The Aces used a 4-run 8th inning to win a game that they were being dominated for the first 7 innings of the game. They faced top pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman, who would strike out 11 Aces over 7 innings, although they did get him for a pair of solo homers. Matt Buschmann pitched competitively enough to put the Aces in a position where their big 8th inning would give them the victory.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: 1B Marty Herum (Visalia) 3 for 4, 2B, 2-R HR (6)
2 Stars: RHP Matt Koch (Mobile) 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
1 Star: RHP Carlos Hernandez (Kane County) 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 BB, 5 K, W (4-5)
0 Stars: RHP Luis Madero (Missoula) 4 1/3 IP, 9 H, 8 R (8 ER), 1 BB, 2 K, L (0-1)
Reno 6, Albuquerque 2: This was a well-pitched game between Rockies top pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman and Dbacks org filler starter Matt Buschmann. Both pitchers wound up going 7 innings and allowing 2 runs, but the difference in the game came down to the bullpens. Buschmann allowed 4 hits and walked 2 with 4 strikeouts in his outing. For the front 7 innings, the Aces offense consisted of solo homers by Tuffy Gosewisch in the 3rd and Kyle Jensen in the 7th. The two runs allowed by Buschmann both came on a 2-run homer in the 6th inning. Once Hoffman exited the games, the Aces jumped on reliever Brian Schlitter for 4 runs and made Buschmann the winner of the game. Kyle Jensen had the big hit in the 8th inning with a 2-run triple. Daniel Gibson came in the 8th inning and got two outs, but was lifted when the game became a save situation with two runners on. Enrique Burgos shut down the threat then pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up a 4-out save.
Mobile 1, Pensacola 2: Matt Koch gave the Baybears a strong outing, going 5 innings of shutout baseball with only 3 hits allowed and no walks with 3 Ks. The Baybears took a 1-0 lead when Ronnie Freeman drove in Ildemaro Vargas on a single with 2 outs in the 2nd. Unfortunately, that was all the Baybears were going to get in the game. Luis Ramirez and Joey Krehbiel pitched scoreless innings to hold the lead through the 7th, but trouble hit the pen the final two innings. In the 8th, Zac Curtis allowed the tying run to score on a solo homer then Jared Miller allowed the winning run to score with 2 outs in the 9th inning.
Visalia 5, Lake Elsinore 7: Cody Reed had a meh outing, going 5 innings and allowing 3 runs on 4 hits with a walk and 4 strikeouts. Typically that's serviceable in the Cal League, but the rest of the team gave him virtually no support. The bullpen allowed tack on runs in the 6th, 7th, and 9th innings with all of them proving to be the difference and the offense couldn't get it going until too late. The Rawhide had 7 extra base hits, but struggled with RISP with a 1 for 14 clip and stranding 11 runners on base. Marty Herum had 3 hits, falling a triple short of the cycle and drove in 2 with a home run in the 7th inning.
Kane County 6, Clinton 1: Carlos Hernandez was very solid in this game, allowing an unearned run (off his own error) over 5 innings, allowing 5 hits and walked 3 while striking out 5. After falling behind 1-0, the Cougars responded with 2 runs in the 3rd then finally blowing things open with a 3-run 6th inning that gave them a very comfortable cushion. That inning included an RBI triple from Francis Christy and a 2-run triple from Zach Nehrir. Christy lead the team with 3 hits while Nehrir and Raymel Flores both had a pair of hits and one extra base hit, the latter hitting a double earlier in the game.
Hillsboro 2, Salem-Keizer 11: Jeferson Mejia had an outing to forget, going 4 2/3 innings, allowing 7 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts. Things got ugly in a hurry in the 5th inning, when Mejia and Tucker Ward combined to give up 6 runs in the frame to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 8-1 deficit. Ward would allow 3 more runs in the game, all of them coming in the 7th inning. The offense was mainly supplied by Marcus Wilson, who went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI singles. Offensively, the Hops couldn't get things going after falling behind so quickly.
Missoula 5, Billings 10: Things started off nicely when the Osprey put up 4 runs in the 2nd inning, but then Luis Madero allowed all 4 runs back in the bottom half of the inning. The Osprey fell behind 6-4 when Madero allowed back to back homers in the 3rd inning, but fought back to make it a 6-5 game with a run in the 5th inning before things got worse again. Will Lowman proceeded to load the bases with 2 outs in the 7th inning, but terrible relief pitching behind him allowed 2 more runs to score for the final tally of the game. Max Brown and Ryan January both had 2-hit games and reached at least 3 times in the game, with January picking up 2 RBI.