I know, who would believe it. You see, it works like this...whenever I rag on someone for under-performing, they do something great to shut me up. I think it was just yesterday I made a comment in a thread that Justin Bianco can't hit a lick. So what does he do? He goes 3 for 5 with two home runs and 4 RBI. So what do I know? In any case, I'm always happy to be wrong about someone when I'm dogging them. The fact is, Bianco hasn't been hitting a lick and has even lost regular playing time in Missoula where he's playing for the second year. I'm sure they'll give him another year after this one regardless what his numbers are, but he really needs to start making strides as many others are passing him by and the club drafted a lot of hitters this year. Hitting two homers is obviously a positive step. We'll see if he can start making more regular contact and get back into the everyday lineup. It was a big offensive day around the minors with 4 of the 6 teams in action racking up 10+ runs, and Reno didn't even play.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Justin Bianco, Missoula 3 for 5, 3 R, 2 HR (2), 4 RBI
2 Stars: Pedro Ruiz, Missoula 4 for 5, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 DBL, 1 TPL, 2 RBI, 1 SB
1 Star: Alex Capaul, South Bend 5 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 ER, W (1-1)
0 Stars: Chris Owings, Mobile 0 for 4, 1 K
Game summaries after the jump.
Double A: Mobile 3 @ Pensacola 6. Derek Eitel was keeping his team in the game through 5 innings but ran into trouble in the 6th when he allowed 4 singles and a home run. The offense tried to come back from the 6-0 deficit with 3 in the 7th, but went down meakly in the 8th and 9th for the loss. The Bay Bears mustered only 4 hits on the night. Mark Krauss had a double and a walk. Bobby Borchering went 0 for 4 with 2 Ks and an error.
High A: Visalia 13 @ Inland Empire 2. Anthony Meo had another productive start surrendering 2 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits and 1 walk in 5.2 innings while striking out 3. The offense blew it open with an 8-run 3rd as every starter had a hit and 7 of the 9 starters had at least 2 hits. Garrett Webber did the most damage with 2 hits and a 3-run homer, his 5th. Michael Freeman went 3 for 4 with an RBI and Gerson Montilla had a double, a triple and an RBI.
Low A: South Bend 10 Fort Wayne 2. The Silver Hawks scored 6 in the first 3 innings and never looked back. After starting his Low A campaign with 5 relief appearances, Alex Capaul got the start and was very good with 5 innings of 1-run ball with 6 Ks. Eric Groff had a double and a 3-run homer to lead the hitting attack. Tom Belza rapped two doubles and scored 3 runs plus an RBI.
High Rookie: Yakima 10 Boise 4. The Bears were battling through a tight contest until the offense exploded for six runs in the 6th on a single, a double, a triple, 2 walks and 2 hit batters. Daniel Watts had another solid start giving up 2 runs on 5 hits over 5 innings while striking out 2. Jimmy Comerota paced the offense with 3 hits including a triple and 2 RBI. Wagner Mateo had 2 hits with a triple and Shaun Cooper added a pair of doubles.
Low Rookie: Missoula 12 @ Helena 2. After getting behind 2-0 early, the Osprey scored in 5 consecutive innings to turn this one into a laugher. Chris Pack had a good start with 5 innings pitched while allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits and a walk. Bianco spearheaded the 15-hit attack with his 2-homer game. SS Pedro Ruiz had a 4-hit night with a double, a triple and 2 RBI. He's hitting .373 on the season. Ty Linton had a pair of singles to go with his 3 Ks. He's running a 41% K-rate through 74 at bats but he has walked twice.
AZL Rookie: D-backs 6 @ Rangers 5. The D-backs were no-hit through 5 innings by Texas prospect Aliangel Lopez and trailed 5-0. But the Rangers relief corps couldn't keep it up and the D-backs scored 2 in the 6th and 4 in the 7th to eke out a 1-run victory. Stryker Trahan was in the middle of that attack with a double in the 6th and a triple in the 7th for 2 RBI. William Castillo had a single, a triple and 3 RBI. Alex Glenn hit his 3rd homer.