It was a good day to be affiliated with the Mariners as every minor league affiliate picked up a win yesterday, the strongest showing coming from top prospect Danny Hultzen in a 2-0 Jackson victory.
Hultzen went 6.1 innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks, 0 R and 5 K. He hasn’t allowed an earned run (2 unearned in his previous start) in his last 12 innings with just three hits allowed and 14 strikeouts. His season ERA now sits at 2.81 and he’s only allowed earned runs in one inning this year.
Stephen Pryor pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save of the season.
SS Nick Franklin finally broke out of his slump after going 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base. Rich Poythress homered for the first time this season.
Andrew Carraway and the Generals start a weekend series in Huntsville this evening.
The Tacoma Rainiers also pitched a shutout, beating Sacramento by a score of 1-0 on a solo shot by Guillermo Quiroz in the third inning. (If you’re counting at home, that’s a combined 18 shutout innings by the Generals and Rainiers and all three runs scored on a homer.)
There’s not much good news from the hitting department: Vinnie Catricala continues to struggle, going 0-for-3 with 2 strikeouts and now hitting .172. Mike Carp went 0-for-3 with 2 strikeouts and is now hitting .148. Carlos Triunfel went 0-for-4 and is hitting .241. Trayvon Robinson went 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts and is hitting .246.
Meanwhile Anthony Vazquez continues to dominate. He went 7.2 innings, allowed 4 hits and lowered his season ERA to 0.87 in 20.2 innings. Vazquez was pretty bad with the M’s last season but he could be on the cusp of returning to the big leagues. Also on the cusp should be relief pitcher Shawn Kelley, who picked up his second save of the season. He has now pitched 8.1 innings with 12 strikeouts, 3 walks, and a 2.16 ERA.
Jarrett Grube pitches for the Rainiers in their final game of the series in Sacramento tonight.
Steven Proscia homered three times for the High Desert Mavericks in a 14-8 win over Inland Empire. Proscia is now hitting .356/.420/.711 on the year and the 21-year-old seems to be enjoying High Desert like most hitters.
Jack Marder went 2-for-4 with a home run and James Jones went 2-for-3 with his first home run of the season. SS Brad Miller was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
George Mieses (1-1, 4.96 ERA) picked up his first win of the season and struck out six in six innings. Roenis Elias gets the start against Inland Empire at 7:05 tonight.
The Lumberkings round out the victorious affiliates with a 2-1 win over the Lake County Captains. Steve Baron went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Trevor Miller allowed just 1 R over 7 innings to pick up his first win of the year. Interestingly, Miller didn’t walk anybody or strike anybody out.
Clinton really continues to struggle offensively. It’s early, but Guillermo Pimental is now 6-for-50 on the season (.120/.154/.200) and one has to wonder if he was ready for full-season ball.
Cameron Hobson gets the ball tonight for Clinton as they try to stay on the winning side.