Minors Wrap-Up: Ortiz Phenomenal in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Victory

Ryan Pope started for Trenton and combined with three other pitchers to shut out the Harrisburg Senators (Photo Credit: The Times-Tribune)

AAA: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Ramon Ortiz pitched another great game for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre today, earning his sixth win of the season. The veteran righty tossed 7.2 innings, allowing just two runs on four hits. Offensively, the Yankees jumped on the Syracuse Chiefs right away, as eight men hit in the first inning while they scored three runs. Corban Joseph had the lone home run for Scranton today, as he added an insurance run with a solo shot in the 5^th inning. It was Joseph’s fourth home run of the season. The Yankees also got impressive offensive performances from Ronnier Mustelier, Francisco Cervelli, and Jack Cust, all of which picked up two hits on the day.

AA: Trenton Thunder The Thunder shut out the Harrisburg Senators 4-0 today, thanks to the combined effort of four pitchers in a “bullpen game.” Ryan Pope got the start for the Thunder, and went three innings before handing it off to Francisco Rondon, who picked up his fourth victory of the season. Preston Claiborne would toss 2.2 perfect innings, and Kelvin Perez lowered his season ERA to 0.89 with a scoreless 9^th inning. Addison Maruszak was the leader of the offense today, as he went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Abe Almonte also had a pair of hits from the leadoff spot, while Zoilo Almonte had an RBI double in the 5^th inning to provide Trenton with an insurance run.

High-A: Tampa Yankees Tampa is off today as they conclude the All-Star Break.

Class-A: Charleston RiverDogs With today’s 4-2 loss to Greensboro, the RiverDogs have now lost six of their last seven games, dating back to June 10^th. Today, it was Matt Bashore who took the lost despite allowing just one run on three hits in four innings of work. Tyler Austin, back from the disabled list, went 3-for-4 on the day. He also had some help on offense from fellow top prospects Mason Williams and Gary Sanchez, with each getting two hits in four trips. Charleston was really hurt today by going just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.