Wednesday revisited

In Lakewood on a drizzly, cold night, the BlueClaws and Grasshoppers split a pair of games. Greensboro took to opener, 9-2. Ervis Manzanillo, a 19-year old Venezuelan, got his feet wet. In fact, he got soaked. He struggled into the 3rd inning, but was removed after the bases were loaded with nobody out. In all, 2 IP, 7 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks, and hopefully, removal of the butterflies. We have had good luck with 19-year Venezuelans here in Lakewood in the past. Back to that later, Bryan Morgado came into the game for Manzanillo, and got out of the inning, allowing 2 of the 3 runners to score. In fairness, he did come in with the bases loaded and nobody out, so he did minimized the damage. In all, Morgado saved Lakewood by throwing 3 innings and only giving up 3 hits. He was charged with 1 run. Chase Johnson finished up and gave up an UNearned run in 2 innings. Johnson struck out 4 hitters, including 3 of the final 4 he faced. Lakewood managed just 4 hits, and scored their runs by stringing 3 of the 4 together in the 3rd inning. A Stephen Batts double, a triple from Anthony Hewitt, and a single by Edgar Duran produced the only scoring for Lakewood. In the second game, a 4-2 Lakewood victory, the BlueClaws found ways to score without getting a lot of hits. They won this game with 3 hits, including a second inning home run from Jim Murphy (his 2nd). A sac fly from Torre Langley, before Geancarlo Mendez stole home, and Anthony Hewitt scored on the ensuing error. Garrett Claypool threw 4 solid innings, giving up just 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out 7. The victory went to Juan Sosa, who threw the next 2 shut out frames. Eric Pettis allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, on 2 hits in the 7th...............Our most recent 19-year old Venezuelan, Carlos Monasterios, has been placed on the DL in Albuquerque after just one 4-inning stint last Friday..........Another former 19-year old Venezuelan BlueClaw, Carlos Carrasco made a fine start in Los Angeles Wednesday. In 7 innings of work Carrasco allowed just 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks, picking up 5 strike outs. He receives no decision and the Angels win in 12 innings, 4-3..............In Seattle, Kyle Drabek had a difficult start, but battled through 5.2 innings against the Mariners. Kyle held the Mariners to just 2 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks, striking out 5. He threw a total of 114 pitches looked as if he could throw more. No decision for Drabek as the Jays exploded late for an 8-3 win.....In Washington, the Phillies beat the Nationals, 3-2. Ryan Howard picked up his 13th RBI in the 11th game of the year, and Carlos Ruiz had a single and walk, raising his average to .333......In New York, Taylor Buchholz threw a scoreless inning for the Mets, 1 walk, 2 strike outs, but the Rockies won the game, 5-4..........In Houston, Michael Bourn had a walk and scored a run for Houston, in the Cub's 9-5 win over the Astros.............................In Daytona, the Threshers got a win out of the series with a 2-1 decision over the Cubs. It was Daytona's first loss of the season, winning their first 6. With the win, Clearwater improves to 5-2, 1 game behind Daytona. Leandro Castro had 3 hits for Clearwater, and Joe Savery and Travis Mattair each had 2 hits and drove in a run. Go, Moose!! Jonathan Pettibone went 6 excellent innings, giving up just 1 run on 6 hits and 1 walk.............Reading wrapped up their opening road trip with a win in Manchester, beating the Fisher Cats, 4-1, behind strong pitching from Austin Hyatt. Hyatt went 5 innings to record his 2nd win, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 3. Chance Chapman (2 IP, 6 straight outs, 2 Ks) and Jacob Diekman (.2 IP 1 hit, 1 K) both recorded "holds", and Phillippe Aumont notched the save, getting 4 outs in a row. Harold Garcia (.323) had 3 hits, including a double and Mike Spidale and Matt Rizzotti drove in a pair of runs each for the R-Phils. Travis d'Arnaud was 1 for 4, and Anthony Gose drove in a run for New Hampshire.................In Scranton, the Buffalo Bisons beat the Yankees 4-0. Greg Golson was 0 for 4 for Scranton and saw his average dip to .304.............In Nashville, Zack Segovia threw a 1-2-3 9th inning for the Sounds in their 6-1 win over Oklahoma City......In Sacramento, Adrian Cardenas had a single and a double and scored 2 runs for the River Cats, who lost to Las Vegas, 6-5. Cardenas average is now up to .455. Josh Outman started the game for Sacramento and threw 58 pitches in just 2 innings. Josh gave up 4 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks and is still struggling with his control. He has not been effective in his 2 starts.