I'm sorry that I was unable to do the recap for Thursday's slate of games, I have no excuses for why I simply forgot about them. Due to that, no snake stars for both days set of games. Any sort of criticism thrown my way for dereliction of duty is accepted tonight. Anyway, moving the topic from me to the game of baseball, here is the recap for the last two days worth of games.
Thursday April 21, 2016
Reno 5, Albuquerque 6: Braden Shipley threw a stinker start, allowing 6 runs on 8 eights, 2 walks, and only 1 strikeout over 6 innings. The Aces scored first on a Jack Reinheimer single then took a 2-1 lead after a Tuffy Gosewisch home run. Shipley came unraveled in the bottom of the 4th when he allowed 5 runs in the span of 6 batters. Shipley held up fairly well after that and pitched two scoreless to get at least 6 innings. The Aces were able to do some damage at the plate with Jason Bourgeois getting a double and triple and Gosewisch adding another homer in the 6th inning. Kaleb Fleck and Enrique Burgos both pitched a scoreless inning, but the comeback fell 1 run short in the 9th inning.
Mobile 11, Jacksonville 4: Matt Koch was solid, but could not get deep in the game as he only lasted 3 1/3 IP before being removed with an injury. The story of the game was the bats, with Jamie Westbrook turning in a 3-hit day with one of them being a double. The two Gabriels, both Guerrero and Noriega, pounded out home runs against former Dback farmhand Jose Jose. The Baybears cranked out 5 XBH and stole 4 bases, with Todd Glaesmann stealing 2 bases. Stites picked up the win in relief and Joey Krehbiel pitched 2 scoreless to continue a strong season.
Visalia 6, Rancho Cucamonga 7: This game mirrored the Reno game in all respects. The Rawhide took a 3-0 after 1 1/2 innings with an RBI groundout from Rudy Flores and a 2-run single from Victor Reyes. Taylor then proceeded to give up 6 runs in the next two innings, with 5 coming in the 3rd. Taylor was able to settle down and give the Rawhide 6 innings while the offense went to work. The Rawhide got home runs from Dawel Lugo and Francisco Leonora in the 7th to get the game within a run, but were unable to do much more damage after that. Blake Perry pitched 2 perfect innings in relief, but the 7 runs allowed by Taylor was too much for the Rawhide to come back from.
Kane County 3, Quad Cities 4 (10): Once again Justin Donatella dominated on the mound. Donatella went 5 innings of 1 run ball, striking out 4 and allowing 5 hits and a walk. Offensively, the Cougars didn't do much, but did get runs in the 3rd and 4th innings on wild pitches from Matt Bower. Gabe Speier delivered a clean 6th, but struggled with two outs in the 7th inning when Kyle Tucker hit a 2-run single combined with an error from LF Matt McPhearson. The Cougars were to tie it in the 9th with an RBI single from Robelys Reyes to force extras, but Cameron Gann gave up the winning run in the 10th inning on a passed ball by Luke Lowery with two outs.
Friday April 22, 2016
Reno 3, Albuquerque 7: Edgar Garcia immediately imploded in this game with a 5-run first after the Aces gave him a 1-0 lead on a Jack Reinheimer RBI single that scored Jason Bourgeois (sounds like a broken record, right?). The Aces bats were unable to put much on the board, only mustering an RBI singles by Peter O'Brien and Bourgeois. The 5-run 1st wound up playing big for the Isotopes. The Aces pounded out 5 doubles, but left 11 men on base.
Mobile 4, Tennessee 5: The Baybears took a 1-0 lead thanks to a leadoff HR from Ildemaro Vargas and Zack Godley looked very good at the start of the game with zeros through the front 4 innings. Things took a turn for the worst starting in the 5th, when Godley started getting hit hard as he tired through the game. The end result was 5 runs in 6 1/3 IP on 10 hits and 3 walks with no strikeouts. Jamie Westbrook is starting to get out of his funk now that his luck has changed on batted balls, as he went 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored. The Baybears bullpen was able to keep the Smokies off the scoreboard for the final 2 2/3 innings, but the comeback attempt fell short by a run.
Visalia 5, Rancho Cucamonga 4: The Rawhide started in a 2-0 hole after starter Ethan Elias was a bit wild in the first inning. From that point on, Elias was unhittable as he was able to stretch his start to 6 innings of 2 run ball on 3 hits and a walk while punching out 4, which is a very good line overall. The Rawhide were able to scratch across runs in the 6th and 7th to put Elias up for the win, but Zac Curtis allowed both runs back on a 2-run triple. Curtis started the year dominant, but ever since I sent out a tweet about his dominance on the mound, he has epically struggled (yes you can blame me for that). Not giving up, the Rawhide did what they always did and that's make late and improbable comebacks that somehow involve Henry Castillo getting a clutch RBI. Colin Bray tied the game with an RBI single in the 8th and Castillo hit the winning home run in the 9th (4/22/2016 is Castillo Homer Day). Jimmie Sherfy locked things down in the 9th for his 3rd save.
Kane County 2, Quad Cities 3: The Cougars were on the wrong end of a pitchers duel, thanks to some ill-timed shoddy defensive play. Both Junior Garcia and Joel Payamps actually pitched well, but a throwing error by Joe Muñoz lead to a run in the 3rd and a throwing error by Trevor Mitsui on a potential double play ball lead to 2 runs scoring. Both pitchers gave up a grand total of 0 earned runs. Garcia went the front 5, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8 and Payamps went the final 4, allowing 2 runs on 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out a batter. Galli Cribbs tried to do his best to win the game with an RBI double and RBI single, but the rest of the team couldn't muster much at the plate.