Meyer stifles Sea Dogs for Rock Cats

At 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds, Twins prospect Alex Meyer cuts an imposing figure on the mound.

Double-A Portland got to feel the full force of the hard-throwing right-hander on Thursday.

Minnesota's No. 3 prospect allowed one hit over six scoreless innings in the New Britain Rock Cats' 17-1 win over the Sea Dogs.

Acquired by the Twins in the deal that sent outfielder Denard Span to the Washington Nationals on Nov. 29, Meyer (1-0) struck out five batters and issued four walks.

He threw 50 of 86 pitches for strikes, retired seven of the final eight batters he faced and lowered his ERA to 1.69.

Selected by the Nationals 23rd overall in the 2011 Draft out of the University of Kentucky, Meyer surrendered his lone base hit to top Red Sox prospect Xander Bogaerts, who beat out an infield single to shortstop with two outs in the third inning.

Bogaerts stole second base and advanced to third on catcher Josmil Pinto's throwing error, but the first-rounder struck out Tony Thomas to strand Bogaerts.

Last year, Meyer went 10-6 with a 2.86 ERA in 25 starts between Class A Hagerstown and Class A Advanced Potomac. MLB.com's No. 40 prospect struck out 139 batters in 129 innings and held opponents to a .211 average.

On Thursday, center fielder Antoan Richardson went 4-for-6 with a double, three RBIs, a walk and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot and designated hitter Curt Smith homered, plated three runs and scored three times.

Pinto collected three hits and two RBIs and second baseman James Beredford reached base all six times and scored three runs. Every New Britain batter collected at least one hit and all but third baseman Nathan Hanson recorded at least one RBI.

Portland starter Kyle Kaminska (0-2) yielded five runs -- four earned -- on eight hits and two walks while striking out three batters over 4 1/3 innings in the loss.