Dbacks MiLB Round-Up 8/8: Blair Wins and Homers

Aaron Blair pitched 5 innings of 1-run ball in the first game of Mobile's doubleheader sweep and added to his night by homering in the 3rd inning. Blair is now up to over 130 innings on the season and I can't help but think he's closing in on his innings limit for the year. He's a big strong kid at 6-5, 230 so he's built to throw innings. Last year he threw 48 innings between between Hillsboro and South Bend plus 82 innings for Marshall. I figure 150-160 innings will be his limit so maybe 3-4 more starts and that will be it. He was pulled after 85 pitches last night so they are already starting to dial him back a little.

Snake Stars
3 Stars: Nate Samson, Mobile 3 for 3, 2 R, 2 HR (4), 3 RBI
2 Stars: Anthony Banda, South Bend 6 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 K, 0 ER
1 Star: Aaron Blair, Mobile 5 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 ER, W (5-2) HR (1)
0 Stars: Touki Toussaint, Missoula 2.2 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 7 ER, L (0-1)

AAA: Reno 2 Sacramento 4. Lucas Harrell couldn't match Drew Pomeranz who shut down the Aces for 1 run over 5+ innings. Harrell allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and 5 walks over 6 innings. Mike Jacobs was the only bright spot going 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

AA: Game 1. Mobile 8 Tennessee 1. Aaron Blair was solid allowing 1 run over 5 innings on 5 hits and 3 walks and also homered in the 3rd inning. Nate Samson was the big star homering twice and driving in 3 runs. Jon Griffin also homered, his 15th. Ryan Court went 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI and Tom Belza added a pair of singles.

AA: Game 2. Mobile 4 Tennessee 1. A.J. Schugel was just as good as Blair to help Mobile corral the doubleheader sweep. He also went 5 innings allowing 1 run on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 5. R.J. Hively pitched a shutout 6th and Kaleb Fleck picked up his 15th save with a clean 7th. Brandon Drury and Gerson Montilla each drove in a pair of runs to lead the offense.

A+: Visalia 6 Bakersfield 5. Andrew Barbosa had his longest outing in 2-1/2 months at 6 innings. He wasn't at his best but it was a serviceable start allowing 4 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while fanning 7. He earned the win as the offense did its job with every starter getting at least one hit. Ryan Gebhardt drove in 3 runs on 2 hits and George Roberts had 2 hits and scored twice. Steve McQuail hit his 5th home run.

A: South Bend 2 Great Lakes 5. Yet another shaky offensive performance by the Silver Hawks as their 2 runs on 6 hits didn't get the job done. But you can't blame the starter as Anthony Banda (he of the Parra trade) was outstanding throwing 6 shutout innings on 3 hits and 3 walks with 5 strikeouts. The bullpen and the defense was another matter. Andrew Velazquez committed 2 errors to let in a pair of runs in the 8th that tied the game. And Mr. Automatic Silvino Bracho, had a rare hiccup as he served up a 3-run homer in the top of the 9th that was the difference. Velazquez tried to make up for the errors on offense going 2 for 4 with a double and his 43rd stolen base. Chuck Taylor went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

A-: Hillsboro 3 Eugene 9. The Hops got mauled as every Hillsboro pitcher served up runs and the offense was not up to that kind of task. Grant Heyman and Justin Gonzalez each had 2 hits in an otherwise miserable game.

R: Missoula 2 Idaho Falls 11. Touki Toussaint made his first start for Missoula and it did not go well. He couldn't get out of the 3rd inning before allowing 7 runs, all earned, on 5 hits and 3 walks. Gabriel Moya followed and allowed 4 more. The offense came up with just 4 hits in response, 2 by Trevor Mitsui and a solo home run by Stewart Ijames.