Shortstop Nick Franklin, the top position prospect for the Mariners, made his AAA debut for the Tacoma Rainiers last night and struggled to start the game with three strikeouts and a walk in his first four plate appearances. However, he finished the night right with a 2-run double in the ninth inning off of Taylor Sinclair.
The only hitter that was in the Pacific Coast League this year that is younger than Franklin is Angels superstar centerfielder Mike Trout, so just finishing nicely and drawing a walk is a great start for the middle infielder.
Franklin started at second base last night, so he’ll be mixing time around the infield with Carlos Triunfel, the former top prospect at short. Triunfel was 1-for-4 with a home run last night. Alex Liddi started at 1B and was 2-for-4, Adam Moore started at C and was 2-for-3, and Vinnie Catricala was at 3B and went 1-for-4 with 2 RBI.
Blake Beavan made his second start for Tacoma and went 7 innings, allowing 9 hits, 1 ER, 3 K and 2 BB. He now has an ERA of 3.00 in 12 innings with the Rainiers.
Down in Jackson, Forrest Snow made his first appearance for the Generals after being demoted from Tacoma with an ERA of 8.42 in 13 games. He went 5.2 innings, striking out 4 and walking none with 1 ER allowed in the Generals 4-3 loss to Huntsville. Stefen Romero made his AA debut for Jackson and went 2-for-4 with a double.
Jonathan Arias also debuted for Jackson and picked up the loss by allowing the go-ahead run in the ninth. He had struck out 36 batters in 35 innings for High Desert.
Generals OF Joe Dunigan was named Southern League Hitter of the Week after hitting 3 HR. An award he can put next to his HR Derby trophy that he also just won.