As always when he pitches Trevor Bauer was the story last night as he faced off against Tacoma on the road. Once again it was a pretty short outing as he got through only five innings due to 5 hits and 4 walks. He only surrendered 2 runs, both of which were came via solo homers, and he did strike out 7 in a no-decision as the Reno bats decided to wait until the 9th inning to get things going. We need Jim to do some of his statistical magic and figure out how PCL pitching stats correlate to the majors, just as he did with hitting. Hello? Is this mic on? The only other games last night were the two northern rookie teams as everyone else is on their All Star Break. Yakima broke out the bats after I was bemoaning their lack of hitting in a 10-1 win. Missoula lost a heartbreaker 2-1 in 10 innings.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Chris Pack, Missoula 6 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 8 K, 1 ER
2 Stars: Jacob House, Yakima 3 for 5, 1 R, 1 DBL
1 Star: Trevor Bauer, Reno 5 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 7 K, 2 ER
0 Stars: Michael Perez, Missoula 0 for 4, 4 K
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 7 @ Tacoma 3. It was a Bauer night and he did what he usually does. Keeps his team in the game, gives up a few too many walks, pitches out of jams and gets the job done. Just as an example, in the 1st, Bauer struck out the leadoff hitter, got a soft grounder, gave up a ringing double followed by a walk, a wild pitch and another walk, and induced a weak grounder to post a scoreless inning. Routine stuff. The 3rd was similar but worse. A walk, a called third strike, a caught stealing, 2 solo homers and a groundout. The game was close throughout and it was looking grim for the Aces when Tacoma scored in the bottom of the 8th to break a 2-2 tie. But the Reno lumber woke from its slumber just in time as they plated 5 in the top of the 9th. The Tacoma defense opened the doors and a wild pitch ultimately got the tying run home. Then Jake Elmore cranked a bases-loaded triple to blow the doors off the hinges. The Dynamic E-Duo (new nickname for Eaton and Elmore) had two hits apiece and 3 RBI combined. Ryan Wheeler also had 2 hits and an RBI. Oh, and there was a Geoff Blum sighting. He started at 3B and went 0 for 3.
High Rookie: Yakima 10 @ Eugene 1. The Yakima hitters must be reading our blog, because after I bemoaned their lack of hitting yesterday they exploded for 10 runs in an easy 10-1 victory. 1B Jacob House had 3 hits including a double; Kerry Jenkins had a pair of singles (after getting the Zero Stars Award yesterday); and Shaun Cooper had 2 singles and an RBI (watch out for this kid, smells like a real hitter). 2012 32nd-round pick Daniel Watts started and tossed three scoreless innings with 2 Ks. Blake Forslund, our 15th-rounder, chipped in 2 hitless innings with 3 Ks (Great beginning for this electric arm). And free agent Bobby O'Neil tacked on 2 scoreless innings of his own.
Low Rookie: Missoula 1 @ Billings 2. Classic pitcher's duel pitting free agent signee Chris Pack against the Cincinnati Reds' first rounder from 2011, Robert Stephenson. Pack pitched an outstanding six innings, four of which were perfect. His only slip was in the fifth when he yielded a leadoff double followed by an RBI single. An impressive debut as he struck out 8 and walked none, giving up only four hits and the one run. Offensively the Osprey were largely stymied by top prospect Stephenson's repertoire of multiple plus pitches. After two hits in the first that helped plate a run, the Osprey managed only 4 additional hits the rest of the way--doubles by catcher Yosbel Gutierrez and 3B Jake Lamb as well as two singles by LF Breland Almadova. The game ended in the 10th on what should have been scored an error by SS Pedro Ruiz on a ball through his legs. He has a short history of errors so we'll need to keep an eye on this.
(Missoula report courtesy of Corby Williamson, Missoula Osprey Fan)