Cleveland Sports Forum

Pomeranz in his professional debut has gone 4 innings, allowed 1 hit, fanned 7 and walked no one. He will not be in the Carolina League long and he will ascend at least two more levels during the course of the season. It says so here.

22 year old lefty Mike Rayl had a nice start for Lake County, 5 scoreless innings, 1 hit, 1 walk 5 K. He was pretty good in the MHV starting rotation but never shows on prospect charts.

Rough AA debut for Joe Gardner. No. 8 prospect has been tagged for 3 runs in 2 innings. Grady rests today. Kyle Bellows, my breakout player, is not cooperating. He must be hurt, has not been seen in the first 2 box scores.

2nd game, 2nd double and 3rd RBI for Lonnie Chisenhall in AAA. Cord Phelps at SS today. Jeanmar Gomez starting. It's 1-0 in the 2nd.

Huff-Gomez-White-Kluber-McAllister in AAA rotation

DelaCruz-Gardner-Barnes-Adams-Packer rotation for Akron

Pomeranz-McFarland-Soto-ClCook-House rotation for Kinston

Goodnight-Rayl-Blair-CoCook-Dischler rotation in Lake County


We used to have Ryan Morris and Ryan Miller. Now we have Cole Cook and Clayton Cook.

Clippers win 3-2 as Lonnie homers and doubles and drives in a pair. Carrera does what a leadoff man is paid for: two singles, a triple, a walk and a steal. Phelps singles and walks. Kipnis doubles.

Gomez 5 2/3 2 runs on 7 hits. Josh Judy fans 3 in one inning. Jensen Lewis puts 3 on but gets the save.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x&did=milb

Aeros rally with 4 in the 6th and win 6-4. Joe Gardner rights himself after slow start and finishes with 6 innings 3 runs, 4 walks 3 k for the win. Bryan Price 1 run in 2 and Cory Burns with his first AA save, fans 3 in the 9th.

Jordan Henry, Juan Diaz, Chun Chen and Tim Fedroff each with a pair of hits. Diaz his 2nd triple. He's a 6-4 SS who is supposed to be an excellent fielder. Perhaps he'll fill the Carlos Rivero shoes.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x_akraax_1

4102 at the opener of the final season at Historic Grainger Park for a wild one. Behind Pomeranz T-Tribe takes a 5-1 lead. Marty Popham yields 4 in the 8th to tie the score. Travis Turek allows the go ahead run in the 10th, but Tribe rallies with 2 in the bottom, the winner on a Ron Rivas single.

RIvas had 3 hits; 2 each by Abraham, Greenwell and Frawley.

Pomeranz: 5 1/3 2 hits, 9 walks.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... a_kinafa_1

Captains make it a perfect night for the Tribe organization, with a 2-1 squeaker on the road. Mike Rayl went 5, allowed no runs on 1 hit and 1 walk, fanning 5. Francisco Jiminez who looked very good 2 years ago, added 3 scoreless 1 hit innings. Ehlert the closer let one in score in the bottom of the 9th.

Jason Smit singled and tripled. Giovanny Urshela singled and walked.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x_swmafx_1

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

INDIANAPOLIS - Most baseball transactions require one spare sentence to explain the player move. Adjectives and adverbs need not apply.

Even so, a name is attached to every move and a life altered by a change that involves more than putting on a new uniform.

When the Cleveland Indians claimed outfielder Chad Huffman off waivers from the New York Yankees on Sept. 17, 2010, he blinked but didn't stagger because the same thing had happened to him six months before.

"I got claimed on the last day of spring training," Huffman said. "I actually was on the bus ride to the airport to go to triple-A after I got optioned by San Diego. I got a phone call that I was designated then. New York claimed me. That was more of a shock."

He played most of last season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and made his major-league debut with the Yankees in June. By September, however, his circumstances changed.

New York needed a 40-man roster spot for relief pitcher Royce Ring, and Huffman was designated for assignment again. The Indians pounced.

"I knew that the Yankees needed a left-handed pitcher," he said. "With the Yankees, there aren't many roster spots that can be moved. Luckily, I got picked up by Cleveland. Cleveland is a young team. (Columbus) is a good team. I'm happy for this opportunity."

Huffman started in right field for the Clippers last night in a 3-2 win over the Indianapolis Indians in Victory Field. He batted fourth between top prospects and triple-A rookies Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis.

"I like hitting three, four or five," Huffman said. "That's where I've hit for most of my career. Hopefully, I can do some damage. I think this team is going to score some runs."

Last night, the Clippers scored just enough. They started quickly with an RBI double by Chisenhall in the first inning. He added his first triple-A home run in the third to give Jeanmar Gomez (1-0) a 2-0 lead.

Wes Hodges, who was thrown out at home in the second by center fielder Corey Wimberly, led off the Clippers' fourth with a double. Luis Valbuena followed with a single, and Wimberly erased Hodges again at the plate

Valbuena went to second on the throw and to third on a Luke Carlin single. He scored when Ezequiel Carrera pushed a bunt single to the left of the pitcher's mound.

Trailing 3-2 in the ninth, Indianapolis took another run at Clippers closer Jensen Lewis. He escaped a two-on, one-out jam to preserve a 4-3 win Thursday. This time, the Indians loaded the bases in the ninth with one out.

Lewis struck out Gorkys Hernandez and got Pedro Ciriaco on a grounder to Chisenhall at third to earn his second hair-raising save.

"He made the pitches when he needed to," Clippers manager Mike Sarbaugh said. "You could tell when he pitched to Hernandez that he got his adrenaline going. Then he got that groundout and Wes made a nice pick on that throw (to first)."

AAA Columbus Clippers

Clippers 3, Indians 2 Third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall homered, doubled and drove in two runs to lead Columbus past host Indianapolis in International League action Friday.

Jeanmar Gomez (1-0, 3.18) started and got the win for Columbus. The right-hander pitched 5 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

Jensen Lewis gave up two hits and a walk in the ninth but still earned his second save.

AA Akron Aeros

Aeros 6, Mets 4 Akron left fielder Donnie Webb socked his first home run of the season, center fielder Jordan Henry had two hits and two RBI, and the Aeros beat Binghamton in an Eastern League game at Canal Park.

The Aeros scored four runs in the sixth inning to erase a 3-1 deficit.

Akron right-handed starter Joe Gardner (1-0, 4.50) allowed three runs (all earned) on five hits and four walks in six innings. He fanned three.

Closer Cory Burns struck out the side in the ninth to earn his first save.


Advanced A Kinston Indians

Indians 7, Dash 6 Second baseman Ron Rivas had three hits, including a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth as the K-Tribe rallied to win its Carolina League opener over visiting Winston-Salem.

Lefty Drew Pomeranz started for Kinston and pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed two hits, did not walk a batter and struck out nine.


A Lake County Captains

Captains 2, Loons 1 Lefty Mike Rayl (1-0) allowed one hit in five scoreless innings and RF Jason Smit had two hits, including a triple, to lead Lake County past Great Lakes in a Midwest League game in Midland, Mich.

The Captains led, 1-0, with one out in the ninth when Smit tripled. With LF Brian Heere batting, the Loons' catcher tried to pick off Smit and threw wildly, allowing Smit to score the unearned run.

DH Tyler Cannon drove in the first Captains run with a single in the sixth inning.

Wes Hodges, who was thrown out at home in the second by center fielder Corey Wimberly, led off the Clippers' fourth with a double. Luis Valbuena followed with a single, and Wimberly erased Hodges again at the plate


Stupid is as stupid does. Wes is what an Indans 2nd round draft choice used to be. Now they all become stars, right?

A group of releases that I missed:

RHP Alex Morales, AndyShive and Matt Speake
LHP Nick Kirk and Ryan Morris (that's if for the Ryan Ms)
1B Ben Carlson and Chris Kersten
1B Andrew Kinney voluntarily retired.

Leaving us with very few 1Bs. Perhaps Jesus Agullar will be a successful slugger, at Lake County. Jeremie Tice is a failed 3b who's at Kinston although too old for the league. Beau Mills is hurt and when healthy returns for a 3rd year to Akron. Wes Hodges is another failed 3B running himself into outs at Columbus. Jordan Brown helps out at Columbus, and he's 27 already. Basically it's Matt LaPorta or no one. On the other hand, most major leagaue 1B started out playing somewhere else. So, if for example, Chun Chen shows he can hit at upper levels he could move out from behind the plate.

Drew Pomeranz made it look pretty easy in his professional debut Friday night. And for those who know the left-hander from Collierville, Tenn., it comes as no surprise.

Pomeranz, selected fifth overall by the Indians in last year's Draft, struck out nine over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his Minor League debut as the Class A Advanced Kinston Indians walked off with a 7-6, 10-inning win over the Winston-Salem Dash.


· Box score
· Pomeranz's player page
· See the Indians in Kinston
· Indians affiliates coverage
The 22-year-old southpaw struck out the first batter he faced, Daniel Wagner, then caught Jose Martinez looking. He rolled through the first three frames without allowing a hit.

Wagner finally singled up the middle to open the fourth and, when he stole second, Pomeranz buckled down, striking out former first-round pick Jared Mitchell and Ian Gac to end the frame.

Andy Wilkins beat Pomeranz leading off the fifth, singling and taking second on first baseman Chase Burnette's throwing error. Again, the Ole Miss product responded, fanning Jason Bour and popping up Nick Cioll and Kyle Davis to escape.

Pomeranz reached his pitch count in the sixth after striking out Austin Yount -- Kinston manager Aaron Holbert brought in 2009 27th-round pick Tyler Sturdevant, who blew the save.

All was forgotten more than an hour later, though, when Ron Rivas ended the rain-delayed game with an RBI single in the 10th, giving reliever Travis Turek (1-0) the win. Brandon Kloess took the loss after allowing two runs over 1 1/3 frames.

For Pomeranz, who saw time with Cleveland in Spring Training last month, the debut was a long-awaited one. He was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award after being taught how to pitch by his father, Mike, a four-year letterman at Mississippi. His older brother, Stuart, was drafted by the Cardinals out of high school, spent last year with Double-A Tulsa and began this season in the Dodgers system.

Aeros drop day game 6-2. Scott Barnes was OK at the start, 2 runs in 4, fanned 7. Joe Smith with a scoreless inning, Eric Berger with 2. Chen Lee tagged for 2 each in the 8th and 9th, 2 unearned due to a Karexon Sanchez error. Grady Sizemore with a pair of hits and fellow CF Jordan Henry with 2 of his own, plus a steal.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... x&did=milb