He's barely 21 years old and he's already pitching like a veteran this David Holmberg kid, and in some organizations he'd be the club's #1 prospect. He was outstanding on the mound for Mobile last night in a virtual must-win Game 2 to lead them to a 7-2 win over Jackson and even their playoff series at one game each. Holmberg cruised through the first 4 innings and hit his only speed bump in the 5th when he allowed a 2-out double that scored a pair. But those runs didn't matter much as Mobile had already scored six. Holmberg then had an easy 6th and got 2 easy outs in the 7th when he was relieved by Evan Marshall. I hate to put it so simply but this kid is really good and he handled a high leverage start like a true professional. In the other playoff game yesterday Reno fell to Omaha 9-6 that evened their Southern League Championship Series at a game apiece.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: David Holmberg, Mobile 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 ER, W
2 Stars: Mike Jacobs, Reno 2 for 4, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI
1 Star: Michael Freeman, Mobile 3 for 4, 1 R, 2 DBL, 1 RBI
0 Stars: Daniel Cabrera, Reno 4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 5 R, 4 ER
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 6 Omaha 9. The Aces were shooting for a sweep of their two home games in this best-of-five championship series, but Daniel Cabrera wasn't very sharp and the offense couldn't quite make up the difference. The game was close through 4 innings with Omaha clinging to a 2-1 lead entering the 5th when the Storm Chasers stormed Cabrera and Zach Kroenke for 5 runs. Kroenke gave up 2 home runs in the inning. The offense was not yet ready to call it quits though as they came right back and scored 4 in the bottom of the 5th to make it 7-5. Mike Jacobs delivered the big blow in that inning with a 3-run homer, his 3rd of the playoffs. But Sam Demel surrendered 2 more runs in the 7th and the Omaha bullpen closed it out from there. A.J. Pollock went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI and Tyler Bortnick went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI.
Double A: Mobile 7 Jackson 2. The Bay Bears got the split on the road to even their 5-game series at one each behind the solid pitching of David Holmberg and a recently rejuvenated offense. Holmberg pitched into the 7th allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Mobile got one run in the 4th on doubles by Alfredo Marte and Matt Mangini and then blew it open with 5 runs in the 5th. In that inning, after a David Nick strikeout, Michael Freeman doubled, Evan Frey singled, Chris Owings doubled and Alfredo Marte doubled. Then Matt Mangini clubbed a 2-run homer to cap it off. The bullpen was very good behind Holmberg to erase any thoughts of a Jackson comeback. Visalia call-up Michael Freeman is 7 for 10 in the playoffs so far with 4 doubles. There's a good chance that will be his home base next year so he's off to a good start at AA.