It was an overall-underwhelming night on the farm for the D-backs, with just one win, at Advanced-Rookie Missoula, in eight contests. The biggest culprit throughout the farm was starting pitching, as only one starter outside of Missoula - which received a great starting performance of its own - put together a quality outing for his club, falling victim to a complacent offense:
Snakelet of the Day:
Jarrod Parker (Double-A): 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 4:0 K:BB, 9:4 GO:AO
Triple-A (11 innings): Reno 10, Sacramento 11. (61-40) Poor Barry Enright got hit hard on Sunday, giving up five runs in 5.1 innings, on eight hits, four walks, a homer, and four strikeouts. Reliever Jeff Bennett fared even worse, giving up five runs of his own, but in 2.1 innings with three home runs allowed among seven hits and two walks. Esmerling Vasquez was solid through his first 2.1 innings of relief, but faced two batters in the bottom of the eleventh inning and allowed both of them to reach base before giving way to Jordan Norberto, who recorded two outs but allowed the walk-off run to score.
Offensively, the Aces received plenty of power en route to building a 10-5 lead before Bennett's late-inning collapse. Konrad Schmidt, Lucas May, and Juan Miranda each homered, Robby Hammock tripled, Collin Cowgill went 2-5 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base, and Mark Hallberg reached base four times on three singles and a walk. Plenty of offense, but the pitching staff just didn't do its job.
Double-A (10 innings): Mobile 1, Birmingham 2. (60-40) It was a breakthrough day for Jarrod Parker, who actually threw six innings for the BayBears today, probably because he only needed 83 pitches to do so. Parker allowed just one run on four hits and no walks - an excellent sign for the progression of his command and control - with four strikeouts and a 9:4 GO:AO ratio. An all-around great outing from Parker, who continues to build a surprisingly impressive season in his comeback from Tommy John Surgery. The big offensive pop was provided by, of all people, Jacob Elmore, who doubled twice, while Paul Goldschmidt went 2-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base. Unfortunately, the rest of the lineup only reached base once.
Hi-A (game one, seven innings): Visalia 3, San Jose 7. Left-hander David Holmberg started this one, and didn't fare too well. He worked just five innings, striking out nobody and walking one while allowing five runs. Visalia did receive a pair of home runs, from Matt Davidson and David Nick, but just five hits and two walks overall and no other extra-base hits, so the three runs those homers drove in were all the Rawhide received.
Hi-A (game two, seven innings): Visalia 0, San Jose 5. (43-57) Right-hander Yiomar Camacho was given a spot appearance for the Rawhide due to the doubleheader, but didn't fare quite so well. Camacho struck out one and walked one in three innings with a 2:3 GO:AO ratio, but allowed seven hits and five runs in just three innings. To his credit, just one of those hits was for extra-bases (a double), so some of it may have been poor luck. Unfortunately, that hole was too much for the Rawhide offense to overcome, as the San Jose pitchers scattered five singles over seven shutout innings.
Low-A: South Bend 5, Kane County 7. (46-52) Kane County's high-powered offense bludgeoned starter Tyler Green in his three innings on the mound, tagging him for six runs in three innings while posting a 2:3 K:BB ratio. Piggybacking starter Patrick Schuster fared better, throwing four shutout innings of relief despite a 2:2 K:BB ratio. At the plate, Matt Helm homered for the fifth time this year and the fourth time in the last nine games, while Zach Walters had two hits, including a double, to lead the South Bend offense.
Short-Season-A: Yakima 4, Tri-City 10. (13-24) Bears starter Teo Gutierrez had his worst start of the year, seeing his ERA balloon to 4.15 by allowing eight runs in 4.2 innings by failing to miss bats and losing his control, posting a 1:4 K:BB ratio and hitting another batter. The Yakima offense received a homer from David Narodowski and doubles from Carter Bell and Henry Zabala, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome the hole Gutierrez had built.
Advanced-Rookie: Missoula 7, Casper 4. (21-12) Let's get this out right away: Casper infielder Rosell Herrera is a scary-good prospect for someone in Rookie-ball, but the 18-year-old had a 3-5 night with a double, a triple, and a stolen base. Pray for some roadblocks in his development... Thankfully, the rest of the Casper offense was relatively mum, as Missoula starter Jesse Darrah had a good start, striking out eight in six shutout innings with three hits and three walks. That was plenty sufficient for a Missoula offense that made its hits count, turning a solo homer by Eric Groff, a double from Stephen Cardullo, and 10 singles into seven runs.
Low-Rookie (seven innings): D-backs 3, Dodgers 5. (10-17) Sunday's AZL action was completed early due to storms in the area, as the Dodgers collected two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the game. Starter Bryan Escanio struck out six in five innings with just one walk, but a pair of homers led to three runs crossing the plate, while Mike Lebo allowed two to score in his two innings of work the take the loss. The D-backs bats were led by Jose Alegria's home run and a triple from Pedro Ruiz, which were responsible for driving in all three D-backs runs.
DSL: The DSL still is its break for the DSL ASG.