The Mobile Bay Bears are in absolute free fall. They've lost 6 in a row and 8 of their last 9, with a good chunk of the blame going to their suddenly anemic offense. With a roster seemingly loaded with Major League caliber prospects such as Matt Davidson, Alfredo Marte, Mark Krauss and Chris Owings, it's kind of surprising to see the offense struggle this badly. Last night they produced just 4 hits and 1 run and have scored only 12 runs in their last 6 games, with half of those coming in one game. Perhaps they need to get away from the Mississippi Braves and all that great young pitching talent they have. Maybe they're all hitting the offensive wall at once as they head into the dog days. They have one more game with Mississippi today and then come home to take on Jacksonville where hopefully they'll start picking things up again.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Michael Perez, Missoula 3 for 3, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 DBL, 4 RBI
2 Stars: Keon Broxton, Visalia 3 for 5, 2 R, 1 DBL, 1 HR (11), 1 RBI
1 Star: Chris Pack, Missoula 6 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 0 ER
0 Stars: Jensen Lewis, Reno 0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 R, 4 ER, BS, L (2-1)
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 4 Col. Springs 7. Zach Kroenke started and was really, really good throwing 5 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and a walk while striking out 4. The Aces had fought their way to a 4-2 lead entering the 8th but Jensen Lewis couldn't get a single batter out before 5 runs had crossed the plate, and that was that. A.J. Pollock had a double with 2 RBI, Josh Bell had 2 hits with a double, and Adam Eaton had a pair of singles.
Double A: Mobile 1 @ Mississippi 6. The Mobile offense was really bad again collecting just 4 singles on the night. David Holmberg was doing fine through 4 shutout innings but lost it in the 5th and 6th when he surrendered 2 and 4 runs respectively. He gave up a pile of hits again (10) in just 5.2 innings while striking out 2. At least he's still got his control walking just one batter.
High A: Visalia 9 @ High Desert 5. The Rawhide started a 3-game set at High Desert so look for some offense here in the next few days. They pounded out 14 hits and 9 runs in last night's game featuring a big effort from Keon Broxton who had 3 hits with a double, his 11th homer, and an RBI. Broxton is having a pretty solid summer after a miserable April dug him a deep hole stats-wise. He's actually getting his K-rate well under control (18% for July) and over the last two months has an OPS around .800. Maybe he's not quite dead yet. Yazy Arbelo and Garrett Webber also homered and Ender Inciarte had 2 hits and 2 more stolen bases (41).
Low A: South Bend 5 @ Fort Wayne 4. South Bend got off to a slow start in this one as Alex Capaul was yanked after 2 innings and 3 runs allowed. But Jesse Darrah came on and pitched 5 solid innings of relief allowing just one more run. The offense was patient and finally struck for 3 runs in the 7th to take a 1-run lead that would hold up. Marc Bourgeois rapped a double, a triple and an RBI to lead the offense. Jake Barrett picked up his 5th save.
Short Season A: Yakima 8 @ Spokane 6. While the first 5 innings of this one was mostly a snoozer (though well-pitched), it got really exciting the rest of the way. Spokane scored 1 in the bottom of the 6th to take a 1-run lead. Yakima scored 2 in the top of the 7th to take back the 1-run lead. Spokane scored one in the bottom of the 7th to tie it. Then 1 by Yakima in the top of the 8th, 1 by Spokane in the bottom of the 8th. Two by Yakima in the top of the 9th, 2 by Spokane in the bottom of the 9th. Finally a 2-run double by Steven Rodriguez in the top of the 11th held up. Michael Lang had 3 hits with 2 doubles and Wagner Mateo had 3 RBI.
Rookie: Missoula 10 Great Falls 1. The Osprey offense was in form last night scoring 10 runs on 14 hits, and Chris pack had one of his best starts of the year in a 10-1 laugher. Michael Perez is on a tear with a perfect night at the plate going 3 for 3 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI. He has 10 RBI in his last 4 games. Evan Marzilli went 3 for 4 to raise his season average to .382. Socrates Brito also had 3 hits with a double. Pack threw 6 shutout innings on 3 hits and a walk for his 3rd win of the year.
AZL Rookie: Dbacks 0 Mariners 9. A bad night all around for the Dbacks last night. Ben Eckels started and actually didn't pitch too badly but he still allowed 5 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings, though he did strike out 8. The offense was shut down all night picking up just 4 singles. Stryker Trahan went 0 for 2 with 2 more walks. Here's an interesting stat for you. Trahan is hitting .167 in his last 10 games but has an OBP of .468. I'm not sure I've ever seen a 10-game stretch by anyone where their BA and OBP was separated by .300 points. Trahan also was charged with his 13th passed ball of the season, and Jose Munoz was charged with his 16th error in 23 games.