Miami Marlins: April 18th Fish Farm Report

On an off-day for the Miami Marlins, four of their minor-league feeder teams combined for a 2-3 record.

Transactions

LHP Sean Burnett was assigned to the New Orleans Baby Cakes from the Jupiter Hammerheads.

RHP Reilly Hovis was promoted from the Greensboro Grasshoppers to Jupiter.

High-A Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads 6, Lakeland Flying Tigers 2

Dan Straily made his second rehab start for the Hammerheads, and earned a win by striking out five in as many innings. He struck out six and was tagged for just one run. With 1,106 in the house at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, the Hammerheads (10-3) defeated the Tigers (4-9), 6-2.

The Hammerheads outhit the Flying Tigers 11-to-9. Corey Bird led the way by going three-for-four. Stone Garrett, Jarett Rindfleisch and John Silviano each collected a pair.

Straily gave up a run early, when Blaise Salter hit an RBI-single to left. Jupiter didn’t let it stand for very long. Brian Miller led off the bottom of the frame with a single, and quickly stole second base. He took third on a Bird groundout. Joe Dunand took first after getting hit by a pitch, and Miller scored on a Riley Mahan sacrifice fly. Stone Garrett walked, and Silviano scored Dunand on an RBI-single.

RECAP: Joe Dunand extends hitting steak to 16 games. @MiLB @FloridaStateLg @Marlins https://t.co/m3C0s2ootm
— Jupiter Hammerheads (@GoHammerheads) April 19, 2018

The score remained, 2-1, Hammerheads until the bottom of the sixth. Jupiter added another pair on a Silviano RBI-double and a Rindfleisch RBI-single. The Flying Tigers scored one in the top of the seventh to get within 4-2. In Jupiter’s half, they scored another pair, on a Dunand RBI-double and a Garrett RBI-single. Dunand has already collected an FSL-leading 16 RBI this season.

Straily earned a GameScore of 60, getting 52-of-68 pitches into the strike zone, a 72.5% conversion rate. Michael Mertz pitched 1 2/3 innings, giving up a run on three hits and a walk. Parker Bugg pitched 1 1/3 frames, striking out a batter and allowing only a walk. Kyle Keller pitched a perfect ninth in a non-save situation.

Double-A Southern League

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 4, Chattanooga Lookouts 12 (7)

After being postponed twice already, Max Duval finally got to take his turn on the hill. Results were probably not what he would have hoped. He lasted four innings for the Shrimp (4-7), and surrendered nine runs on 11 hits and a walk. He struck out three and gave up three round-trippers.

Duval finished with a GameScore of minus-2, getting 44-of-78 pitches into the strike zone. Reliever Brandon Barker gave up three more runs on four hits and a pair of walks in two innings. He struck out three.

The Lookouts outhit the Jumbo Shrimp, 15-to-6 in the first game of the doubleheader. The seven-inning affair would see only one Jacksonville player finish with multiple hits. John Norwood hit a double and a home run. Five Lookouts had more than one hit.

Chattanooga (7-5) scored three runs in the bottom of the first before the Shrimp made a dent on the scoreboard in the second. Norwood’s two-run shot made it a 3-2 ballgame, but the Lookouts added three more in the second.

Isan Diaz (1) added a solo homer in the third, and is now hitting .094 for the season. The Lookouts scored three again in the fourth and in the fifth to make it a 12-3 affair. Rodrigo Vigil scored Norwood on a sacrifice fly in the seventh, but it was too little too late for the Crustaceans.

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 2, Chattanooga Lookouts 3

In the late game, with an announced attendance of 2,613 at AT&T Field, the Shrimp dropped a 3-2, seven-inning contest. Kolton Mahoney was in the zone on 36-of-58 offerings, earning a 57 GameScore and keeping the Lookouts scoreless through four. He struck out three and surrendered five hits. Esmerling De La Rosa (0-1, 7.11) allowed all three Lookout runs in two innings of relief, on four hits and a walk.

The Lookouts collected nine hits in the game, to eight for Jacksonville. The Shrimp were led by Mason Davis, Norwood, and Austin Dean, with two hits apiece. Dean is now hitting .550 this season, going 22-for-40 after a dozen games.

The game was scoreless until the top of the fourth, when Norwood singled in Dean for a 1-0 Shrimp lead. Chattanooga tied it in the fifth inning on a Tanner English sacrifice fly. The Lookouts completed their comeback in the sixth with a Nick Gordon solo shot and a Brian Navarreto RBI-double. Former Jumbo Shrimp player Omar Bencomo served up a wild pitch in the seventh, allowing Colby Lusignan to cross the plate. Bencomo made up for it by then striking out Diaz to end the game.

Triple-A Pacific Coast League

New Orleans Baby Cakes 5, Colorado Springs Sky Sox 8

With 2,197 in the house at Shrine on Airline, the Sky Sox (9-4) defeated the Baby Cakes (5-9). The Cakes outhit the Sox, 12-to-8.

The Cakes struck in the bottom of the first with an Isaac Galloway RBI-single. They added a run in the fourth on an Austin Nola RBI-groundout.

While the Cakes were building their 2-0 lead, starting pitcher Ben Meyer held the Sox to just two hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked three, earning a 67 GameScore and getting 52-of-82 over the plate.

James Buckelew (1-1, 4.00) took the loss, allowing four runs in the sixth inning. Only one was earned. He surrendered three hits and a walk. His reliever, Nick Wittgren, allowed four more in the seventh, on two hits and a walk.

Trailing 8-2 going into the eighth, Scott Van Slyke racked a leadoff solo bomb. In the ninth, the Baby Cakes scored two more on a Van Slyke double. Galloway then struck out to end the game.

Van Slyke led the Cakes with a homer and a double for three RBI. Galloway also finished with two hits. Sean Burnett struck out the side in a near-perfect eighth, and Drew Rucinski pitched a hitless ninth.

Single-A South Atlantic League

Greensboro Grasshoppers 5, Lakewood BlueClaws 4 (10)

It took an extra inning, but the Grasshoppers (7-5) defeated the BlueClaws (6-7) with 1,581 in attendance at FirstEnergy Park.

Lakewood scored twice in the first, on Jhailyn Ortiz‘ (1) homer. J.C. Millan (2) answered with a solo shot in the second. Lakewood doubled their lead in the bottom of that inning, on a Dalton Guthrie RBI-double.

The score remained 3-1 until the bottom of the fifth, when Ortiz hit an RBI-groundout to give the Claws a 4-1 lead.

The magic happened in the eighth inning for Greensboro. Millan scored on a bases-loaded passed ball, then Garvis Lara took first on a bases-loaded HBP to score another. Samuel Castro tied it by taking home on a wild pitch.

After a scoreless ninth, Greensboro started the 10th with B.J. Lopez on second base. Jhonny Santos moved him to third on a sacrifice bunt. After a Castro strikeout, Aaron Knapp collected an RBI on an infield-single. Manuel Rodriguez (2) earned the save with a scoreless 10th.

Brandon Miller started for Greensboro, and earned a 38 GameScore with 53-of-80 pitches in the zone. He gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out a pair in five innings. Colton Hock (2-1, 1.42) earned the win with four scoreless innings of relief, striking out four.

The BlueClaws actually doubled the Hoppers in base hits, 12-to-6, but Greensboro hit them where they counted. Millan led the way by adding two singles to his homer.

Later

The Hammerheads will try to complete a three-game sweep of the Flying Tigers starting at 6:30PM.

At 7PM, Ryan Lillie (0-0, 5.00) will start for the Grasshoppers at home against the Charleston RiverDogs. It’s game one of a four-game set.

Beginning at 7:15PM, the Lookouts will host game four of a five-game series against the Jumbo Shrimp. Jacksonville will try to avoid their fifth-straight loss with Nick Neidert (1-0, 5.19) on the hill.

Joe Gunkel (0-0, 1.64) will make his start at 8PM as the Baby Cakes host the Sky Sox in game three of a four-game series.

Next: Fish Farm Report for 4/17

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