Aug 23rd Minors Report

Since no one has grabbed the bull by the horns tonight I will fill in for Josh...

First off congrats to Casey Coleman on his first big league win.  Hopefully it will be one of many for him with the cubs...

Now on to the minors and the gory details

Iowa lost to Nashville 8 to 6.  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_23_nasaaa_iowaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Austin Bibens-Dirkxgave up 8 ER in the first two innings and it was uphill all night after that.  He finished with 5 IP 10H, 1BB, and 5Ks.  David Cales and Jake Muyco each threw a pair of scoreless innings.  Muyco is another one of those converted catchers...

As for the hitters- Wright, Smith, Mota, and LeHair each had two hits.  Robinson Chirinos was also 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs. 

Tennessee lost to West Tenn 7 to 4.  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_23_tenaax_wtdaax_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Trey McNutt made his debut in AA but it did not go so well as he took the loss.  He gave up one in the first and then 4 in the 5th prior to getting pulled.  His line for the night was 4.2IP, 7H, 5ER, 2BB, and 5Ks. 

Clevenger, Thomas, Campana, and Guyer each had 2 hits each.  Campana had a 2 RBI night.  Guyer and Thomas also swiped a bag their 24th and 14th respectively.  Guyer is a little old but he has had an outstanding season and deserves a lot of credit for how the season has gone for this team. 

Daytona lost to Brevard County 7 to 3.  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_22_dbcafa_breafa_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Alberto Cabrera started but retired only two batters before being replaced by Nick Struck who made his Hi A debut.  Not sure why Cabrera would have left.  Similar to McNutt, Nick also had a night to mostly forget.  His line was 4.2IP, 7 hits allowed, 4 ER, and equal walks and strikeouts at 3.  Alec Maestri finished it up and gave up 3ER in less than 3 IP.  Unfortunately the young italian seems to be going backward the last year or so...

 A quiet night for the hitters except newly acquired Evan Crawford who went 3 for 4. 

Peoria lost to Clinton 3 to 1.  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_23_peoafx_cliafx_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Marcus Hatleystarted and went 2.2 perfect innings with 3 Ks.  He has been starting every game he pitches in but only goes 2 or 3 innings everytime.  An usual situation that I am not sure I understand the logic on.  Autstin Kirk then replaced him for the next 4 innings.  The good was that he struck out 7 batters but he had some control issues- 4 BBs and 2 WPs.  He also gave up 4 hits and 2 ER.  He did pick off 2 batters though so the lefty must have a decent pickoff move.  Yohan Gonzalez finished up the last 1.1 innings and managed to give up only 1 ER in spite of allowing 5 hits.  He did K one batter. 

With only 5 team hits there is again very little to discuss about the batters.  The only one to note is Logan Watkins as he had 2 of them (one being a triple) and he stole a bag (#19 on the season). 

Boise got shutout 7 to 0.  http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_23_boiasx_vanasx_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Are we noticing a trend here?!?!  Not much to note.  Eduardo Figueroa started but gave up 5 in 4.1 innings.  He allowed 6 hits, 4 walks, 4 Ks, and 2 dingers.  Again only 5 team hits with Elliot Soto collecting two of them. 

And in the 9th the AZL Royals are leading the AZL Cubs 5 to 4.  You can look it up yourself if you really want to know how it ended...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_08_23_royrok_cubrok_1&t=g_box&did=milb

So for a change the MLB team won and all of the minors lost.  We have seen the reverse on numerous occasions this season.  Not sure what if anything that means.  I realize it was a bad night but the hitting in the Cubs system seems really weak right now- as pointed out by Cubsfan1 in one of his recent blogs...