Talking Chop

CB will be taking over the minor league recaps for the next few days as I make my yearly trip into Vegas. After I come back and the season finishes up, he and I will collaborate on some capsules on each of the minor league teams.

Gwinnett 9, Durham 10 - 14 Innings

• W. Timmons 2-6 2B, HR(1), 2K
• B. Jones 2-5 2B, HR(7), 2 RBI, BB, 2K
• D. Hernandez 2-7 2B, HR(1), 4 RBI, K

Gwinnett had this game in hand at one point and then let Durham score 6 runs in the last 4 innings (2 in the bottom of the 9th) to tie it and send it to extras. These two teams are tied atop the division at this point. This is a must win series! Well Gwinnett tried to win the games in the 14th inning by scoring two runs, but Durham retaliated in the bottom of the inning with a 3 run walk off double. The Braves fall a game behind the Bulls for the division lead. The series continues tomorrow night.

West Tenn 10, Mississippi 2

• N. McLouth 0-1 BB
• W. Cabrera 1-2 HR(7), 2 RBI
• M. Young 1-3 BB, SB(39)
• T. Jones 2-3 2B

Kyle Cofield, who has been pretty good all year long, just laid a big egg in this game. He got himself into trouble in the 2nd inning by walking a couple of men and then the defense didn't help him out any and he ended up surrendering 5 runs. In the 3rd inning he let some men get on and made an error himself and was removed before he recorded an out. In the end he was credited with all 10 runs that West Tenn scored. Bad day.

Myrtle Beach 3, Frederick 5

• D. Linares 1-4 2B
• C. Johnson 2-4 2 HR(32), 2 RBI, K
  
• J. Thompson 5IP 3H 1R 2BB 7K

Cody Johnson has rediscovred his power stroke this month but he is still having his worst offensive month of the season, by far. He only has 12 hits for the whole month with 6 of them being homers. In 77 ABs he has struck out 38 times. That just can't happen. Jake Thompson, on the other hand, put together a solid start and has had a great month of August for the Pelicans. He is a guy going forward that could be useful.

Rome 2, Savannah 6

• A. Milligan 2-4 2B, RBI, K
• L. Sumoza 1-4 2B, RBI, 2K
• M. Kennelly 2-4 2K
• M. Minor 4IP 3H 1R 0BB 4K

Mike Minor allows the first run of his pro career and he earns his first loss because of it. Adam Milligan continues to be the best hitter we have going in the minors right now. His stats in his second month in Rome are eerily similar to the ones from his first month. He just hit a couple less homers but hit more doubles. I think it is safe to say he will be Myrtle Beach next season and he could move fast if he tears it up there.

Danville 4, Bluefield 3

• M. Jones 2-4 BB, K, SB(19), CS(4)
• RSF 2-4 K
• C. Bethancourt 1-4 2B, 2 RBI, 2K
• C. Masters 5IP 5H 0R 1BB 8K

Chris Masters improved to 8-4 on the season and even though Matt Crim won the POY award for the Apply League, Masters has been the best pitcher on this team. He has 85K in 69+ innings with only 53 hits allowed and 9 walks to go along with a 1.42 ERA. Not bad at all. I will be intrigued to see what he does in full season ball.

GCL Braves 2, GCL Yankees 8

• K. Rose 2-4 RBI, K, SB(24)
  
• L. Hiller 2-3 RBI, K

I know they haven't played that poorly, but man it seems like the are always losing. Kyle Rose has been the most consistent hitter on this team and has shown good speed and plate discipline. In fact, we have a lot of speed spread across our two rookie level teams.