Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees �3, �Indianapolis Indians �1 (box)

Tribe pitcher Charlie Morton (photo) made his second rehab start with the Indianapolis Indians this afternoon at PNC Field in Scranton, PA, and despite being charged with the loss, Morton had a better outing than he had last week. �Morton pitched 6 innings and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk, while striking out 6 batters. �Back on Tuesday, Morton had not made it through the 4th inning and had given up 5 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits and 2 walks, with 3 strikeouts. �Opposing batters hit .353 against Morton last week, but hit .292 against him today. �Not wonderful, not great, but at least better.

What was even more telling, though, was that after Morton allowed 3 runs on 6 hits in the first three innings, Morton settled down. �Over the last three innings he pitched today, Morton gave up just one hit, a single to Yankees' SS Eduardo Nunez in the 5th. �Nunez stole second base, but was left there when Morton finished the inning with a ground out. �Morton retired the Yankees in order in the 4th and the 6th, and he struck out 4 batters in those last three innings.

That does mean that Morton had trouble in the first three innings. �In fact, the first four batters he faced in the bottom of the 1st, all singled, and all made good solid contact with Morton's pitches. �RF Reid Gorecki singled up the middle, and DH Colin Curtis slipped a grounder into right field, moving Gorecki to third base. �Gorecki scored on Nunez's single into left field, and 1B Juan Miranda's single loaded the bases. �After a quick visit by pitching coach Dean Treanor, Morton got 3B Jorge Vasquez to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play, started by SS Argenis Diaz, to 2B Jim Negrych, and on to 1B Jeff Clement, who was pulled a little to the infield side of the bag by Negrych's throw, but still was able to tag Vasquez as he ran past. �Curtis scored from third on the play. �Morton struck out C Jesus Montero to end the inning.

Morton had a little momentum from the double play and the strikeout, and he retired the Yankees in order in the 2nd, aided by an impressive catch by Jim Negrych on a short soft liner by CF Greg Golson. �Negrych had to go behind him and to his right to make the play.

The Indians had managed only one hit over the first two innings. �Jeff Clement smacked a double over the head of LF David Winfree, who did not judge the wind and the ball very well, and then couldn't readjust fast enough. �The top of the 3rd began with a single into center field by RF Brandon Jones. Argenis Diaz (photo) hit a fly ball into right field, which Yankees' RF Reid Gorecki let bounce just in front of him, making the catch on a very short hop, about at the level of his ankles. �Jones had had to hold up because he thought Gorecki might be able to catch the ball, and then when the catch was made after the bounce, Jones had to race to second. �Gorecki was expecting it, and was easily able to fire to second base to force out Jones. �Diaz was safe at first, and he moved to second base on a wild pitch from Yankees' starter Tim Redding. �LF Kevin Melillo first slugged a long ball down the right field line which curved foul at the last moment, missing a home run by only about 10 feet. �Melillo eventually�flied out, and Diaz tagged up and advanced to third base. �Then Jim Negrych collected his first AAA hit and his first AAA RBI with a double off the wall in left field, scoring Diaz, and cutting the Yankees' lead to 2-1.

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The Bradenton Marauders and the Florida State League had a scheduled day off today, after yesterday's All-Star Game. �The West Virginia Power also had a scheduled day off. � That leaves just the Curve...

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Altoona Curve �6, �New Britain Rock Cats �5 (box)

The Curve broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the 8th inning, then had to hold off a Rock Cats' rally in the 9th to preserve the win.

The Rock Cats' began the scoring with a run on a single, a ground out, a stolen base, and an RBI ground out in the 1st inning. �The Curve answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the inning. �RF Miles Durham led off with a walk, and LF Anthony Norman lined a single into right field. �SS Chase d'Arnaud dropped down what he thought would be a sacrifice bunt, but he beat the throw, claiming a hit to load the bases with no outs. �A wild pitch scored Durham from third base, and moved both Norman and d'Arnaud up a base. �Then a grounder to short allowed Norman to score, and the Curve were ahead, 2-1.

They repeated the same run pattern in the 4th inning. �The Rock Cats scored one run in the top of the inning, on a double, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly. �Then the Curve came back with 2 runs in the bottom of the frame. �This time it was 2B Jordy Mercer who led off with a walk, and he scored on C Kris Watts' double. �Watts moved to third base on a ground out, and he scored on Durham's single up the middle.

Curve starter Justin Wilson kept the Rock Cats from scoring in the 5th, but gave up another 2 runs in the 6th. �A lead-off single, plus back-to-back doubles brought in the 2 runs, tying the score at 4-4. �Wilson exited after that inning, allowing the 4 runs on 10 hits, no walks, with 2 strikeouts. �He left the game with the score tied, so was not going to factor into the decision.

Mike Dubee pitched a perfect 7th inning, preserving the tie. �He gave up a single in the 8th, and after a bunt and a throwing error by SS d'Arnaud, the Rock Cats had runners on the corners with two outs. �Dubee was relieved by Danny Moskos, who finished the inning with a ground out, preserving the tie.

The Curve couldn't get much going in the 6th or 7th inning, but they broke the tie in the 8th. �CF Gorkys Hernandez opened the inning with a single, and 3B Josh Harrison beat out a bunt for another single. �1B Matt Hague bounced into a 6-4-3 double play, which erased Harrison, but let Hernandez move to third base. �Mercer's double easily brought Hernandez in from third to take the lead. �After a pitching change, Watts lined a single into center field, and Mercer also scored, to give the Curve an insurance run they would need.

Moskos came back out to pitch the 9th inning. �He began the inning by giving up a single and a walk. �A double play put the lead runner on third with two outs, and a single drove that runner across the plate. �But Moskos held on to get a ground out, ending the game and giving the Curve the win. �Moskos earned his second win of the season. �Hernandez, Mercer, Watts, and Norman all had 2 hits in the game (the Curve had a total of 11 hits), and Watts also contributed 2 RBI.

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Mr. Perfecto Armando Galarraga was sharp and so was Jeff Karstens. It came down to the bullpens in the end and the Pirates relief corp faltered.

Seven straight losses. Last place. Help!

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees �3, �Indianapolis Indians �2 (box)

The Yankees held the Indians to just 3 hits tonight at PNC Field in Scranton, PA, �snapping the Indians' 5-game winning streak. �Pitchers ruled the game, as six hurlers combined for a total of 26 strikeouts.

After the Indians went down in order in the top of the 1st (two strikeouts), Scranton got the scoring started in the bottom of the frame. �With two outs, Tribe starter Brian Burres (photo) gave up back-to-back singles to SS Eduardo Nunez and DH Jesus Montero. �He hit 1B David Winfree with a pitch to load the bases. �C Rene Rivera drove a liner into left field, scoring both Nunez and Montero, before Burres ended the inning with a strikeout.

The Indians got the runs right back in the top of the 2nd inning. �3B Pedro Alvarez worked the count full, then smashed a solo home run over the right-center field wall. �1B Jeff Clement made it back-to-back homers with a blast over the center field wall on a 0-1 pitch, to tie the score. �Yankees' starter Dustin Moseley responded by striking out the next three batters, CF Jonathan Van Every, C Erik Kratz, and 2B Doug Bernier, to end the inning.

Keeping in the home run theme, Yankees' CF Greg Golson added his own solo homer, with one out in the 2nd inning, giving the lead back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

And that was the end of the scoring.

Brian Burres struck out two batters in the 2nd, around that home run. �He gave up singles in the 3rd and 5th, and hit a batter (Nunez) in the 3rd. �He also struck out four batters over the 3rd - 5th innings, plus one more to begin the 6th inning. �With two outs in the 6th, Burres gave up a double to 2B Reegie Corona. �That ended his evening, and he was relieved by Anthony Claggett. Burres had thrown 105 pitches, 70 of them strikes, and gave up 3 runs on 7 hits, no walks, with 8 strikeouts.

New Britain Rock Cats �8, � �Altoona Curve �7 (box)

A 9th inning rally by the Curve came up short, as the Curve fell to the Rock Cats on Saturday. �The final inning was a wild one, and by the time it was done, the two teams had combined for 30 hits -- 18 by the Rock Cats and 12 by the Curve.

Curve starter Jared Hughes gave up 6 runs on 12 hits over 4.2 innings and suffered the loss, giving him an 8-3 record for the season. �The Rock Cats scored their first run in the top of the 1st, on a lead-off double, a sacrifice bunt, and an RBI single. �The Curve came right back at them, tying the game in the bottom of the frame. �SS Chase d'Arnaud tripled, then scored on 3B Josh Harrison's sacrifice fly.

New Britain kept going against Hughes. �Two singles and two grounders brought in a run in the 2nd inning, to give New Britain a 2-1 lead. �Hughes gave up a lead-off single in both the 3rd and 4th innings, and both times a double play erased the runner. �He was not so lucky in the 5th inning. �A double and a single complicated by a throwing error by 2B Jordy Mercer brought in a run. �A wild pitch moved the second runner to third base, and he scored on a sacrifice fly. �A single and two doubles, plus a fielding error by LF Alex Presley brought in two more runs, and the score was 6-1. �Hughes was done for the evening, with Tony Watson coming on to finish the inning. �Watson went on to pitch 3 more scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits while striking out 3 batters.

After their run in the 1st inning, the Curve batters found the going tough. �They went down in order in three of the next four innings, though they did get back-to-back singles by 1B Matt Hague and Mercer with two outs in the 4th. �Both were left on base. �D'Arnaud doubled in the 6th inning, and reached as far as third base, but after CF Gorkys Hernandez walked, a double play and another ground out ended the inning. �Presley also had a single in the 7th and was also left on base.

Dustin Molleken took the mound for the Curve in the top of the 9th. �He gave up two singles, then a double, which brought in both of the base runners, to give New Britain an 8-1 lead. �The bottom of the 9th began with a pinch-hit appearance by James Skelton, who was just promoted from A+ Bradenton to fill the roster spot vacated by Jim Negrych when he was moved up to Indianapolis. �Skelton led off with a single. �He scored when another pinch-hitter, Anthony Norman, tripled on a liner into right field. �Norman scored on Mercer's double, and Mercer scored on C Hector Gimenez's single. �With the score bumped to 8-4, the Rock Cats brought on a new pitcher, who started by getting Presley to bounce into a double play. �But the Curve were not down yet. �RF Miles Durham doubled, and he came around to score on DH Shelby Ford's single. �A fielding error put d'Arnaud on first and Ford on second base. �Hernandez brought both of them in with the second triple of the inning, and the Curve were within one run of tying the game, at 8-7. �That was as far as they got, though, as Skelton struck out in his second at-bat in the inning.

Eight members of the Bradenton Marauders were initially named to the 2010 Florida State League South Division All-Star squad:

Pitchers Bryan Morris, Jeff Locke, Nate Adcock, and Noah Krol

Catcher Tony Sanchez

Infielders Brock Holt and Jeremy Farrell

Outfielder Quincy Latimore

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Morris has been promoted to AA Altoona, so he wasn't going to be able to play. �Sanchez and Holt are injured, so they are unavailable. �Nate Adcock was also unavailable and was replaced. �That leaves Locke, Krol, Farrell, and Latimore.

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South All-Stars 5, �North All-Stars 4 (box)

Quincy Latimore was the starting centerfielder for the visiting South team. �He got the game started with a single up the middle. �2B Josh Satin (St. Lucie) also singled, moving Latimore to second base. �A ground out by C Tony Cruz (Palm Beach) advanced both runners one base, and another ground out by 3B Henry Wrigley (Charlotte) brought in Latimore with the game's first run.

Jeff Locke pitched the bottom of the 2nd for the South. �He retired the North batters in order, on a pop out, a called strikeout, and a ground out.

The North took the lead in the 3rd, when they began the inning with three straight hits: �a double, and two singles, driving in one run. �A grounder force out by C Travis d'Arnaud (Altoona's Chase d'Arnaud's brother) brought in the second run of the inning, to give the North a 2-1 lead. �The South tied the game again in the 5th inning, when DH Xavier Scruggs (Palm Beach) led off with a solo home run over the right field wall.

Noah Krol pitched the bottom of the 6th inning. �He started with a ground out, then walked a batter. �That runner was quickly eliminated with a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

The North broke the tie in the 7th. �Two singles, a fielding error, a stolen base, and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out. �A grounder to third looked like it was going to be an inning-ending double play, but a throwing error by the second baseman Satin allowed two runs to score, and the North led 4-2.

The South got the 2 runs right back in the top of the 8th, as Josh Satin redeemed himself with a 2-run homer following a lead-off single by LF Richard Racobaldo (Palm Beach). �With the score tied again, the South managed only a walk in the top of the 9th. �The North had a batter reach base in the bottom of the inning on a passed ball on strike three. �That batter was caught stealing moments later, and the game headed into extra innings.

Quincy Latimore led off the 10th by beating out an infield single to short. �Latimore stole second base, and scored on a single into right by Satin. �Two more singles loaded the bases with one out, but Scruggs bounced into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. �They had the slim lead, though, and all that remained was for reliever Zachary Quate (Charlotte) to zip through the bottom of the 10th, with two strikeouts and the game-ending ground out. �Quate earned a save, and 9th inning pitcher Josh Satow (Charlotte) was credited with the win.

Latimore had two of the South's 14 hits and scored two of the team's runs. �He also struck out twice, in the 3rd and the 6th innings. �C Stephen Vogt also had 2 hits, while both Josh Satin and Xavier Scruggs had 3 hits each for the South squad.

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As I was driving to work on Friday morning, I began to suspect that Bryan Morris' spot in the Altoona rotation was due up that night. When I arrived at my office, I fired up the computer and quickly checked whether I was correct. I was, and I discovered that he would be facing Twins’ pitching prospect Kyle Gibson. With a Friday night free of any obligations, I decided that pitching matchup was about as good as any I would find. So on my way home from work, I took a brief two-hour detour to Altoona.

According to a report from the Washington Times-Herald, the Pirates have signed 2010 39th round draft pick Kevin Decker, a right-handed pitcher.

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Brandon Moss is congratulated on his home run.

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Indianapolis Indians �10, �Pawtucket Red Sox �3 (box)

The Indianapolis Indians scored 9 runs in the first three innings tonight at Victory Field, pounding the Pawtucket Red Sox to earn a sweep of their 4-game series. �The two teams have now completed their 8-game season series, with the Indians nearly sweeping that too -- 7 wins for the Indians and only one for the PawSox. �The win, combined with a loss by the Columbus Clippers, moves the Indians up to 1.5 games behind the first-place Clippers in the International League Western Division.

The game began with a run for the PawSox in the top of the 1st. �Tribe starter Hayden Penn (photo) had a tough 1st inning, and it was not entirely his own doing. �Penn gave up a single to the Pawtucket lead-off hitter, 2B Niuman Romero. �He got SS Gil Vasquez to fly out and tricked DH Angel Sanchez into swinging at an outside pitch for strike three, but then hit 1B Lars Anderson with a pitch. �LF Aaron Bates grounded to third base, but 3B Pedro Alvarez, going to his right, has the ball pop into and out of his glove as he crossed into foul territory. �Alvarez recovered the ball quickly and turned to fire to first -- but airmailed the ball way over 1B Jeff Clement's head and into the stands. �That allowed Romero to score, and put Anderson on third and Bates on second base, as Alvarez was charged with both a fielding and a throwing error. �A ground out ended the inning, with Pawtucket up 1-0.

That didn't last long. �The Indians exploded for 6 runs in the bottom of the inning, as they sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the 1st. �LF Kevin Melillo led off with a line drive into right field for a single. �RF Brandon Moss took the lead back for the Indians with a 2-run blast over the wall in the deepest part of left-center field (photo). �Brian Myrow, who had DH duties tonight with the arrival of Jeff Clement, continued the fun with a grounder that handcuffed the PawSox 2B Romero, ruled a single. �Myrow moved to second base when Pawtucket pitcher Randor Bierd, and moments later, took third base the same way. �Neither of those wild pitches got all that far away from home plate, but Myrow was being alert and took the Red Sox by surprise.

Pedro Alvarez struck out for the first out of the inning, and Clement followed with a walk. �With runners on the corners, CF Jonathan Van Every hit a long fly ball that turned into a sacrifice fly, scoring Myrow. �C Erik Kratz grounded up the middle for another single, and Clement advanced to second base. �2B Doug Bernier continued with a grounder through the hole into left field, scoring Clement from second base. �Kratz and Bernier both came across the plate on a grounder that slipped past third base and continued along the left field line by SS Argenis Diaz. At this point, Randor Bierd was looking hopefully down toward his bullpen, where he saw -- no one moving, no rescue in sight. �But Bierd got Kevin Melillo to fly out, finally ending the inning. �The Tribe had a resounding 6-1 lead.

It keeps happening. The Pirates don't score many runs and the opponents hit the ball over the fence. The result is normally the same.

Game 1: �Altoona Curve �3, �Harrisburg Senators �2 (box)

The Curve got the evening off to a good start in the first of two 7-inning games, as they made up for the rain-out on Wednesday. �C Kris Watts led the offense with 2 hits and SS Chase d'Arnaud drove in 2 of the Curve runs.

Harrisburg scored first, with a run in the 2nd inning on two singles, a wild pitch by Altoona starter Tim Alderson, and a sacrifice fly. �The Curve tried to respond in the bottom of the inning, when Watts and LF Anthony Norman both singled, and Alderson walked to load the bases. �All three were left on base when a line out ended the inning. �But the Curve got the job done in the 4th inning. �RF Alex Presley led off by beating out a bunt for a single. �Watts lined another single into left field. �3B Shelby Ford dropped down a sacrifice bunt, and when the Harrisburg third baseman threw wide of first base for an error, Presley raced around to score, leaving Watts on third and Ford on second. �An intentional walk to Norman brought up Alderson, who flied out for the first out of the inning. �Then d'Arnaud ripped a line drive into left field, scoring both Watts and Ford. �The Curve came close to getting another run, when CF Gorkys Hernandez flied out to right field, but instead of that being a sacrifice fly, Norman was thrown out at the plate after tagging up.

Alderson gave up another run in the top of the 5th, on a single, a stolen base, and another single. �He pitched a total of 6 innings and allowed those 2 runs on 7 hits and a walk, with 3 strikeouts. �Alderson earned his 5th win of the season, giving him a 5-2 record. �Danny Moskos earned his 14th save of the season by pitching a perfect 7th inning.

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Game 2: �Senators �1, �Curve 0 (box)

The second game was another story. �SS Chase d'Arnaud led off the bottom of the 1st with a walk. �He was immediately erased when CF Gorkys Hernandez bounced into a double play. �And that was it. �No more Curve base runners, no hits, no more walks, no one reaching on an error or being hit by a pitch. �Just another 19 outs, 21 all together (it was a 7-inning game, as part of the double-header). �Harrisburg starter Chuck James pitched 5 innings and struck out 7, including striking out 6 Curve batters in a row in the 3rd and 4th innings. �Reliever Cole Kimball pitched a perfect 6th including 2 more strikeouts. �Reliever Zech Zinicola pitched the 7th, another perfect inning with two strikeouts.

And, as if that weren't bad enough -- it was even worse for Curve starter Rudy Owens. He pitched 7 innings and allowed only one run on 7 hits, no walks, with one strikeout, and still suffered the loss (his 3rd of the season). �Owens worked around a single in the 2nd and a double in the 3rd to keep the game scoreless. �He gave up a double and hit a batter in the 4th, but still did not allow a run. �Harrisburg's only run came in the 5th, with 2 outs, on 3 consecutive singles. �Owens allowed one more single in the 6th, then removed that base runner with a double play. �Jimmy Barthmaier pitched a scoreless 7th inning, also allowing just one single and also eliminating that threat with a double play.

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