Snake Stars:
3 Stars: Kane County RHP Jon Duplantier 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, GS 55*
2 Stars: Visalia LHP Cody Reed 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 8 K, GS 49*
1 Star: Jackson RHP Brad Keller 5 2⁄3 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 5 K, GS 60*
0 Stars: Reno 2B/3B Jack Reinheimer 0 for 8, 3 K
Honorable Mention: Willians Astudillo 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (1-0) because position players pitching and actually getting wins is worth mentioning.
*Denotes that the new game score metric unfairly punishes players that give up solo home runs vs. giving up 3+ hits in an inning.
Reno Aces 6, Sacramento River Cats 4: It took 17 innings, but the Aces were able to outlast the River Cats. Frank Duncan allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and a walk with 5 strikeouts over 7 innings. The bullpen was fantastic with 10 scoreless innings from Erik Davis, Daniel Gibson, Jimmie Sherfy, Drew Muren, catcher Willians Astudillo, and Jake Barrett. Yeah, a position player pitched the game and he pitched 2 scoreless innings and got the win. The Aces were able to get 2 in the top of the 17th and Jake Barrett finally put this marathon game to bed.
Jackson Generals 2, Tennessee Smokies 4: Brad Keller had a nice bounceback start to stop a string of bad outings. He gave up 3 runs in 6 2⁄3 innings with 5 hits, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Unfortunately, due to lack of run support he took the loss. The Generals offense came in the 4th when Michael Perez hit a RBI single and Kevin Medrano doubled him home. Jared Miller was able to get the final out of the 6th with no further damage. The bats were unable to close the deficit ultimately and Brooks Hall gave up a 9th inning run that only really affected the score.
Visalia Rawhide 4, San Jose Giants 3: Cody Reed also had a bounceback outing, allowing 3 runs in 6 innings with 8 strikeouts. He got victimized by 2 home runs, but held up well overall. The offense was more opportunistic than anything getting 8 hits all game, but 4 came with RISP where they went 4 for 8. Walks certainly helped as the Rawhide got 6 free passes and made their opponents pay for it. Mason McCullough pitched 2 perfect innings in relief with 3 strikeouts in the win.
Kane County Cougars 2, Peoria Chiefs 3: Jon Duplantier has seem to have become human lately, but still pitched well in the game. Overall he allowed 2 runs in 6 innings with 6 hits and 1 walk allowed and 5 strikeouts. The offense wasn’t great, but opportunistic enough to tie the game in the 7th inning to get Duplantier off the hook for a loss. Wei-Chieh Huang took a tough loss despite only allowing 1 baserunner (HBP) in 2 1⁄3 innings. Unfortunately a horrifically bad play in RF led to the walkoff loss.