Last night on the farm there were plenty of wins and some real nice pitching performances to speak of, including one from Matt Harvey. Let’s take a look:
Buffalo 8, Louisville 0
Matt Harvey was dominant last night. He pitched 7 shutout innings allowing just 2 hits and a walk while striking out 9. In his last 4 starts he has pitched 25 innings, giving up just 6 runs while striking out 32 with a WHIP of 1. He’s definitely getting closer to being major league ready and a call up at some point in the month of July isn’t out of the question if an opportunity comes up. Elvin Ramirez and Pedro Beato each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Matt Den Dekker hit his 4th homerun since moving to AAA, although his average is .205. Josh Rodriguez and Oswaldo Navarro also homered. For Rodriguez it was part of a 4 hit night that pushed his AAA average to an even .400. Matt Tuiasosopo and Brad Emaus each had 3 hits apiece.
Bowie 8, Binghamton 5
Greg Peavey let up 5 runs on 8 hits across 6 innings and took the loss. Wilmer Flores was 3 for 4. Dustin Martin homered and drove in 3 runs. Reese Havens was 0 for 4, ending a brief 6-game hit streak, although his average remains above the Mendoza line.
St. Lucie 4, Jupiter 2 (12 innings)
Rafael Montero had a nice start, pitching 6 innings and giving up 2 runs while striking out 4. Four different relievers combined for 6 shutout innings of relief. Adam Kolarek and Jeff Walters both pitched 2 scoreless frames and both struck out 3. Rylan Sandoval hit a 2-run homer. Allan Dykstra and Joe Bonfe each had 2 hits. T.J. Rivera was 4 for 5. Alonzo Harris was 3 for 6 with a triple. The Lucies were able to win even with their 4, 5, and 6 hitters (Cory Vaughn, Blake Forsythe, and Travis Taijeron) combining to go 0 for 14.
Savannah 6, Augusta 2
Michael Fulmer had a good outing striking out 6 in 6 innings while allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits. With all the focus on the Harvey, Wheeler, Familia, Mejia group of pitchers, a little lost in the shuffle is the season Fulmer is putting together in full season ball at age 19, as his ERA currently sits at an even 3. Three different Savannah relievers each pitched a scoreless inning. Seven different Sand Gnats had 1 hit each, including doubles by Dustin Lawley and Charley Thurber. It wasn’t much but it was enough to get the win.
Brooklyn 5, Aberdeen 2
Rainy Lara struck out 10 in 5.2 innings while allowing 2 runs on just 3 hits. Juan Urbina pitched a flawless innings of relief, striking out 1. Matt Bowman struck out 5 in 2 scoreless frames. Phillip Evans was 2 for 4 with a 2-run homer. Cole Frenzel continues to rake, going 3 for 4 and coming up a homer shy of the cycle. Stefan Sabol had 2 hits and 2 RBI’s. Brandon Nimmo got the day off.
Bluefield 12, Kingsport 3
Christian Montgomery only lasted 3 innings, giving up 6 runs. Three different relievers pitched 2 innings each and all gave up runs. Eris Peguero, Tomas Nido, and Maikis De La Cruz had 2 hits each. Gavin Cecchini was 0 for 3 with a walk.
4 comments
Mr North Jersey
6/30/2012-1:17pm at 1:17 pm (UTC -4)
What a game by Harvey last night. Very nicely done. Here are a few quotes by Backman on Harvey’s performance.
“The way that Harv threw tonight, that was a big-league guy on the mound tonight – and on a good night,” said Buffalo manager Wally Backman. “He commanded the strike zone, threw the secondary stuff for strikes and it was the best I’ve seen his changeup.”
“He overpowered hitters,” Backman said. “The thing that was most impressive to me was that a lot of secondary stuff that he threw was strikes and they’re swinging and missing in the strike zone. That’s a big thing for the next level.”
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/other/buffalo-bisons/article928250.ece
Bryan
6/30/2012-2:34pm at 2:34 pm (UTC -4)
The changeup quote is the most important one. That pitch and his overall command were the two things really keeping him from being big league ready for most of the season and now both are improving. The changeup is especially important because he needs to feel good about using that pitch against big league hitters.
Stick
6/30/2012-3:20pm at 3:20 pm (UTC -4)
perfect reason why the posters (elsewhere of course!) screaming for him to make the club off of some good ST innings were nuts.
He needed to stay in the minors until he had addressed his weak spots, as he seems to be doing. Once he has done that, then he should graduate to the majors for finishing touches.
much better than trying to figure out your control of change up in the show!
srt
6/30/2012-5:55pm at 5:55 pm (UTC -4)
Harvey looking good.
Glad they FO didn’t panic when Pelfrey went down and tried to bring him up when he wasn’t ready.
Treaded water in May, had Young ready to go for June.
Depending on where we’re at in September, I can see Harvey getting a call up to either (a) spell a couple of starters not named RA so they’re not worn out for Oct or (b) showcase what he’s got and see if it’s ML ready b/c we’re out of the race.