No picture again today, trying to keep as many of the stories about the first-place D-backs on the main page. More weather today, as the second half of South Bend's double-header was called off and some sort of hail/sleet/some precipitation fell early on in Reno. The Aces managed to get through their double-header, though, and there were fives games worth of action to dive into.
Snakelet of the Day:
David Holmberg (Low-A): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5:1 K:BB, 2 HBP, 4:3 GO:FO
Triple-A (game one): Reno 2, Sacramento 5. Armando Galarraga made his debut for the Aces, and threw five quality innings, giving up just one run, in spite of some... rusty peripherals. Galarraga said that he was going to try to come down to Reno and throw strikes, but didn't do much of that in this game, with just 50 of his 93 pitches finding the zone. Galarraga struck out three, but walked five and hit two batters while serving up a solo home run to Jai Miller. Jason Urquidez came on in relief of Galarraga and really messed things up, retiring nobody while allowing a walk and four hits. Rafael Rodriguez came on to stop the bleeding, but Urquidez wound up tagged with four runs, three of which were earned, before Rodriguez got out of the inning. At the plate, Collin Cowgill's double was the only extra-base hit the Aces managed all game, a pretty terrible performance given the power-happy environment of the PCL.
Triple-A (game two): Reno 11, Sacramento 3. (30-21) In game two, righty Kyler Newby was on the mound to start for Reno, but had a rough night. Newby threw 80 pitches over just 3.1 innings of work, giving up eight hits and a walk while striking out four. Newby was tagged with three runs - all earned - before giving way to lefty Tom Layne, Newby's apparent piggyback partner. Layne didn't put up the peripherals that Newby managed, with a 1:3 K:BB in 3.2 innings of work, but he induced five groundouts and didn't allow a run to score. The Aces showed a lot more thunder at the plate than they mustered in game one, with doubles from Cowgill and Tony Abreu, a towering solo home run to right field - clearing the entire ballpark - from forgotten-one and trade bait extraordinaire Brandon Allen, a three-run blast from seemingly-inevitable call-up Wily Mo Pena, another solo shot from Cole Gillespie, who is quietly having an outstanding season of his own, and finally a two-run dinger from Abreu.
Double-A (ten innings): Mobile 2, Jackson 3. (26-24) On the bump for Mobile was lefty Wade Miley, who delivered a much-needed solid outing. In 6.2 innings of work, Miley surrendered just two earned runs, and although he did allow eight hits and three walks in that span, I'll gladly take whatever strand rate was necessary for Miley to put in a good outing. Miley also struck out six batters, so it's hard to say he was lucky in tonight's outing. Ryan Cook threw 2.1 impressive innings of relief, striking out three, then giving way to Bryan Henry for the tenth inning. Unfortunately, Henry surrendered a run on a one-out sacrifice fly before getting out of the inning, and Mobile failed to score in the bottom half. The best offensive performances of the night were from A.J. Pollock and Taylor Harbin, who each collected two hits and doubled. Your Daily Goldschmidt: Paul went 1-4, nearly driving in the winning with a single with a man on second in the bottom of the eighth, but the runner was held at third, and did not score
Hi-A: Visalia 7, Bakersfield 8. (22-28) A rough outing for Derek Eitel, who surrendered six earned runs in 5.1 innings of work. Eitel did have a 3:0 K:BB ratio and a 7:4 GO:AO ratio (one homer allowed) in the outing, so more bad luck may have been at play for the sinkerballer. However, Eitel did leave with a one-run lead, but that was blown by Victor Capellan in the seventh, with Christian Beltre giving up the walk-off run in the bottom of the ninth. At the plate, Matt Davidson and Bobby Borchering hit home runs for the Rawhide, with Davidson, Adam Eaton, and Jon Mark Owings providing two-hit games. Eaton, J. Owings, and Raoul Torrez each hit doubles, while Chris Owings had a single and drew his first walk of May and Keon Broxton reached base twice and stole a base.
Low-A (game one): South Bend 3, Dayton 0. (24-25) A fantastic outing from the left-hander Holmberg, who continues to make his case for an early-season promotion to Hi-A ball. Holmberg worked five shutout innings, surrendering just three hits, a walk, and two hit batters while striking out five. At the plate, Mike Freeman provided most of the pop with a 3-3 day and his second triple of the year. Zach Walters had a two-hit game, including his 11th double. Two strong innings of relief from right-hander Blake Cooper earned him his seventh save of the season.
Low-A (game two): The second game of South Bend's early double-header was postponed due to tornado warnings throughout the area.
DSL: The DSL-backs had an off-day today, just one day after opening their season. Yeah, DSL schedules are that weird.