Buffalo 4 Toledo 0
The Hens were held to 3 hits, Brent Clevlen had one of them. Dennis Tankersley started and went 4 1/3 innings allowing 6 hits and 3 walks. Corey Hamman pitched 1 2/3 innings allowing 1 hit and fanning 3.

Erie 1 Akron 2 (10 innings)
Matt Joyce tripled and singled to pick up half of the Seawolves offense. Eddie Bonnine pitched 6 strong innings fanning 4, walking 1, and allowing 6 hits.

Lakeland 4 Fort Myers 7
Ryan Roberson had 2 hits including his 2nd homer. Mike Hernandez had 2 doubles. Cameron Maybin walked 3 times and added his 5th stolen base. Lucas French was touched for 5 runs on 9 hits in 5 innings.

Clinton 3 West Michigan 4 (11 innings)
Gorkys Hernandez went 3 for 5 in the leadoff spot. Scott Sizemore singled and hit his first homer. Brennan Boesch and Ryan Strieby each had 2 hits as well.

Buffalo 4, Toledo 5
Ryan Raburn hit his 3rd homer and drew 2 walks. Chris Shelton was 1 for 3 with 2 walks. Ramon Santiago added 2 doubles.

Erie 1, Akron 5
Not much offense for the Seawolves tonight. Jeff Larish tripled and Matt Joyce doubled. Eulogio de la Cruz started and surrendered 4 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks over 4 innings.

Lakeland 5, Fort Myers 0
Burke Badenhop had a great outing fanning 8 in 6 2/3 innings while only surrendering 4 hits and a walk. Cameron Maybin hit his 4th homer of the season.

Clinton 0, West Michigan 5
Chris Cody threw 8 scoreless innings extending his streak to 19 1/3 innings without an earned run (he’s allowed 1 unearned run). Gorkys Hernandez was 2 for 3 with a walk.

Durham 0, Toledo 6
Kurt has been stumping for Virgil Vasquez to take over the last spot in the rotation if Chad Durbin falters. Vasquez certainly did his part today with 5 shut out innings. He only allowed 3 hits, 1 walk and he struck out 9. Brent Clevlen was 1 for 3 with a walk. Clevlen isn’t hitting for power yet, but he is sporting a 390 OBP. Chris Shelton was 1 for 4.

Erie 3, Akron 0 (Delayed in 3rd inning)
Another candidate is Jair Jurrjens. He was off to a good start tonight retiring all 6 hitters he faced before the rain came. Because of the various postponements for Erie, Jurrjens has yet to get “stretched out.”

Lakeland 0, Fort Myers 1
And yet another candidate (notice a trend) took the loss tonight, but pitched especially well. Andrew Miller allowed only 3 hits and 1 unearned run in 8 innings with 6 K’s. There wasn’t much Flying Tiger offense to speak of, but Cameron Maybin was 2 for 5.

West Michigan 3, South Bend 2
While not a candidate for the rotation, Jonah Nickerson is one of the more high profile starters at West Michigan. Nickerson went 6 2/3 allowing 5 hits and 2 runs while fanning 5. Gorkys Hernandez, Brennan Boesch, and Ryan Strieby all had 2 hits. Scott Sizemore walked 3 times.

Durham 8, Toledo 0
For anyone clamoring for Zach Miner to take Chad Durbin’s spot in the rotation, Miner doesn’t appear ready. He didn’t make it out of the 2nd inning today and allowed 7 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. Cory Hamman did a nice job mopping up going 3 2/3 innings allowing 1 run on 5 hits while fanning 4. The offense only mustered 5 hits. Ryan Raburn was 1 for 2. Chris Shelton went 0 for 2 with a walk.

Also, the Mud Hens resumed their suspended game from yesterday and won. Jeremy Johnson who was promoted from Erie to take Jordan Tata’s spot went 3 innings allowing 1 run on 2 hits to go along with 4 K’s.

Erie – PPD At this rate the entire 2nd half schedule will be double headers.

Lakeland 2, Clearwater 5
Sendy Vasquez walked 4 and allowed 7 hits in 4 1/3 innings for 5 runs of damage. Cameron Maybin and Wilkin Ramirez each went 2 for 4 and Justin Justice added a double.

West Michigan 5, South Bend 4
Scott Sizemore had 2 hits coming into today. The story is a little better now after a 4 for 5 day. Jeramy Laster was 3 for 4. Audy Ciriaco added a double, a HBP, and a walk. Duane Below made it threw 4 1/3 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7.

Durham 2 Toledo 4 – suspended in the 4th inning
Yorman Bazardo had a pretty good game going through 4 with 4 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, and 3 K’s. Chris Shelton was 2 for 2.

Erie 6, Harrisburg 1
Dallas Trahern had his 2nd solid start allowing 6 hits, no walks, and a single run over 6 1/3 innings. Mike Hollimon was 3 for 5 with a double raising his average to .386. Matt Joyce had 2 hits and Kody Kirkland added a double. Jeff Larish had his first rough game going 0 for 5.

Lakeland 1, Clearwater 10
Eleazar Aponte surrendered 6 runs (5 earned) in 4 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out four. Dusty Ryan hit his 4th homer of the spring. Ryan, who is 22, had a 698 OPS with 6 homers last season so this power surge is kind of unexpected. Cameron Maybin walked in 4 plate appearances.

South Bend 2 West Michigan 0
Lauren Gagnier and Phil Napolitan combined to allow only 2 runs on 5 hits, but it wasn’t enough. The Caps could only muster 3 hits.

South Bend 1 West Michigan 2
Angel Castro went innings and allowed 1 run on 6 hits and 2 walks. Gorkys Hernandez doubled and scored one of the 2 runs.

Minors News

My update yesterday about Jordan Tata came from the Mud Hens game notes. Today, the picture doesn’t look as good with Tata on his way to see Dr. Lewis Yocum for shoulder soreness. Yocum is the Angels doctor and also cleaned out the bone chips from Mike Maroth’s elbow.

Durham 4, Toledo 5
Dennis Tankersley started and lasted 6 1/3 innings surrendering 4 runs. Ryan Raburn hit his second homer of the year and knocked in 2. Chris Shelton took a rare 0 for 3.

Erie 3, Harrisburg 16
Jon Connolly took the beating giving up 8 runs on 10 hits while not surviving the 4th inning. PJ Finigan had struggles of his own surredering 5 runs in one inning. Jeff Larish continues to rip the ball with 2 more hits. Mike Hollimon doubled and walked. Kody Kirkland got his first homer of the year.

Lakeland 7, Clearwater 3
Justin Justice was 3 for 5 tonight with a triple. Cameron Maybin’s homer streak ended as he didn’t put a ball in play. He did acquire 3 walks and he fanned twice. Dusty Ryan picked up his 3rd homer. Lucas French allowed 3 runs on 7 hits, no walks and 5 K’s.

West Michigan – PPD

Minors news

• There’s a nice article in the Toledo Blade about Chris Shelton. He’s batting 2nd to try and place an emphasis on covering the strike zone and not have him worry about slugging.
• If you’ve been looking for Jordan Tata, he’s on the disabled list with a sore shoulder. He’s expected to make his first start on April 17th.

Erie 2 Harrisburg 6
Eddie Bonine started and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits(1 homer), no walks, and 3 K’s. Matt Rusch allowed 3 runs of his own in relief. Clete Thomas and Mike Hollimon set the table at the top of the order with each picking up 2 hits. Jeff Larish doubled in one run and added a walk. Kody Kirkland added a hit and a walk as well.

Photo Credit: Roger DeWitt

Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 10
Cameron Maybin seems to have found his stroke. He homered for the 3rd time in the last 2 days (one each in 3 straight games). He also added 2 singles and a walk. Wilkin Ramirez is off to a good start also and added a triple amongst his 3 hits. Maybe this is the year it all comes together for him. Justin Justice also had 2 hits.

Burke Badenhop started and pitched 5 innings of shutout ball before surrendering 2 runs in the 6th.

West Michigan 1 Lansing 3
Awesome outing by Caps starter Christopher Cody. Cody went 6 2/3 innings surrendering only 2 hits and a walk while fanning 11! Randor Bierd relieved and allowed 2 hits, 2 runs (1 earned) on no walks and 4 K’s. Unfortunately the offense and defense didn’t support the pitching. James Skelton had 2 hits to lead the offense. Scott Sizemore continues to struggle seeing his average drop to .056. He did however get hit by his 3rd pitch in the last 2 games.

Minors news

Mack Avenue Tigers notes all the top prospects playing somewhere in the state of Michigan right now.

Toledo 3 Indianapolis 7
Kevin Hooper certainly set the table today with 3 hits and a walk. Brent Clevlen added 2 hits and Chris Shelton was 1 for 3 with a sacrifice fly. Virgil Vasquez somehow managed to give up 12 hits in 6 innings

Binghamton 4 Erie 12
Eulogio De La Cruz was done in by the long ball allowing 2 homers and 4 runs in 5 innings. It was a little surprising in that he had a 9:2 GO:FO ratio. Jeff Larish hit his 2nd homer, doubled, and walked. Clete Thomas added 3 hits, as did Brent Dlugach. Joel Roa added a homer. Kody Kirkland went 2 for 4 raising his average to .444. Mike Hollimon was 1 for 2 with 2 HBPs.

Fort Myers 5 Lakeland 4
Maybe Andrew Miller isn’t quite ready for the promotion yet. This outing was a little rougher as he allowed 7 hits and 3 walks in 5 2/3 innings. He only struck out 2, but induced 12 ground ball outs. Cameron Maybin got it going with a walk, a adouble and his first homer but he was overshadowed by Dusty Ryan who went deep twice and singled.
Fort Myers 6 Lakeland 4
Matt Righter started and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits over 3 innings. The bullpen didn’t do much better with Ricky Steik and Paul Hammond unable to post 0’s. Cameron Maybin hit his 2nd homer and Michael Hernandez went 3 for 3.

Minors news

The Surge points to a video interview with Whitecap Scott Sizemore.

Toledo 1 Indianapolis 5
Zach Miner had a rough start walking 6 and allowing 4 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Not even the power duo of Chris Shelton and Timo Perez could spark enough offense for the Hens tonight. Shelton added a hit, but Mike Hessman provided the offense with a home run.

Binghamton 4 Erie 2 (11 innings)
Jair Jurrjens threw 4 shutout innings allowing only 4 hits while fanning 4. His ground ball to fly ball ratio was 7:0. Not much offense for the Wolves with Jackson Melian and Kody Kirkland the only members of the 2 hit club. Mike Hollimon reached base twice via the walk. We also had a Kyle Sleeth sighting allowing 1 walk to go along with 2 K’s in an 1 1/3 innings of relief.
UPDATE: The reason Sleeth left when he did is that he took a line drive off his foot. No X-rays yet, but he expects he’ll only be out a couple days.

Lakeland – Rained Out

Lansing 1, West Michigan 2
Jonah Nickerson started and allowed 1 run in 4 innings of work. It’s not uncommon to see short outings from the minor league starters this time of year. They didn’t have as much time to get stretched out in spring training as the big leaguers did, so you’ll often see pitch ceilings of 60-75 pitches the first couple outings. Josh Rainwater added 3 innings of scoreless relief. Audy Ciriaco picked up 2 hits.

Toledo 6 Indianapolis 2
Chris Shelton picked up 2 more hits and a walk bringing his average to 412. Timo Perez has been nearly his equal with 2 hits and a walk of his own to bring his average to 389. Brent Clevlen was 0 for 3 with a walk. Ron Chiavacci allowed 1 run over 5 innings.

Binghamton 0, Erie 8
The Seawolves finally got to open their season, and open it they did. Jeff Larish was the offensive star going 3 for 4 with a homer, a walk and 4 RBI. Matt Joyce added 2 hits as well. Dallas Trahern threw 6 shutout innings with a 13-2 groundout to fly out ratio. PJ Finigan chipped in 2 innings of relief fanning 5 of the 6 hitters he faced.

Lakeland 4, Tampa 10
Sendy Vasquez started and was tagged for the first 5 runs. The relievers didn’t fare much better. Paul Hammond did okay in that he didn’t allow a run, but still surrendered two hits in one inning of work. Cameron Maybin is still looking for his first hit, but he did pick-up and outfield assist. Wilkin Ramirez provided the offense with 2 hits including his first homer of the year.

Lansing 8, West Michigan 3
Rough day for the A clubs pitching staffs. Duane Below walked 6 and didn’t make it out of the 3rd inning. Ryan Strieby added 2 hits to push his average to 308.

Toledo 3 Louisville 13
There was only one Tiger affiliate playing today, and it didn’t go well. Yorman Bazardo started and got shelled leaving in the 3rd inning He walked 4 and combined with 6 hits gave up 7 runs. Cory Hamman came on in relief and didn’t walk anyone in 3 innings work, but surrendered 6 runs on 3 homers.

The offense was mostly Ryan Raburn who had 2 hits and a walk. Timo Perez homered. Chris Shelton walked twice. Brent Clevlen was 1 for 3, but added 2 strikeouts.

Toledo 14, Louisville 2
The Mud Hens found some offense today. Chris Shelton was a triple short of the cycle and added a walk. Brent Clevlen got the triple Shelton needed, and added 2 walks as well. Mike Hessman was 5 for 5 with a walk. Dennis Tankersley started and picked up the win allowing 1 earned run in 5 innings. Preston Larrison didn’t allow a run, but he walked 4 (and allowed 2 hits) in 2 1/3 innings.

Erie – PPD again. They’ve yet to play a game.

Lakeland 3, Tampa 1
Michael Hernandez homered, doubled, and drove in all 3 runs for Lakeland. Cameron Maybin was 0 for 3 with a walk and 2 K’s. Lucas French pitched 5 shut out innings allowing 4 hits and a walk against 4 striekouts. Elezar Aponte came on in relief and got the 4 inning save allowing 1 run and fanning 5.

West Michigan 7 , Dayton 8
Gorkys Hernandez doubled twice and singled in 4 at-bats. Santo De Leon also had 3 hits and Audy Ciriaco went 2 for 4. Ryan Strieby hit his second homer of the season. Lauren Gagnier was tagged for 6 runs in 3 1/3 innings with 6 hits, 3 walks and 5 K’s.

Minors news

Lee has added his previews for the Mud Hens and Seawolves.