Diamondbacks Minor League Recap 6/9/16: Shelby Miller makes rehab start in Visalia

In news other than the draft, the Diamondbacks affiliates went 6-0 in last night's action. That included Shelby Miller's rehab from a "finger injury" continued with a stop in Visalia. Miller was terrific in that outing, retiring Jethawks hitters with ease and was throwing 92-94 MPH in his start. Hopefully he is able to catch some of the form that made him an All-Star last season and made the Diamondbacks go get him in the Winter Meetings last offseason.

Snake Stars
3 Stars: RHP Shelby Miller (Visalia) 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K, W (1-0)
2 Stars: RHP Joel Payamps (Kane County) 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, W (3-3)
1 Star: RF Mitch Haniger (Mobile) 3 for 5, 2 2B, 3B, RBI, R
0 Stars: DH Rudy Flores (Visalia) 0 for 4, 3 K

Reno 7, Tacoma 1: The Rainiers scored first in the bottom of the first inning, but Matt Buschmann limited the damage to just that. The Aces responded with a run in the 2nd inning, then plated 6 runs in the 6th inning. Buschmann allowed 1 run in 6 2/3 innings of work, allowing 5 hits and a walk with a strikeout. The bullpen of Andrew Chafin and the recently promoted Daniel Gibson shut the door. The Aces used 6 extra base hits to fuel their offense, with Kyle Jensen and Tuffy Gosewisch both getting 2 a piece.

Mobile 9, Birmingham 3: The Diamondbacks faced a player who was in the mix for the first overall pick last year in Carson Fulmer. Overall, they did a decent job with a pair of 2-spots in the 4th and 6th innings. The Baybears also got a solid start from Luke Irvine, who allowed only 1 run in 6 innings. Irvine allowed 3 hits and walked 3 while striking out 6 batters. After taking a 4-1 lead, Jared Miller struggled a bit in the 7th inning in his AA debut, but got help from reliever Joey Krehbiel to strand the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Jimmie Sherfy got the final 5 outs of the game and got a save since he entered in a 4-3 game. The Baybears plated 5 runs in the 9th to blow open a close game. The offense was powered by Mitch Haniger, who had 2 doubles and a triple and Gabby Guerrero who hit 2 triples and drove in 4.

Visalia 5, Lancaster 1: Shelby Miller made his first rehab start in the minors and it went very well. Miller went 6 shutout innings, allowed only 2 hits, walked none, and struck out 11. Miller only needed 78 pitches to get through his outing, throwing 51 of them for strikes. Hopefully this is the first sign of him getting back into the groove to give the Diamondbacks a 2nd reliable pitcher behind Zack Greinke. The Rawhide played long ball today, with Marty Herum hitting a pair of 2-run homers while Oscar Hernandez chipped in a solo shot. The Rawhide bullpen allowed a run in the 7th, but the Jethawks never really threatened in the late stages of the game.

Kane County 2, Cedar Rapids 0: Joel Payamps delivered an excellent start. He went 6 innings, allowing only 4 hits with no walks and 8 strikeouts. The game started out as a pitchers duel between Payamps and Miles Nordgren. The Cougars took advantage of errors in the 1st and 5th innings, scratching across 2 unearned runs in the game. Keegan Long and Drew Muren finished the game out allowing a combined 2 baserunners and 4 strikeouts. The main damage was done by the top 4 hitters of Fernery Ozuna, Zach Nehrir, Austin Byler, and Trevor Mitsui, going 6 for 14 with a double, 3 walks, and 2 RBI.