The Playoff Picture (as of September 20)
 Manuel Flores threw eight shutout innings Sunday to help the Quakes advance to Game #5 tonight. |
Manuel Flores wasn’t listed in the 2010 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, and he probably won’t be in the 2011 edition either.
But last night he pitched like the Angels’ top prospect.
Flores pitched eight shutout innings last night as the Quakes beat San Jose 4-0, tying their best-of-five series at two games each. He struck out four, walked one and gave up only five hits.
Luis Jimenez was 2 for 4 with a triple and RBI. Mike Trout was 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Game #5 is tonight at The Epicenter.
The Giants will start staff ace Justin Fitzgerald on three days’ rest. The 24-year old right-hander was 10-6 with a 3.45 ERA. In Game #1, he shut out the Quakes for seven innings, striking out nine, walking none and allowing six hits. If you’re looking for a silver lining, in his last start at Rancho on July 29 Fitzgerald took the loss, giving up four runs on eight hits in five innings.
Kyle Hurst will start for the Quakes. He began the year with Low-A Cedar Rapids, where he had a 2.84 ERA in nine relief appearances. Promoted to Rancho Cucamonga in mid-May, Hurst toiled largely in mid-relief until he joined the starting rotation in early August. In seven starts, Kyle had a 5.05 ERA. If you’re looking for a silver lining, in his last four starts (26 1/3 innings) Hurst had a 2.73 ERA with seventeen strikeouts and four walks.
Tomorrow morning, we’ll know who is the 2010 California League champion.
FutureAngels.com 