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Morrison hits for cycle


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Marlins' Morrison hits for cycle

Becomes second Florida prospect to manage feat in 20 days

 

Marlins prospect Logan Morrison hit for the cycle and drove in five runs to back Tommy Hanson's five scoreless innings as the visiting Mesa Solar Sox beat the Scottsdale Scorpions, 11-6, on Thursday.

Morrison ripped an RBI double in the first inning, singled in the fourth, launched a two-run homer in the fifth and capped the cycle with an RBI triple in the seventh.

 

The left-handed first baseman has driven in 11 runs during his seven-game hitting streak for first-place Mesa (14-6). The Kansas City, Mo. native went 4-for-5 and raised his AFL average to .420 with the performance.

 

Morrison, the Florida State League Player of the Year for Class A Advanced Jupiter, became the second Marlins prospect to hit for the cycle in the Arizona Fall League this season -- teammate John Raynor managed the feat on Oct. 10 in Mesa's 9-5 win over Surprise.

 

"I didn't know it until he was rounding second, someone said something in the dugout about it," Hanson said of Morrison's cycle. "It just shows how good of a hitting team this team is. I've never seen a cycle before in my life, so it's pretty insane seeing two cycles here. It's pretty impressive."

 

Morrison, who grounded out in his final at-bat, fell a triple shy of the cycle when he drove in three runs on Oct. 8. He went 5-for-5 with an RBI on Oct. 22 at Scottsdale and entered Thursday's game batting .390 (16-for-41) in his last 10 games.

 

Hanson (3-0), a Braves prospect, extended his scoreless-inning streak to 13 2/3 innings in the win. The Tulsa, Okla. native struck out five and held the Scorpions to three hits in his fourth start.

 

"I felt pretty good, two of the hits, I tried to get ahead with a fastball, but I felt good," Hanson said. "Everything was working pretty well for me today, as it has been since I came out here. It was a good outing."

 

The right-hander threw 47 of his 66 pitches for strikes and did not walk a batter for the second straight start.

 

"It's pretty easy to pitch, and we had a lead, so I just wanted to go right at them," he said. "Everything feels really good right now, so hopefully I'll keep doing this, hopefully keep having success."

 

Hanson has struck out 19 and allowed just four hits for Mesa this fall.

 

"I've felt really good, I'm real confident, and everything was working real good today," he said. "I came out here to work on my changeup, so I just want to stay consistent and work on my pitches."

 

Mesa got started early when Nate Spears (Cubs) singled home Braves prospect Matt Young in the first. Morrison doubled in Spears and Jason Donald (Phillies) for a 3-0 lead.

 

"It's a lot easier to pitch when you do get those runs," Hanson said. "You don't have to worry about making it a close game, just attack the hitters and try not to walk anybody, just let them put the ball in play."

 

Jeff Larish (Tigers) ripped a three-run homer and Morrison followed with a two-run shot, his third, in the fifth for an 8-0 edge. Morrison tripled home Tyler Flowers (Braves) and Jeremy Slayden (Phillies) knocked him in with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

 

"Everyday it seems we're getting at least 10 hits," said Hanson. "They're doing a great job putting runs up now."

 

Scottsdale (6-14) responded in the eighth with a six-run rally. Tim Duff (Angels) plated Aaron Bates (Red Sox) with a sacrifice fly and Chris Pettit (Angels) followed with an RBI double. Kevin Frandsen (Giants) scored on a wild pitch before Astros farmhand Chris Johnson popped a three-run shot off Rocky Roquet (Cubs).

 

Astros starter Sergio Perez (0-1) allowed three unearned runs on five hits and three walks over four innings. He struck out one.

Marlins' Morrison hits for cycle | MLB.com: News

Absolute stud this man is.

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Can't wait to watch him in Jax. :hat

 

 

Morrison and West will be the players to watch, and to see how well Thompson does as an RP if that where he'll get his chance. With Rhodes gone, Pinto likely to be overworked again, and Tank extremely hittable, we're going to be hurting for lefty RP's. It'd be great if we see Stanton later in the year.

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Can't wait to watch him in Jax. :hat

 

 

Morrison and West will be the players to watch, and to see how well Thompson does as an RP if that where he'll get his chance. With Rhodes gone, Pinto likely to be overworked again, and Tank extremely hittable, we're going to be hurting for lefty RP's. It'd be great if we see Stanton later in the year.

 

 

Rhodes is 39 & replaceable.

Pinto won't be overworked again b/c unlike this past year...come Opening Day '09, it looks like we'll have an MLB caliber rotation (Nolasco, JJ, Volstad >>> Hendrickson, inexperienced Vanden Hurk, & Badenhop...and others).

Tank isn't extremely hittable...he had one bad year. He's a LOOGY at the age of 25, capable of pitching in the bigs...not too many teams have that. Relievers rise and fall every year; Tank fell this year. He's the type of guy, however, who can easily "rise" next year.

 

And there's always free agency, where the team can always pick up a guy like Will Ohman, if it doesn't trust Tank in '09.

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Can't wait to watch him in Jax. :hat

 

 

Morrison and West will be the players to watch, and to see how well Thompson does as an RP if that where he'll get his chance. With Rhodes gone, Pinto likely to be overworked again, and Tank extremely hittable, we're going to be hurting for lefty RP's. It'd be great if we see Stanton later in the year.

 

 

Rhodes is 39 & replaceable.

Pinto won't be overworked again b/c unlike this past year...come Opening Day '09, it looks like we'll have an MLB caliber rotation (Nolasco, JJ, Volstad >>> Hendrickson, inexperienced Vanden Hurk, & Badenhop...and others).

Tank isn't extremely hittable...he had one bad year. He's a LOOGY at the age of 25, capable of pitching in the bigs...not too many teams have that. Relievers rise and fall every year; Tank fell this year. He's the type of guy, however, who can easily "rise" next year.

 

And there's always free agency, where the team can always pick up a guy like Will Ohman, if it doesn't trust Tank in '09.

 

The problem with Tank is when he's used other than as a LOOGY. If you recall he was also sent down for ineffectiveness in 2007 as well, though to give him credit he pitched well the second half of the season when brought back. But then he stunk it up in 2008. Ohman would be okay to look at. Still interested to see how Aaron Thompson does in Jax.

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