Vidal Goes Yard Twice, Gunkel Seven Strong

Miami placed RHP Nick Wittgren on the 10-day DL with a right elbow strain. RHP Odrisamer Despaigne was called up from New Orleans to take his spot on the roster.

Later in the day, the Marlins traded closer A.J. Ramos to the New York Mets for RHP Merandy Gonzalez and CF Ricardo Cespedes.

RHP Omar Bencomo was assigned to the Baby Cakes from New Orleans.

RHP Colton Hock was assigned to the Muckdogs from the GCL Marlins

LHP Manuel Rodriguez was assigned to GCL from Batavia.

RHP Elkin Alcala was assigned to the GCL Marlins from the DSL Marlins.

RHP Edgar Martinez was assigned to the DSL Marlins from the GCL Marlins.

Triple-A

Pacific Coast League

New Orleans Baby Cakes 2, Fresno Grizzlies 4

The Grizzlies (63-43) completed a four-game sweep of the Baby Cakes (40-65) with a 4-2 victory late on Friday night with 12,382 in Chukchansi Park.

Scott Copeland (7-10, 5.45) started and lost for the Cakes, allowing two runs on three walks and five hits in six innings, and striking out five. William Cuevas surrendered two earned runs in as many innings in relief.

The Cakes got on the board in the top of the first when Steve Lombardozzi scored on a Mike Hauschild wild pitch, and held the lead at 1-0 until the sixth inning. Then the Grizzlies scored four runs over the next three innings to take a 4-1 lead. Moises Sierra (11) hit a solo shot in the ninth, then Brian Anderson hit a one-out-double before Jordan Jankowski collected the final two outs of the game.

Double-A

Southern League

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 4, Mississippi Braves 3

The Shrimp (48-56, 17-16) rode two solo homers by David Vidal and solid starting pitching from Joe Gunkel to a 4-3 win over Mississippi (45-58) with 3,532 in attendance at Trustmark Park.

Gunkel gave up two hits and zero walks over seven scoreless frames, striking out four and dropping his ERA to 4.56 with a 76 GameScore. Severino Gonzalez (5-5, 4.42) blew another save, but earned the victory after allowing a run in his inning of work. Jeff Kinley tossed a scoreless ninth for his first save with Jacksonville.

Vidal (6) cranked his first shot for a 1-0 lead in the third inning, but Mississippi came back to take the lead with a Dylan Moore two-RBI-single in the bottom half. The Shrimp took a 3-2 advantage after scoring on a John Norwood RBI-single and a Braxton Lee sacrifice fly in the eighth, but Gonzalez allowed Travis Demeritte to tie the game for the Braves on a Joe Odom RBI-single.

Vidal (7) hit the eventual game winner to lead off the ninth, to left field. He totaled three hits for the game, as did K.C. Serna, who had two singles and a double. Braxton Lee hit two doubles, while Austin Dean and Alex Yarbrough hit a pair of singles each.

High-A

Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads (53-49)

Jupiter’s home contest against the Florida Fire Frogs (36-60) was postponed due to rain.

Single-A

South Atlantic League

Greensboro Grasshoppers (53-46)

The Grasshoppers road matchup against the Delmarva Shorebirds (48-52) was postponed due to inclement weather.

Short-A

New York-Penn League

Batavia Muckdogs 4, State College Spikes 3

Brayan Hernandez led the Muckdogs (12-24) offense with three hits, and Batavia pitching held the line at three runs for a victory over the Spikes (20-16) with 1,106 in the house at Dwyer Stadium.

Alejandro Mateo (1-1, 3.16) struck out seven in 5 ²⁄₃ innings, surrendering two earned runs on seven hits and a walk. Shane Sawczak struggled with control, giving up three walks in 1 ¹⁄₃ innings, along with one hit and one run while striking out three. Brent Wheatley earned his third save of the season with two scoreless innings and two whiffs.

Hernandez led off the bottom of the first with a triple for the Muckdogs, then scored on a Zach Kirtley throwing error for a 1-0 Batavia lead. The Spikes put two up in the third on an Evan Mendoza RBI-singel and a Yariel Gonzalez RBI-single for a 2-1 State College advantage.

Batavia came back in the fifth with two more runs, on a Terry Bennett RBI-single and a Michael Hernandez RBI-double, then another in the sixth on a Harrison White RBI-single for a 4-2 lead. Scott Hurst (1) homered for the Spikes in the seventh, but Batavia’s bullpen got the next eight outs without further incident.

Rookie

Gulf Coast League

GCL Marlins 3, GCL Nationals 6

The Baby Fish (13-15) dropped a 6-3 decision to the Junior Nationals (18-9) at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on Friday afternoon.

Matt Givin started and allowed one hit in one inning, striking one out. Dakota Bennett (0-2, 13.50) lost, allowing four earned runs on three hits and a walk in ¹⁄₃ of a frame. Miguel De Los Santos went 4 ²⁄₃ innings, striking out four and allowing five hits and walk for two earned runs. Karl Craigie and Gavin Fritz each pitched a scoreless inning of relief later in the contest, totaling three strikeouts.

Already trailing by a 6-0 count in the fifth, the Marlins got their first run on Denis Karas’ first homer of the season. They added a pair in the seventh on a Karas RBI-single and a Gerardo Nunez RBI-single.

J.D. Osborne also collected a pair of hits for the Marlins.

Dominican Summer League

DSL Marlins 5, DSL Athletics 7

This version of the Marlins (23-21) lost a 7-5 matchup to the DSL Athletics (24-22) on Friday morning.

Leudy Martinez (0-4, 5.48) lost, although he didn’t pitch that bad. He surrendered three unearned runs on two hits and a walk, while striking out three in three innings. Brayan De Paula struck out three in two scoreless innings later on.

Danielsan Heureux hit three singles, and Jorge Caballero collected two in the loss. Daniel Paulino totaled two RBI.

Prospect of the Day

Joe Gunkel tossed a 76 GameScore, allowing two hits and zero walks in seven innings. He held Mississippi scoreless while collecting four strikeouts.

Fish Stripes Top 30 Prospect Watch

#1 Trevor Rogers

#2 Braxton Garrett

#3 Brian Anderson went 1-for-4 with a doubled and a strikeout batting fifth in the order for the Baby Cakes. He’s hitting .340 for New Orleans.

#4 Dillon Peters

#5 Tyler Kolek

#6 Merandy Gonzalez

#7 Brian Miller

#8 Brayan Hernandez led off for the Muckdogs and went 3-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored. He’s at .455 in his first three games with the club.

#9 James Nelson

#10 Drew Steckenrider went one inning for the Marlins, allowing one hit and striking three batters out.

#11 Jeff Brigham

#12 Cody Poteet

#13 Colton Hock

#14 Thomas Jones batted third and went 0-for-3 with two whiffs and a walk to drop to .200 for the Muckdogs.

#15 Joe Dunand

#16 Riley Mahan

#17 Ryan Lillie

#18 Sam Perez

#19 Trevor Richards

#20 Brandon Miller

#21 Edward Cabrera

#22 Sean Reynolds batted fifth for GCL, and dropped to .247 by going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

#23 Pablo Lopez

#24 Ricardo Cespedes

#25 Isael Soto

#26 John Norwood went 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit RBI for the Jumbo Shrimp, raising his average to .280.

#27 Austin Dean went 2-for-4 with a walk batting fifth and hitting .286 for Jacksonville.

#28 Ynmanol Marinez

#29 Albert Guaimaro batted third for GCL and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout to drop to .200.

#30 Stone Garrett

Later

Beginning at 10:30PM, the DSL Marlins and DSL Athletics will complete the game they suspended in the sixth inning tied at three from earlier in the season in the first half of a “doubleheader.”

The Hammerheads will host the Lakeland Flying Tigers (45-52) at 5:30PM. Jupiter will send Ben Meyer (2-2, 1.11) to the hill to try and nail down their sixth win in a row.

At 7PM, the Shrimp will go for their fourth straight against the Braves. They'll send Chris Mazza (1-6, 3.01) to the mound.

Michael King (8-6, 3.26) will get the start for Greensboro at 7:05PM against the Shorebirds.

Also at 7:05PM, Ryan Lillie (0-2, 4.22) and the Muckdogs will take on the Spikes.

After a disappointing series loss to the Fresno Grizzlies, the Baby Cakes will visit the Sacramento RiverCats (43-61) for the first game of a four-game set. Starting pitching is yet to be determined.

Birthdays

None

Minor League History

(courtesy of milb.com)

Salvador Perez of the Omaha Storm Chasers hit his third grand slam in a week, in his third triple-A game. He totaled four homers and 20 RBI, going 13-for-28 during the stretch in 2011.

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