Former Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak made his demotion debut last night and went 1-for-3 with a walk in a 4-3 loss to Tuscon. Smoak was hitting .189/.253/.320 in 344 at-bats for Seattle this year, and hit .271/.377/.481 in 35 games for Tacoma back in 2010. Here's hoping to players figuring out why they sucked so bad by playing against weaker competition.
Shortstop Nick Franklin went 1-for-4 with two RBI but also struck out three times. He has now struck out 43 times in 29 AAA games, an incredible 35% of his at-bats. Makes me miss Greg Halman, God rest his soul.
Fellow demotee Hector Noesi got the start and struck out 9 batters in 5.1 innings but walked 3, allowed 4 hits, 4 R, and 3 ER to pick up the loss. He is now 0-2 in three starts with a 10.54 ERA. Chance Ruffin, who appears to be contractually obligated to pitch in every game, pitched a scoreless inning of relief to lower his ERA to 7.12. He's now got an ERA of 3.00 in his last ten appearances.