Wei-Chieh Huang burst onto the prospect scene last year while pitching for the Kane County Cougars and has been hit hard this year in Visalia. This time, he was able to limit damage despite a lack of strong command. Huang was on the winning end of a pitcher's duel before late fireworks cemented his win.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: 1B Rudy Flores (Visalia) 3 for 5, 2B, solo HR (10), 2 RBI
2 Stars: LHP Anthony Banda (Mobile) 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 7 K
1 Star: RHP Wei-Chieh Huang (Visalia) 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 1 K, W (1-0)
0 Stars: Nick Baker (Visalia) 1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 1 K
Reno 0, Omaha 3: Josh Collmenter started the game on his month-long rehab stint and did fairly well. Collmenter went the first two innings, scattering two hits and a walk with 1 strikeout in a scoreless outing. Collmenter threw 28/39 pitches for strikes and the Dbacks are looking for him to build up velocity in the final stage of his rehab. Kyle Drabek went the next 5 1/3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks with 4 strikeouts while taking the loss. The Aces hitters were unable to muster any offense, collecting 5 hits and 3 walks, only one was an extra base hit. In non-player news, manager Phil Nevin got ejected in the 9th inning.
Mobile 2, Mississippi 3 (16): This game started off as a pitcher's duel between Rob Whalen and Anthony Banda. Banda went 7 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, walked 2, and struck out 7 to continue his great pitching in the Southern League. The Baybears fell behind 2-1 in the 3rd thanks to former Dbacks draft pick Dansby Swanson. The Baybears were able to tie things in the 9th inning when Kevin Medrano drove in Ildemaro Vargas with a sacrifice fly. Both teams were unable to score until the 16th inning until Myles Smith allowed a solo HR to Mel Rojas. The Baybears were unable to pull off the miracle comeback the second time.
Visalia 6, Stockton 3: Wei-Chieh Huang picked up his first win of 2016, scattering 4 hits and 3 walks over 5 innings. The only damage against him was a solo HR, which is still somewhat a cause of concern. The game started off as a pitcher's duel, but when Stockton went to the bullpen, the Rawhide started playing HR Derby. Rudy Flores, Dawel Lugo, and Oscar Hernandez each homered off of Matt Stalcup. After pitching a scoreless 8th, Nick Baker ran into trouble in the 9th inning, allowing 2 runs before the Rawhide put in Jared Miller to close things out.
Kane County 6, Wisconsin 7: This game was an old-fashioned slugfest, with one team mashing out home runs and the other team gashing out triples. Junior Garcia started the game and struggled, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits overall in 4 innings and a home run to Jacob Gatewood, who the pundits in the 2014 draft would not shut up about. The Cougars put up 4 triples, one each by Trevor Matsui, Joe Munoz, Sergio Alcantara, and Joey Armstrong. Despite trailing 4-1 at one point, the Cougars took a 6-5 lead in the 6th inning with a 3-spot. Unfortunately, Tyler Mark proceeded to give up two runs in the bottom of the inning for the game's final margin.