Minor League Highlights for Friday, April 25
Tacoma 9, Tucson 6. RHP Jeff Heaverlo, coming back from a missed 2002 season due to a torn labrum, had his first rough start of the year (6 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) but still managed to pick up the win thanks to good run support and help from his bullpen. CF Adrian Myers had three hits, DH Pat Borders hit his 4th homer and three other players — 3B Luis Figueroa, C Julio Mosquera and 1B Andy Barkett — each had two hits. RHPs Brian Sweeney, Aaron Looper and Aaron Taylor each worked a scoreless inning (combined line: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K). Taylor worked the ninth for his 5th save.
San Antonio 5, Wichita 1. LHP Travis Blackley put together yet another good start, further solidifying himself as the top lefty in the system. Blackley worked seven innings (4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) to earn his second win and lower his ERA to 2.92. RHP Jared Hoerman (2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) picked up his 5th save. The offense was led by 2B Jose Lopez, who had a double, a homer, two runs batted in and a run scored in four at-bats. 1B AJ Zapp also homered and C Scott Maynard tripled.
Inland Empire 3, San Jose 1. LHP Ryan Ketchner, making his first start of the season, turned in a strong start (5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) to go to 3-0 on the season. Offensively, CF Greg Jacobs drove in two runs with a triple and C Luis Oliveros and 3B Hunter Brown each had two hits, including a pair of doubles for Brown. RHP Mike Steele worked the 9th (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) for his 5th save, tying Taylor and Hoerman for tops in the organization.
Wisconsin 4, South Bend 0. The Timber Rattlers made it a clean sweep for the M’s farm system Friday, holding South Bend to just one hit — a two-out double in the first inning. RHP TA Fulmer (5 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) picked up his first win of the season, and RHP Rich Dorman (2 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) earned his first save. Dorman has now fanned 25 hitters in 18 2/3 innings this season, with a 0.48 ERA and .215 batting average against. Wisconsin had just six hits in the game, each by a different hitter. DH Dustin Delucchi was the offensive star with a two-run double in the third.