Diamondbacks Minor-league Round-up, 8/4: Diaz and Hernandez honored

Diaz, 19, reached base safely in 24 straight games from July 1-30, and hit .380 (38-for-100) with 7 doubles, 4 triples, 4 home runs, 20 RBI, 20 runs scored, a .442 on-base and .650 slugging percentages and a 1.092 OPS.

• Recorded a 16-game hitting streak from July 9-26, batting .438 (28-for-64) with 12 extra-base hits and 16 RBI.
• Reached base safely in 35 straight games to begin the season (July 18-July 30).
• Ranked among all Rookie League players in July in total bases (2nd, 65), triples (T-3rd), hits (4th), extra-base hits (T-6th, 15), OPS (9th), and slugging percentage (10th).
• Named to the Pioneer mid-season All-Star Team.
• Drafted by the D-backs in the Competitive Balance-Round B (70th overall) in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft from Springfield (Mass.) High School

Hernandez, 21, went 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA (4 ER in 39.0 IP), 46 strikeouts, 10 walks and a .148 opponent average (19-for-128) in 6 starts in July.

• Recorded a 26.0-inning scoreless streak over 4 starts from July 12-28.
• Ranked among all Short-Season players (min. 5 GS) in strikeouts (1st), WHIP (1st, 0.74) innings (2nd), opponent average (3rd) and ERA (4th) in July.
• Struck out a professional-high 10 batters in 2 starts (July 2 vs. Eugene and July 18 vs. Everett).
• Selected to the Northwest League mid-season All-Star Team.
• Signed as a non-drafted free agent from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Jan. 17, 2012.

The full list of nominees for pitcher and player at each affiliate are as follows:

Snake Stars
3 stars: The Kane County pitchers - 12 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 13 SO
2 stars: Ryan Doran, Visalia - 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, W (7-1)
1 star: Kevin Medrano, Visalia - 1-for-3, DBL, two RBI, BB
0 stars: Jame Romak, Reno - 0-for-5, three SO

Hillsboro and Missoula were off, due to the short-season leagues having their combined Northwest & Pioneer League All-Star Games, at Avista Stadium in Spokane. Osprey's catcher Luke Lowery won the Home Run Derby, and then drove in a run in the game itself, which saw a bevy of participants from both teams, including both our pitcher and hitter of the month. For Missoula, Lowery was joined by Isan Diaz, Austtin Byler, Dan Savas and Yefrey Ramirez, while the Hops were represented by Cody Reed, Jared Miller, Carlos Hernandez and Zach Nehrir. The Northwest League won 6-5 in 10 innings, Savas taking the loss.

Triple-A Reno 3 @ El Paso 4 (11). The Aces tied things up in the ninth, on a two-out single by SS Danny Worth, who had two hits on the night, but were unable to complete the comeback. Keith Hessler let the Chihuahuas walk it off on a two-out RBI single of their own in the 11th. RF Mike Freeman doubled, singled and walked on his 28th birthday, with LF Peter O'Brien and 1B Nick Evans also having two hits. Gabriel Arias allowed three runs (two earned) over 4.2 innings on four hits and a walk, with three K's. Kaleb Fleck and Matt Stites each tossed two hitless innings.

Double-A Mobile 0, Biloxi 3. Very little to report here, as the BayBears were shutout on three hits. Two of those went to SS Jack Reinheimer, who also stole a base, and the other to LF Socrates Brito who drew the game's only walk for Mobile as well. Yoan Lopez's second start since coming back went better, as he scattered six hits and a walk over six innings, with three K's and three runs allowed, all earned. Adam Miller struck out three over two scoreless innings of relief.

High-A Visalia 4, Stockton 1. A two-run sixth for the Rawhide broke a 1-1 tie, both runs scoring after a wild-pitch (or passed ball; the recap and box score are at odds there!) followed by a throwing error from the Ports catcher. CF Mitch Haniger tripled and singled, while SS Kevin Medrano doubled and walked, driving in the other two runs for Visalia. Ryan Doran improved to 7-1, giving up only an unearned run over his six innings, on three hits and no walks, with three strikeouts. Nickolas Sarianides notched his 19th save.

A-ball Kane County 1, South Bend 0 (12). The Cougars were no-hit by the Cubs' Erick Leal for a full nine innings... And still won! That's because Wei-Chieh Huang and five relievers combined for 12 shutout innings; Huang worked five on two hits, with three K's, and the bullpen added seven more zeroes, led by Luis Ramirez, who fanned five in his two innings of work. SS Ildemaro Vargas pushed across the winning run in the 12th, without a hit, KC scoring on a walk, bunt, wild pitch and Vargas's sacrifice fly. Note: no major-league pitcher has thrown 9 no-hit innings and seen his team lose in over 50 years, since Ken Johnson for the 1964 Astros.