AAA: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees
For Ronnier Mustelier, the hits keep coming since his return from the disabled list, as he picked up two more tonight. That was the lone bright spot offensively, other than Chris Dickerson extended his hitting streak to eight games tonight with a two hit performance, though he also contributed three strikeouts towards the Yankees’ 14 total as a team, which was a season-high for strikeouts. The lack of offense was a big factor as they lost 4-2 to Pawtucket and dropped out of first place in the division. Ramon Ortiz was mediocre on the mound tonight, pitching six innings while giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits while striking out two. Unfortunately for Ortiz, the performance would net him his fourth loss of the season. After Ortiz left, it was Justin Thomas and Preston Claiborne who held Pawtucket scoreless over the last three innings.
AA: Trenton Thunder
Despite neither pitcher factoring into the decision, Brett Marshall and the Thunder outdueled last year’s first overall pick (and former Yankee first round pick) Gerrit Cole and the Altoona Curve tonight, with Trenton winning 2-1. Marshall tossed six innings, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out four. The lone run came as he allowed a solo home run to Oscar Tejada in the second inning. After Marshall left, Kelvin Perez and Ryan Pope would split the last three innings, with Perez earning the win and Pope earning his first save. Offensively, Trenton saw just two extra base-hits tonight – a solo home run by Zoilo Almonte in the seventh inning, and a double by Rob Segedin. Trenton’s only other run came on a J.R. Murphy sacrifice fly, also in the 7th inning.
High-A: Tampa Yankees
Tyler Austin and Ramon Flores flat out went nuts tonight at the plate, with each putting four hits on the board for the Yankees. Flores tripled and came around to score once, while Austin brought home three runs as Tampa beat Charlotte 6-4 in 11 innings. Kyle Roller (2 RBI) and Kyle Higashioka (1 RBI) were the two other members of the Tampa lineup to record multiple hits on the day. Shane Greene started for Tampa, but lasted just five innings. He gave up all four Charlotte runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out seven. After he left, Branden Pinder, Sean Black, and Aaron Dott (W, 4-3) combined for six shutout innings from the bullpen.
Low-A: Charleston RiverDogs
Charleston got a huge offensive output from the likes of Ben Gamel, Rob Refsnyder, and Reymond Nunez tonight en route to a 10-5 victory that included 17 hits over the Greenville Drive. Nunez was the biggest offensive star, putting together a 4-for-5 night with an RBI, falling one hit short of tying the RiverDogs single game record. For Gamel and Refsnyder, it was three hits apiece, with Gamel bringing home two runs and Refsnyder bringing home three. Francisco Arcia was the last of the RiverDogs to have a multi-hit game, contributing two hits and a pair of RBIs. On the mound, Bryan Mitchell did enough to win, but it was far from his best outing for Charleston tonight. Over five innings, Mitchell allowed four runs (though only one earned) on five hits and four walks while recording five strikeouts. This year’s sixth round pick Nick Goody had another good outing, pitching a perfect 9th inning to close things out for Charleston.
