The winning pitcher in last night's game for the low-A Quad Cities River Bandits may not be a familiar name—Edgar Lara, a big right-hander who hadn't pitched all year.
↵He hadn't pitched all year because he's a first baseman. Lara is hitting .231 with nine home runs, and he'd gone 1-6 with a walk and three strikeouts before he was called upon to pitch the 16th inning of the Midwest Leaguers' game against the Oakland Athletics' Kane County Cougars. He walked two, but he got out of the inning, and shortstop prospect Niko Vasquez's bases-loaded walk got the Cardinals affiliate the win.
↵Shelby Miller, the Cardinals' super-prospect right-hander, got the start, and he's on a pitch count—three solid innings look great for the Cardinals' future, but they put the River Bandits present in a bit of a bind.