Bus Leagues Express: July 16

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Castro promoted? Simon Castro‘s career has stalled in recent years, but his change in organization could soon pay off. He was pulled from his start against Durham Sunday after three scoreless innings, and it’s believed he’s on his way to joining the White Sox to make a spot start Wednesday. Elbow tendinitis looks like it’ll keep Gavin Floyd out for longer than expected, and the White Sox need someone to start. Castro hasn’t had much success in 11 career starts above AA, but with Terry Doyle no longer in the organization, Castro may be their best bet.

LaRoche pitches, wins: Former top prospect Andy LaRoche‘s career did not go as many expected in his Dodger prospect days, but he added a real feather in his cap Sunday, not at the plate but on the mound. Tied at four after 13 innings, the Pawtucket Red Sox were out of pitchers and sent LaRoche out to pitch. He had gone 0/5 on the day at third base, so maybe the distraction of taking the mound was a good thing. With one out, he allowed a single to Matt Tuiasosopo who was forced out on the next batter. After a wild pitch moved Josh Rodriguez into scoring position, he induced a popup by Rob Johnson to end the inning. Just one batter into the bottom half of the 14th, Nate Spears hit a walkoff home run to make LaRoche the winning pitcher.

Soto allows run, fires no-hitter: After two days without one, MiLB saw another no-hitter, the 12th of this season. This time, it was Akron’s Giovanni Soto doing the honors in their 2-1 win over Altoona. It was the second no-no in the Eastern League this year. In the 6th inning, Altoona actually got on the board without a hit. After a leadoff walk, a throwing error after a flyout allowed the runner to move from first to third, and he came around to score on a groundout. In the complete game, Soto walked three and struck out six batters. He has a 2.66 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 20.1 July innings.

Hamilton homers in Pensacola win: On Opening Day way back in April, Billy Hamilton homered in the 3rd inning. For five innings, he would have more home runs than stolen bases, the only time this season he had more homers than steals. He pulled within 107 Sunday with his inside the park home run for the Blue Wahoos. In the 7th inning, he lofted a fly ball to right center that the right fielder could not catch on a dive. As the center fielder came over to back it up, he booted the ball to the wall, and that’s one too many mistakes with Hamilton running the bases. He reached home in just 14 seconds as Pensacola went on to beat Jacksonville 5-1.

Rice hits for cycle: It certainly hasn’t happened as often as the no-hitters this year, but there have been a handful of batters that have hit for the cycle. The latest is Kannapolis’ Bill Rice in their 14-5 win over Greensboro Sunday. He homered in the 2nd, singled in the 3rd, doubled in the 5th and completed it with a triple in the 8th. The former undrafted signee by the Phillies is in his first year in the White Sox system after beginning the season in the Atlantic League. He has a .899 OPS in 26 games in his second SAL go-around.

Greene hits first pro homer: He may have had the best raw power out of any player in the 2011 draft, and it finally appeared in a game for Larry Greene. The Phillies first rounder hit a two run first inning home run as Williamsport defeated Vermont 8-3 Sunday. After impressing onlookers in extended spring training and batting practice, the left fielder has gotten off to a very good start with the Crosscutters. He’s batting .301 with a solid approach at the plate, and plenty of power is expected to come. Along with Roman Quinn, Mitch Walding and Tyler Greene, Larry is part of what the Phillies hope is a productive 2011 class playing at Williamsport.

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