Toledo 8, Columbus 1
A bad night all around for the Clippers. Corey Kluber, who is starting to get some consideration for the major-league rotation now that Zach McAllister was promoted, gave up 6 runs in 7.2 innings. Five of the six runs Kluber allowed came in the 8th inning, and three of those were inherited runs allowed by Frank Herrmann.
There isn't much to talk about on the offensive side, as the Clippers only managed only two hits on the evening. Casey Crosby, who for a time was in the Tigers' rotation, allowed just 1 hit over 7 innings (though he walked four). The Clippers scored a ninth inning run when Travis Hafner hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Trevor Crowe.
Hafner went 0-for-3 on the evening with that sac fly, so he didn't have an opportunity to test his knee, but it's a good sign that he made it through the game, and assuming there's no setback, his next at-bat should be in Cleveland on Monday night.
Akron 6, Richmond 4
The Aeros had four doubles on the evening, with Jeremie Tice, Thomas Neal, Chun Chen, and Juan Diaz contributing one each. Chen had three hits on the night. T.J. House got the win, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk in 6 innings.
Myrtle Beach 5, Carolina 4
Michael Goodnight pitched a good game, allowing 2 runs in 7 innings of work. He only struck out 2; his strikeout rate of 5.9/9 innings is a big dropoff from his rates at lower levels. Tyler Holt a speedy center fielder, tripled for the Mudcats in four at-bats. Holt is repeating High-A, but hasn't shown any offensive improvement. Plus, his stolen base % is much lower than last year's (34-for-40 in 2011, 16-for-24 in 2012).
Lake County 7, West Michigan 4
The Captains pounded out 15 hits, 5 of which were from 2B Jose Ramirez. Ramirez has really taken off since his promotion from Mahoning Valley, hitting .324/.378/.382 in his first 8 games in the Midwest League. He hit .325/.351/.448 in the Arizona League last season at age 18, so file his name away for future reference. Jordan Smith hit his 16th double on the season. The 21-year-old outfielder is hitting .298/.350/.437 after a fine season in Mahoning Valley last year.
Mahoning Valley 3, State College 1
Charlie Valerio hit a two-run homer to give the Scrappers their margin of victory. Valerio is 21-year-old catcher who has nice power and plate discipline stats in his short professional career.
AZL Giants 7, AZL Indians 2
Matt Packer made his second appearance of the season, throwing two scoreless innings. The pitchers that followed weren't as effective, as four of the five other relievers on the night would give up at least one run. On the offensive side, Claudio Bautista went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.