Oh my!

Phil Hughes had a pretty effective start last night against Binghampton Mets. He went six very strong innings before faltering a little bit in the seventh. He left the game with two runners on base and having given up 1 earned run in 6 innings. T.J. Beam allowed both runners to score bringing Hughes' final line to 8 hits, 3 ER, 1 BB and 7 Ks in 6.3 innings. I'm very happy to see the walks come down and the strikeouts rack back up and the K:BB ratio is down to 25:10 (for the season - 29.3 innings),

Over In Columbus, Darrell Rasner continued his string of good starts, getting the win last night by going 6.6 strong innings. He's putting up very good numbers at AAA using his Tiger Wang style, i.e. lots of groundballs and the occasional strikeout. In other news, Kevin Thompson is back in the lineup and he's responded well, hitting a home run and knocking in two. Give the man a couple of days to get back in the swing of things and get him up here for Terrence Long. I say this because a Thompson usually takes two shots to succeed at a level. Let's get him his first shot now or this year and next year, he'll be ready to go as a great option for an outfield spot. While we're doing that, why not call Rasner up and let him take Erickson or Small's place soon? Let's really get this Columbus shuttle going because right now, they offer the best bang for those roster spots.