Outfielder Brantley, after stealing 46 bases at Columbus last season and batting .313 in a September stint with the Indians, has four stolen bases and six extra-base hits in 34 games at Columbus. The Indians sent Brantley, 23, to the Clippers in April.
Michael Brantley, lining a two-run single for the Indians in a game last season.FARM REPORT
AAA Columbus Clippers
The Clippers were idle on Thursday
Notes: OF Michael Brantley, who was sent to the Clippers on April 21 after beginning the season 5-for-32 (.156) with the Indians, is 9-for-40 in his last 10 games, dropping his batting average to .288. Brantley has four stolen bases in six attempts in 34 games at Columbus, after stealing 46 bases in 51 tries with the Clippers last season. Brantley ended 2009 with the Indians, batting .313 in 112 at bats. The Indians wanted him to drive the baseball more this season, but he has four doubles, a triple and one home run in 139 at bats with the Clippers, after totaling 21 doubles, two triples and six homers in 457 Columbus at bats last season....LF Jordan Brown, after two stays on the disabled list (knee, back), is batting .328 (21-for-64) with eight doubles, one triple, one homer and 21 RBI. Brown, a left-handed batter who led the International League with a .336 batting average last season, is 11-for-20 (.550) with four doubles, a triple and no strikeouts against lefty pitching....2B Anderson Hernandez, who hit .251 with 15 doubles, four triples and three homers in 366 big-league at bats with the Nationals and Mets last season, is batting .236 with four doubles and a homer in 161 at bats....RH reliever Jess Todd, who pitched 20 2/3 innings with the Indians last season, is pitching better of late, improving his numbers to 2-2 with four saves and a 3.33 ERA in 24 1/3 innings, with 27 strikeouts.
AA Akron Aeros
Tonight: Erie (25-28) at Aeros (23-30), 7:05. Seawolves LHP Duane Below (2-4, 4.58) vs. Aeros LHP Scott Barnes (1-5, 7.45).
Notes: Going into Thursday night's game, 3B Lonnie Chisenhall (.285) was 8-for-16 in his last four games with two home runs and eight RBI. Chisenhall, a touted Indians prospect, has been at DH the last five games, after being sidelined with a sore right shoulder. Until the two homers, he had not homered in 114 at bats this season....After his impressive outing to earn the 5-1 win over Erie, RH starter Alex White is 2-1 with a 1.83 ERA in three starts spanning 19 2/3 innings with the Aeros, striking out 11 while allowing 11 hits and four walks. White, the Indians' first-round draft pick last season, began this season at Kinston and is a combined 4-4 with a 2.54 ERA for Akron and the Advanced A Indians. In 63 2/3 innings, White has fanned 52 and allowed 43 hits and 23 walks. Opponents are batting .190 against him....LH starter Kelvin De La Cruz has had a somewhat unevern start with the Aeros after being promoted from Kinston. With Akron, De La Cruz is 1-3 with a 5.84 ERA, yielding 22 hits and and 16 walks in 24 2/3 innings while striking out 21. At Kinston, he was 2-2 with a 2.91 ERA, fanning 28 and yielding 22 hits and eight walks in 34 innings....LH Scott Barnes (1-5, 7.45) went into Thursday night's start with 39 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings, but he had given up 42 hits and 23 walks.
Advanced A Kinston Indians
Tonight: Indians (29-24) at Winston-Salem (34-19), 7:00. Indians RHP Marty Popham (0-0, 0.90) vs. Dash LHP Charles Leesman (6-1, 4.89).
Notes: 2B Jason Kipnis, an Indians second-round pick in the 2009 draft, went into Thursday night's game batting .299 with eight doubles, three triples, six homers, 30 RBI and 29 runs. Kipnis, who played the outfield at Arizona State, was 6-for-19 with two doubles, a triple, two homers and eight RBI in his last six games....RF Abner Abreu (.253) was on a 9-game hitting streak, going 11-for-34 (.324) with eight RBI. The 20-year-old Abreu has struggled making contact, striking out 56 times in 158 at bats....RH Marty Popham went into Thursday night's game 0-0 with an 0.90 ERA in two Kinston starts spanning 10 innings. He had struck out 12, walked three and allowed eight hits. He was promoted from Lake County last month after going 3-1 with a 3.71 ERA in 34 innings with the Captains, allowing 36 hits and seven walks while fanning 28.
A Lake County Captains
Captains 12, Snappers 6 1B Jason Smit (.250) was 4-for-5 with a home run, double, six RBI and two runs, and DH Chun Chen (.338) went 5-for-5 with a double, three runs and two RBI to pace a 16-hit attack for the host Captains (36-18). LH reliever Vidal Nuno (1-1, 6.52) earned the win, allowing one run and striking out six in three innings, while yielding two hits and a walk.
Notes: Chen, 21, from Taiwan, also catches and was signed by the Indians as a minor league free agent in 2007. In his last 26 games, Chen is batting .413 (38-for-92) with 12 doubles, three triples, three homers and a .707 slugging percentage....Smit, 20, from Australia, was singed by the Indians in 2007 as a non-drafted free agent. He had just one at bat in April because of a stay on the disabled list, and is 21-for-84 with three homers....LF Bo Greenwell (.316) was 1-for-5 with a double, and is in a mild slump, going 9-for-43 (.209) in his last 10 games....Nuno has struck out 14 batters in 9 2/3 innings....The Captains host Wisconsin on Friday night.
Independent Lake Erie Crushers
Tonight: River City at Crushers (4-7), 7:05. Rascals RHP Tim Woodward (1-0, 2.35) vs. Crushers RHP Josh Roberts (0-0, 2.45).
Notes: Going into Thursday night's game, 3B Andrew Davis was 11-for-39 (.282) with two doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI and eight walks....Catcher Joel Collins and IF Lee Huggins were both 9-for-27 (.333)....Though both pitchers had no decisions in two starts, RH Josh Roberts and a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings, fanning nine while allowing eight hits and a walk, and RH Phil Rummel had a 2.70 ERA in 10 innings, yielding seven hits and six walks and striking out 11.