Iowa Cubs

Matt Murton arrived in Sacramento to join the I-Cubs, and promptly went 2-2 with a walk.  Kevin Hart started and pitched three innings, as the Cubs are apparently trying to stretch him out.  He gave up a walk and three singles in the first, leading to two runs, then settled down.  JR Mathes followed with five innings and took the loss.  Iowa dropped this one 5-4 . 

Andres Blanco had three hits.  He is now at .316/.357/.392.  A .750 OPS with a little speed and good defense means we may have a decent backup in AAA, if the Cubs do decide to trade Cedeno or Theriot, as folks on this board have suggested.  Blanco's stats versus righties are .345/.397/.414.  He's 24, and only had 99 AB last year before getting hurt.  His lifetime minor league OPS is only .613.  Is it possible he has figured something out this year, or will we look back in a month and say "small sample size?"

Tennessee Smokies

The AA squad lost to Jacksonville, also 5-4 .  Most relevant is Scott Eyre's inning: flyout, groundout, groundout.  Maybe he's about ready.  Doug Deeds was the top hitter on the day, with two singles and a double.  Tanner Watson took the loss.  Lefties are just killing him this year. 

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona lineup was all shook up against a lefty starter.  Jon Wyatt hit sixth, and Tony Thomas eighth.  The offense came through, beating Ft. Myers 6-4.  Ty Wright his his first homer, and Jim Adduci, Wellington Castillo, Russ Canzler, and Thomas each had two hits. 

Billy Petrick pitched for the first time this year.  He threw two hitless innings, with no BB or K. 

Peoria Chiefs

Peoria dropped a tough one , 2-0 to South Bend.  Ryno's team only managed four hits.  Hung-Wen Chen made his third start: 7 H and 2 ER in 5 IP.