Two men were having very different feelings on Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta.
Chris Colabello continued his remarkable journey by making his MLB debut. The 29-year old rookie failed to get a hit but he made it to the big leagues. There had to be nights along the way where he wondered if it would ever happen. His dream came true today.
It has been a nightmare season for Vance Worley after the Braves roughed him up for 10 hits and eight earned runs in less than four innings of work. His ERA ballooned to 7.21 on the year and his record dropped to 1-5. Following the game, the Twins sent Worley to Rochester to try and work out his kinks.
Alex Meyer was on the mound for New Britain, the Miracle tried to continue their winning ways, and Cedar Rapids faced a familiar foe in the form of the Beloit Snappers. Let's go down on the pond!
Rochester Red Wings (Off Day)
While the Red Wings enjoyed an off day, two of their best offensive players from the beginning of the year were playing against the Atlanta Braves. Oswaldo Arcia and Chris Colabello put together numbers in the International League that were worthy of promotion.
Now it could become harder for Rochester's struggling offense to put up runs. The team ranks 9th in the International League in OPS and 11th in runs scored. Infielder Dibinson Romero was promoted from New Britain to try and help spark the offense. Romero was hitting .355 in eight games with three homers and six RBI. In a corresponding move, Nate Hanson was sent to New Britain.
Rochester will look to turn things around during an eight game homestand. The club has lost six of their last nine games and they sit nine games out of first place in the International League North. Both of the team's coming to Rochester in the next week are below .500 so this gives the team a chance to make up some ground.
New Britain Rock Cats 3, Binghamton Bees 8
Box Score
Two costly errors from Rock Cats shortstop Danny Santana lead to a couple of unearned runs that were hard for New Britian to come back from. Santana had 18 errors last year at shortstop and he his two errors today push his 2013 total to 17. He hasn't been getting on base or hitting for much power so he needs to make some strides on the defensive side of the ball.
Alex Meyer started the contest and pitched into the seventh inning. Over 6.2 innings, he gave up three earned runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and three walks. It was the first time all season where he recorded an out in the seventh inning. For the month of May, it was his best start and one can hope that he is turning a positive corner for the rest of the year.
On the offensive side of the ball, Daniel Ortiz put together a three hit effort. He hit his 15th and 16th doubles of the year and scored a run. In his last ten games, he has a .333 batting average with six doubles. Reynaldo Rodriguez added his 11th double of the year. In his first game since being demoted, Nate Hanson went 0-for-4.
The Rock Cats have lost 9 of their last 10 games so it has been a rough stretch of baseball. The team can still salvage a split of their series with Binghamton if they can win on Thursday. Over the long weekend, New Britain will play a four-game set against New Hampshire.
Fort Myers Miracle 1, Lakeland Flying Tigers 4
Box Score
The Miracle scored a quick run in the top of the first inning and then the Lakeland pitching staff proceeded to put a lot of zeros on the scoreboard. Fort Myers wouldn't score another run in the game and the Flying Tigers pounded out 13 hits.
Matt Koch was the only Miracle batter to collect more than one hit. He went 2-for-4 with his 1st triple of the year. Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas, the three and four hitter, combined to go 0-for-7. Fort Myers had plenty of opportunities as the club left 10 runners on base and went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Taylor Rogers pitched admirably by throwing five innings and allowing one earned run. He scattered nine hits but he was able to limit the damage. In the second, third, fourth innings he was able to leave the bases loaded to end the frame.
In a perfect eighth inning, Zach Jones struck out two batters and lowered his ERA to 0.90. Adrian Salcedo was saddled with his first loss of the year by giving up two runs over two innings. It was the first time he had allowed a run in the month of May.
The Miracle are 32-13 and they wrap up a seven-game road trip with their game against Lakeland tomorrow night. Following that game, Fort Myers will head home for a weekend series with the Charlotte Stone Crabs.
Cedar Rapids Kernels 6, Beloit Snappers 7
Box Score
The Kernels tried their best to be the only Twins affiliate to win on Wednesday with a ninth inning rally. Trailing by three runs at the start of the frame, Candido Pimentel walked before a fielding error allowed Byron Buxton to reach. Niko Goodrum stepped to the plate as the tying run but he grounded into a double play. Jorge Polanco was the next batter and he sent one over the fence to cut the lead to one. But in the end, Dalton Hicks popped out to the catcher in foul territory to end the game.
Hudson Boyd coughed up seven earned runs in a little over five innings on the mound. The Snappers pounded out three home runs against him and he was limited to four strikeouts. Josue Montanez and Manuel Soliman would combine to shut down the Snappers for the rest of the game. In fact, Beloit would only get one more hit.
None of the Kernels hitters were able to knock more than one hit. Byron Buxton went 1-for-4 with his 5th triple and 20th stolen base on the year. J.D. Williams had an interesting line as he went 0-for-1 but collected three walks in the game. Travis Harrison got his 15th double.
Cedar Rapids has two more games in Beloit before returning home for a six-game homestand. The Snappers are the team right behind the Kernels in the standings so these next two games are important to the team.
