Fish Farm Report: Miami Marlins Pitching Depth on Display

The Miami Marlins and their affiliates posted a collective 5-4 record on Saturday.

RHP Nick Neidert joined the GCL Marlins from the New Orleans Baby Cakes for a rehab assignment. The 22-year-old Atlanta native has only appeared in three games this season for the Cakes, going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA before going on the IL with right-knee tendinitis in April. Neidert is yet another young arm who is nearly major league ready for the Miami Marlins.

Triple-A Pacific Coast League

New Orleans Baby Cakes 2, Nashville Sounds 3

Cody Poteet earned no decision in his Quality Start against the Sounds, striking out three and allowing two runs in 6 1/3 innings. With 10,309 in the house at First Tennessee Park, Poteet got 63-of-101 over the plate and finished with a GameScore of 43 (so penalized due to both of the runs resulting from solo homers). Brian Moran (2-2, 4.23) was hit with the loss despite allowing only one baserunner in 2 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, that was also a solo home run, and a walk-off shot at that.

Offensively, sometime Miami Marlins outfielder Austin Dean led the Cakes with his 11th homer of the season, allowing with a single. Eddy Alvarez had a single and a double as well. The rest of the Baby Cakes only collected a pair of singles, one by Isan Diaz and one by Magneuris Sierra.

New Orleans took the lead in the first on the Alvarez RBI-double, then doubled their lead in the sixth on Dean’s solo shot. Neidert was clean until the bottom of the sixth, when Scott Heineman (4) and Matt Davidson (22) both went deep. Patrick Wisdom (13) touched Moran for the walk-off.

Double-A Southern League

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 7, Mississippi Braves 2

The Jumbo Shrimp topped the M-Braves by a 7-2 count with 6,764 present at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Sixto Sanchez (4-4, 3.73) earned the win with four K’s and two runs allowed over seven innings. He gave up five hits and a walk. Dylan Lee closed it out in a non-save situation, giving up a hit in two innings.

The Shrimp outhit the Braves 15-to-6, and every starter save the pitcher hit safely. Stone Garrett led the day with three hits, including two doubles. He also stole a base, his 11th of the season. Brian Miller, Joe Dunand, J.C. Millan, and Corey Bird also all had multi-hit games for the Miami Marlins double-A affiliate.

After spotting the Braves a pair in the top of the first, Riley Mahan drove home Miller with a sacrifice fly, then Millan tied it with an RBI-double to score Bryson Brigman later in the inning. In the fourth, Santiago Chavez scored on a pickoff-attempt/error to take the lead with the eventual game-winner. Dunand then drove Miller home with a single. In the seventh, Anfernee Seymour doubled Garrett and Bird home with a double, and Brigman added an RBI-single for the final margin.

High-A Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads 8, Palm Beach Cardinals 0

Former Miami Marlins fifth-round pick Chris Vallimont (2-1, 2.52) struck out 10 Cards in a combined three-hit seven-inning shutout in the first game of a twin bill. He went 5 2/3 innings and got 64-of-100 in the strike zone. C.J. Carter finished it up with 1 1/3 perfect innings.

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Victor Victor Mesa, Tristan Pompey, and James Nelson each collected two hits. Pompey’s were both doubles, as was one of Mesa’s. Angel Reyes and Jerar Encarnacion also collected two-baggers. Pompey’s first double opened the scoring in the first, driving Mesa home with the game-winner. The Sharks blew it open in the second, with a Nelson RBI-single, a Reyes RBI-double, a Mesa RBI-double, an Encarnacion RBI-double, and a Nick Fortes RBI-single. Pompey’s second RBI-double in the sixth gave the Hammerheads a 7-0 lead, and Encarnacion drove him home with a sacrifice fly.

Jupiter Hammerheads 4, Palm Beach Cardinals 3

Game two of the doubleheader had an announced crowd of 1,074 at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Tyler Jones started and got no decision after four innings. He allowed two runs. Alex Vesia (2-0, 3.18) struck out four in two relief innings for the win, and Colton Hock saved his second game of the season with a perfect seventh.

Palm Beach scored two in the second to take the lead, but the Hammerheads came back with two of their own in the next half inning. Adrien Nieto doubled Nelson home, then scored on a Demetrius Sims double. Nieto later scored to take the lead in the fifth on an Encarnacion RBI-fielder’s choice, then Lazaro Alonzo drove home the winner with a sacrifice fly to score Pompey. A Nolan Gorman (3) solo shot in the sixth wasn’t enough for Palm Beach to make a case.

Middle-A Midwest League

Clinton LumberKings 5, Fort Wayne Tin Caps 4

The LumberKings ran their second-half record to 15-7 to keep the lead in the tough ML Western Division (five teams are three games above .500 or better). Connor Scott opened the scoring in the first with an RBI-double to score Christopher Torres. Fort Wayne scored two in the third, then Will Banfield went deep with his eighth of the season to tie it up at two. The Cups took a 4-2 lead in the fifth.

In the seventh, Peyton Burdick doubled Torres home, then scored on a fielding error to tie it up. Thomas Jones drove Scott home with the winning run on a bunt-single. Scott led the way with three hits to push his average to .245. Josh Roberson started and struck out five but came out early after allowing five hits and two walks for two runs in 3 2/3 innings. Cam Baird allowed another two in 2/3 of an inning.

Manuel Rodriguez (4-1, 3.82) retired all 12 batters he faced for the win, striking out four over four perfect innings with 2,001 present at NelsonCorp Field.

Low-A New-York-Penn League

Batavia Muckdogs 0, Vermont Lake Monsters 2

Batavia managed to scratch out only three hits against Vermont pitching on Saturday, all singles. Milton Smith II, Dalvy Rosario, and Sean Reynolds were the only Muckdogs to get to first base, although the club did collect five bases-on-balls.

How amazing has this season been for Smith II? He now has hit in 21 of 23 games he has played. – Muckdogs official press release

It was a tough-luck loss for Jackson Rose (3-2, 2.88), who allowed both runs on only two hits over five innings. Eli Villalobos whiffed four over three perfect relief innings with 2,332 at Centennial Field.

Rookie-Level Gulf Coast League

GCL Marlins 0, GCL Cardinals 2

Cardinals pitching manhandled the GCL Marlins batting order, holding the youngsters to only three hits over their seven-inning affair. Walner Espinal had two singles, and Cameron Barstad had the other.

Nick Neidert struck out two and gave up just one hit over a three-inning rehab start. Eliezer Rodriguez (1-1, 6.14) allowed seven baserunners in two innings to take the loss. Jeremias Vasquez  struck out three over two perfect innings in relief.

GCL Marlins 12, GCL Cardinals 4

In game two of their doubleheader, the GCL Marlins roughed up six Cardinal pitchers over a seven inning game for a dozen runs. Yeremin Lara started and gave up three runs in four innings. Cody Paiva (1-0, 1.23) earned his first professional victory with three innings of solid work. He got three to wave and allowed only an unearned run.

The Marlins scored 12 runs on only 10 hits, making good use of seven free passes and four Cardinals errors. Victor Mesa Jr., Lorenzo Hampton each had a pair of singles, and Espinal hit two doubles. All three of them totaled two RBI each.

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