minor lines, 5/14/14

AAA: Fresno had a scheduled offday.

Fresno got its only offday in May, about to start an eight-game homestand.  Their next offday will be June 4th.

Some notable top performers of Fresno, with Pacific Coast League rankings:

BA: Joe Panik - .318 (19th)
HR: Adam Duvall - 13 (1st)
SB: Chris Dominguez - 11 (t-2nd, with two other players)  Yeah, I didn't believe that as I typed it either.

ERA: Jason Berken - 2.94 (9th)
WHIP: Jason Berken - 1.08 (9th)
SV: Heath Hembree - 8 (1st)

AA: Game 1 - Richmond was defeated by Bowie, 5-3
(7 Inning game)

Richmond: LF Ryan Lollis: 2 for 3, R, 3B, RBI
Richmond: DH Ricky Oropesa: 2 for 3, 1 R, 1 RBI

Richmond: SP Adalberto Mejia: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2 HR

Hits have been hard for Lollis to come by.  The two hits were his first multi-hit game of May, and the triple was just his second extra-base hit.  Lollis is batting just .087 against left-handed pitching.  Ricky Oropesa is batting .276 over his last ten games

Adalberto Mejia has gone six innings in four of his last five games, but has given up at least three runs in his last four to raise his ERA significantly.  This was his first full start (not counting a one-inning start in April due to weather) where he did not walk a batter, but was also his lowest strikeout total (with the same exception).

AA: Game 2 - Richmond was defeated by Bowie, 7-4
(7 Inning game, from April 30th Postponement)

Richmond: DH Mario Lisson: 1 for 2, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Richmond: 1B Angel Villalona: 1 for 3, 2B, RBI, 2 SO

Richmond: SP Austin Fleet: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, HR
Richmond: RP Derek Law: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO

Lisson grabbed his fifth home run of the season, breaking a three-game hitless streak.  Villalona's double was his eighth of the year.  He also has a triple and three home runs.

Austin Fleet got his first start of the year in a doubleheader spot start.  He's gone as far as 4.1 innings in relief, however.  Derek Law had his second rough game in three appearances, after giving up three runs on May 9th.  In 16/1 innings, he's given up 10 hits and nine walks.

A+: San Jose defeated Stockton 7-5

San Jose: DH Shawn Payne: 3 for 6, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI
San Jose: 3B Mitch Delfino: 3 for 5, RBI, SB

San Jose: SP Pat Young: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO

Shawne Payne may have been batting leadoff, but he hit like a true designated hitter.  He collected his second and third home runs of the season.  Mitch Delfino simply continued his hot hitting, now batting 8-for-14 over his last three games.  He also stole his first base of the year.  He had 4 in 2013, and 4 in short-season ball in 2012.

Pat Young continues to be a short starter.  In his seven starts, he has gone exactly five innings five times, but never beyond it.  Twice in the last three games, he's given up four earned runs in five innings, walking four and striking out two.  The only difference was that Young gave up six hits instead of four this time.

A-: Augusta lost to Wext Virginia, 5-4
(In 10 innings, after Augusta scored 2 runs in the 8th to tie it)

Augusta: CF Chris Lofton: 2 for 5, 2B, 2 SO
Augusta: LF Rafael Rodriguez: 2 for 4, RBI

Augusta: SP Keury Mella: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Chris Lofton made his Augusta debut after batting just .189 in San Jose in 20 games.  Lofton had two doubles and three triples, and four steals in six attempts.  Meanwhile, Rafael Rodriguez is hitting .500 on the season!  That's because today was his season debut at any level.  Rodriguez is starting his third campaign at Augusta after batting .208 with four home runs in 73 games last year.

Mella pushed himself to his longest stint of the season, beating his previous high by one out.  He walked more than one batter since April 11th (five starts).  He has 36 strikeouts and 9 walks in 38.1 innings.

As part of the move to bring back Rafael Rodriguez, the GreenJackets placed Nick Vander Tuig on the DL.  They also assigned Randy Ortiz to EST, and activated Ray Montero.