Brooklyn (SSA – New York Penn League)
Staten Island Yankees 15, @ Brooklyn Cyclones 2
Rain delayed the start of Sunday’s contest by an hour and a half in Coney Island, but I suspect the Cyclones pitching staff might wish it had never stopped raining.
Tim Stronach retired one batter in a first inning in which he was charged with five runs. He got himself in immediate trouble with a leadoff walk and then couldn’t get out of trouble pitching off a fastball at 88 or 89 mph that he had trouble controlling. He couldn’t throw his sweeping slider for strikes.
Jeffrey Kaplan (pictured) who piggybacks with Stronach worked uneventfully through the second and third innings before running into big problems in the fourth. Again, a leadoff walk created problems. After a single and another walk, Kaplan gave up a grand slam to Yanks first baseman Brian Baisley that was gone off the bat – the Cyclones’ outfielders barely moved.
Kaplan left two runners on base for Erik Turgeon, who promptly gave up a three-run jack to the first hitter he faced. However, I like Turgeon’s arm a little bit. In 3.1 innings, he struck out eight with a fastball that sat at 92 and a usable breaking ball.
1B Ike Davis made the best contact he’s made in a week, a double to rightcenter in the second inning on a fastball down in the middle of the plate. It’s the pitch, fastball down and out a little bit, he handles best. He added a single later. Video of Ike Davis from Thursday is below.
Ike Davis Fouls a Ball Back
Ike Davis Grounds a Ball to Second
Kingsport (R – Appalachian League)
Kingsport Mets 11, @ Elizabethton Twins 9
The K-Mets came back from a 4-0 deficit in the first tinning to win a slugfest and move into a tie for first with the Twins. Each of the first four batters in the K-Mets lineup had multiple hits. Leadoff man, 2B Kyle Suire was 3-5 with a double, a two run homer and three RBI. Suire is 9-for his last 20 in the last five games, a .450 clip. C Dock Doyle (.333/.407/.389) reached base four times, going 2-4 with two walks. And of course, SS Wilmer Flores (.348/.381/.587) was 3-6 with an RBI, extending his hitting streak to nine games. RF Seth Williams was 2-4 with a walk and an RBI.
The Twins touched Guillaume Leduc for eight runs in four innings, but Philips Orta did a nice job in relief, yielding just one run in four innings of his own.
GCL Mets (R – Gulf Coast League)
GCL Mets
No box yet at 1:30 AM.
Lovin’ that Wilmer.
Toby, did you get to see any of Orta when you were down there? Don’t know all that much about him, but I’d been told he has nice stuff. Guess the organization might not be too high on him if he’s still relieving in Kingsport at 22, but is there any reason to keep an eye on him as a possible relief arm in the fututr?
Didn’t make it to Kingsport – I suppose if that’s my only major regret from this summer, I’m doing pretty well! He’s supposed to have a big arm – BA claimed 91-94 touching 96 and ranked him #22 preseason.
…was it the backwoods mountain environment, or the three day treck to and from the nearest airport, that kept you from Kingsport?
1. I like mountain environments.
2. It’s easier than I realized to get into Kingsport. There’s a little airport close by.
you know, its funny, anyone who’s hot and in A ball gets sent to Brooklyn to give the Cyclones a bit more punch but they keep on playing like a last place team.
Maybe more important than talent, is a sense of team comraderie. In a level of ball where most of the players still have a high school/college attitude, the players need to find consistency in themselves to improve. So maybe some consistency on the roster and in the locker room would be better than someone who is a little better coming in every few days. Just a thought…
I agree with you Nate- send Abruzzo and jimenez back up. And just a note on Orta- he has nearly as many walks as he has SOs.