All Around Great Day for Miami Marlins Farm System

The Miami Marlins farm system went 6-0 while the parent club orchestrated a walk-off win over the Twins.

The day after a trading deadline which saw the Miami Marlins dramatically change their bullpen picture, their minor league system was in full swing with seven games on the schedule. The Gulf Coast League’s GCL Marlins were rained out of their contest with the GCL Mets. The rest of the organization, including the major league club, went 7-0. Before we dive headlong into that, a few moves of note.

RHP Drew Steckenrider began a rehab assignment with the Jupiter Hammerheads, and RHP Kyle Keller was called up to the Miami Marlins from the New Orleans Baby Cakes. LHP Dylan Lee was promoted in Keller’s spot to the Cakes from the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Jacksonville also activated outfielder Brian Miller from the seven-day injured list, welcomed SS Jazz Chisholm from the Jackson Generals and LHP Alex Vesia from Jupiter, and sent 2B Justin Twine back to the Sharks.

SS Gunnar Schubert was assigned to the Batavia Muckdogs from Jupiter, and RHP Brian McKenna joined the Hammerheads from the GCL squad. RHP Luis Vizcaino joined the DSL Marlins. The Clinton LumberKings stood alone as the only squad to remain completely unchanged over the course of the last two days.

Triple-A Pacific Coast League

New Orleans Baby Cakes 11, Las Vegas Aviators 4

At Las Vegas Ballpark, the Baby Cakes blitzed the host Aviators with 8,059 in attendance.

Cody Poteet (1-0, 4.15) earned the win, but fell short of a Quality Start, allowing four runs in seven innings of work. Parker Bugg pitched the final two innings, keeping the Aviators off the board despite allowing four baserunners.

All nine New Orleans hitters collected at least one base hit, led by three hits each from Tyler Heineman, Magneuris Sierra, Isan Diaz, and Gabriel Guerrero. Rosell Herrera also finished with a pair of hits.

New Orleans started the game with a four-run first-inning eruption. Diaz scored Sierra on a single, then Lewis Brinson followed with an RBI-triple. Deven Marrero scored Brinson on a single, and Herrera doubled Marrero home. The eventual game winner came in the second, on Sierra’s fourth round tripper since joining the PCL club.

Poteet gave up a solo shot in the bottom of that inning, and added another one in the fifth to halve the lead. The Baby Cakes put it away in the sixth, with a Heineman RBI-single and a Guerrero two-run homer, his ninth of the season. Guerrero added an RBI-double in the eighth and Heineman went deep with a two-run shot in the ninth, his ninth this year.

New Orleans will continue their road-trip tomorrow against the Salt Lake Bees at 8:05PM EDT. Joe Gunkel (3-1, 3.86) will get the start. At 56-51, the Cakes are 10.5 games behind the San Antonio Missions in the PCL American Southern Division.

Double-A Southern League

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 4, Biloxi Shuckers 0

With 1,949 in the crowd at MGM Park in Biloxi, Daniel Castano (4-1, 3.35) pitched seven shutout innings and got the victory over the home Shuckers. New addition Jazz Chisholm introduced himself with a three-for-four game, falling a double short of the cycle. Chisholm finished with two runs and two RBI.

Castano allowed four hits and walked nobody, while striking out five. He put 59-of-95 over the plate. Vincenzo Aiello and Tommy Eveld pitched a scoreless inning each in a non-save situation.

In addition to Chisholm’s performance, fellow new addition Lewin Diaz added a homer and a single.

Chisholm opened the scoring in the fifth inning, scoring pitcher Castano on a triple. Diaz followed with a two-run shot. Chisholm added a solo shot in the seventh to close the scoring.

The Shuckers will host the Shrimp for four more games in this series, beginning tomorrow night at 7:35 PM EDT. Pablo Lopez (0-1, 21.60) will make his second rehab start for the team. At 23-17, the Shrimp are just one game out of first in the SL Southern Division, behind the Shuckers.

High-A Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads 4, Daytona Tortugas 3

The Hammerheads topped the Tortugas, 4-3 to complete a three-game sweep with 412 in the house at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

Miami Marlins reliever Drew Steckenrider started and pitched one scoreless inning in his rehab appearance. Will Stewart (5-9, 5.42) got the win, allowing three runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four, walked zero, and got 54-of-86 over the plate. C.J. Carter struck out two in a perfect inning of relief, and Sean Guenther allowed a hit but struck out two for his first FSL save over 1 1/3 innings.

Eight of the nine Hammerheads starters collected hits, save only J.J. Bleday, who was 0-for-4. The team combined for 13 hits in total, led by three from Conner Scott.

Stewart spotted Daytona a 1-0 third inning lead, then Bleday tied it in the fifth with an RBI-groundout. Jerar Encarnacion singled Scott home for the lead later in the inning. A pair of runs came home on Stewart in the top of the sixth.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Justin Twine came home on an error, then Scott drove James Nelson home with the eventual game-winner, on an RBI-single.

At 21-22, the Hammerheads are 9.5 games out of the money for the second-half FSL South Division title. They’ll open a three-game home series against the Florida Fire Frogs starting tomorrow night at 6:30PM EDT.

Middle-A Midwest League

Clinton LumberKings 7, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 3

The LumberKings outhit the Rattlers, 10-4 with 3,066 on hand at Fox Cities Stadium. A pair of ninth-inning two-run homers put the game out of reach for Clinton.

Peyton Burdick opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI-single to score Christopher Torres. Marcos Rivera went deep in the third for the sixth time this year to put the Kings up 2-0.

Bubba Hollins added another run in the fourth, scoring J.D. Osborne with a sacrifice fly. Wisconsin scored a run in the bottom of the fourth on a George Soriano wild pitch. Soriano later gave up a pair of runs in the sixth, on a Je’Von Ward single and an Antonio Pinero sacrifice bunt.

In the ninth, both Kameron Misner and Osborne went deep, with their second and seventh homers, respectively. It was a busy day for Misner, who finished with three hits. Soriano took home no-decision, striking out four over 5 2/3 innings while allowing three runs on three hits and two walks. Manuel Rodriguez (5-1, 3.06) got the win, allowing only one hit and striking out three in 3 1/3 innings of relief.

Tomorrow at 7:05 PM CDT, the LumberKings will try to complete a four-game sweep of the Rattlers. Their 26-13 record is good enough for a first-place tie in the MWL Western Division, with the Kane County Cougars. Josh Roberson (1-1, 2.31) will get his turn in the rotation.

Low-A New York-Penn League

Batavia Muckdogs 4, Tri-City Valleycats 1

The Muckdogs completed a three-game sweep of Tri-City with 4,121 in the house at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.

Batavia pitching limited the Valleycats to only three hits, while collecting 11 strikeouts in the Muckdogs win. Leudy Martinez (2-2, 2.85) got the victory, holding Tri-City scoreless on one hit over five innings, and collecting seven strikeouts. He placed 55-of-85 pitches in the strikezone. Jonaiker Villalobos followed with two innings of work, and surrendered the only run of the day. Joey Steele struck out the side in a perfect eighth, and Josh Simpson got his second save, striking out one in a perfect ninth.

Offensively, recent Miami Marlins draft selectees Andrew Turner and Jack Strunc led the Muckdogs with a pair of hits, with a single and a double each. Batavia scored all of their runs in the fifth inning. Troy Johnston scored Strunc with a single, Harrison DiNicola scored two on a single, and Dustin Skelton drew a bases-loaded walk.

At 28-18, the Muckdogs have the NYPL Pinckney Division well in hand, four games ahead of the West Virginia Black Bears. Sweep now complete, they’ll host the Connecticut Tigers for three games starting at 7:05PM.

Rookie-Level Dominican Summer League

DSL Marlins 3, DSL Rays1 2

Arquimedes Cumana collected three more hits and continues an impressive showing for the DSL Marlins in 2019. The first baseman is now hitting .308. Jhonny Melenciano also collected multiple hits in the win.

Breidy Encarnacion didn’t allow any hits but couldn’t find the plate either. He went 2 1/3 innings, allowing a run on four walks while striking out four. Sandro Bargallo pitched 1 2/3 scoreless relief innings, and Delvis Alegre (2-4, 3.18) got the win, allowing a run on three hits and no walks over five innings. He struck out two.

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The Tampa Bay affiliate opened the scoring on a Bargallo wild pitch in the third. The run, however, was charged to Encarnacion.

Cristhian Rodriguez crossed the plate in the seventh on an error to even the score, but the Rays scored again in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead. In the eighth, Melenciano scored Derek Vegas on an RBI-triple to tie it up. Jandel Paulino scampered across the plate with the eventual game winner on a wild pitch in the ninth.

After losing eight straight, the DSL Marlins have now won two in a row. They’ll put that streak on the line at 10:30AM EDT against the DSL Athletics.

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