Vuch Report: Craig & Mather mashing
JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals outfielder Chris Duncan did an early round of sprint batting practice with the Triple-A club. Duncan led off every inning and went 3-for-9 with a double and a home run. Yet his was not the only show of force on the Memphis’ ball club.
Strikeouts and homers abound for the Redbirds, and that starts today’s Vuch Report.
** Memphis 7, Albuquerque 1 **
– Finally up on the mound (a few weeks after his shot at the major-league camp vanished), Dewon Brazelton was the winner, pitching two no-hit, scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out five. … Joe Rogers pitched four no-hit innings, striking out two and walking on. … And Jason Motte, in his first day back with the Triple-A team, struck out two in a scoreless inning to end the game.
– Duncan’s solo homer was one of three ripped by the Redbirds on Wednesday. Joe Mather, making his first Triple-A start after being optioned out on Monday, drilled a three-run homer into a stiff wind. … Gabe Johnson hit a two-run homer.
– Mark Johnson, who as mentioned in JSL!!! today is set to be the starting catcher in Triple-A, was 2-for-3 with a double.
** Carolina 8, Springfield 4 **
– Allen Craig, set to be the starting third baseman for Springfield and on his way to be one of the team top hitting prospects, powered the offense Wednesday. He went 4-for-5 with a double and a home run, and he drove in two runs.
– A. J. Van Slyke hit a homer, with his father Detroit coach Andy Van Slyke there to watch.
– Righthander Adam Ottavino pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed five hits and two runs, both earned. As importantly: He walked zero and struck out four. … Bob Zimmerman record seven outs, three of them by strike out and held Carolina to one hit in his appearance. … Josh Dew, a pitcher to watch for stuff and ascent this season, pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.
– Stu Pomeranz allowed six runs in his one inning. He got the loss after giving up four hits and walking three batters.
** Jupiter 5, Palm Beach 3 **
– Tyler Herron, a South Florida both taken in the supplemental round of the 2005 draft, worked four scoreless innings, allowing two hits. He walked one and K’d three. … Blake King allowed four hits, struck out two, walked two and gave up three runs in his two innings. … Justin Ficke allowed two earned runs and four hits in 1 1/3 innings.
– James Rapoport, considered a fine defensive center fielder, was 2-for-5 with a double. … Brandon Buckman, a breakout offensive player last season, went 2-for-3. … And Oliver Marmol, too often forgotten when it comes to talking about the middle infielders in the syste, singled and scored in his only at-bat.
** Quad Cities 5, Greensboro 4 **
– Carlos Pupo cracked a two-run homer.
– Nick Additon pitched three-plus, allowing three hits and two runs. … Prep pitcher Brett Zawacki, drafted out of Illinois last summer, allowed two runs and four hits in three innings. … Matt Spade nailed down the save with a perfect ninth.
– Adron Chambers, he of the diving catch that got the Braves a-clappin’ the other day, went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. … Peter Kozma went 1-for-3, but he also reached base two other times — with a walk and a hit by pitch.
– Joey Hage was 2-for-4 and had the game-winning RBI on a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.
-30-


(11 votes, average: 4.45 out of 5)
Derrick Goold told everyone he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but really after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was drawn to MU's primo location between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball inbetween.
Andy Van Slyke= Underrated