Diamondbacks Farm Round-Up 4/14: Organizational Sweep Edition

It was a rough day to be a starting pitcher in the D-backs organization on Saturday (surprising as that is), as big-league starter Josh Collmenter was far from the only one to struggle. The five Arizona-affiliated starters - Collmenter, Tom Layne, Tyler Skaggs, Anthony Meo, and Jesse Darrah - combined to work just 21.2 innings, allowing a staggering 20 earned runs. The end result was an organization-wide sweep, and not the good kind. In fact, it was one of those days where the best performance in the organization came from a relief pitcher...

Snakelet of the Day:

Michael Belfiore (Hi-A): 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 7:1 K:BB

Triple-A: Reno 3, Sacramento 4. (4-6) Reno took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but things went quickly downhill from there. Starter Tom Layne surrendered four runs in his 4.1 innings of work on the mound, and the Reno bats couldn't claw back from the 4-1 deficit despite 3.2 scoreless frames from the bullpen trio of Mike DeMark, Bryan Woodall, and Mike Zagurski. Leading the charge at the plate were Cole Gillespie and A.J. Pollock, with each player doubling and Gillespie adding a single to his night.

Double-A: Mobile 1, Pensacola 6. (7-3) It was a rough day at the plate for the BayBears bats, with Mobile's offense collecting just four hits, led by a single and a double from Kyle Greene. The lineup's struggles came at a particularly bad time, as left-hander Tyler Skaggs - normally dominant at Double-A - had one of his least effective outings with the BayBears, allowing four runs (three earned) in five innings on seven hits and two walks, although he did strike out eight. Reliever Brett Lorin struck out three in two innings of work, though he did give up a pair of unearned runs, and Taylor Sinclair finished things up with a pair of scoreless innings.

Hi-A: Visalia 3, Rancho Cucamonga 6. (5-3) Right-hander Anthony Meo had a second straight wild outing, walking four in 4.1 innings while allowing four hits and three runs, despite striking out three. Meo's quick outing was helped by the strong relief work of Mike Belfiore, who had seven strikeouts account for all but one of the outs he notched in his relief appearance (although he did allow an inherited runner from Meo to steal home plate). Rancho Cucamonga left fielder Leon Landry went bonkers in this game, leading off the top of the first with a solo homer, then adding a pair of doubles, a walk, and two stolen bases to his night. For Visalia, Keon Broxton singled and doubled, Yazy Arbelo homered, and Chris Owings doubled.

Low-A: South Bend 0, Dayton 6. (4-5) It was a rough outing for South Bend starter Jesse Darrah, who lasted just four innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks. Darrah's struggles just couldn't be overcome by the offense, as Matt Helm's double on a slow grounder down the third base line was the only extra-base hit collected by the Silver Hawks, with just five Hawks batters reaching base (three hits and two walks).