What’s going on in baseball? Your 6/27/2015 report:
MLB
- Toronto’s Danny Valencia smashed a pinch-hit home run Friday on the first pitch he faced from Rangers first baseman Adam Rosales as the Blue Jays trounced 12-2. Valencia is hitting .357 in June, with 3 HR and 11 RBI. By and large, though, he’s been far more effective this season as a starter (.373) than as a sub (.118) ***
- Toronto teammate Kevin Pillar went 2-for-4 Thursday with a double and an RBI to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He’s hitting .444 with a 1.126 OPS in that time ***
- Ian Kinsler cranked a 2-run HR on Thursday, just his second round-tripper of the season ***
Minor leagues
- All that work on his fastball seems to be paying off for Cardinals prospect Rob Kaminsky (High-A). In his last four starts, the former 1st-round draft pick (2013) has struck out 22 and walked just 3. MLB.com’s Jake Seiner says Kaminsky “could get a look at Double-A before the end of the season” ***
- Alex Bregman, selected No. 2 overall by the Astros in this month’s amateur draft, went 1-for-5 in his pro debut Friday with the Quad Cities River Bandits (A) ***
- Tough out: playing for eventual runner-up Vanderbilt in the College World Series on 6/19/2015, Nationals draftee Rhett Wiseman was hit in the neck with an 89 mph fastball. But he stayed in the game and later homered ***
- Marlins draftee Justin Cohen (rookie league) singled, doubled, walked and drove in two runs Friday in his second pro game ***
- Angels prospect Charlie Cutler is hitting .328 in 58 Triple-A at-bats this season ***
- White Sox Prospect Brad Goldberg (High-A) struck out 2 in a perfect inning of relief Friday. After opening the season with a 7.94 ERA in April, the Ohio State alum has trimmed it to 3.34 ***
- Brewers draftee Jake Drossner made his pro debut Friday with the rookie-league Helena Brewers ***
- Former Cardinals prospect Robert Stock is back. Days after being picked first overall in the independent Frontier League’s draft, the reliever was signed by the Pirates. He’s appeared in 2 games so far ***
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