Gwinnett 5, Syracuse 6
- B. Canizares 2-5 2B, K
- B. Conrad 2-4 2 RBI, SB(6)
- T. Hanson 5.2IP 5H 4R 1ER 0BB 8K
Hanson was pretty much cruising till he hit the 6th. The defense made two errors behind him in the inning cwhich ended up plating all 4 runs. The big blow was a 2-Run Homer from Corey Patterson after the second error was committed. I don't usually discriminate between runs and earned runs but Hanson should have recored 4 outs in an inning in which he only had 2 on his record. The only thing that worries me right now about Hanson is that he has given up 5 HR in his 66.1IP this year. Thats not a lot, but his fly ball rate suggests he could give them up in bunches. Really I am in the camp that his stuff is so good that it just induces a lot of weak pop up, but it is worth mentioning.
West Tennessee 4, Mississippi 1
- E. Campbell 1-4 HR(2), K
- S. Diamond 6.2IP 6H 2R 3BB 3K
- C. Gearrin 0.2IP 0H 2R 1BB 1K
Eric Campbell continues his torrid hitting of late. In his last 9 games he is hitting .448 with 4 of his 11 XBH for the season. Homers tend to come in bunches, especially for Campbell who is prone to streakiness. Cory Gearrin finally gave up some runs, but he didn't actually give them up. He came in and relieved Diamond in the 7th and picked up a K and then got the first guy in the 8th. Then he hit a guy and walked the next guy. Gunderson came in and allowed two consecutive singles after a double steal put two men in scoring position. I feel like Gearrin could have gotten out of it himself.
Myrtle Beach 3, Wilmington 1
- CJ Lee 2-4 K, CS(4)
- C. Johnson 1-4 2B, RBI, K
- E. Cordier 6.1IP 5H 1R 1BB 5K
Cody Johnson has 29 XBH in less than 200 ABs at this point in the season. He's not on the pace Brandon Wood was a couple years back, but that a pace of about 85 for the season. INSANE. Just sayin. Eric Cordier has been really good coming back from injury this year. If he can get his walks under control he could really explode. Jason Heyward has missed 5 or 6 consecutive games at this point. I've heard that it is a hammy injury, an oblique thing or a reoccurrence of his hip issue from earlier in the season. I haven't been able to get confirmation on any of it yet, but the Braves have been very careful with him in any of his little tweaks. Hopefully it will be ok. Also, The Pelicans are still the worst team in the Carolina League (by far), but they have shown some improvement going 8-6 in their last 15 games. Not great, but better than the 11-24 they started with.
Rome 5, Bowling Green 3
- L. Sumoza 3-5 2B, RBI, 2K
- J. Sucre 3-4 2 2B, RBI
- Z. Spruill 5IP 5H 3R 1BB 4K
- C. Kimbrel 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 1K
This crap with Jesus Sucre is getting ridiculous, and now he is starting to add in some doubles power to go along with all the hits he is dropping in. He is currently on a 15 game hitting streak that actually stretches all the way back to May 7th because he wasn't even the starting catcher when the streak started. He was hitting .283 at the time and is now sitting at a smooth .356 on the season. He doesn't walk. Like, at all. Only 4 of them in 104 AB. But, he doesn't K much either. Only 8 total. He's never shown any ability to hit anything like this with his highest season AVG being .221 in the GCL in 2007. He is 21, so he's a little old, but still this is impressive. Zeke put up a decent start tonight but was victimized by last years top pick, Tim Beckham, who hit a 2 run homer off of him. Otherwise he was pretty solid. Craig Kimbrel has only walked 3 guys in 12.2IP in Rome as compared to 18 in 10.2IP in Myrtle Beach. Also he is striking out 18.5 men per 9 innings Rome. I'm going to bold that for emphasis.