A light schedule in the minors tonight as the low minors took the Easter holiday off. This means that the big prospect today is my 14 month-old daughter, who found two Easter Eggs at the St. Luke's Easter Egg Hunt. For someone that young to hold her own at that level, well, the girl's got a bright future ahead of her.
Bad news today is that two of my favorite pitchers struggled today in Tennessee.
Iowa Cubs
The I-Cubs finished their opening series by taking three out of four with today's 6-3 victory over the Round Rock Express.
Randy Wells had a good start today as he went five innings, allowing only two runs on five hits. Wells didn't walk a batter and struck out two.
Jesse Estrada got the win in relief. He went 1.2 innings and didn't allow a hit or a walk and struck out one. He did get tagged with an unearned run because Jason Waddell relieved him after the error and struggled. Those who were hoping for Waddell to be a LOOGY for the Cubs will have to be disappointed with his outing today--he allowed three singles and didn't retire a batter.
Kevin Hart got his first save of the year. He allowed a lousy two-out single, but had an otherwise uneventful ninth inning.
Right fielder Brad Snyder had the big bat for the I-Cubs today. Snyder hit a seventh-inning grand slam that blew the game open. Snyder was 2 for 4 overall.
Second baseman Bobby Scales was 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI.
Tennessee Smokies
The Smokies got sunburned by the Jacksonville Suns, 8-1.
Two of my favorite pitchers had a rough time of it today. Starter Jay Jackson took the loss as he allowed six runs in a four-inning start. Jackson gave up seven hits, including a first inning three-run homer. Jackson walked two and struck out four.
He was relieved by Alex Maestri, who allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over 2.1 innings. Maestri struck out two. If you're looking for a bright spot here, the damage was all done after he started his third inning of relief.
Second baseman Tony Thomas continued his hot start to the season, going 3 for 4. Shortstop Matt Camp was 3 for 3 with a double, a walk and the lone Smokie RBI.
Daytona Cubs and Peoria Chiefs
Spent the day hunting for eggs and stuffing themselves full of chocolate.