Tyler Henson hit for the Big Wheel, y’all. Two home runs, a double and a single, plus he drove in seven runs and scored twice. That’s a pretty nice day’s work. The Reading Fightins put up 15 runs on 18 hits, with home runs from Aaron Altherr (2) and Tommy Joseph (5). Jesse Biddle gave up 2R on 3H, 1HR, 3BB, 6K in 7IP. That’ll do, I guess, though three walks after the five he allowed his last time out didn’t do much to allay my main concern about his game.

Milwaukee’s 2012 1st Rounder Victor Roache hit three home runs off of Clearwater pitching. He led the NCAA in dingers in 2011 and hit 22 last year in his pro debut in Low-A. Ethan Martin worked a scoreless inning as he began his official rehab assignment on the way back from a shoulder ailment, allowing no hits and a walk with no Ks.

And on to the main event, a nine round slug fest, between a bunch of crabs and a bunch of tourists. Sounds like a day at the beach, right? Well, not if you’re a pitcher! *makes fake rimshot noise by tapping desk and going “psshh” with mouth* Lakewood beat Asheville 14-11, outhitting the Rockies’ affiliate 22-15. J.P. Crawford led the hit parade with a 4-5 day, including his third home run, and also drew a walk. Also going yard were Dylan Cozens (3), Willians Astudillo (2), Andrew Pullin (3) and Samuel Hiciano (3). All five men, plus Carlos Tocci and Mitch Walding had multi-hit games. All nine Blueclaws had hits.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/4/2014 →

Perci Garner with the line of the night – He struck out nine, walked two and allowed just two hits in six scoreless innings. Like many others, I’ve been waiting for them to turn him loose in the bullpen. If he manages his starts this well going forward, though, he’ll probably stay in the rotation for a while.

Cesar Hernandez was 3-4 with his third long ball of the year, and Ken Giles allowed one BB and struck out two in a scoreless ninth in that Reading contest. Sebastian Valle‘s home run lifts Lehigh Valley and David Buchanan to a victory. Cesar Jimenez, Justin De Fratus and Luis Garcia each took scoreless turns out of the bullpen to lock down that victory.

Samuel Hiciano pulls off what I believe is the first “Zach Green Special” of the year – that’s 2-5 with 2K and 2 XBH, for those who don’t recall – Hiciano was 2-5 with a homer, a double and two strikeouts, and is now OPSing near .800 in a reasonable league for his age. His K rate is just below 25%, which is about as high as you’d like it for a power hitter, and he’s got 10 XBH in just over 100 PAs. I remain intrigued. J.P. Crawford, Mitch Walding and Dylan Cozens each added multi-hit games as Lakewood starter Tyler Viza and reliever Keivi Rojas pitched well enough to allow their offense to come back against Asheville’s bullpen.

And finally, Clearwater was rained out again and again. Both games of their double header in Daytona were sacked by rain for a second straight day. The whole series was a washout, as The Threshers start a traditional three-game Sunday thru Tuesday set at Brevard County today.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/3/2014 →