Mobile won the typically crucial Game 3 of their 5-game playoff series with Montgomery 10-2 in a rout. That gives the Bay Bears a 2-1 lead with Game 4 scheduled for tonight. Bradin Hagens was masterful on the mound with 7 shutout innings and the offense exploded for 10 runs on 17 hits, led by Matt Davidson's 4 RBI. Reno lost Game 4 in their series with Sacramento 4-3 in 10 innings to set up a winner-take-all Game 5 tonight in Reno. Joe Martinez allowed a 3-run homer in the 1st inning but was terrific after that. The Aces rallied to tie the game at 3-3 in the 7th inning but a solo home run off Jonathan Albaladejo did them in. Missoula lost Game 2 of their 3-game series with Great Falls 5-4 in heart-breaking fashion when reliever Chris Capper surrendered a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th for the walk-off loss. All 3 playoff teams can close out their series tonight with a win. Reno and Missoula are loser-goes-home games while Mobile has two chances to win one.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Bradin Hagens, Mobile 7 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 0 ER, W
2 Stars: Matt Davidson, Mobile 2 for 4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 DBL, 1 HR, 4 RBI
1 Star: Karl Triana, Missoula 6 IP, 7 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 ER
0 Stars: Chris Capper, Missoula 1.2 IP 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 ER, BS, L
Game summaries after the jump.
Triple A: Reno 3 Sacramento 4. Starter Joe Martinez surrendered a 3-run homer in the top of the 1st inning to dig a 3-0 hole for the Aces. Martinez bounced back from the tough beginning and the offense rallied to give them a chance to win. From the 2nd inning on Martinez allowed just 4 hits, 1 walk and no more runs. Reno got two of the runs back in the 4th when Josh Bell doubled, Mike Jacobs singled him home, and Brent Clevlen later plated Jacobs with a single. They tied it in the 7th on singles by Tyler Bortnick and Wladimir Sutil followed by an A.J. Pollock ground out. It stayed tied without any major threats by either team until the 10th when Sacramento's Daric Barton led off with a solo homer off Jonathan Albaladejo. Josh Bell went 3 for 4 with a double and Tyler Bortnick added a pair of singles. Brett Tomko is scheduled to pitch for Reno in the decisive Game 5 tonight.
Double A: Mobile 10 @ Montgomery 2. It was all Mobile in this one from the get-go. Chris Owings hit a solo homer in the top of the 1st inning and the team never looked back. Bradin Hagens was outstanding on the mound with 7 shutout innings yielding 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. Relievers Yonata Ortega and Bryan Woodall each surrendered a meaningless run in relief. The offense had it in overdrive with 17 hits including 3 doubles and 2 home runs. Matt Davidson did the most damage with a solo home run in the 3rd inning and a bases-loaded double in the 6th that cleared the bases and blew the game open. Chris Owings had an RBI single to go with his home run, David Nick went 2 for 4 with a double, and Jonathan Griffin and Yazr Arbel each added a pair of singles. The Bay Bears have Derek Eitel and Michael Bolsinger scheduled for the next two games needing just one win to advance to the championship series.
Rookie: Missoula 4 @ Great Falls 5. Just as Missoula did to Billings earlier in the week, Great Falls did to them with a 2-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th inning to win 5-4. Instead of going with regular closer Justin Thompson to try and close out the series Missoula turned to Chris Capper, who wasn't up to the task. It didn't help that shortstop Andrew Velazquez allowed the first batter to reach on a throwing error, his 4th consecutive game with an error. Starter Karl Triana was quite effective keeping the game close until the offense got untracked allowing 2 runs on 7 hits over 6 innings. The offense did eventually get untracked scoring 2 runs in both the 6th and 7th innings to take a 4-2 lead before relievers Capper and Chase Stevens allowed 3 runs over the final 3 innings for the tough 1-run loss. Socrates Brito led the offense going 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI. Michael Perez had a single and 3 walks in 4 plate appearances. The deciding Game 3 is today with Yoimer Camacho on the mound for Missoula.