After starting the season 1 for 25 and making prospect watchers a little edgy Brandon Drury went 2 for 3 last night with a walk. Not to worry folks. It's not as if Drury was waving at any and every pitch being throw his way. His K rate was only 12% and his BABIP was a ridiculous .045. He'll be fine and starting putting up some numbers, though it won't necessarily be a piece of cake in the pitching-centric Southern League. By mid-season if we're not getting more offense from our middle infield Drury will get his shot.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: John Omahen, Visalia 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 0 ER, W (2-0)
2 Stars: Daniel Palka, Visalia 4 for 5, 1 RBI, 1 SB
1 Star: Brad Keller, Kane County 5 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 ER, L(0-1)
0 Stars: Allen Webster, Reno 4 IP, 10 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 9 ER, L (0-1)
AAA: Reno 2 Albuquerque 10. Allen Webster got rocked for the second time in two starts and the offense was no match. Danny Dorn had 3 hits and Peter O'Brien hit a solo home run, his 2nd.
AA: Mobile 2 Biloxi 4. Starter Yuan Lopez pitched reasonably, just not reasonably well. He got through 5.1 innings allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. The offense only punched out 2 runs on 8 hits. Raul Navarro had 2 hits with a double and an RBI and Brandon Drury had 2 hits and a walk. Through 8 games Drury has played 6 games at third base and 2 games at second.
A+: Visalia 3 @ Stockton 0. John Omahen had another excellent start tossing 5 shutout innings and the bullpen followed with 4 more including 8 strikeouts. Silvino Bracho closed it out but was a little off only striking out 2 of 3 hitters. The offense cranked out 13 hits but only scored three led by Daniel Palka's 4 hits, all singles. Fidel Pena had 2 doubles and a walk, Michael Perez had 2 hits including a solo home run, and Chuck Taylor had a couple of singles.Stewart Ijames hit his 2nd home run.
A: Kane County 2 Clinton 3. Brad Keller had a nice start allowing just 1 run over 5 innings. Nick Baker surrendered 2 more in the 6th and the offense didn't get anything going until scoring 2 in the 8th to cut the lead to 1. But that was the end of the line as the Cougars lost a close one. Four players had 2 hits including Colin Bray, Marty Herum, Steve McQuail and Victor Reyes.