Fish Farm Report: April 21st

Triple-A

Pacific Coast League

New Orleans Baby Cakes 3, Iowa Cubs 4

The I-Cubs (8-8) defeated the Zephyrs Cakes (6-10) in a tight 4-3 affair on Friday night in front of 6,511 at Shrine on Airline in Metairie, Louisiana.

The Cubs struck first with a pair of second inning runs, the first on a Mark Zagunis single and the second on a bases-loaded double-play groundout. New Orleans got one back in the bottom half of the frame on a Ramon Cabrera double to left field, scoring Matt den Dekker.

The Cubs added one in their half of the sixth on an Ian Happ (7) homer. It looked like it was headed towards a quiet end for the Baby Cakes, but recently demoted #12 prospect J. T. Riddle smacked a leadoff homer in the eighth, followed by a Brandon Barnes single and a Destin Hood RBI-double to tie it at three. Unfortunately, Stephen Bruno hit an RBI-single in the ninth for the game-clinching hit against Cakes reliever Hunter Cervenka (0-2, 6.14).

Riddle, Barnes, Hood, and Cabrera each collected two hits for the Cakes, who lost despite outhitting the Cubbies, 12-to-8. Justin Nicolino was passable if not spectacular for New Orleans, giving up seven hits in as many innings. He allowed three earned runs and one walk while ringing up three batters.

New Orleans will open a four-game home series against the Omaha Storm Chasers tomorrow night at 6:00 PM.

Double-A

Southern League

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 0, Pensacola Blue Wahoos 2

Jacksonville’s (5-10) and Pensacola’s (12-3) starters matched zeroes for seven innings before the Shrimp bullpen gave the Wahoos an opening. There were 5,038 on hand at Blue Wahoos Stadium near the water in Pensacola.

For the Shrimp, Chris Mazza (0-1, 2.37) earned a GameScore of 80, striking out six and giving up three singles and a walk over seven full shutout innings. He was nearly matched by counterpart Austin Ross’ (1-0, 0.86) GameScore of 77. Ross also allowed three hits over seven shutout innings, whiffing seven and granting three free passes.

The Wahoos broke through in the eighth inning against Jacksonville reliever Tyler Higgins (0-2, 3.18) on a walk, a sacrifice bunt, an error, and a sacrifice fly to score Leon Landry. Joe Hudson scored two batters later on a wild pitch. Ariel Hernandez (1-0, 1.13) got the win, and Jimmy Herget earned his seventh save of the year.

For the Shrimp, right fielder and #27 prospect John Norwood went two-for-three from the plate, while left fielder Alex Glenn and second bagger David Vidal collected one hit apiece. And that was all she wrote at the double-A level.

Tomorrow night at 7:30PM ET, the Shrimp will begin a five-game series on the road in Birmingham, against the 4-11 Barons at Regions Field.

Advanced-A

Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads 18, Bradenton Marauders 2

It was pandemonium for 1,046 in attendance at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Florida. The Hammerheads (8-8) erupted for 25 hits in a nine inning game in an 18-2 win over the Marauders (9-7).

Every player for Jupiter finished with at least two hits, five batters hit two doubles, and five also finished with three or more hits. Kyle Barrett (four-for-seven) was the only Hammerhead to somehow not collect an RBI. #8 prospect Stone Garrett had three on two singles and two doubles, Angel Reyes had two on three singles, Dexter Kjerstad had two with a single and a double, Brad Haynal had two with a single and two doubles, Brian Schales had two on a pair of singles, Rodrigo Vigil had one on two doubles, Justin Bohn had one on a single and two doubles, and Zach Sullivan collected four on two two-baggers.

Trevor Richards (2-1, 0.00) struck out six while allowing three hits and a walk in victory for a 72 GameScore. He has started the season with 21.1 scoreless innings thus far.

#14 prospect Cody Poteet (1-0, 0.56) will start for Jupiter tomorrow night at 6:30PM in game two of the three-game road series.

Single-A

South Atlantic League

Greensboro Grasshoppers 7, Augusta Greenjackets 2

It was much closer than the final score would indicate, as the Hoppers (8-8) defeated the Jackets (6-10) with 5,543 in attendance at First National Bank Field.

Michael King started for Greensboro, earning no decision while allowing just one run over six innings, striking out eight for a GameScore of 69. He has allowed nine hits in 19 innings so far this season, and is currently sporting a 2-0 record with a 0.47 ERA. #8 prospect Sam Perez (2-0, 7.27) earned the win despite blowing a save, and Kyle Keller struck out four over the final two innings.

The Hoppers struck first, getting on the board in the second on a Corey Bird RBI-single. Augusta waited until the sixth to get it back, with a Skyler Ewing RBI-groundout.

Greensboro made it 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth on a Jarett Rindfleisch sacrifice fly, but Augusta decided to make it interesting by evening the score the very next inning on a Sandro Fabian sacrifice fly.

The Grasshoppers blew the game wide open in the bottom half of the seventh, after a Garvis Lara leadoff double, an Aaron Knapp bunt single, a Mason Davis walk, and a James Nelson (Miami’s #10 prospect) RBI-single. That left the bases loaded with nobody out. Reliever D. J. Myers promptly threw a wild pitch to score Knapp, then after a Colby Lusignan walk, finally got the first out of the inning by getting Walker Olis to whiff on strike three. The embattled reliever gave up two more runs on a bases-loaded hit batsman (Rindfleisch) and a bases-loaded wild pitch (scoring Nelson).

Knapp led the Hoppers with three singles, while Lusignan, Olis, and Boo Vazquez got two singles each.

Greensboro will try to get a leg up in the four-game series in game three, tomorrow at 7 PM. Jordan Holloway (0-0, 6.75) will get the start opposite Caleb Baragar (0-0, 2.00).

Prospect Watch

#3 Brian Anderson went 0-for-3 with a whiff and a walk for the Shrimp against the Wahoos.

#9 Drew Steckenrider gave up a walk and struck out one for the Cakes in an inning of relief against the Cubs.

#28 Tomas Telis grounded out in the seventh inning, pinch hitting for Nicolino.

#30 Yefri Perez continued his unsteady start to the year, going 0-for-4 and lowering his batting average to .098.

Today’s Transactions

Miami sent first baseman Tyler Moore outright to New Orleans, and the Cakes turned around and sent center fielder Isaac Galloway down to the Shrimp.

The Shrimp placed catcher Chris Hoo onto the 7-day disabled list with a bruised thumb.

The Grasshoppers had a busy day of game non-related activity. They activated 2B Mason Davis from the seven-day DL, and placed 2B Justin Twine in his place due to right thumb contusion. James Nelson and Walker Olis played despite only just arriving from the GCL Marlins and the Batavia Muckdogs, respectively. The Hoppers also sent shortstop Rony Cabrera and outfielder Dalton Wheat to extended spring training and assigned pitcher Chad Smith to the Muckdogs.

C.J. Robinson, Miami’s 12th round pick in the 2013 draft, retired from baseball after pitching in 140 minor league contests over the last four seasons. He posted an 11-10 record and a 3.08 ERA, striking out 168 batters in 201.2 innings between the Muckdogs, the Hammerheads, the Grasshoppers, and the Suns.