Charlotte 6, Durham 4. JP Howell struck out 8 and walked only 1 and allowed 3 runs in 7 innings. Justin Ruggiano was 2-4 and hit his 15th home run. He is hitting .290. Evan Longoria was the Bulls’ DH and went 1-4 with a strike out. He is now 4-13 (.308) with 3 RBI since being promoted to AAA. He has 3 strikeouts and 3 walks.
Montgomery 11, Tennessee 8. Jon Jaso was 3-3 and was on base 5 times. He scored 4 runs, hit his 9th home run and drove in 2. He is now hitting .308. Fernando Perez was 3-5 with his 7th home run and Ptrick Breen hit his 5th.
Clearwater 12, Vero Beach 4. Sergio Pedroza was 3-4 with 2 doubles and his 18th home run, his second in 2 days. He drove in 4 and now has 7 RBI in the past 2 games.
Columbus 9, Lexington 2. Heath Rollins picked up his 13th win, allowing 2 runs in 7 innings. He struck out 4 without walking a batter. Ryan Royster was 1-3 with 3 RBI and his 18th home run (his 2nd of the weekend). He also stole his 13th base and is hitting .314.
Staten Island 13, Hudson Valley 8.
Bluefield 3, Princeton 1 (game 1).
Princeton 4, Bluefield 0 (game 2). Austin Hinkle a 41st round draft pick this year struck out 8 in 5 shutout innings. He allowed 2 hits and 1 walk. He has given up 6 hits and is yet to allow a run in 13.2 professional innings covering 2 starts and 3 relief appearances.
NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…
- Reid Brignac was named the top shortstop prospect in the minors by Baseball America. [Stacy Long’s Riverwalk Talk]
- Evan Longoria’s most recent promotion to AAA puts him in a position that the Devil Rays did not expect when they drafted him just over one year ago. A strong finish to the season in Durham and Longoria could be a regular in the Majors in 2008. [TBO]
With that leap made, it’s only a matter of time before Longoria takes the final step. Don’t expect to see him in Tampa Bay this season unless injuries come into play, but he certainly has positioned himself for a serious look in major-league camp next spring.
If he shows he can hit Triple-A pitching over the final month of Durham’s season and can hold his own in a planned stint in the Arizona Fall League, there’s a decent possibility Longoria will be on the Rays’ Opening Day roster next April.
“I would say that we’re going to go into spring training next year with an open mind, and he’ll have every chance to compete for a job on the major-league team,” Friedman said.
- Jim Caple features the Bulls old Durham Athletic Park in his column “Lost Ballparks and Old Landmarks”. [ESPN]
- On Friday Jake McGee struck out 10, while walking only 1 in 7 shutout innings. He allowed only 2 hits but failed to pick up the win as the Rays lost 3-2 in 15 innings. McGee is 5-4 with a 2.93 ERA and leads the FSL with 145 strikeouts in only 116.2 innings. He has 28 more strikeouts than the next highest total. [MiLB]
- On Saturday, Jeremy Hellickson improved to 10-2 with 5 strong innings. He allowed 1 run on 4 hits and a walk, while striking out 5. [MiLB]
- On Friday, Rhyne Hughes hit his first home run since being promoted to Montgomery. [MiLB]
- On Saturday, Chris Mason picked up his league leading 13th win with 6 shutout innings. [MiLB]
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