I (and others) have been curious to see how Alfredo Marte would handle his hot first half as the season winds into its dog days. So far so good. Since the All Star break he's 13 for 29 with 2 doubles, 4 home runs and 11 RBI. He's getting hotter as opposed to cooler. There's still a lot of baseball to be played, but he seems to have the AA level figured out. I'm not sure he's a strong candidate for the big league outfield next year (assuming he keeps this up) due to the number of outfielders ahead of him, but Reno will be on the agenda next. He had another big game last night with his 17th home run and 3 RBI. Chris Owings is settling in at AA fairly well too. He's not tearing it up but he's still only 20, he's hitting .275 and he's only made 2 errors in 24 games. He doesn't walk nearly enough but it's a solid progression step and with the rest of this year and all of next year at AA or AAA he's still on pace to be an option at SS in 2014.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Alfredo Marte, Mobile 2 for 4, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 HR (17), 3 RBI
2 Stars: Derek Eitel, Mobile 8 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K, 3 ER, W (7-7)
1 Star: Shaun Cooper, Yakima 2 for 5, 2 R, 1 DBL, 1 HR (3), 2 RBI
0 Stars: Cody Wheeler, Yakima 1.2 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 4 ER
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 5 Salt Lake 3. Barry Enright had a solid start and the bottom of the order produced enough runs for the 5-3 win. Enright only managed 5 innings but he held Salt Lake to 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. Zach Kroenke and Sam Demel were solid in relief and Jonathan Albaladejo pitched the 9th for his 16th save. Ryan Budde did the most damage with a 2-run double in the 4th and an RBI groundout in the 8th. Brent Clevlen had a perfect night going 2 for 2 with 2 walks, a double, a triple, and an RBI.
Double A: Mobile 11 @ Montgomery 3. Alfredo Marte was the big stick in support of a really good outing by starter Derek Eitel. After yielding a 2-out walk and home run in the first, Eitel allowed just 3 more hits and an unearned run over the next 7 innings to even his record at 7-7. Marte hit a 2-run homer in the 4th to break a 2-2 tie then the rest of the offense got going to turn the game into a rout. Chris Owings went 2 for 5 with a double and 2 RBI. Mark Krauss hit his 14th homer of the season.
High A: Visalia 1 @ San Jose 2. The offense couldn't get anything going behind a solid effort from starter Bradin Hagens and 2 relievers. The lone run came via a solo home run by Ryan LaPensee. But LaPensee gave the run back with a throwing error that led to an unearned run. Hagens got through 5 innings allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits and 4 walks.
Low A: South Bend 3 @ Clifton 5. South Bend lost their 3rd straight when the defense decided not to give any help to starter Alex Capaul. Three errors (1 by Capaul himself) led to 4 unearned runs and Capaul was pulled in the 2nd after the score reached 5-0. Three relievers (Kable Hogben, Keith Hessler and Seth Simmons) pitched 6.1 innings of 1-hit ball but the offense couldn't do quite enough to overcome that, though they made a run at it. Raul Navarro and Matt Helm had two hits each in the effort.
High Rookie: Yakima 10 @ Salem-Keizer 8. The Bears came back from an early 6-1 deficit with a monster 8-run 6th inning that featured back-to-back doubles by Josh Parr and Shaun Cooper. that plated 3. Cody Wheeler had his worst start as a pro when he couldn't escape the 2nd after allowing 4 earned runs on 4 hits and a walk. The Yakima offense banged out 17 hits with 3 each from Parr and Steven Rodriguez. Shaun Cooper and Joseph Loftus also blasted solo homers.
Low Rookie: Missoula 8 Orem 12. The Osprey battled back from deficits 3 times in the game but a 5-run 7th by Orem proved too much. Starter Chris Pack struggled with 6 runs allowed on 10 hits and 2 walks. Socrates Brito had a 3-hit night including a double and 2 RBI. Michael Perez contributed a double, a triple and an RBI. And Ty Linton went 2 for 3 with a double.
AZL Rookie: D-Backs 2 Giants 10. Not much good to report here. Luis Hernandez got hit around pretty good and his defense made it worse with 3 errors, 2 more by Jose Munoz, his 14th in 16 games at SS. The D-backs collected 9 walks but only 3 hits, one a triple off the bat of rehabbing OF Tyler Graham. Tyler Graham was a former Giants farmhand released in May and signed by the Diamondbacks. He's a 28-year-old pure speed and defense outfielder who stole 60 bases in AAA last year.