Hey all. Those two matchups yesterday turned out pretty well, didn’t they? Bryan Augenstein beat Aaron Poreda, 2-0, in the kind of duel you hoped for. Casey Kelly finally gave up a run (two earned, to be exact), but pitched well enough to win his third game, as Greenville beat Savannah and Jeffrey Kaplan, 4-3.

What about today? No real jump out at you kind of pitching matchups, so we’ll take a different approach…

Game of the Day

Tampa at Lakeland, 7 p.m. ET

OK, so what’s so special about this game? It’s not even on Gameday Audio, so what’s the deal, right? Well, I have to admit, I love hit streaks. They fascinate me. I’m a big fan of the Minor League version of Beat the Streak (I’d have an eight-game streak going now if it weren’t for Gordon Beckham, of all people). Anyway…

OF Jordan Newton has had a fairly non-descript since the Tigers took him in the sixth round of the 2006 draft out of Western Kentucky, with a .250 average and a difficulty in staying healthy. But, he does have a hit streak going. He’s had it going all season, starting in West Michigan and extending to his first two games in Lakeland. It goes back further than that, to the end of the 2008 season. It started on August 17, 2008 and it now stands at 25 games.

I know, it’s not exactly Joe D, but it’s still pretty cool. Here’s a look at the top hit streaks in Minor League history:

Why, you ask, is Hilligoss bolded? Well, the chart comes from this story about Hilligoss’s 2007 streak.Why is this relevant, other than the whole streak things? Well, it just so happens that Hilligoss plays for the Tampa Yankees, Newton’s opponents tonight.

Need other reasons to care about this game? How about Tampa catcher Jesus Montero, who’s coming off a two-homer day and is off to a .371 start as a teenager in the Florida State League? Oh, and by the way, the pitching matchup isn’t bad — it just isn’t marquee. Tampa’s starter Lance Pendleton is 8th in the FSL in ERA (1.62 ERA). Lakeland’s Thad Weber is even better, with a 1.06 ERA, good for fourth.