Down on the Farm — MATT KLINKER EDITION

Minor league games of 7/31/08:

SARASOTA 1, Lakeland 0 (A+)

–Redleg Nation Spotlight Player Matt Klinker had a dazzling debut with Sarasota, tossing 6 innings of shutout baseball, scattering 6 hits. Klinker struck out five and walked two to pick up his first win.

Great work, Matt!

Charlotte 6, LOUISVILLE 3 (AAA)

–LF Shawn Cumberland, who turns 24 today, went 3-4 with a double. Since being promoted to AAA, Cumberland is hitting .296/.320/.408.

–1B Kevin Barker, a 33-year-old from John Battle High School in Bristol, VA, was 3-5 with a double and his 14th homer.

–LHP Bobby Livingston turned in another poor performance to drop to 0-2.

Mississippi 7, CHATTANOOGA 0 (AA)

–Let’s just move on. Mississippi had a perfect game going into the eighth inning before a walk and a single broke it up. Ugh.

Burlington 6, DAYTON 3 (A)

–21 year old CF Justin Reed, from Jackson, MS, had a nice day at the plate, going 3-4 with his 11th homer. On the season, Reed is hitting .252/.326/.421.

–3B Brandon Waring (.284/.362/.498) was 2-4, scoring a run. 20 y/o catcher Devin Mesoraco (.280/.329/.436) and 23 y/o LF Brandon Menchaca (.170/.244/.302) each doubled.

GCL Twins 3, GCL REDS 2 (Rookie)

–Not much to report here. The Reds used 8 pitchers in the game, and at the plate, only 19-year-old CF Alexis Oliveras stood out. Oliveras (.351/.427/.494) went 2-3 with a double and a run scored.

BILLINGS 7, Missoula 2 (Rookie)

–One of my college roommates was from Missoula, Montana. Just thought I’d throw that in.

–21 y/o SS Jose Gauldron (.255/.327/.436) had a big day at the plate, going 2-3 with a homer, 2 runs, and 2 RBI.

–21 y/o RF Byron Wiley (.314/.355/.643) went 2-4 with a triple and two runs scored. 21 y/o 2B Cody Puckett, in just his second game with Billings, was 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI.

–22 y/o pitcher Andrew Bowman picked up the win, going 5 innings and allowing only one run.