Minor League Highlights for Wednesday, May 28
Fresno 9, Tacoma 4. RHP Jeff Heaverlo’s struggles continued, as he put together his worst start of the year (3 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) and took the loss, falling to 3-5 on the season. After a very promising start Heaverlo has been roughed up lately as he’s struggled with his command, but this is to be expected given that he’s coming back from surgery. On a positive note, he isn’t experiencing any shoulder pain. Offensively, DH Jalal Leach and C Julio Mosquera each had a pair of hits, including a homer for Leach, while LF Adrian Myers added his 4th homer of the year.
San Antonio 11, El Paso 3. LHP Travis Blackley shut down El Paso (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) to move to 6-2 on the year with a 2.18 ERA, and RHP Jared Hoerman (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) picked up his 13th save, tops in the organization. The Missions were led on offense by SS Jose Lopez, who was 3-4 with a double and scored three runs. 3B Justin Leone and LF Jaime Bubela each added two hits including a triple for Bubela, who also drove in three runs. El Paso, who made four errors on Tuesday, followed up that performance by making a remarkable SIX errors in the game.
Inland Empire 6, Lake Elsinore 3. The 66ers pounded out 14 hits, six of which went for extra bases, helping RHP Russ Morgan (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) to his first win of the season. Morgan took over in relief from RHP Kevin Olore (6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), who left the game with his team trailing 3-2, only to see them score two in the 7th and two more in the 8th to win it. In a balanced offensive attack, each starter had at least one hit, the six runs were scored by six different players and five different hitters drove in a run. C Luis Oliveros continued his hot hitting with a 3-4 game to lead the way, and DH Shin-soo Choo and RF Cristian Guerrero each tripled.
Fort Wayne 6, Wisconsin 4. Despite scoring a run in each of their first three innings, the Timber Rattlers fell as RHP Tanner Watson (4 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K) allowed three runs in the 1st and three in the 3rd. The bullpen pitched admirably the rest of the way, allowing just one hit over the final four innings, but the offense was unable to mount a comeback. 1B Jon Nelson and LF Corey Harrington each had a single and a double in the game. Nelson has raised his average to .280, but has yet to display the same power he did at Everett last year when he led the Northwest League with 17 homers.