Minor League Daily Update - 4/10/2012

Indianapolis lost 4-3 to the Columbus Clippers after giving up three runs in the bottom of the ninth.  The loss evened the Indians record at 2-2.  Charlie Morton was on the hill in what should be his last rehab start before rejoining the big league team.  He was downright dominant, going 7.2 innings and giving up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 1 earned run.  Morton also struckout 8 batters and recorded 10 groundouts to 1 flyout.  Bryan Morris struck out the only batter he faced in the 8th inning before handing it over to Jo-Jo Reyes and Tim Wood in the 9th.  The pair of pitchers promptly blew the save.  Starling Marte had a great game, going 2-4 with a homerun.  Eric Fryer went 2-4 with a double and 2 strikeouts.  Brandon Boggs, Jeff Clement and Brian Friday each had one hit.  Chase D'Arnaud did not play.

Altoona lost their contest against the Akron Aeros 5-1, also leaving them with a 2-2 record.  Starting pitcher Aaron Pribanic had a rough outing.  He only lasted 3.1 innings and allowed 10 runners on base via 4 hits and 6 walks.  Pribanic did strikeout 4 batters and somehow managed to only give up 1 earned run, although he gave up 3 total.  Victor Black pitched an inning in relief, giving up 2 hits and 2 runs (1 earned), while striking out 1 batter.  Robbie Grossman went 1-4 with a strikeout and has yet to walk this year.  Jarek Cunningham went 1-4 with a double.  Cunningham has only struck out 1 time in 17 at-bats so far this year, a welcome sight considering Cunningham's struggles with striking out in the past.  Andrew Lambo had the only other Curve hit.  Tony Sanchez has a poor game, going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts.  Sanchez's OPS is still .795 on the young year despite his bad game last night.

Bradenton also lost, dropping a close contest to the Palm Beach Cardinals 2-1.  The Marauders are now 1-3 on the year.  The big story was Gerrit Cole's minor league regular season professional debut (Cole's actual professional debut was in the Arizona Fall League last season.  Cole lasted 4 innings, giving up 1 earned run on 4 hits and 1 walk.  Cole added in a wild pitch, but he displayed his immense talent and ability to miss bats, striking out 7 hitters, 5 swinging and 2 looking.  On balls put into play against him, Cole managed a 6:3 groundball to flyball ratio.  Offensively, the Marauders only managed 4 hits. Drew Maggi had a good game going 2-3 with a walk.  Evan Chambers and Mel Rojas Jr., who's hitting .313 on the year, rounded out the hitting with a base knock each.  Wes Freeman went 0-2 with a walk and a strikeout, giving him a 3:3 walk to strikeout ratio in 13 plate appearances this year, a good sign.  Freeman also hasn't managed a hit yet either.

West Virginia dropped their contest against the Asheville Tourists to complete a winless day for the Pirates minor league affiliates.  The final score was 13-5, dropping the Power's record to 1-4 on the year.  Zach Dodson got the start.  His final line was 4.2 IP, 6H, 7R, 5ER, 3BB, 3K, a poor start to the season for Dodson.  Offensively, Alen Hanson bounced back from two straight hitless games to continue his blistering hot start.  On the day, the Power shortstop - although he played DH in this game - went 3-5 with a double and a homerun.  Jodaneli Caravajal added another multi-hit game, going 2-4 with 2 runs scored.  Gregory Polanco went 1-4 with a run scored, 2 RBI's, a walk and a strikout.  Willy Garcia was 1-5.  Josh Bell did not play.

Indianapolis will play the Clippers again at 6:35 PM.  The game will be at Columbus and Rudy Owens will get his first start of the year.

Altoona will continue their home series against the Akron Aeros.  Aaron Poreda will be on the mound with first pitch scheduled to take place at 6:30 PM.

Bradenton will again play in Palm Beach against the Cardinals.  The game is scheduled to begin at 6:35 PM with Hunter Strickland taking the ball for the Marauders.

Nick Kingham will get his second start as the Power stay on the road against the Asheville Tourists.  Game time is 7:05 PM.