All eight minor league clubs were in action last night, so let's get right to it. 2012 1st-round draft pick Stryker Trahan hit his first professional home run last night for the rookie league AZL D-backs. In his first 3 games he's hitting .333 with an OBP of .500 and an OPS of 1.333. Works for me! Many of our top draft picks are playing for AZL so I might suggest heading over to Salt River Fields if you want to see some of them in action. Reno lost consecutive games for the first time since May as a Jake Elmore error led to 3 unearned runs and a 6-4 loss. Matt Davidson and Alfredo Marte both homered in a Mobile come-from-behind win, their 16th and 14th dingers respectively. Chris Owings smacked a bases-loaded double that plated 3 in that furious comeback.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Breland Almadova, Missoula 3 for 4, 1 R, 2 DBL, 1 RBI, 1 SB
2 Stars: Alex Glenn, AZL 2 for 2, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB
1 Star: Alfredo Marte, Mobile 2 for 4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
0 Stars: Eric Meyerchick, AZL 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 ER
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 4 @ Tacoma 6. Starter Charles Brewer was undone by a 4th inning leadoff error from Jake Elmore that led to 3 unearned runs. He surrendered 2 more runs in the 5th and didn't make it out of that inning, ultimately allowing 5 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks in 4.2 innings. The Reno bats tried to overcome it and collected 13 hits but stranded 12 baserunners. Adam Eaton had 2 hits (of course) and 2 RBI. Cole Gillespie had 3 singles and scored a pair. And Rusty Ryal had a couple of singles. Stephen Drew did not play and is believed to be back east attending a family funeral.
Double A: Mobile 10 Montgomery 7. The Bay Bears rallied from a late 6-2 deficit by scoring 5 in the 7th and 3 in the 8th for a 10-7 win. Starter Chase Anderson couldn't get out of the 3rd inning and Brett Lorin didn't do much to keep in close. The comeback heroes were newly-promoted Chris Owings and minor league veteran Evan Frey who each had 3 RBI in those late innings, Owings the result of a bases-clearing double in the 7th with the bases loaded. Alfredo Marte hit a solo home run in the 2nd and Matt Davidson did the same in the 4th. Mark Krauss and Dan Kaczrowski contributed a pair of hits each. Evan Marshall recorded his 15th save with a scoreless 9th.
High A: Visalia 2 San Jose 7. Not much good to report in this game. Starter Taylor Siemens was not very effective in yielding 6 hits, 5 walks and 2 home runs in less than 5 innings of work. Jonathan Griffin was the lone hitting star with a 3 for 4 night including a double and an RBI. Newly-promoted prospects Gerson Montilla and Ender Inciarte went a combined 0 for 8.
Low A: South 1 @ West Michigan 7. Not much to report here either as a rough start from Tyler Green (who'd pitched well to date) was off his game giving up 9 hits and 2 walks for 6 runs (3 earned) in taking the loss. Midwest League All Star Matt Helm had a pair of singles as did Ryan Court. Tha...tha...tha...that's all folks.
High Rookie: Yakima 4 Salem-Keizer 2. Cuban rookie Alexander Carreras was solid in 6 innings of work to lead the Bears to victory. He surrendered solo runs in the 1st and 2nd innings (only 1 of which was earned) before stringing 4 scoreless frames together to earn the victory. Yakima veteran Henry Zabala hit a solo home run in the second. Jacob House had a pair of singles and an RBI.
Low Rookie: Missoula 6 Great Falls 5 (13 innings) A combination of good offense and some decent pitching resulted in a home opener victory for the Osprey in 13 innings. Hot-hitting Jake Lamb was the hero via a game-tying triple in the 11th and a walk-off RBI single in the 13th. Breland Almadova had another stellar game going 3-4 with two doubles and an RBI, but was lifted in the 7th due to a tweaked ankle. 2012 34th-round draft pick Jared Ray got the start, going three innings and working out of a few jams in only allowing a solo run. Missoula clubbed 14 hits with Pedro Ruiz, Socrates Brito, Jake Lamb and Justin Bianco all collecting 2 hits apiece.
AZL Rookie: D-backs 5 @ Cubs 7. Stryker Trahan clubbed his first professional home run last night, a solo shot in the 8th inning to give the D-backs a 5-3 lead. But reliever Eric Meyerchick had a forgettable professional debut and gave up 4 runs in the 8th to cost the D-backs the game. Meyerchick was signed as a free agent just 6 days ago after a good college career at St. Joseph's College. 2012 12th-round draft pick Alex Glenn also hit his first professional home run, a solo shot in the 4th. 7th-rounder SS Andrew Velazquez picked up his 1st professional hit.