Rick Porcello got his butt handed to him- he went 5 innings, giving up 5 runs on 10 hits and 3 walks with 3 strikeouts. The good news: according to Beck, he's working on that slider. Hey, I'll take a couple crappy AAA starts if it means Rick starts K'ing 6 per 9 with his groundball rate (still good- 12 GB to 1 FB) Ryan Perry also had a rehab appearance- and he did poorly. Beck notes in the Porcello article that he struggled with his command, and that's evident in his line of 1.2 innings with 1 unearned run allowed on 2 walks and a hit with a strikeout. Will Rhymes was 3-5 with a triple and Brent Dlugach was 2-4 with a double.
Ugh. More suck from Erie, PA. Ramon Garcia wasn't horrible, going 7 innings and giving up 5 runs (3 earned) on 9 hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. So maybe he was kinda bad. Rawley Bishop went 2-4 with a double and a walk and Michael Bertram went 2-5 with a double.
Jon Kibler had a solid start- 6 innings pitched with only one earned run allowed on 6 hits and 3 walks with 5 strikeouts. He still caught the loss due to an utter lack of offense. Samir Rijo was 1-3 with a double. 3 other Flying Tigers managed to pick up a base- Daniel Fields via a walk and Brandon Douglas/Jordan Lennarton via base hits.
A: South Bend 2, West Michigan 1 (10 innings)
Hooray, more losses. Jade Todd left the game with an injury after throwing 3 pitches, so the bullpen took over. Victor Larez was the 5 inning stopper, allowing 1 earned run on 6 hits and a walk. Miguel Mejia gets the nod for best performance with his 1.2 innings, in which he struck out 4 and walked 1. Jamie Johnson was 2-3 with a walk. Promote him. Yes, even if that means sending Daniel Fields down to West Michigan.
Only the short season team wins. Maybe because they haven't been taught how to lose by the other clubs yet. Luis Sanz pitched very well, going 6 innings and giving up a mere 3 hits and a walk with 6 strikeouts. He probably goes up to replace Jade Todd for West Michigan if he hits the DL. Michael Torrealba threw 3 hitless innings, walking 3 and striking out 7.