Donald, Golson day-to-day

Good morning HomeSiders-

Good news on the medical front. X-rays on Jason Donald were negative. He suffered a cut, no stitches required, and is listed as day-to-day. Also in the "day-to-day" category is Greg Golson, who fouled a ball off his left foot Monday night. My sincere thanks to Steve Degler in Reading for his prompt response to my inquiry yesterday.

As long as we are talking about Reading, lets start today in Bowie, where the R-Phils were brought back to earth by the Baysox, 8-3. With Golson nursing the sore foot, Javon Moran moved over to center, and Mike Spidale played left. Spidale had one of the 5 hits for Reading, a single and a run scored in the 3-run 9th inning. Jermey Slayden picked up an outfield assist, throwing out a runner at home. On the mound, Drew Carpenter did not last 5 innings, and was charged with all the runs, 5 of them earned. RJ Swindel recorded 7 straight outs, including 4 K's, and Ron Hill followed with a scoreless frame. Neither RJ or Bear has allowed a run yet (4 innings each). Josh Outman gets the assignment tonight in the final game before the home opener Friday.

In Clearwater last night, Joe Savery was the hard luck loser in a 2-1 Fort Myers victory. Savery pitched 7 strong innings, allowing the 2 runs on 7 hits, walking 2 and striking out 2. The Thresher's run came on a single by Jake Blalock and a double off the hot bat of John Urick. Urick is hitting .350 with 4 RBI in the early going. Quintin Berry threw out 2 runners at home plate to keep Clearwater in the game. I believe Carlos Monasterios gets the ball tonight.

The BlueClaws lost a 5-2 decision to Hagerstown on Tuesday night to fall to 1-4. Drew Naylor fell victim to lack of support, as Lakewood did not score until the 8th inning. Naylor pitched 5 innings, giving up 3 runs, but only 1 was earned. Lakewood had plenty of chances in the game, but was not able to come up with the key hit with runners on base until it was too late. Dominic Brown (.391), Michael Taylor (.316) and Michael Durant (.333) had 2 hits each for Lakewood. I have mentioned the other 2, so let me say a word about Taylor here. He is a line-drive machine. Everything seems to jump off his bat. Although this squad is off to a slow start, it looks as if they will be a good team as the season progresses. While I am at it, I also want to mention Derrick Mitchell. If you look at his numbers, you will be deceived. He is just 1 for 9, but he has hit several balls hard, finally breaking into the hit column late last night. Hang in there, Derrick. If you keep hitting the ball hard, the hits will come.

Add another one to the list, HomeSiders!! Andrew Baldwin, who spent 2005 here in Lakewood, made his AAA debut Monday night in Tacoma for the Rainiers (Mariner's organization). It was a rough go for him, he got through 2 innings, charged with 3 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks.

Not a good night for the HomeSide in Norfolk on Tuesday night, either: Randy Ruiz (0 for 5), Chris Roberson (0 for 5) and Mike Costanzo (1 for 4) in the Tides 6-5 win over the Red Wings.

So you want some good news? Look no further than Las Vegas where Kevin Howard had 2 hits, including his first home run of the season, as the 51s defeated Colorado Springs 6-5. Kevin is hitting .368 with 4 RBI so far.

In Oklahoma City, Elizardo Ramirez was the winning pitcher in the Red Hawks 7-5 victory over Nashville. "Easy" came into the game in the 5th inning, and allowed no runs, and just 4 hits in 2.2 innings of work to even his record at 1-1 (1.59) on the year.

In Colorado last night, Taylor Buchholz made his 5th appearance in 8 games for the Rockies. Taylor is becoming one of the regulars out of the Colorado bullpen, and threw another scoreless inning against Atlanta in the Rockies 4-3 win. It was his second "hold " of the year, to go with his win last week. His ERA is 1.93 so far.

Wednesday highlights will include Kyle Kendrick (1-0) making his second start of the year, this time at Shea against New York.