Minor League Recap - 6/26

Games of 6/25

Dan McCutchen had a decent outing for the Scranton Yankees last night, but saw his record fall to 1-6 as the Columbus Clippers took a 5-1 decision. McCutchen allowed 3 earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched. He allowed 7 hits, walked 3, and struck out 4. Shelley Duncan's sacrifice fly brought home the only run and gave the Yankees a temporary 1-0 lead. Matt Carson had 3 hits, falling a home run shy of a cycle.

	June 25, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Columbus 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 5 11 0 Scranton/WB 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 2 Recap | Box | W: M. Bacsik (6-3, 4.40); L: D. McCutchen (1-6, 4.30) HR: None.

Eric Hacker and the Trenton Thunder bullpen were dynamite last night, shutting out the Erie SeaWolves 7-0. Hacker (2-1, 1.97) allowed 4 hits in 6.2 IP, walked 2, and struck out 5. Between Tampa and Trenton, he's 4-3, 1.91 in 15 starts, with just 64 hits allowed in 85 innings.

Colin Curtis (4 hits) and Jose Tabata (3 hits) enjoyed big nights at the plate, driving in 2 runs apiece. Austin Jackson has hit a bit of a skid, going 2 for his last 16.

	June 25, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Erie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 Trenton 3 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 X 7 12 0 Recap | Box | W: E. Hacker (2-1, 1.97); L: B. Fritz (2-3, 5.63) HR: None.

The Tampa Yankees game with the Daytona Cubs was postponed due to rain.

It was a tough night for starter Wil Heredia and reliever Gabe Medina as the two allowed 6 runs in 8 innings pitched, in the Charleston RiverDogs 6-1 loss to the Columbus Catfish. Brad Suttle stopped the RiverDogs from being shutout in the 9th with his 5th home run of the year.

	June 25, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Columbus 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 6 8 0 Charleston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1 Recap | Box | W: J. Hall (2-1, 3.40); L: J. Heredia (2-2, 3.40) HR: COL: R. Fronk (8). CHA: B. Suttle (5).

The Staten Island Yankees dropped a 7-6 scoring fest to the Aberdeen IronBirds, who scored the game winner in the bottom of the 9th. The Baby Bombers had rallied back from a 6-0 deficit. Shortsop Addison Maruszak lead the offense with 3 hits and an RBI.

	June 25, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Staten Island 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 6 13 3 Aberdeen 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 11 3 Recap | Box W: F. Deza (1-0, 0.00); L: J. Gonell (1-1, 3.00) HR: ABE: J. Julius (2).

The Gulf Coast Yankees improved to 5-2 on the season with a 4-2 win over the GCL Phillies. Ryan Pope got the start as part of a rehab session, throwing 3 scoreless innings. Manny Banuelos threw 3 shutout innings of his own to earn his 2nd win.

	June 25, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E GCL Phillies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 6 0 GCL Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 X 4 8 2 Recap | Box W: M. Banuelos (2-0, 0.00); L: R. Simon (1-1, 4.22); SV: D. Kapala (1) HR: None.

News and Notes

Chad Jennings reports that Al Aceves should be getting his first start for Scranton on Saturday against the Buffalo Bison. Scott Patterson has been placed on the DL due to some kind of bug he's been fighting.

The Binghamton Mets and Altoona Curve of the Eastern League had a huge brawl Tuesday night, with the two opposing managers going at it first. You can read about it here.

Charleston always has some interesting promotions. Last night was "Go Back to Ohio Night at The Joe". There's been a large influx of Ohioans moving to Charleston. We suppose it was done tongue in cheek, although... And in case you don't know, the RiverDogs park is "Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park" or "The Joe".

The Journal Gazette in Illinois has a story on Tampa outfielder Mitch Hilligoss, the former Big Ten Conference batting champion.

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Minor League Recap - 5/8

Starting pitching was the theme of the night from Chien-Ming Wang right on down through High 'A' ball. For the second straight night a Scranton Yankees starter dominated the Charlotte Knights in a 5-1 win. Ian Kennedy threw 1-hit ball for 7-plus innings on Tuesday night. Last night, Steven White blanked the Knights on 4 hits through 6.2 innings. White issued 4 walks and struck out 3 as improved to 3-1, 2.68. Brett Gardner drove in 2 runs and Greg Porter hit his first home run of the year.

The Trenton Thunder blanked the Erie SeaWolves 6-0 in a rain shortened game. Phil Coke limited Erie to 4 hits in 5 innings and struck out 7. The game was called in the top of the 6th with the Thunder at-bat. Edwar Gonzalez celebrated his fifth game in Double-A with 2 hits and his first home run. He had hit 6 dingers at Tampa.

Ryan Pope tossed 6 scoreless innings, striking out 6 in Tampa's 2-1 win over the Brevard County Manatees. Andres Perez and Tim Battle each picked up an RBI for the Yankees.

The excellent starting pitching came to end at 'A' ball where the Charleston RiverDogs' Noel Castillo got knocked around. The bullpen fared even worse in the 9-3 loss to the Asheville Tourists (shouldn't Tourists play nothing but road games?). Justin Snyder (3-4, .328 on the season) and Taylor Holiday (2 RBI) provided the only bright spots on the day.

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Is the Pope a Pitcher?

The Yankees used the 124th pick in yesterday's amateur draft to choose pitcher Ryan Pope from Savannah College of Art & Design.

Here was the write up in today Savannah Morning News:

Right-handed pitcher is 124th player picked in First-Year Player Draft

Disappointment only lasted a few moments for Savannah College of Art and Design right-hander Ryan Pope on Thursday.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder thought he might get selected in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft by a team that saw him often while pitching with the Bees.

But the New York Yankees called on the next pick - late in the third round with the 124th selection in the draft overall.

"I'm excited," said Pope, the first SCAD baseball player ever selected in the draft. "It's always been a dream to play professional baseball."

The Yankees were one of three teams he worked out for individually.

But Pope thought the New York Mets, the Sand Gnats' parent club, might select him with the 123rd selection.

When the Yankees rang, he was so discombobulated the phone call got cut off.

It wasn't a problem. The Yankees called back.

The entire professional baseball world learned what the Bradenton, Fla., resident could do during the 2007 collegiate season.

He compiled a 9-5 record with a 1.15 ERA, the third-best average in NAIA, while throwing 102 innings.

Pope's control was equally outstanding. He struck out 122 and walked only 13.

SCAD coach Doug Wollenburg said Pope has already mastered four pitches - a fastball, curve, change and slider. Pope threw his fastball 90-93 mph.

"He has good velocity, and he can hold it for nine innings," said Wollenburg.

Pope was an NAIA All-American and was named Florida Sun Conference Player of the Year this season.

Pope will be the second SCAD player in professional baseball. Charlie Zink, who was signed as a free agent in 2002, has split this season with Class AA Portland (Maine) and Class AAA Pawtucket (R.I.) in the Boston Red Sox organization.

Pope's selection continues the area's success in the June draft. Last season, former Portal star pitcher Brooks Brown (then at Georgia) was picked in the supplemental round (between the first and second rounds) with the 34th selection by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

GSU's Dustin Evans (Braves, second round), GSU's Everett Teaford (Kansas City, 12th round), South Effingham's Josh Reddick (Boston, 17th round) and Brunswick's Jay Brown (Tampa Bay, 18th round) also were drafted last season.

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