Aaron Blair was nearly as impressive in his second start at AA as he was in his first. He gave up a solo home run in the 3rd inning and that was it. For the game he completed 7 innings allowing the 1 run on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 7. He made 97 pitches on the night. Just 14 months ago he was pitching for Marshall University. Now he's dominating AA hitters. Ask yourself this question. Right now, who would you rather have, Aaron Blair or Archie Bradley? It's easier knowing we get to keep both.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Aaron Blair, Mobile 7 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 ER, W (2-0)
2 Stars: Austin Platt, Hillsboro 6 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 0 ER
1 Star: Markus Solbach, South Bend 6.1 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 ER, W (2-1)
0 Stars: Cody Reed, AZL 2 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 0 K, 5 ER, L (0-1)
AAA: Reno 7 Albuquerque 3. In a game that featured 2 bench-clearing brawls and 10 ejections the Aces won behind the pitching of Mike Bolsinger and production from the top of the order. Bolsinger went 5.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 9 hits with 6 strikeouts. The brawl occurred in the second inning when Isotopes third baseman Esribel Arruebarrena didn't take too kindly to some Bolsinger chin music. Andy Marte drove in 2 runs going 2 for 3 with a double while Jordan Pacheco drove in another as he went 2 for 4. Garrett Webber and Roger Kieschnick each had a couple of hits.
AA: Mobile 4 Jackson 1. Aaron Blair did the heavy lifting limiting Jackson to one solo home run over 7 innings. The offense cranked out 13 hits led by Steve Rodriguez who was 3 for 4 with 2 doubles. Zach Borenstein did the most damage with a double, a homer and 2 RBI. Jon Griffin was 2 for 4 with a double and Evan Marzilli went 2 for 4 with a triple. Kaleb Fleck pitched the 9th for his 12th save.
A+: Visalia 13 San Jose 5. Blayne Weller's second start at High A went much better than his first and when the offense blew it open it proved to be an easy victory. Weller got through 7 innings allowing 3 runs on 7 hits with 6 strikeouts. The offense was relentless throughout starting out with a Brandon Drury 2-run homer in the first inning. Rudy Flores had 3 hits that included a double and an RBI. Alex Glenn had 2 hits with a double and an RBI.
A: South Bend 2 @ Clinton 0. Markus Solbach was very good with 6.1 shutout innings on 6 hits with 3 strikeouts. Will Locante had a pressure hold getting 5 outs while striking out 3. And Silvino Bracho closed it out with a perfect 9th and 1 strikeout for his 20th save. The offense was the result of solo home runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings by Jamie Westbrook and Daniel Palka.
A-: Hillsboro 1 @ Vancouver 2.This game was nothing but zeros through 9 innings with Austin Platt delivering the first 6, and Dustin Loggins and Mason McCullough the next 3. The Hops scored the tie-breaking run in the top of the 10th on a George Roberts single. But with Zac Curtis unavailable for the save the team turned to volatile Mike Cetta and he promptly surrendered 2 runs on 3 hits for the loss.
R: Missoula 5 @ Helena 14. The Osprey had the tables turned from yesterday with a shellacking that was over early as Carlos Hernandez couldn't get out of the 3rd inning. The offense did come up with 13 hits led by Justin Williams who went 3 for 5 with a double and is now hitting exactly .400 on the season. Kevin Cron went 2 for 5 with a double and 2 RBI and Trevor Mitsui hit his 9th home run.
AZL: Dbacks 5 @ Giants 10. Cody Reed had his "welcome to pro ball" moment when he got roughed up for 6 runs in 2 innings of work. The bullpen allowed 5 more runs and that was it. The offense scored 4 late meaningless runs.