In what could be Phil Nevin's final game as the Aces manager, the Reno Aces wound up putting up a beating on the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Everything was working in all 3 phases of the game, the hitting, pitching, and defense were all superb. As for Phil Nevin, there is a rumor floating about that Chip Hale is going to be fired today and replaced by Phil Nevin. We'll have to ask one of the Reno Aces players if there is any truth to that rumor, which will likely end with no response.
Reno 7, Colorado Springs 2: The Aces used a pair of 3-spots to take a 6-0 lead. Mitch Haniger drove in the first run of the game with an RBI double and later scored on a Carlos Rivero 2-run double. In the 5th, Zach Borenstein put this game out of reach (relatively speaking) with a 3-run bomb. The early offense was more than enough for Matt Buschmann, who fell two outs short of a complete game. Buschmann allowed 9 hits, but struck out 8 over 8 1/3 innings. Evan Marshall came in with two on and two outs and ended the threat although the game was out of reach already. Mitch Haniger continues to rake, going 4 for 5 with a pair of doubles and Borenstein added a single and was hit by a pitch. The rehabbing David Peralta went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk, both of which are good signs.
Mobile vs. Jacksonville Postponed, Bad Field Conditions after an afternoon rain storm
Visalia 4, Stockton 10: There wasn't much offense in this game, as the team collectively picked up 6 hits and 1 RBI although they did take advantage of mistakes to score 3 unearned runs. However, the team could not overcome a poor outing from Alex Young, who got slapped around. Young allowed 8 runs on 10 hits and a pair of walks over 4 2/3 innings and struck out 3. The Rawhide could not recover in this game offensively and were never really in it.
Kane County 0, Great Lakes 2: All the scoring in this game came in the bottom of the 4th inning when the Loons scored twice in that frame. Sam McWilliams had a solid outing, going 5 innings with just those 2 runs allowed, giving up 5 hits and 2 walks with 1 strikeout. Offensively, the team wasn't up to the challenge, going 0 for 9 with RISP and stranding 8 runners on base despite out-hitting the Loons 8-5.
Hillsboro 9, Tri City 8: The Hops came out on top of what was a wild and wacky game. The Devils picked up a 5-1 lead after the 4th, although the Hops would start their comeback from there. After scoring 3 runs to make the game 5-4, the Devils plated 3 runs to push the lead 8-4, but the comeback attempt was still on as the Hops answered with 4 in the 8th. With a 8-8 game in the 8th, the Hops called on closer Tommy Eveld to pitch a scoreless inning, which he did. That would set the stage for the winning run to score. Justin Chigbogu singled and pinch-runner Anfernee Grier circled the bases to score the winning run. Eveld pitched a scoreless 9th to save his own win. Marcus Wilson led the team offensively, going 2 for 3 with a triple that tied the game in the 8th and drove in 3 on the day. He's hitting .265 with a .439 OBP on the strength of an eye-popping walk rate (30 walks in 39 games). Once the power shows up, he'll vault up the prospect leaderboard quick.
Missoula 7, Ogden 16: It was an ugly day for the pitching staff, as they allowed 16 runs and 3 homers. Alex Gouin allowed 7 runs over 5 innings, but that was only the beginning. Gabe Gonzalez loaded the bases in the 6th with no one out and Dean Jackson allowed all 3 inherited runners to score. On the offensive side, Billy Endris, Jazz Chisholm, and Tanner Hill all hit a homer and drove in 2 for the game. Despite the solid offensive outburst, the failure of the pitching staff to hold the fort wound up dooming the team to a blowout loss.
AZL Dbacks 3, AZL Angels 15: This was a very winnable game although the Angels led from the get-go. Luis Madero allowed 2 runs in 4 2/3 innings, although the offense was very silent for the first 8 innings of the game. Trailing 4-0, things got ugly in a hurry in the 7th inning as 11 runs came to score in the inning. That large outburst took away any hopes for a potential comeback, even though the offense would plate 3 runs in the 9th to end a shutout bid.