It was not a good day for Diamondbacks minor leaguers as every one of our top six teams went down to defeat yesterday. It started at the top with a thrashing of Reno and finished with a 1-run loss by Missoula. In between was another miserable performance by Mobile which lost its 7th in a row; a tough relief outing by Andrew Chafin in a Visalia loss; the worst outing of young (old?) Andrew Barbosa's professional career leading to a South bend loss; and a shutout against Yakima. None of our top pitching prospects were in action so nothing to worry about there. But some of our top hitters are still struggling and need some kind of spark to get going again. Best outing was from the AZL Dbacks who got rained out.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Chris Owings, Mobile 3 for 4, 1 R, 1 HR (3), 1 RBI, 1 SB
2 Stars: Tom Belza, South Bend 3 for 5, 1 R, 1 DBL, 1 TPL, 2 RBI
1 Star: Niko Gallego, South Bend 4 for 4, 2 R, 1 DBL, 2 Errors
0 Stars: Matt Davidson, Mobile 0 for 4, 2 Errors (24)
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 4 Sacramento 13. Joe Martinez got lit up like the White House Christmas Tree last night and it was way too much for the offense to deal with. He surrendered 10 runs off of 12 hits before mercifully being pulled in the 6th inning. If not for the Davidson errors I'd have given him the Zero Snake Stars award but I'm sure he was left in to try and preserve the bullpen a little. Mike Jacobs had 2 hits including his 11th homer, and Jake Elmore had a pair of singles and 2 RBI.
Double A: Mobile 3 @ Mississippi 7. Another day, another loss for the Bay Bears, their 7th in a row and thankfully their last against Mississippi for a while. Derek Eitel wasn't too bad on the mound but 2 Matt Davidson errors led to 3 unearned runs. Check out these averages for the middle of the Mobile batting order over the last 10 games: Mark Krauss - .171; Matt Davidson - .194; Alfredo Marte - .182; Ryan Strieby - .192; Bobby Borchering - .135. Kind of sums it all up right there, doesn't it?
High A: Visalia 3 @ High Desert 5. Pretty low-scoring game for High Desert. I was anticipating something like 15-13. I only missed the over/under by 20 runs. Raymond Hernandez was reasonably effective with 6 innings pitched allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk while striking out 5. The game was tied at 3 when Andrew Chafin entered in the 7th and promptly gave up a line drive single, a weak infield single and a triple for 2 runs and the loss. It wasn't a disaster outing as he finished that inning and pitched a shutout 8th, and the most important thing is he didn't walk anyone. Baby steps. Yazy Arbelo hit a solo homer, his 11th, and Garrett Webber had an RBI double. Oh, and of course, Ender Inciarte stole another base.
Low A: South Bend 5 @ Lansing 9. The Silver Hawks were never really in this one as Andrew Barbosa had the worst start of his young professional career with 6 earned runs allowed in 5.1 innings on 9 hits and 3 walks, though he did strike out 7. Niko Gallego had a perfect 4 for 4 night with a double, and Tom Belza had a double, a triple and 2 RBI.
Short Season A: Yakima 0 Spokane 7. Five total hits by the offense and a sub-par outing from Alexander Carreras prevented this game from ever being interesting. Carreras walked 5 and allowed 4 earned runs in 5+ innings, and reliever Chase Brewer (brother of Charles) gave up 3 of his own. Brewer is having a tough start to his professional career with a 9.00 ERA in his first 6 outings. Josh Parr led the meager offense with a single and a double.
Rookie: Missoula 2 Great Falls 3. The Osprey lost a tough one as the offense couldn't arrange the key hit they needed in a 1-run loss. Karl Triana pitched decently enough with 3 earned runs allowed in 6 innings. The offense had 8 hits and 3 walks but left 10 men on base and couldn't push across the tying run. Socrates Brito and Breland Almadova each had a pair of singles.