We've got a couple of Venezuelans playing in Visalia who have been making a lot of noise in the minors this year and deserve some notice. Gerson Montilla, a 22-year-old second baseman, and Ender Inciarte, a 21-year-old outfielder have really burst on the scene this year, first at South Bend and then at Visalia following mid-season promotions. Now, I'm not suggesting they're Top 10 prospects or anything yet but sometimes these Latino kids just find it a little later than domestic kids. Inciarte plays mostly center field and is strictly a top of the order speed and contact guy. Montilla is a do-everything 2B that has a little pop, a little speed and a good glove. They're making their way onto my Top 30 list if they keep this up. A couple of guys worth watching.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Patrick Corbin, Reno 6 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 8 K, 0 ER
2 Stars: Ender Inciarte, Visalia 3 for 5, 3 R, 1 HR (1), 1 RBI, 2 SB (35)
1 Star: Raywilly Gomez, Visalia 3 for 5, 2 DBL, 1 RBI
0 Stars: Josh Bell, Reno 0 for 6, 4 K
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 6 @ La Vegas 5. Patrick Corbin started and really had it going in Las Vegas. He tossed 6 shutout innings on 6 hits, no walks and 8 Ks. There is nothing left for Corbin to prove. As soon as there's room at the inn he'll be up for good. Once Corbin left the game it got ugly though as Mike DeMark and Sam Demel were the victims of poor defense and an inability to overcome the poor defense when they allowed 5 runs in the 7th inning. But the Aces battled back with an unearned run in the 8th to tie it and a Jake Elmore RBI single in the 11th to win it. Brent Clevlen had 4 singles in the game and the E-Dynamic Duo (Eaton and Elmore) had 4 hits including a double, 2 RBI and a stolen base. Joe Patterson got the final out on a strikeout for his 1st save.
Double A: Mobile 2 Pensacola 4. David Holmberg started and had a pretty solid outing but a tad short of what he'd have liked. He pitched 8 complete innings and yielded 4 runs on 10 hits and 0 walks with 4 strikeouts. Four of the 10 hits were for extra bases--2 doubles, a triple and a home run. He's got the control part worked out, now he just needs to miss a few more bats and get some of his pitches into tougher locations and he'll be just fine. The Mobile offense was miserable with just 3 hits, one of which was by Holmberg. David Nick hit a 2-run homer, but the middle of the order (Owings, Krauss, Marte, Strieby, Borchering) went 0 for 18 with 10 Ks. Yuck.
High A: Visalia 6 Bakersfield 10. The walks are still hurting Anthony Meo as he had 4 more last night. He didn't pitch badly though getting through 5 innings with just 3 hits to go with those walks plus 4 strikeouts. But 4 runs crossed against him due to some shabby defense and when the bullpen fell apart the game was lost. Ender Inciarte had a big night with 3 hits including his first homer for Visalia, and picked up two more stolen bases, his 17th for Visalia and 35th overall on the season. Gerson Montilla had 2 hits with a double and an RBI and Raywilly Gomez had 2 doubles among 3 hits with an RBI. On a brighter note Andrew Chafin did toss a scoreless inning in relief with no walks.
Low A: South Bend 6 Peoria 5. All the action in this one happened in the first 4 innings. The South Bend offense scored 6 in the first 3 innings, and starter Jesse Darrah allowed 5 runs in the first 4. But Darrah settled down a little and got through the 5th and 6th with no further damage and Keith Hessler tacked on 3 shutout innings right behind him for the save while allowing just one hit and striking out 3. A balanced offensive attack was led by Tom Belza with 2 singles and 2 RBI.
Short Season A: Yakima 3 Everett 6. The Bears were holding a slight upperhand in this tightly played game until the defense fell apart in the 8th allowing 3 unearned runs to score. Blake Perry had a very good outing of 6 innings while allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk with 5 strikeouts. But errors by Wagner Mateo and Jimmy Comerota with Victor Acosta on the mound did them in. Mateo partially made up for the error with 2 hits including a double and an RBI. Daniel Poma and Adam McConnell each contributed a couple of singles.
Rookie: Missoula 5 @ Grand Junction 7. This game was a mirror image of Yakima's when the Osprey defense surrendered 3 unearned runs in the 8th. Two walks by Justin Thompson in that inning didn't help. Chris Pack started and was pretty mediocre allowing 4 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings. The offense had 11 hits and 8 walks but went 1 for 12 with RISP and stranded 12. Daniel Pulfer and Rudy Flores each had 3 singles, and Breland Almadova hit his 1st home run of the year.