It was a busy day on the farm as two affiliates made up for rained-out games from Sunday. The result was 46 innings of full-season minor-league baseball to be played, and plenty of action to recap. The big story of the day on the farm was the return of Chris Young on rehab assignment, while a pair of Arizona's best young pitchers had awesome (though normal by their high standards) outings.
Snakelet of the Day:
Archie Bradley (Low-A): 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 6:1 K:BB, 6:2 GO:FO
Chase Anderson (Double-A): 7 IP, 8 H, 2 R (2 ER), 7:0 K:BB, 9:5 GO:FO
Triple-A (game one, seven innings): Reno 0, Nashville 5. The Aces offense was completely shut down in game one of the double-header, collecting only three hits in seven innings against Nashville starter Michael Fiers. Two of the hits came from Cole Gillespie, with the third being a double by Jake Elmore. The Sounds offense had no such trouble collecting hits off of Reno starter Charles Brewer, as the Aces' right-hander gave up 13 knocks across his six innings on the mound, with three strikeouts, a walk, and a home run allowed.
Triple-A (game two, seven innings): Reno 5, Nashville 1. (20-19) As forgettable as the first game of the double-header was, things went much more smoothly in the second half of the two-game split. Reno collected seven hits across seven innings, including a home run from David Winfree, a triple from Taylor Harbin, and a double from Adam Eaton. Eaton and Elmore had two-hit games, with Elmore also drawing a walk. The end result was plenty of offense to help out the patchwork pitching effort, as starter Taylor Sinclair delivered 2.2 one-run innings, Mike DeMark worked 1.1 scoreless, and then Jensen Lewis, Sam Demel, and Joe Paterson each worked a scoreless frame.
Double-A: Mobile 1, Chattanooga 3. (24-15) Mobile managed just three hits in this game, with the sole run of the game coming via a Yazy Arbelo solo home run off of Chattanooga starter Nate Eovaldi. Unfortunately, Eovaldi just barely out-pitched BayBears starter Chase Anderson, who was phenomenal once again. Anderson struck out seven with no walks across seven innings on the mound, allowing eight hits and two runs with a 9:5 GO:FO ratio. The outing actually raised Anderson's ERA on the year, to an impressive 2.19 across six starts and 37 innings, with 42 strikeouts and 10 walks.
Hi-A: Visalia 4, High Desert 14. (18-20) It seems that the Visalia bats didn't get the memo about playing in perhaps the most hitter-friendly environment in all of professional baseball. The Rawhide were out-hit 15-9 in this contest, with five of High Desert's hits leaving the park. In his first rehab outing since injuring his shoulder, big-league center fielder Chris Young went 1-4 with a double, striking out twice. Raywilly Gomez and Keon Broxton each homered for the Rawhide, while Bobby Borchering, Chris Owings, and Michael Freeman each doubled as well. Things didn't go well on the mound for right-hander Raymond Hernandez, who gave up four of the five High Desert long-balls and left after just 3.2 innings on the hill, surrendering seven hits and eight runs (four earned). Things didn't go any better for the bullpen, either, with Patrick Schuster, Diogenes Rosario, and Bo Schultz combining to allow six more runs (five earned) the rest of the way.
Low-A (game one, seven innings): South Bend 2, Bowling Green 0. After what was his worst outing in pro ball back on May 8, top prospect Archie Bradley bounced-back nicely with one of his most dominant efforts. Bradley surrendered just one hit and a walk across five excellent innings on the mound, striking out six and allowing no runs while generating six ground ball outs. The outing lowered Archie's ERA to 2.25 in 40 innings of work in 2012, with 44 strikeouts, 22 walks, and just 14 hits. The offense was provided courtesy of a few well-timed hits, with Gerson Montilla's RBI double plating Tom Belza in the fourth, with Fidel Pena then driving in Montilla with an RBI single.
Low-A (game two, seven innings): South Bend 2, Bowling Green 3. (21-17) Belza had a nice game in the second half of the double-header, hitting his first home run of the year - a solo shot - and knocking a single. Unfortunately, the rest of the Silver Hawks lineup went hitless and generated just one more (unearned) run of offense, which ultimately wasn't enough. Starter Jeffrey Shields was a bit too wild in this one, with a run scoring on a wild pitch, two walks, and a hit batter across five innings of work, allowing three earned runs. Shields has been awfully impressive when I've seen him pound the strike zone, and his 7:1 GO:FO ratio was once again solid.