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Top Pitching Prospects Wei-Chieh (Way-Jay) Huang and Cody Reed made their 2016 debuts today. Once pitched well and lost and the other pitched mediocrely and walked away with a no-decision. Also it looks like 2B prospect Jamie Westbrook is starting to break out of his early slump at the plate.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: Kyle Drabek (Reno) 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (1-2)
2 Stars: Cody Reed (Kane County) 5 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 11 K, L (0-1)
1 Star: Jamie Westbrook (Mobile) 3 for 5, 2B
0 Stars: Seth Simmons (Reno) 2 IP, 4 H, 5 R (5 ER), 2 BB, 0 K
Reno 12, Fresno 7: The Kyle Drabek Experience was much better, pitching 6 shutout innings while the Aces hitters went to work on Mike Hauschild. The first inning started with a bang, with a wild pitch leading to two runs and Peter O'Brien smashing his 4th homer of the year. The Aces scratched across a run in the 3rd and two in the 4th to make it a 7-0 game. In the 5th inning, Zach Borenstein greeted Edwar Cabrera with a three-run homer and Kyle Jensen hit a two-run single to push the lead to 12. Shaky relief efforts from Seth Simmons and Kaleb Fleck made the score closer than the actual game.
Mobile 4, Tennessee 9: After 3 very good starts, Yoan Lopez was not so good this time, allowing 2 runs in the first inning before getting pulled with 2 on in the 2nd. The Smokies jumped on Nick Sarianides and Joey Krehbiel in the 4th inning for 4 runs, which puts the Baybears in a 9-1 hole. Stewart Ijames hit a solo HR in the 2nd and Jamie Westbrook went 3 for 5 with a double, which brings hope that he's snapping out of his early season funk. Westbrook is now hitting over .200 for the season and has 7 hits in his last 17 at-bats.
Visalia 4, Rancho Cucamonga 3: Wei-Chieh Huang made his Cal League debut and got a hard lesson in how hitter-friendly the league is. Huang allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 in 3 2/3 innings, but stellar bullpen work took him off the hook. The Rawhide used a 3-run 5th inning to beat Dodgers 2014 1st round pick Grant Holmes, with Domingo Leyba hitting the game-tying double and Dawel Lugo driving in the go-ahead run. Domingo Leyba has really been hitting well out of the gates after repeating Visalia The bullpen combination of Bud Jeter, Blake Perry, Austin Wright, Luis Ramirez, and Jimmy Sherfy got the final 16 outs of the game and did not give up a run. Sherfy picked up his 4th save of the year.
Kane County 1, Quad Cities 3: Cody Reed made his debut in full-season ball and was absolutely dominant today. Reed went 5 1/3 innings, allowing 3 hits and walked none with 11 strikeouts, but doomed himself with a throwing error. The Bandits plated 2 runs after a sacrifice bunt when Reed threw the ball away trying to catch a runner advancing. The Cougars bats and gloves were not very good today, with Robelys Reyes committing two errors and left 7 on base. The only score for the Cougars was a Jason Mozorowski solo home run.