Fish Farm Report: April 24th

Triple-A

Pacific Coast League

New Orleans Baby Cakes 4, Omaha Storm Chasers 1

Tonight at Shrine on Airline in front of 3,451, the fierce Baby Cakes (8-11) of New Orleans set down the nine Storm Chasers (10-8) from Omaha by a 4-1 final score.

Scott Copeland (2-2, 5.89) earned his second win of the season by striking out five over six innings, earning a 64 GameScore. He allowed five hits and two walks for one run. Despite striking out eight Cakes, opposing starter Jake Junis (1-1, 4.50) took the loss by giving up four runs in 4.2 innings.

New Orleans struck early with a Tomas Telis RBI-double in the bottom of the first, his fourth double of the season. Omaha got the run back in the top half of the fourth on a Peter O’Brien single to left field.

The bottom part of the fourth would see the Cakes score all the runs they would need for victory, on a Moises Sierra home run to center field. It was his first homer of the season. Sierra added a single and a double to his night’s totals, falling a three-bagger short of the cycle.

Raudel Lazo and Brandon Cunniff each allowed three baserunners in their respective innings of work, but neither allowed a run to plate. Brian Ellington pitched a flawless ninth for his first save of the season.

Brandon Barnes and Tomas Telis were the only Cakes aside from Sierra to finish with multiple hits.

Tomorrow’s early game will see Odrisamer Despaigne (0-0, 2.08) start against the Chasers at Noon ET.

Double-A

Southern League

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 4, Birmingham Barons 1

The Jumbo Shrimp (7-11) were victorious in a matinee against the somewhat worse-for-wear Birmingham Barons (5-13) with 7,208 on hand at Regions Field.

Omar Bencomo watched his ERA drop to 1.16 after allowing one earned run on four hits and a walk over 7.1 innings. He struck out 10 in the Shrimp victory, with a 75 GameScore. He put 67-of-87 pitches into the strike zone. Greg Nappo was credited with a successful hold, and Tyler Kinley earned his first save of the season.

Offensively, no Jacksonville player finished with more than one hit, although #3 prospect Brian Anderson collected three RBI for the game.

Jacksonville struck for all the offense they would need in the third inning, on a two-run double by Anderson. Brian Anderson scored on a throwing error by Birmingham shortstop Cleuluis Rondon to make it 3-0.

The Shrimp added an insurance run in the seventh, when Isaac Galloway crossed the plate on an Anderson sacrifice fly. The Drive struck back too little too late with a leadoff Mason Robbins home run in the eighth inning, his second round tripper of the campaign.

Bencomo is now 3-0, with a sub-1 WHIP and an opposing batting average of .224, along with the aforementioned 1.16 ERA.

Mike Kickham will get the ball for his fourth start of the season tomorrow against the Barons in Game Four of the five-game series. He is 0-2 with a 6.60 ERA thus far, and looks to improve against the reeling Barons. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 PM.

Advanced-A

Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads

Jupiter (9-9) gets a night off, and will host the Daytona Tortugas (10-8) tomorrow at 6:30 PM. Jorgan Cavaniero (0-1, 2.79) will make his third start of the season.

Single-A

South Atlantic League

Greensboro Grasshoppers 3, Greenville Drive 5

The Grasshoppers dropped back to the .500 mark after dropping a 5-3 decision to the Greenville Drive. There were 5,015 in attendance at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, SC.

The Drive struck in their half of the first on heads-up baserunning by Tyler Hill. After getting hit by a pitch, Hill stole second, stole third, and took home on a wild pitch by Hoppers starter L.J. Brewster. Greensboro scored in the next half, on a Mason Davis RBI-double to tie it at one. It would remain tied until the fifth inning.

The Grasshoppers struck in the fifth on an Aaron Knapp RBI-single and in the sixth on a Boo Vazquez RBI-single, but it wasn’t quite enough. The Drive erupted for four runs in their half of the sixth after Brewster was lifted.

Ryley MacEachern gave up a walk and a wild pitch before striking out Hill, who took first base on a passed ball. After walking the bases loaded, he allowed a Ryan Scott RBI-single and a bases-loaded walk before getting relieved in favor of Michael Mertz. Mertz gave up an RBI-single before notching two strikeouts and a flyout to get out of the frame.

The Grasshoppers outhit the Drive by a factor of three, 9-to-3, but couldn’t get enough guys across the plate. Walker Olis and Vazquez each collected a pair of singles, and Brewster finished with a 63 GameScore after getting 49-of-76 pitches in the strike zone.

Prospect Watch

#10 James Nelson went one-for-four with a double and three strikeouts for the Hoppers, and is hitting at a .364 clip.

#12 J.T. Riddle went 1-for-four with a run scored against the Chasers and is hitting .367 at the triple-A level.

#27 John Norwood went 0-for-4 with three whiffs and is now hitting .258.

#28 Tomas Telis went two-for-four with a double and an RBI. He is hitting .293 thus far this season.

#30 Yefri Perez went one-for-four with three strikeouts and raised his average to .121.

Transactions

The Cakes activated right fielder Cal Towey from the DL on Saturday, placed right-hander Javy Guerra on the inactive list and assigned Towey to the Jumbo Shrimp on Sunday, and activated right-hander Brandon Cunniff from the 7-day DL earlier today. A few hours ago, they released shortstop Ryan Jackson. Jackson was hitting .262 over 14 games with the Cakes, with eight walks and four RBI. The Shrimp also assigned center fielder Alex Glenn to the Batavia Muckdogs late yesterday.

Is there anything else you’d like to see in your daily minor league wrapup? Let us know in the comments!