Anthony Vazquez may have been one of the worst starting pitchers in recent Seattle Mariners history (and that’s saying a lot) but he still seems perfectly appropriate for AAA Tacoma. Vazquez pitched 7 innings of 1-hit ball against Colorado Springs last night, striking out 5 against 1 walk and allowing one solo home run.
Shawn Kelley struggled in his only inning, allowing 3 hits and 1 R, but Chance Ruffin closed things out with a perfect ninth inning, striking out two and picking up his first save of the season. Vinnie “Vincent” Catricala, one of the Mariners top hitting prospects, went 3-for-4 and drove in 3 runs.
Tacoma is now 3-2 and they face off against Colorado again tonight at 7:05 PST.
The High Desert Mavericks maintained their perfect record after beating San Jose 6-5 and moving to 5-0 on the season. First baseman Steven Proscia went 3-for-3 with a home run and a double, and SS Brad Miller went 2-for-5, lowering his batting average to .478.
I expect that catcher John Hicks could move quickly out of High Desert and join former Virginia teammate Danny Hultzen soon in Jackson. He went 1-for-5 and is currently batting .421/.522/.684 in the very short season.
Roenis Elias did not have a good start for High Desert (4 innings, 4 BB, 3 K, 3 ER) but the bullpen gave up just 2 runs in five innings of relief and Jonathan Arias picked up his second save of the season.
Anthony Fernandez gets the start against San Jose tonight as the Mavs try to stay perfect.
The Clinton Lumberkings ended up losing 7-6 to Cedar Rapids after failing to maintain an early 6-1 lead. I guess they wanted to be like their big brother Seattle Mariners.
Leadoff hitter Jamal Austin went 2-for-4 for Clinton, but there were few other highlights. Starting pitcher Trevor Miller gave up 6 hits and 2 ER without a walk in five innings of work, but three Lumberkings errors led to three unearned runs. Cedar Rapids actually had five errors of their own, but it wasn’t enough for Clinton to overcome their own follies.
Cameron Hobson makes his second start of the season tonight for Clinton. You can follow on radio here.