It wasn't one of those performances where you go, "Holy mackerel, did you see what Skaggs did last night?" But it was a performance by Skaggs worthy of some praise whose words are escaping me at the moment. In any case, 5.2 innings, 6 hits, 1 walk, 3 Ks, 3 runs (only 1 earned) and the W. For the PCL, that's just fine. Put that outing in the majors with real defenders (translation, Not Josh Bell) and it probably looks like 6+, 1 earned run, 4 Ks, and the win and we'd all be celebrating. He's getting closer and closer to being Major League ready so start penciling him into the 2013 rotation. Mobile was back in action and while they did lose again at least the heart of the order didn't go 0 for 18 again. Last night each of the unnamed got one, and only one, hit each so their oh-fer streaks are at least over for now. (If you've been following the Mobile game summaries you know of whom I speak.)
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Cole Gillespie, Reno 3 for 4, 1 R, 2 DBL, 1 HR (11), 4 RBI
2 Stars: Keon Broxton, Visalia 3 for 4, 3 R, 1 HR (10), 3 RBI
1 Star: Austin Platt, AZL Dbacks 7 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 ER
0 Stars: Jared Ray, Missoula 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 5 ER
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 6 Col. Springs 4. Skaggs was cruising with a shutout through 5 innings on 3 hits and a walk. But things got a little dicey for him in the 6th when he allowed a single, a line drive out, a fly ball out, another single and a ground-rule double that scored 1. Matt Gorgen replaced him and induced a grounder to Josh Bell, but he threw it away allowing the two runners to score. Brian Shaw, Jensen Lewis and Jonathan Albaladejo pitched three clean relief innings to preserve the win for Skaggs, who is now 3-1 in Reno with a 2.25 ERA in 22 innings. The offense racked up 14 hits with the big night going to Cole Gillespie who had 2 doubles and his 11th homer of the year. Mike Jacobs had 3 more hits and A.J. Pollock had 2 hits with a double and an RBI.
Double A: Mobile 3 Mississippi 5. Michael Bolsinger had a solid outing and kept his team in the thick of it through 6 innings. But Bo Schultz didn't fare so well in the 7th allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and the offense couldn't respond. Our heart of the order (Owings, Krauss, Marte, Davidson and Borchering) broke out of their slumps as each collected a hit, all singles. The one big blow came from the pitcher Bolsinger who hit a solo home run.
High A: Visalia 10 Stockton 5. The offense showed up in force as the Rawhide pounded Stockton to the tune of 13 hits and 10 runs. The big blow came off the bat of Keon Broxton (is he still here?) via a 3-run blast in the 6th inning that gave Visalia the lead. Broxton also had a pair of singles to go with the home run, his 10th on the year. Starter Willy Paredes wasn't great but he was good enough allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits and a couple of walks in 5+ innings. Yazy Arbelo had a couple of hits including his 9th homer of the year, and Garrett Webber hit his 7th. Ender Inciarte stole 2 more bases giving him 20 in 30 games. That's a 100-steal pace my friends.
Short Season A: Yakima 1 @ Boise 2. Daniel Watts, our 32nd-round draft pick this year, has become the ace of the Yakima staff, and he pitched like one again last night. But even though he only allowed 1 earned run in 6 innings, the offense couldn't save him by only getting 2 hits all night. Boise starter Ian Dickson (he of the 5+ ERA) actually no-hit the Bears in his 6 innings. The offense led off the 8th with consecutive singles by Ronnie Freeman and Michael Lang, but three straight groundouts netted a run but no more.
Rookie: Missoula 9 @ Orem 7. The Osprey overcame a 5-1 deficit with 4 in the 5th, 2 in the 7th and 2 in the 9th for a 9-7 win. Starter Jared Ray wasn't too good, but a 3-run homer by Justin Bianco (him again?) in the game-tying 4-run 5th inning sparked the offense to get the job done late. Socrates Brito, Breland Almadova, and Rudy Flores each had a couple of hits with Flores adding a double and an RBI.
AZL Rookie: Dbacks 3 Dodgers 0. This one was all about starter Austin Platt who spun 7 shutout innings on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 6 for his 2nd professional win. In Platt's 7 starts, he's had 2 really bad outings, 3 really good ones, and two acceptable ones. The Dbacks scored all their runs in the 1st inning on a bases-loaded double-play ball by Stryker Trahan,a run-scoring double by Phildrick Llewellyn, and an RBI single by Alex Glenn. Will Locante pitched a perfect 9th for his 4th save.