The Southern League has had enough of Paul Goldschmidt's shenanigans, I think. Goldschmidt had drawn 10 walks - with just three strikeouts - in his last six games, a period in which Goldie has gone 6-16 with two homers and a double. Assuming no sac hits or hit-by-pitches, that adds up to a line of .375/.615/.813, an OPS of 1.428. Man, I love small sample size manipulation (although in my desire to highlight his walk-taking ways, I excluded a 2-4 game with a homer that came immediately before that sample).
Snakelet of the Day:
Paul Goldschmidt (Double-A): 2-2, R, RBI, 3 BB
Triple-A: Reno 7, Las Vegas 11. (63-43) Just another offensive explosion in the Pacific Coast League. This game pitted Barry Enright against Toronto's Kyle Drabek, in what was supposed to be as much of a pitcher's duel as the league could possibly provide. So, naturally, the pair combined to allow 11 runs in a combined 11.2 innings on the mound. Enright was the slightly-less-effective of the duo, allowing six runs in his 5.2 innings of work, striking out three, walking two, and allowing a homer. Offensively, newly-acquired Angel Berroa had a marvelous day, going 4-4 with a pair of doubles, while Evan Frey went 3-5 with a double and a triple, and newly-newly-acquired Ryan Langerhans hit a two-run home run against Drabek in the second inning.
Double-A: Mobile 4, Mississippi 5. (63-41) Lefty starter Pat Corbin had one of his rougher starts this year, posting a mere 4:2 K:BB ratio and allowing five runs in seven innings on the mound on eight hits, including a home run. The offense had a couple of solid performances, as A.J. Pollock went 2-4 with a double and a walk and Paul Goldschmidt was 2-2 with three walks. Unfortunately, the BayBear offense couldn't capitalize on a 4:6 K:BB ratio from opposing starter Brett Oberholtzer, letting the right-hander scrape by with just four runs (three earned) in six innings. Yonata Ortega had an easy inning of relief, striking out two.
Hi-A: Visalia 8, Stockton 4. (44-60) TREVOR BAUER PITCHES SATURDAY!! TREVOR BAUER PITCHES SATURDAY!! Ahem. The bats led the way for the most part in this game. Chris Owings went 2-4 with a pair of doubles, Jon Mark Owings doubled and drew a pair of walks, Rossmel Perez went 3-3 with a double and a walk, Brent Greer went 3-4 with two doubles, and Alfredo Marte also chipped in a double to power the Rawhide offense. That was more than enough support for David Holmberg, who continued his okay, though not exceptional, run with Visalia. Holmberg did strike out six in five innings on the mound, but walked three and surrendered three runs on five hits. Holmberg now has as many walks (13) in 32.1 innings with the Rawhide as he had in his entire stint - 83 innings - at South Bend this year.
Low-A (10 innings): South Bend 5, Great Lakes 4. (49-53) Somehow, someway, J.R. Bradley managed to limit the Loons to just two runs in his six-inning outing, despite a 2:2 K:BB ratio and a pair of (solo, of course) home runs allowed. The bullpen blew a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, but held onto a one-run margin in the bottom of the tenth after the Silver Hawks rallied in the top half of the frame. Matt Helm doubled and walked, Gerson Montilla singled, walked twice, and stole a base, and Roberto Ortiz went 2-5 with a two-run home run (and three strikeouts) to lead the South Bend offense.
Short-Season-A: Yakima 7, Salem-Keizer 10. (13-29) Yakima actually out-hit the Volcanoes in this contest 11-8, but recorded just two extra-base hits, a double from Garret Weber and a David Narodowski home run. Narodowski also drew a pair of walks (and struck out twice) to lead the Bears offense, but the Yakima pitching couldn't take advantage of an uncharacteristically-productive offense, as starter Teo Gutierrez struggled again, allowing five runs (three earned) in just five innings of work, only striking out two batters. The big bullpen culprit was Greg Robinson, who allowed four runs, three earned, while recording just two outs.
Advanced-Rookie: Missoula 2, Great Falls 11. (24-13) Hey, that's the Enrique Burgos we've all grown so accustomed to over the last few years! Burgos stunk on Friday, giving up seven runs, six of which were earned, in just three innings on nine hits, a 1:2 K:BB ratio, and a HBP. That put the game well out of reach for a Missoula offense that had a major off-night, as two-hit games from Stephen Cardullo, who tripled, and Ty Linton, who doubled, were the only noteworthy performances.
Low-Rookie (10 innings): D-backs 7, Dodgers 8. (11-20) A pair of unearned runs charged to reliever Victor Acosta - who also allowed two additional earned runs in his 2.2-inning day - proved to be the difference-maker in this one, as a two-run ninth by the Dodgers tied the game up, which the Dodgers won in the tenth. Pat Donahue went 2-4 with a double and a walk, Joseph Weik tripled, and Wagner Mateo went 2-4 with a walk.
DSL: Box score not posted at time of writing - will get this one tomorrow.