Starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens of the Braves was solid enough to pick up a win against the Marlins on Tuesday, but Florida won the game 4-3 in the ninth, as Ross Gload hit a two-run walk off homerun. Jurrjens went six innings, allowing seven hits, two runs and a walk, while striking out five. He remains at 9-7 with an ERA of 2.69 in 22 starts this season. He has struck out 93 batters in 134 innings, while walking 48.
Around the Minors:
- Italian reliever Alessandro Maestri, who was promoted to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs last weekend, was sent down back to Double-A before Tuesday’s game, probably to make room for newly acquired reliever B.J. Ryan. Maestri didn’t make an appearance.
- After two rough outings in mid-July Shairon Martis, who is currently pitching for the Triple-A team of the Washington Nationals in Syracuse, has recovered and is back on track. On Monday he allowed just five hits and a walk in seven scoreless innings against Louisville to pick up his third win in the International League this year. In five starts for the Chiefs he has an ERA of 4.68 with 16 strikeouts (8 walks) in 25 innings.
- With 15 strikeouts in his last 35 at bats, Gregory Halman of the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, is back in the funk. He is only hitting .171 with one homerun and three RBI in the last ten games, dropping his batting average for the season back to .209 (OBP .269/SLG .448) with 21 homeruns, 46 runs scored and 55 RBI.
- Third baseman Alex Liddi of the High Desert Mavericks continues to collect hits in the California League. However he has lost a bit of his power recently, only going deep once in the last ten games. He is batting .349 (OBP .403/SLG .621) with 21 homeruns, 79 runs scored and 81 RBI in 96 games overall.
- German catcher Kai Gronauer is on the 7-day DL of the Savannah Sand Gnats due to an undisclosed injury.