All three minor league teams playing for their respective league championships were in action last night with two winners and one loser being the result. Reno kicked things off in their 5-game series against Omaha with a blowout victory at home behind some really good pitching from Trevor Bauer and an offensive explosion. Bauer went 6.2 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and 5 walks. The offense banged out 15 hits and 13 runs. No contest. Mobile, on the other hand did just the opposite getting clocked 8-1 by Jackson in Game 1 of their 5-game set. Chase Anderson didn't pitch badly but the offense and defense were not in tune and Mobile never threatened. Missoula got a tightly-played 4-3 victory over Ogden in Game 1 of their 3-game championship series and now stand one win away from taking the title.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Trevor Bauer, Reno 6.2 IP, 3 H, 5 BB, 5 K, 1 ER, W
2 Stars: Ryan Budde, Reno 2 for 5, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI
1 Star: Chris Thomas, Missoula 5.2 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K, 2 ER, W
0 Stars: Bryan Woodall, Mobile 1 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 HR, 4 ER
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 13 Omaha 1. This one was never in doubt as Trevor Bauer was pretty much unhittable and the offense dominated. Bauer got off to a somewhat bumpy start as all 5 of his walks came in the first 2 innings. He walked them full in the 1st around a couple of outs then got the last batter to escaped unscathed. He surrendered the lone run in the 2nd on a walk, a single, and two fielder's choice outs. From that point on he allowed just one base runner, departing in the 7th with 2 outs and nobody on. Reno plated 4 runs in the 2nd and 4 more in the 4th and that was pretty much it. They hit 5 home runs in the game with two coming from C Ryan Budde. Even Keon Broxton got into the game picking up a pinch-hit single in his first plate appearance at the AAA level.
Double A: Mobile 1 @ Jackson 8. Chase Anderson got the start in Game 1 and pitched pretty well into the 6th inning. A Matt Davidson error leading off the 4th started a 3-run inning for Jackson and the Bay Bears never really recovered. Anderson ending up allowing 4 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks with 7 strikeouts. Seattle prospect James Paxton completely befuddled the Mobile offense going 7+ innings and allowing a single unearned run on 4 hits and 10 strikeouts.
Rookie: Missoula 4 Ogden 3. Missoula jumped out to a 4-0 lead through 4 innings then held on tight to scratch out a hard-fought 1-run victory in Game 1 of the Pioneer League Championship Series. Chris Thomas started and was terrific through 5 innings allowing just 1 hit. Things got dicey in the 6th though as Thomas gave up a single and issued a walk to the first two batters. A fly out followed by a walk loaded the bases, and a ground ball that Missoula tried to turn into a double play scored the first run. Chris Capper then replaced Thomas to try and get the final out but wild-pitched home one run and walked the next two to load the bases. Fortunately, he struck out the next batter to end the threat. Capper made it more exciting in the 7th when he allowed another run to cut the lead to one. But Vince Spilker pitched a scoreless 8th and closer Justin Thompson an uneventful 9th for the win. Breland Almadova had the big blow of the night with a 2-run homer in the 4th. Pedro Ruiz and Daniel Pulfer each had an RBI double in the 3rd.