The Diamondbacks have called up long time Minor Leaguer Mike Freeman, who's been in the organization since 2010 has been considered an afterthought for most of his pro career. After years of performing well in Reno, he's finally getting his shot at the majors in a year where the Diamondbacks are evaluating outfielders for next year. Freeman can play anywhere on the diamond, although most of his games have been at 2B or CF.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: 1B Tanner Hill (Missoula) 4 for 4, 2B, 2 HR (1, 2), 5 RBI, 3 R
2 Stars: RHP Joel Payamps (Visalia) 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 9 K, L (2-3)
1 Star: 2B Jamie Westbrook (Mobile) 3 for 4, 2B, BB, SB, RBI, R
0 Stars: LHP Bryant Holtmann (Missoula) 0 IP, 2 R (2 ER), 3 BB
Reno 8, Oklahoma City 3: The MLB club wasn't the only Diamondbacks affiliate that defeated a Dodgers affiliate last night. The AAA team made mince meat out of the Dodgers pitching with 5 home runs, with both Peter O'Brien and Carlos Rivero having multi-homer games. The Aces wasted no time in making Ross Stripling's night fun by scoring first on Rivero's first homer of the day. After falling behind 2-1, the Aces put up 3 in the 3rd, with Peter O'Brien's 2-run homer giving the Aces the lead. The Aces tacked on a run in the 5th to push it to a 5-2 lead, although things got dicey in the 6th when Matt Buschmann loaded the bases with 2 outs in the 6th. Reliever Adam Loewen came in and ended that threat and really the last substantial threat for the Dodgers. The offense and the bullpen closed it out, with Mitch Haniger, O'Brien, and Rivero each hitting a solo HR in their final AB of the game. Chris Owings went 3 for 4 with a triple and was caught stealing in a rehab start, so that was definitely nice to see.
Mobile 7, Chattanooga 8: Matt Koch got slaughtered early on as he allowed 5 runs in the first two innings of the game, but settled in from there as he was able to hold the Lookouts to 1 run over the next 3 innings while the offense went to work. In the 5th, the Baybears were able to jump on Tyler Jay for 4 runs, 3 of them coming off the bat of a Travis Denker homer, and make it 6-5. After Jay left the game, the Baybears tied the game when Dawel Lugo hit an RBI triple. The Bears grabbed a 7-6 lead in the 7th, but that lead didn't last for long as Luis Ramirez allowed 2 runs to score with 2 outs, with both runs charged to Austin Wright. A couple of late rallies fell short of tying the game, especially in the 9th inning where they were unable to plate the final run with a man in scoring position. Jamie Westbrook went 3 for 4 with a double, walk, and a stolen base in the loss.
Visalia 0, Bakersfield 4: It was an ugly game offensively (it happens now and then, especially when the team's best hitter gets a promotion), as the Rawhide had only 4 hits in the game and struck out 12 times. That wound up wasting perhaps Joel Payamps' best individual performance of his career. Payamps allowed 1 run in 7 innings, allowing 6 hits and a K/BB ratio of 9/0. That type of starting performance will win games 9/10 times, but wasn't the case. It was 1-0 for most of the game until Bud Jeter allowed 3 insurance runs (1 earned) to score in the 8th inning to push a close game out of reach.
Kane County 2, South Bend 5: The Cougars fell into an early 4-1 hole, due to defensive and mental miscues in the game. That lead to a pair of unearned runs scoring against Max Duval, who didn't pitch poorly at all. Duval went 6 innings, allowed 4 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits and struck out 4. Offensively, they were unable to get the big hit with a runner in scoring position, going 1 for 10 in that situation.
Hillsboro 3, Everett 2: This game was a see-saw affair, with the Hops just simply out-executing the Aqua Sox in the late stages of the game. Junior Garcia allowed 2 runs in 6+ innings, scattering 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. With the tying runs in scoring position, Marcus Wilson pinch hit for Jason Morozowski and singled through the left side, scoring 1 one while the 2nd runner got thrown out at home. The Hops would make another rally in the 7th, keyed by a game-tying RBI triple by Connor Owings, who would later score the go-ahead run later that inning on an Adam Walton single. After getting the lead, Riley Smith allowed the leadoff man to reach after a 1-2-3 7th inning and that's when the bullpen went to work. Jordan Watson got his only batter to fly out and Tommy Eveld completing the 5 out save.
Missoula 12, Idaho Falls 11: File this game under "Too weird to process without alcohol". The game started off nicely for the Osprey, as they scored 6 runs in the first 4 innings to build a 6-2 lead. The offense continued to build on that lead, as it turned out every run was important. Tanner Hill did his best Paul Goldschmidt impression, going 4 for 4, mashing out a pair of homers and driving in 5. Overall, the Osprey had 9 XBH and 4 homers. The pitching started surrendering up runs in bunches after the 5th inning, allowing the Chukars (dumb team name) to tie the game at 11 in the 8th. Fortunately, the Osprey were able to plate a run in the 9th inning thanks to a wild pitch. After surrendering the lead in the 8th, Tyler Keele was able to hold it in the 9th.
AZL Dbacks 3, AZL Cubs 9: A 9-run 3rd inning by the Cubs would wind up being the difference as Luis Madero failed 8 times to get the first out of the inning after getting the first 6 hitters to make outs. Edgar Martinez didn't help things as he allowed all 3 of his inherited runners to score in that inning although bases loaded and no outs is not a fun situation to inherit. The 9-run inning pretty much took the starch out of the Dbacks, as they limped across the game offensively. They were able to scratch across a run in both the 8th and 9th inning, but going 0 for 12 with RISP is not going to get the job done.