Detroit Tigers Minor League Scoreboard – July 11

Toledo Mud Hens (44-47)
July 9 @ Louisville, L 0-3 (WP: E. Volquez; LP: S. Drucker; SV: C. Fisher)
July 10 vs. Indianapolis, L 1-3 (WP: J. Machi; LP: J. Sborz)
July 11 vs. Indianapolis, L 4-6 (WP: J. Powell; LP: G. De La Vara; SV: J. Machi)

Edinson Volquez stymied the Toledo hitters on Friday night as he and Carlos Fisher combined on a two-hit shutout. The Mud Hens lost again a day later when Jay Sborz couldn’t get the save, wasting Rick Porcello‘s seven shutout innings. Porcello allowed six hits and struck out seven but issued three walks on the night. The offense picked up a bit on Sunday when Will Rhymes came up a double short of the cycle. Jeff Larish drove in two runs but it wasn’t enough to avoid a second straight loss to the Indianapolis Indians.

Erie SeaWolves (37-53)
July 9 vs. Akron, L 1-10 (WP: P. Espino; LP: R. Garcia)
July 10 vs. Akron, L 0-4 (WP: A. White; LP: D. Below)
July 11 vs. Akron, W 5-1 (WP: Z. Simons; LP: C. Graham)

Erie saw their four game winning streak come to an end on Friday after managing just four hits, including their only run on a Michael Bertram home run. Saturday wasn’t any better. Andy Dirks came up with two hits but the rest of the team only added three more as Alex White lead the Akron Aeros to the shutout. Audy Ciriaco jump-started the offense on Sunday with a pair of triples and four hits overall to drive in two and later score to more. Zach Simons got the win in relief but Charlie Furbush pitched 6.1 solid innings to lower his ERA to 2.30 since his promotion from Lakeland.
(more after the jump)

Lakeland Flying Tigers (5-11 2nd Half Record)
July 9 vs. Clearwater, W 12-2 (WP: A. Wilk; LP: H. Correa)
July 10 @ Dunedin, L 5-7 (WP: D. DeLucia; LP: M. Sorensen; SV: M. Daly)
July 11 @ Dunedin, W 2-1 (WP: J. Kibler; LP: J. Carreno; SV: J. Gayhart)

The Flying Tigers put up their 12 runs against Clearwater without the benefit of a home run. It was a big debut for 2010 draft pick Brian Holaday as he went 5-for-5 with one RBI and three runs scored. John Murrian also scored three times as a result of his three hits. Four Flying Tigers had multi-hit games the next day against Dunedin but it wasn’t enough as Mark Sorensen got roughed up. The offensive firepower settled down on Friday but Lakeland got the win behind Jon Kibler‘s strong 6.2 innings.

West Michigan Whitecaps (5-12 2nd Half Record)
July 9 @ South Bend, W 9-2 (WP: V. Larez; LP: E. Smith)
July 10 vs. Lake County, W 3-2 (WP: L. Sanz; LP: C. Cook; SV: K. Faulk)
July 11 vs. Lake County, L 1-4 (WP: M. Packer; LP: T. Feeney)

Tony Plagman hit a big three-run home run to give the Whitecaps some breathing room against the South Bend Silver Hawks on Friday night. The blast was just one of his three hits on the night and Jimmy Gulliver added two hits of his own. Shawn Teufel pitched three scoreless innings of relief in a tight game to lead West Michigan to a win over Lake County. The middle of the order also did their part as Wade Gaynor, Avisail Garcia, and Plagman each collected two hits.

Connecticut Tigers (13-10)
July 9 @ Batavia, Postponed: Rain
July 10 @ Batavia, L 3-5 (WP: C. Reid; LP: C. Mendoza; SV: J. Rada)
July 10 @ Batavia, W 8-1 (WP: T. Clark; LP: C. Corrigan)
July 11 @ Williamsport, L 2-8 (WP: E. Pettis; LP: P. Cooper)

Alexander Nunez and Josh Ashenbrenner combined for five of the Tigers six hits in the opener of the double-header but the team woke up for the nightcap with five players recording multi-hit games. One of the five, PJ Polk, followed up that performance with three more hits against Williamsport the following day. Polk has been batting lead-off and is now hitting .271 with six stolen bases in the 16 games he has played.

GCL Tigers (9-8)
July 9 @ GCL Pirates, W 7-1 (WP: J. Barfield; LP: C. Cain)
July 10 vs. GCL Pirates, L 4-5 (WP: Y. Taveras; LP: D. Gentzler)

The GCL Tigers got a win over the GCL Pirates by virtue of a solid six inning start from Jeff Barfield. He allowed just three hits and didn’t walk a batter while striking out two. Patrick McKenna anchored the top of the order with three hits on the day and Gilbert Gomez added two doubles. Ramon Lebron turned in a brilliant performance of his own on Saturday with seven strike outs in six shutout innings, however Yadiel Polanco was charged with three runs without recording an out and Dan Gentzler ended up with the loss.