Missoula's Austin Byler smacked 3 home runs in his first 3 at bats on Sunday giving him 9 on the season. The 11th round pick out of Nevada is putting up Goldiesque numbers so far hitting .341 with a 1.192 OPS. Of his 47 hits in 40 games 32 of them have been for extra bases. Just as impressive is he has 34 walks versus 35 strikeouts in 172 at bats. He was drafted in the 9th round by Washington in 2014 but didn't sign, and the Dbacks nabbed him in the 11th this year. So far so good for the slugging first baseman. It will be interesting to see where they place Byler next year. Goldy was skipped to High A after his big year in Missoula--maybe they'll do the same with Byler.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Austin Byler, Missoula 4 for 5, 4 R, 3 HR (9), 4 RBI
2 Stars: Nick Buss, Reno 3 for 5, 2 R, 1 DBL, 2 HR (4), 3 RBI
1 Star: Mitch Haniger, Visalia 3 for 5, 2 R, 2 DBL, 1 HR (10), 1 RBI
0 Stars: Cody Geyer, Visalia 2/3 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 8 ER
AAA: Reno 6 @ Tacoma 13. Gabriel Arias got rocked for 7 runs in 4 innings and the bullpen threw gasoline on that fire allowing 6 more. Can't blame Nick Buss for this one has he hit 2 home runs and a double for 3 RBI. Blake Lalli hit 3 singles and Danny Dorn hit a 3-run homer.
AA: Mobile 2 @ Chattanooga 14. The BayBears got roasted as Yoan Lopez gave up 7 runs in 3 innings followed by 7 more courtesy of Jimmie Sherfy and Will Locante. Socrates Brito led the over-matched offense with 3 hits including a double. Evan Marzilli had 2 hits with a triple and Garrett Webber had 2 hits with a double.
A+: Visalia 8 Inland Empire 18. In keeping with the "wipeout" theme the Rawhide got blasted when Ryan Doran allowed 6 runs over 5 innings, Johnny Shuttlesworth gave up 4 in the 6th, and Cody Geyer got embarrassed for 8 more in the 9th. Mitch Haniger, Kevin Cron and Gerson Montilla all had nice offensive games but it wasn't nearly enough. Haniger had 2 doubles and his 10th homer, Cron delivered a double, a homer and 3 RBI, while Montilla chipped in 2 doubles and 2 RBI.
A: Kane County 3 @ West Michigan 6. Wei-Chieh Huang surrendered 5 runs in the 3rd inning and was gone after 5. The offense couldn't overcome that with just 7 hits. Henry Castillo had 3 of those with a double, and newly-acquired Dawel Lugo added a pair of singles.
A-: Hillsboro 4@ Salem-Keizer 2. Carlos Hernandez delivered another solid start allowing 2 runs over 6 innings on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 2. Troy Marks, Breckin Williams and Cameron Gann finished things with a scoreless inning each. Sergio Alcantara drove in 2 runs on 2 singles and Luis Veras had 2 hits.
R: Missoula 12 @ Grand Junction 6. It was the Austin Byler show as he clubbed 3 home runs in his first 3 at bats. He had a chance for a 4th homer in the 8th but popped out to third. Luke Lowery provided his own fireworks with a double and his 8th home run for 5 RBI. Yefrey Ramirez was solid allowing 2 runs over 5 innings for his 4th win.