Finally Some Sunshine

After sitting through the rain and cold on Friday night (and the cold a couple of weeks ago), I along with a few thousand other fans, was finally rewarded with some decent weather Saturday afternoon. The Sea Dogs felt good about the weather, taking their second straight from New Hampshire with a 10-5 victory. Cory Keylor was the star of the show this afternoon, going 3-5 with a home run and 5 RBI. Old friend Charlie Zink was equally strong on the rubber, pitching six shutout innings, allowing only five base runners and striking out five.

Portland faced another of New Hampshire's top pitchers, lefty David Purcey. Purcey's prospect shine has dimmed a bit since he first came to New Hampshire a couple of years ago. He's still a good stuff/poor command guy, though he does seem to have a better handle on his curve ball these days. (He also has slimmed down a bit since he first appeared in the league.) Purcey alternated good innings with others where he allowed Portland hitters to string together base runners. His biggest problem was an inability to handle Keylor.

While Zink was impressive, Bryce Cox was not. This was my first look at Cox, who is listed as Boston's #4 prospect. Cox struggled mightily in throwing strikes, and when he did throw them they were hit hard, even for outs. In 1 1/3 innings, Cox walked three, hit a batter, and allowed three hits, including a towering three-run home run over the scoreboard in left-center field by David Smith. Mike James was called upon to get the last five outs of the game.

Notes:

• Jacoby Ellsbury was a bit of a disappointment, getting only one hit (an RBI double) and one walk. Hey, when a guy comes into the game hitting .468, you expect better.
  
• This version of the Sea Dogs is going to bother opposing pitchers. They take a lot of pitches and draw a lot of walks. When aboard, they run the bases aggressively and make things happen with their speed. In addition to Ellsbury, Jeff Corsaletti is a guy who particularly relies on his speed to make things happen. Corsaletti has already shown an ability to lay down a bunt along with avoiding double plays by hustling down the line. It's the variety of small ball that fans find enjoyable.
• Case in point on taking pitches - out of 38 batters for the Sea Dogs in the game, only three swung at the first pitch, and only a handful more swung before taking a strike.
  
• New Hampshire CF Dustin Majewski is another speedy guy who takes a lot of walks. However, he hasn't been too successful in hitting the ball when he doesn't walk. Since arriving in AA in the middle of last season, he has nearly as many walks as hits. You can do that if you're Barry Bonds. If you struggle to hit .230 in AA, pitchers won't let you get away with the walks for long.