Tigers Minor League Recap- July 27th, 2009

Indianapolis: 4 Toledo: 2
-Lugo pitched decent, going 6 innings and allowing 4 ER. He fell to 6-6 on the year, but he still has an ERA below 4. One to keep track of, though, is Rapada. He pitched a scoreless inning tonight in relied to drop his ERA to 2.45. In his last 10 games, he's pitched 15 innings and only allowed 2 ER. He has a 1.20 ERA in these games with a 1.00 WHIP and 16 K's. If Robertson gets cut, he will be one of the guys vying for a shot at the big time. He knows it, and he's pitching like he wants it. Larish and Clevlen went 2 for 4. Sizemore went 1 for 4. Hessman knocked the 2 runs home today.

Harrisburg: 10 Erie: 5
- A slug fest tonight, and it did not favor Erie. For the 3rd straight start, Jonah Nickerson got roughed up. Tonight, he was touched up for 6 earned runs. He has to step it up. Ramon Garcia, who relieved him tonight, also needs to step it up. He allowed 3 earned runs tonight and has a 9.37 ERA in the last 10 games. I those relief appearances, he has allowed at least a run in 8 of those games Not good enough. Offensively, RF Brandon Boesch hit a home run in a 2 for 3 night with 2 RBI and a BB. Recently promoted 1B Ron Borquin knocked in 2 RBI with a triple. And, the daily Cale Iorg watch: 0 for 3 tonight as he continues to dissapoint with the bat.

Lakeland: 12 Sarasota: 5
-With Dombrowski in attendance, the boys did not dissapoint. Mauricio Robles allowed 4 ER in 6 innings but did strikeout 10. If anything, it was a much improved performance than the 22 IP, 5 ER and 9 H he put up last game. Somehow, Robbie Weinhardt allowed a run tonight. His ERA for the season is now 0.85. That is not a misprint. Scott Green worked the 9th and pitched a scoreless inning. CF Justin Henry went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI. 1B Devin Thomas and LF Christoper White each went 2 for 5 with a HR. Maiko Loyola, a newly acquired OF from the Pirates organization, went 0 for 1 in his Lakeland debut.

Great Lakes: 5 West Michigan 4 in 11 innings
-Luke Putkonen had a decent game with a 5.1 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, and 6 SO stat line. Tyler Stohr took the loss after allowing 2 runs in the top of the 11th. 2B Brandon Douglass and LF Billy Nowlin each had two hits in the losing effort. SS Gustavo Nunez, 21, and an interesting prospect to watch, got an RBI in a 1 for 4 night with 1 BB. He has a .322 batting average this season. Keep an eye on him.

Vermont: 3 Oneonta: 0 Game 1
- Not much to say in this one. The bats did not show up as we only got 4 hits. Gary Perinar, who is coming back after missing all of last season with shoulder surgery, tossed 4.2 innings, allowed 3 ER and walked 4 batters. Clemented Mendoza pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Vermont: 2 Oneonta: 1 Game 2
-Again, not much to say in this one. The bats did not show up as we only got 4 hits. Mike LaLuna took the loss after going 4 innings and allowing 2 ER. Still, 6 k's and only 1 BB is not bad. Jose Ortega threw two innings of scoreless baseball in relief. CF Jamie Johnson and RF Michael Rockett each had two hits, and 3B Wayde Gaynor had the lone RBI.

GCL Tigers were postponed

Minor League Recap

Durham: 5 Toledo: 3
-French again pitched a good game. 7 IP, 2 ER, and 8 K's with 2 BB. His ERA is now down to 2.98 in Toledo. If Figaro or Galaragga struggle and need to be replaced, this could be the guy who gets the call. And, when Robertson gets cut at some point in the near future, he may also be called on to replace him. Ryan Perry went 2 innings and allowed 3 hits, 1 ER, and 1 K. No BB, so that is a good sign. They would much rather have him up here than Dolsi. Matt Rusch took the loss. Sizemore went 2 for 5. Larish reached base 4 times, and Clete Thomas had a 2 for 6 night with 2 K's.

Harrisburg: 3 Erie: 2
-Kibler went 6 and a third, with 3 runs, but only 1 ER. Avila went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI's. Iorg went 0 for 4 and continues to struggle with the bat. Worth went 0 for 4, and is hitting just .175 since being demoted from Toledo to Erie.

Lakeland: 9 Sarasota: 0
-Andrew Hess and Jared Gayhart combined for the shutout. SS Audy Ciriaco went 3 for 4 with a HR and 4 RBI. RF Laster hit a home run, and 1B Devin Thomas went 2 for 4.

West Michigan: 4 Great Lakes: 1
-Mark Sorenson, from Michigan State, went 8 strong innings while only allowing 1 ER. Conn got the save. 2B Brendan Douglass continues to rake it at the A level, going 2 for 4 tonight and raising his batting average to .354. LF Wyatt, and CF Guez each produced 2 RBI's for the good guys.

-Onetona was postponed tonight.

-GCL Tigers were also postponed.

Tigers Minor League Recap

Toledo: 11 Durham: 10 in 13 innings.

-Eddie Bonine, 28, who was just activated after dealing with some "family business." Hopefully, everything is ok. On the mound tonight, he went 4 innings and allowed 4 ER, with 6 hits and 2 K's. His ERA for the year is now at 4.53. Rapada struggled in his brief appearance and Ni blew the save opportunity. Sizemore went 0 for 7. Larish went 5 for 6 with 2 doubles and doubled home the winning run. Clete Thomas went 4-for-5 with 2 walks and 2 steals. Also of note, Ryan Perry pitched two innings tonight without allowing a hit or a run, and only walked 1 batter. That is promising.

Erie: 6 Alttona: 2

-Thad Weber pitched a strong game in his first game pitching up at the AA level after taking Figaro's spot in Erie's rotation. Simons and Sborz also pitched strong tonight and continued their good seasons. Iorg went 3 for 4. His batting average is still only .223 for the season, and you have to imagine that his bat needs to heat up before he can be considered as a potential long-term starter at shortstop. His defense is sick. No doubt about that. Now, its time for his bat to heat up.

Lakeland: 2 Daytona: 1

-Once again, Robbie Weinhardt is the story. 4 shutout innings in relief of Matt Hoffman. He now has an ERA of 0.61. At some point, he will be getting called up to Erie. Its time to see if he can keep this up against harder competition. LF Joshua Workman, in just his 5th game for Lakeland, went 2 for 3 with a double.

West Michigan was off due to the Class A All Star Game

Oneonta: 1 Lowell: 2

-Solid overall pitching performance with Mendoza taking the loss. Just not enough offense as no one had a multi-hit game. 3B Wade Gaynor, our 3rd round pick this year, went 1 for 4.

GCL Tigers: 9 GCL Braves: 8

-Ramon Lebron got rocked in his debut for 6 runs in 4 innings of work. But, the bats came alive to pick him up as the GCL Tigers won the opener. C Adolfo Reina had 2 hits and a HR.