Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

(Wednesday’s game postponed; new start time for Thursday doubleheader — both games scheduled for seven innings.)

South Atlantic League baseball

Coming up

Lexington Legends vs. Lake County Captains

What: Four-game series

When: Thursday through Saturday (5:05 p.m. Thursday, then 7:05 each night)

Where: Applebee’s Park

Tickets: Call  (859) 422-7867 

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Thursday’s first game, LH David Duncan (1-1, 5.73) vs. LH T.J. House (2-8, 2.76); Thursday’s second game, RH Robert Bono (8-6, 2.90) vs. LH Kaimi Mead (1-2, 5.73); Friday, RH Kyle Greenwalt (7-9, 3.88) vs. RH Danny Salazar (2-3, 4.97); Saturday, RH Jordan Lyles (5-8, 3.25) vs. TBA.

Donnie Webb

Captain to watch: Switch-hitting LF Donnie Webb (5-foot-11, 190 pounds, from Stillwater, Okla.) leads the league in triples (10) and isfifth in stolen bases (27). He also is among the top 20 in hits (88), runs (46) and total bases (132). Batting .259 with five homers and 38 RBI, Webb had a four-hit game Monday against Greenville. Selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 10th round of the 2008 draft, out of Oklahoma State University, Webb played 51 games last season for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New York-Penn League. He hit .218 with a homer, 17 RBI and six stolen bases, but finished the season on an uptick. He hit safely in 15 of the last 18 games, going 23-for-63 (.365), with a homer, two triples, 11 RBI, five steals and 15 runs.

Kyle Godfrey

Legend to watch: RHP Kyle Godfrey (6-2, 210, from Blue Ridge, Ga.) has made five relief appearances since joining the Legends during their last homestand. After giving up two earned runs over two innings in his Legends debut, he has not allowed an earned run since. Over 8 2/3 innings, Godfrey has no decisions, a 2.08 ERA, 12 strikeouts and no walks, while holding opponents to a .212 batting average. Before joining the Legends, Godfrey was 0-1 with a 5.54 ERA in three starts for the Tri-City ValleyCats of the New York-Penn League. Selected by the Houston Astros in the 13th round of the 2008 draft, out of Hiwassee (Tenn.) Junior College, Godfrey was 1-4 with a 6.90 ERA over 19 relief outings with Tri-City in 2008, striking out 32 over 30 innings.

Ebert Rosario

Also of note: These are the only four games of the season between former division rivals. Barring interleague play and/or reshaping of the the minor leagues, these also figure to be the last games between the Legends and Captains. Lake County, located in suburban Cleveland, is scheduled to leave the South Atlantic League after this season, beginning play in the Midwest League in 2010. … The Legends made a roster move Tuesday night as all-star 3B Ebert Rosario was promoted to the High-A Lancaster JetHawks of the California League. Taking his roster spot is IF/DH Jeff Hulett, in from Tri-City. Rosario, batting .272 with four homers, led the Legends in games (88), at-bats (320), hits (87), total bases (119) and, unfortunately, errors (26). He also was second in RBI (31), runs (32, tied with Albert Cartwright) and doubles (14). Hulett, son of former big-leaguer Tim Hulett, was a 2008 12th round draft pick out of Northwest Florida State College. He went 10-for-53 (.189) over 19 games with the ValleyCats, with a double, RBI, three walks and 23 strikeouts. Last season, also with Tri-City, Hulett hit .194 with a homer and 10 RBI over 33 games.

Radio: WLXG AM-1300

Ashton Mowdy

The Lexington Legends, 9-5 winners over the Savannah Sand Gnats on a beautiful Thursday night at Applebee’s Park, lost one of their top relief pitchers after the game.

Kirkland Rivers

RH Ashton Mowdy has been promoted to High-A Lancaster of the California League. RH Kirkland Rivers comes off the temporary inactive list to fill Mowdy’s spot.

Kyle Miller

A day earlier, IF/DH Kyle Miller was sent down to rookie-league Greeneville. His spot was filled Thursday with the activation of RHP Kyle Godfrey, up from Tri-City.

Two players made their Legends season debuts Thursday — shortstop Chris Jackson and winning pitcher David Duncan. Jackson, down from Lancaster, traded places with Ronnie Ramirez. Duncan, up from Tri-City, took the roster spot that was empty due to RHP Jose Trinidad’s second stint on the disabled list. Trinidad (labrum) likely will miss the rest of the season.

David Duncan in his Lexington debut. (Photo courtesy of Legends)

Mowdy leaves Lexington with no decisions, three saves, six holds and a 1.72 ERA. He appeared in 26 games, all in relief, spanning 36 2/3 innings. He struck out 33, walked eight and held opponents to a .157 batting average.

Rivers last pitched June 15. He has no decisions over six relief outings and 7 1/3 innings, with a 2.45 ERA. He has struck out seven and walked five.

Miller played in 32 games for the Legends, batting .213 with two homers, 10 RBI and six runs scored.

Chris Jackson

David Duncan

Jackson went 2-for-4 with an RBI via a sacrifice fly Thursday night. He also committed a fielding error.

Duncan gave up five runs and nine hits over five innings but got the win. He walked three and struck out five.

For more information about Jackson and Duncan, as well as Ramirez and Trinidad, see earlier blog entries: ramirez-promoted and gnats-visit-legends.

Thanks to Mary Lay for Legends individual head photos.