Dbacks MiLB Round-Up 5/8: What's your pleasure?

Michael Lee was a Rule 5 pick by the Diamondbacks in December, a selection from the Atlanta Braves in the Triple-A portion of the draft. Assigned to Mobile he had some initial struggles, but seems to have settled in nicely now. He doesn't strike many people out - in 45 innings this year, he has only 23 K's, compared with 10 walks - but after tonight, his last four outings have totaled 28 innings and resulted in only five earned runs, good for a 1.61 ERA. At 6'7" and 235 lbs, he's hard to miss, but my Google-fu was largely defeated by him sharing the same name as the D-backs' team physician. Still, tonight he had one of the best all-round outings to date this season by a prospect.

Snake Stars
3 Stars: Michael Lee, Mobile 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, ND + 2-for-2 at plate
2 Stars: Daniel Palka, South Bend 2 for 3, 2 R, 2 HR (4), 4 RBI, 2 BB
1 Star: Mike Jacobs, Reno 3 for 4, 4 R, HR (6), 2 RBI, 1 BB
0 Stars: Seth Simmons + Keith Hessler,Visalia 2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, L (1-2)

Triple-A Reno 15, Tacoma 11. Gonna need a bigger humidor. It wasn't until the eleventh attempt either side posted a zero, and every Aces starter had a hit before they made an out in the fourth. The Rainers' Xavier Avery had five hits before the middle of the sixth, and the Aces scored every time they came up bar the eighth. 1B Mike Jacobs had three hits, including a homer. scoring four runs, while DH Nick Evans and 3B Andy Marte each had two hits, a homer, and drove in four. The pitching... Well, we will draw a veil over the early work, and just say that Derek Eitel got the W for two scoreless innings, and Eury de la Rosa a save, for his three scoreless frames.

Double-A Mobile 0, Mississippi 2. Got to feel sorry for Michael Lee, who threw up zero after zero, only to get absolutely no support from his offense, as Braves' starter Williams Perez matched him for seven innings. Lee allowed three hits, two walks (one intentional) and hit a batter, striking out three. Jimmie Sherfy made his AA debut with a 1-2-3 eighth, striking out two, but Jake Barrett allowed three hits and two walks in the ninth, and took the loss, Mississippi scoring both of their runs. Oh, and Lee also had two of the BayBears seven hits! SS Sean Jamieson had two knocks as well.

High-A Visalia 2, Stockton 6. Aaron Blair's debut for the Rawhide after his promotion went swimmingly well, as he worked seven innings and allowed one run on just three hits and two walks, with nine strikeouts. He left in line for the W, with Visalia being 2-1 up, thanks to Brandon Jacobs' fourth home-run of the year, a two-run shot in the second. However, Seth Simmons and Keith Hessler melted like a chocolate teapot, allowing five runs in the eighth and ninth on eight hits and two walks, to leave Blair with a no-decision. The Rawhide managed only six hits, 3B Brandon Drury getting two of them, to raise his average for the season to .293.

Class A: South Bend 10, Great Lakes 8. Could hardly have a starker contrast to the Mobile game, with a big night for birds and bats in South Bend; through five, the Hawks and Loons had combined for 24 hits and 15 runs. The home team had a five-run third, due to 3B Joe Munoz, 1B Daniel Palka and RF Stryker Trahan going yard in the space of four PAs. Palka also had a three-run shot in the first, and a pair of walks, while Munoz had three hits. Hector Hernandez made his debut after being sent down, and was unimpressive, allowing 12 hits in 4.2 innings, with no walks and five K's. Jake Roberts got the W for a scoreless seventh; Daniel Gibson retired all four he faced.