The Diamondbacks got solid outings from their AAA, AA, A, and Rookie ball affiliates tonight. On the other hand, offense was difficult to come across as the affiliates split those four games at an even 2-2 clip.
Snake Stars
3 Stars: RHP John Omahen (Reno) 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, W (1-2)
2 Stars: RHP Max Duval (Kane County) 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 9 K, L (0-3)
1 Star: RHP Matt Koch (Mobile) 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 5 K, L (2-2)
0 Stars: RHP Markus Solbach (Visalia) 4 IP, 9 H, 8 R (8 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, L (0-1)
Reno 5, Sacramento 1: Despite facing Hunter Pence and the Giants bench players, John Omahen held his own in the game. Overall, he allowed 1 run on 5 hits, walked 1 and struck out 5 over 7 dominant innings. All the offense he would need came in the 5th inning, when the Aces scored 5 times off of Chris Stratton. The inning started off when Gabby Guerrero doubled then moved up to 3rd with one out. After an intentional walk to Dan Rohlfing, Omahen perfectly executed a safety squeeze for the first run. Ildemaro Vargas singled, followed by a 2-run double by Mitch Haniger and a single by Kyle Jensen. Haniger collected 2 hits and a walk in 4 trips to the plate, pushing his slashline to an obscene .393/.460/.809 mark in 201 plate appearances since his promotion to Reno. Things got a bit dicey in the 9th when Alexi Ogando allowed 2 runners to reach, but Jimmie Sherfy retired both hitters he faced to pick up his 5th save of the year. Sherfy is another player who's quietly making a push to the majors.
Mobile 1, Biloxi 2: All the runs for each team came on just 1 swing of the bat. In the top of the 2nd, Todd Glaesmann homered to give the Baybears a short-lived 1-0 lead. However, Matt Koch surrendered a 2-run homer in the bottom half of the inning for what amounted to the final score. Overall, Koch pitched well in the game with just those 2 runs allowed in 7 innings and a 5/3 strikeout to walk ratio. Offensively, the Baybears could not pick up their starter and picked up only 3 other hits in the game. Jared Miller delivered a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts in the 8th and the Baybears got the tying run on base in the 9th inning. However, the tying run was stranded on base.
Visalia 5, Stockton 8: Markus Solbach got blitzed for 8 runs over 4 innings, as he allowed 9 hits with 2 of them leaving the ballpark. The poor outing put the Rawhide in a serious hole and one too large for the offense to overcome. Despite the best efforts from the bullpen with 5 scoreless innings, the game was never in reach. Colin Bray led the team offensively with a homer and a triple in 5 ABs.
Kane County 0, Cedar Rapids 2: The Cougars got very little offensive support for starter Max Duval, who pitched brilliantly over 7 innings but had the misfortune of allowing a run in the process. Overall he allowed 5 hits and walked 3 while striking out 9 in that span. The Cougars had their chances with RISP considering they had 3 doubles in the game, two from Francis Christy. However, they went 0 for 8 in that category as they couldn't get the big hit to equalize the game. Keegan Long would allow a critical insurance run to score, although it didn't affect the overall game as the bats went 0 for 6 against the Kernals closer with a pair of strikeouts.
Hillsboro 3, Boise 9: Making his Hillsboro debut, 6th round pick Mack Lemeiux allowed 2 runs over 2 innings, walking 2 and striking out 2 in the process. Unfortunately, that pinned him with the loss thanks to bad bullpen that let a close game get away. Trevor Simms and Jeferson Mejia allowed a total of 7 runs, although only 2 were earned because each pitcher committed an error. The sloppy games from those two put the game out of reach and the offense could do very little to claw their way back in. Both Josh Anderson and Ramon Hernandez picked up 2 hits and were responsible for all 3 RBI in the game.
AZL Dbacks 2, AZL Cubs 1: Despite giving up 8 hits and walking 3, Franklyn Soriano was able to limit the damage to 1 run over 5 innings. Behind him the bullpen kept the game close with 3 shutout innings from Pablo Torres and a 1-2-3 9th inning from a rehabbing Gabe Speier. Trailing 1-0 in the 9th, the Dbacks got a leadoff double from Paxton De La Garza. Instead of playing small ball, the Dbacks turned Andy Yerzy loose in that AB and he tied the game on an opposite field single. After a flyout, a double put the winning run at 3rd with 1 out, which resulted in an intentional walk. After the walk, the Dbacks walked off when Jeff Smith was hit by a pitch, which forced the winning run to the plate.