All three playoff teams won again last night to up the overall record to 8-1 in playoff games thus far. Mobile won Game 3 of their opening round series with Mississippi and lead 2-1. Visalia won the opening game of their second round division playoff series with heavily favored San Jose to take a 1-0 lead. And South Bend won their third consecutive playoff game and lead in their second round division series 1-0.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Andrew Velazquez, South Bend 3 for 4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 DBL, 2 RBI
2 Stars: Brandon Sinnery, Visalia 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 ER, W (1-0)
1 Star: Jake Barrett, Mobile 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 ER, S (2)
0 Stars: Rudy Flores, South Bend 0 for 5, 2 K
Double A: Mobile 7 @ Mississippi 6.The BayBears came out on top in a back-and-forth affair when they scored 3 runs in the top of the 8th that featured a Raywilly Gomez 2-run double. Andrew Chafin started and was holding onto a 4-1 lead until the 6th when he surrendered a double and 2 singles with no outs. Derek Eitel relieved and put out the fire by notching a couple of strikeouts with men on base. The Braves threatened another comeback in the bottom of the 8th when Jake Barrett entered with runners on 2nd and 3rd, a run in, and one out. He induced a grounder to a pulled-in infield that nailed the tying run at the plate. Then got the final out on a grounder to second. He got through the 9th allowing a single to earn his 2nd save of the playoffs. Ender Inciarte went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI, and Nick Ahmed delivered a 2-run double to lead the offense. Mobile leads the best-of-five series 2-1 and goes for the clincher tonight with Bo Schultz on the mound.
High A: Visalia 4 @ San Jose 2. Brandon Sinnery sparkled and the offense got to the San Jose bullpen for a convincing 4-2 win. Sinnery allowed 1 run over 6+ innings on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 5. Seth Simmons and Kaleb Fleck added 1.2 innings of perfect relief, and RJ Hively surrendered a solo home run in the 9th but nothing more for the save. Gerson Montilla went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI to lead the offense. Kevin Medrano went 2 for 5 with a double, and Ryan Stovall went 2 for 4 with a triple and an RBI. Visalia leads the best-of-five series 1-0 and sends Keith Hessler to the hill tonight.
Low A: South Bend 7 @ Fort Wayne 5.In another back-and-forth affair the Silver Hawks scored twice in the top of the 9th to break a 5-5 tie and held on to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series against Fort Wayne. Blake Perry got through 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits with 5 strikeouts. Geordy Parra let in the tying runs in the 7th on 3 hits before the 9th-inning heroics. Daniel Gibson pitched a shutout 8th and Jimmy Sherfy got the save with a perfect 9th. Starters had not yet been announced but it's likely to be either Jesse Darrah or Robert Coe.
Rookie: Missoula 3 @ Billings 0.In non-playoff action the Osprey got 5 shutout innings from Anderso Placido in the first half of an attempted doubleheader. Game 2 was suspended for rain. Michael Blake and Silvino Bracho pitched shutout innings to close it out with 2 strikeouts each. Jake Mayers did most of the offensive damage going 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, an RBI and 2 runs scored.