM contest.

Gulf Coast League (Rookie)

GCL Marlins (0-0)

The Gulf Coast League Marlins will begin play on Friday on Florida’s left coast.

In the meantime, Marlins management continue to get their 39 draft picks under contract, but nothing has yet been reported according to MLB.COM.