For the first time in franchise history the Reno Aces won the Pacific Coast League Championship 3 games to 1 over the Omaha Storm Chasers with a convincing 8-2 victory. Reno makes it three Diamondback affiliate teams to win their respective league titles following the victories on Friday by Mobile and Missoula. Reno Manager Brett Butler turned to Charles Brewer to start Game 4 in spite of a sub-par year from the right-hander and he delivered a terrific performance that earned him the victory when the offense delivered in a big way through the middle innings. They were facing veteran Major League left-hander (and former Diamondback) Doug Davis who matched zeros with Brewer early on before blinking first in the 4th and 5th innings. Brewer didn't blink until the 7th inning when he allowed 2 runs but the offense extended the lead with a 3-run 8th on a couple of home runs, and the bullpen did the rest.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Charles Brewer 6 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 2 ER, W
2 Stars: Tyler Kuhn 4 for 5, 3 R, 3 DBL, 1 RBI, 1 SB
1 Star: A.J. Pollock 2 for 6, 2 R, 1 TPL, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Game summary after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 8 @ Omaha 2. Through the first six innings it was all Charles Brewer as he mowed down the Omaha lineup on 3 hits with 8 strikeouts. He ran into his only trouble in the 7th with 1 out allowing 2 singles and a double and was replaced by Joe Patterson, who ended the threat. The offense had given Brewer the lead by then with a run in the 4th, 2 in the 5th and 2 more in the 6th. In the 4th Taylor Harbin singled and scored on a throwing error. Harbin singled again in the 5th to drive in a run and Josh Bell later scored on a wild pitch. The runs in the 6th came off an A.J. Pollock triple, a Tyler Kuhn double and a Josh Bell single, followed by a fielder's choice. The game was still in doubt 5-2 heading into the 8th when A.J. Pollock homered leading off, and Mike Jacobs followed with a 2-run homer, his 4th of the playoffs, effectively putting an end to Omaha's hopes for a comeback. Jensen Lewis pitched a clean 8th and Jonathan Albaladejo fittingly added a perfect 9th to start the celebration.
It was an interesting year for Reno which dominated the league in the first half of the season with the likes of Adam Eaton, Jake Elmore, A.J. Pollock, Ryan Wheeler, Konrad Schmidt, Patrick Corbin and Tyler Skaggs. Eventually all those guys would find their way to the majors (with the exception of Pollock) and Reno had to rebuild its entire team midway through the season. They struggled some into August but the front office did not ignore the team and added a number of veterans through trades and free agency such as Ryan Strieby, Tyler Kuhn, Mike Jacobs, Josh Bell, Brett Tomko, Daniel Cabrera and Tyler Graham to name a few. Brett Butler did a fine job of molding the new cast into a functional team and they ran well through the end of the season and on into the playoffs to capture their first league championship.Congratulations to Brett Butler and the Reno Aces for an awesome 2012 baseball season.
This is our final installment of Diamondbacks Minor League Round-Up for 2012 so I hope everyone enjoyed the coverage. It was actually a very entertaining year up and down the minors with a lot of exciting players taking forward steps in their development. Next we'll be reviewing every minor league team's players and talk about who did good, who didn't do so good, and where they all might be headed next year. We'll also be providing our season-ending Top 60 Prospects List as soon as we determine who has or hasn't lost their rookie status. We'll also be providing greater detail on the top prospects and talk about their development and what we might expect from them in the future. So thank you for tuning in and we'll look forward to seeing you next year in Diamondbacks Minor League Round-Up.