Starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens of the Atlanta Braves, started on Monday against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field and would like to have the first two frames back. In the opening period he left a 3-2 slider up in the zone and Derrek Lee punished him with a two-run homerun for an early 2-0 lead for the Cubbies. In the second inning he served opposing pitcher Randy Wells, a former minor league catcher, a 1-1 fastball down the middle, who extended the frame with a two-out single. Kosuke Fukudome and Ryan Theriot followed with run-scoring hits and Chicago was up by four runs. The offense of Atlanta tried to come back, but only managed two runs on a single by Yunel Escobar and a solo homerun by Nate McLouth. In the end they lost 2-4 on the north side of the windy city. Jurrjens, who is now 6-7 with an ERA of 2.91, pitched seven innings, allowing four hits, four runs and three walks. He struck out one and threw 54 of his 87 pitches for strikes.
Europeans in the Minors:
- Since a few weeks Leon Boyd is back with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, after being demoted to Single-A in mid-May. After giving up seven runs in just one inning of work over two outings, Boyd has pitched 5 1/3 innings of scoreless ball since. Overall his ERA stands at 7.11 in 16 games in the Eastern League, striking out 14 (16 walks) in 19 innings pitched.
- Gregory Halman is picking up form for the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx in the Southern League. The outfield prospect of the Mariners has hits in nine of the last ten games. In the last three he has collected eight hits in 13 at bats, including four homeruns. Additionally his strikeout numbers are going down, as he only has struck out nine times in the last 44 at bats. Overall he is batting .215 (OBP .272/SLG .489) with 20 homeruns, 41 runs scored and 48 RBI in 69 games.
- Reliever Alex Maestri of the Cubs affiliate in Tennessee allowed two runs on two hits and two walks last Saturday. However he has seven scoreless outings in the last ten games, striking out 18 in 18 2/3 innings in this period. He now appeared in 31 games this season with an ERA of 3.21 and 47 strikeouts (32 walks) in 53 1/3 innings. Opponents are batting .229 against him.
- After being hit by a foul ball and missing a few games due to the injury, German catcher Kai Gronauer of the Savannah Sand Gnats is back and apparently found his stroke. A ten-game hitting streak ended last Friday, but already has started a new one. He is now batting .240 (OBP .287/SLG .347) with four homeruns, six doubles, 20 runs scored and 13 RBI in 49 games.
- German outfielder Max Kepler-Rozycki, who agreed to terms with the Minnesota Twins a few days ago, is getting a signing bonus of $800,000 according to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. This would tie the unofficial record for European players, as Alex Smit received a similar amount in 2002 from the Twins.
- Speaking of Smit. He is now in the Cincinnati Reds organization, playing for the Carolina Mudcats. Due to an injury he only has appeared in 16 games this year so far, starting five. He has a 2-2 record with an ERA of 3.89 and 44 strikeouts (25 walks) in 39 1/3 innings. He came back on June 21st, but returned to the disabled list shortly after.
