Weekend Minor League Recap - 4/21

TRIPLE-A
Friday 4/18 Scranton 9 Charlotte 5
Kei Igawa turned a quality start and Scranton got home runs from Eric Duncan (2), Cody Ransom, and Shelley Duncan.

Saturday 4/19 Scranton 1 Rochester 0
Four Yankees pitchers combined on the shutout. Ransom drove in the game's only run in the 6th inning.

Sunday 4/20 Rochester 7 Scranton 4
The Yankees had a 4-0 lead, but starter Steven White and relievers Sean Henn and Chris Britton faltered. Brett Gardner had an RBI and a run scored, and is hitting .345.


DOUBLE-A

Friday 4/18 Trenton 8 New Britain 4
Chase Wright improved to 3-1 (2.92 ERA) and Kevin Russo and Cody Ehlers drove in 2 runs each.

Saturday 4/19 Trenton 5 New Britain 3
The Thunder tied the game in the 8th and then won it in the 11th on Ramiro Pena's 2-run single. Pena also homered in the game as did Matt Carson.

Sunday 4/20 New Britain 5 Trenton 4
The Thunder rallied late again (9th) to tie the game, but the Rock Cats got the winning run in the 12th. P.J. Pillitere went 4-6 to lead the Thunder. Starter Dan McCutchen turned in another good outing, allowing 2 earned runs in 7 innings.

Prospect check - Austin Jackson went 3-13 to drop his season average to .290. Jose Tabata went into a 1-15 skid and is hitting just .225.


ADVANCED 'A'

Friday 4/18 Lakeland 4 Tampa 1
Flying Tigers starter Luis Marte no-hit the Yankees for 7 innings in outdueling Ivan Nova (6 IP 3 H 2 ER 9 K).

Saturday 4/19 Tampa 3 Lakeland 0
Eric Hacker threw no-hit ball for 7 innings earlier this season. On Saturday, he allowed just 1 hit in 6 innings, didn't issue a walk, and struck out 5. The effort topped a good outing from NJ product Rick Porcello (6 IP 3 H 2 ER 1 BB 4 K). Hacker has allowed just 10 hits and 1 walk in 26 innings pitched thus far. He's also struck out 21 hitters.

Sunday 4/20 Tampa 3 Clearwater 0
Four Tampa pitchers combined on a 4-hit shutout with Grant Duff picking up the win.


Single-A

Friday 4/18 Columbus 6 Charleston 3
The Dogs defense let down start Zach McAllister as Charleston lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Kevin Romine was 2-3.

Saturday 4/19 Charleston 6 Columbus 0
Dellin Bettances pitched the River Dogs back to the winning side of the ledger with 2-hit ball for 5 innings. The 6'8" right-hander walked 5 and struck out 5 to improve to 3-0, 2.66. Abe Almonte tripled, homered, and drove in 4 runs.

Sunday 4/20 Charleston 11 Columbus 7
Almonte had 4 hits, including a pair of home runs, and drove in 4 and Wady Rufino homered and knocked in 5 as the River Dogs overcame a 3-0 deficit.

Prospect Check - The River Dogs catchers are doing plenty of hitting. Highly touted prospect Jesus Montero is batting .356 and has an .888 OPS. In addition to his 2 home runs and 5 doubles, Montero has 14 RBI and 14 runs scored. Fellow catcher and 2007 amateur draft pick Kevin Romine is hitting .396 with a .912 OPS. The 19-yr old has 6 RBI and 7 runs scored in 13 games.