Diamondbacks Minor League Recap 8/18/16: Banda and Keller solid, Osprey and AZL Dbacks walk off

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AAA: Reno Aces 4, Memphis Redbirds (STL) 6: The Aces quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in their first AB, taking advantage of an error by the Redbirds shortstop. Anthony Banda took the mound and allowed 2 runs in the game and didn’t have his usual pinpoint control as he yielded 4 walks over 6 innings. Banda’s 3rd consecutive quality start and 7th in his last 8 starts wasn’t enough as the Aces offense could score him runs after that first inning. After a scoreless 7th, Evan Marshall ran into trouble with 4 runs crossing the plate in the 8th. Most of the damage came off the bat off of former Arizona Wildcat great Alex Mejia, who hit a 3-run triple. The bats made a spirited comeback with 2 runs in the top of the 9th, getting the tying run to the plate, but pinch hitter Ed Lucas struck out to end the game. Kyle Jensen and Carlos Rivero each had two hits and an RBI in the loss.

AA: Mobile Baybears 1, Biloxi Shuckers (MIL) 7: The Baybears scored the first run of the game when Rudy Flores doubled in Domingo Leyba, who walked to start the game. Unfortunately, that was it from an offensive standpoint, despite the fact the Bears drew 7 walks against Taylor Jungmann. Cole Johnson got hit hard early on, as he allowed a pair of runs in the first two innings to put the Baybears in a 4-1 hole. Austin Wright didn’t help things out when he allowed 3 runs in the 6th inning to put the game out of reach. The Baybears got solid games at the plate from Rudy Flores and Jamie Westbrook, who each had 2 hits and Domingo Leyba drew 3 walks.

A-Advanced: Visalia Rawhide 4, Stockton Ports (OAK) 2: The Rawhide strung together four consecutive 1-run innings to beat the Ports in support of Brad Keller. Keller allowed 6 hits and a walk while striking out a pair in 5 innings. The Ports scored first in the top of the 3rd, but Austin Byler answered that with 3rd Cal League homer. The Rawhide took the lead in the 4th when Victor Reyes and a rehabbing AJ Pollock hit back to back singles, followed by a productive flyout and a well-executed safety squeeze by Cody Regis. The Rawhide piled on in the 5th when Colin Bray knocked out his 7th homer in the Cal League and in the 6th when Byler singled home Regis. The bullpen would manage from there, with Cameron Gann allowing a solo HR in the 9th as the only damage against them. Reyes went 3 for 4 with a double, Pollock had a single and a walk, and Austin Byler had 2 hits and 2 RBI.

A: Kane County Cougars 6, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (MIL) 7: The Cougars jumped on starter Zack Brown for 5 runs in the first inning, sending 10 to the plate and taking advantage of pitcher and fielder miscues. Unfortunately, the Timber Rattlers were able to quickly shrink the lead to 4 then 2 in the next two innings off of Max Duval, who gave up 7 runs in 6 ²⁄₃ innings. Perhaps the most troubling part of his night was he gave up 10 hits and 3 homers. The Cougars held a 6-3 lead going into the 6th, but it evaporated by the end of the 7th. Cody Clark would retire all 7 hitters he faced, 3 via strikeout, but the offense could not get the tying run home.

Short Season A: Hillsboro Hops 7, Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (SF) 12: The Hops pitching staff got crushed to the tune of 12 runs on 15 hits over 8 innings, with Tyler Mark and Jake Winston allowing 10 of the 12 runs to score. Mark allowed 5 runs over 4 ²⁄₃ innings, allowed 6 hits and threw 4 wild pitches (YIKES!!!). However, the offense was up to the task, taking a 3-1 lead when Jason Morozowski homered for the 3rd straight game with this one being a 3-run shot. The Volcanoes answered the Hops 3-spot with 3 of their own followed by the Hops scoring 2 to take a 5-4 lead. Colin Poche was able to carry the lead into the 7th inning when he retired all 4 hitters he faced as the Hops tacked on a pair of insurance runs. However, there wasn’t enough insurance to stop a Jake Winston meltdown, as he allowed 5 runs on 4 hits and a walk and recorded 1 out. Dallas Newton didn’t help matters with 2 inherited runners scoring before allowing 2 runs of his own. Morozowski finished a triple short of the cycle and drove in 4.

Rookie-Advanced: Missoula Osprey 4, Orem Owlz (ANA) 3, F/10: The Osprey got a solid outing from Trevor Simms, who allowed 2 runs (1 earned) over 5 innings. The bullpen picked it up from there, allowing only an unearned run for the final 5, with Tyler Keele picking up the win with a 1-2-3 10th. The Osprey scored their first run thanks to good baserunning coupled with shoddy defense. Jazz Chisholm walked and stole a pair of bases with two outs, scoring on a bizarre play that was ruled a pop fly single (could have been the case of a low pop up perfectly falling in between the P, 2B, and SS) to the shortstop. Trailing 3-1 in the 9th, the Osprey put their first two runners on with a passed ball moving both of them into scoring position. The two runners came across when the shortstop was unable to make a throw to first. The 10th inning, Chisholm bunted his way on first and stole his way to 3rd with the aid of a poor throw to 2nd. After a groundout and a lineout to second, Ryan January hit a 2-out single to send the Osprey home happy.

Rookie: Dbacks 2, Royals (KC) 1: If you like low scoring games with sloppy defense, but superb pitching then this was your game. Jake Polancic and Luis Madero pitched 2 and 4 scoreless innings respectively and the game was scoreless until the 8th. Against Kenny Hernandez, the Royals put two runners in scoring position before they attempted a squeeze play. 3B Joey Rose was unable to corral the ball and the runner at 3rd scored. Fortunately that’s all they got. After a throwing error, Rose made up for his miscue with an RBI triple but was ultimately gunned down at home with 1 out. In the 10th inning, the Dbacks had a two-out rally. Francis Martinez walked, Andy Yerzy doubled, and Juan Araujo singled in the winning run to end things.