I didn't see a minor league thread for today. I went to the IronPigs game in Worcester today. Long day (90 minute rain delay followed by a three hour game). Allard did not look good at all--lacked command and gave up some hard hit balls. I joked to my friend with two outs in the fourth that if he walked one more batter and then got the final out, his line would be 4 4 4 4 4 4. Instead he gave up three more hits and another run. Also looking bad was Zack Haake (faced six batters, gave up a double to Dalton Guthrie, walked two and hit one with the bases loaded. He still would have ended up giving up only one run if Nick Nelson hadn't come in and given up a bases loaded triple to K machine Bobby Dalbec. Actually, it looked like Ryan McKenna could have caught it, but he didn't. Hard to tell from far away how hard a play it was. Nelson pitched poorly the next inning, too, including allowing the opposing catcher to steal third by ignoring him on second base. Dylan Covey looked good, though (1-2-3 inning).
Clemens looked good with three hits. Kingery had three hits, too, but he struck out in a key situation. Darick Hall had a double but went 1 for 5. Carlos De La Cruz looked completely lost at the plate. Kroon hit a solo homer in the ninth.
I really like the pitch challenge system; it's very quick. There were about eight challenges, and all but two were overturned. Hall struck out after Worcester challenged a called ball with two strikes.
