Snake Stars:
3 Stars: Hillsboro RHP Connor Grey 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, GS 81, W (2-1)
2 Stars: Reno CF AJ Pollock 2 for 4, 2 solo HR (1, 2)
1 Star: Kane County RHP Ryan Atkinson 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, GS 76, L (2-3)
0 Stars: Hillsboro RHP Rafael Pujols 0 IP, 3 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 0 K
Reno Aces 4, El Paso Chihuahuas 13: The good news is AJ Pollock is starting to show signs of good health with a pair of homers. The bad news was the Aces pitching sucked expletive. Matt Koch’s first start returning from injury was a bad one, allowing 6 runs in 5 innings. Things only got worse as Matt Stites gave up 4 runs in 1 2⁄3 and Daniel Gibson gave up 3 in 1 1⁄3 innings. Oswaldo Arcia added his 19th homer of the year, as the Aces offense was composed primarily of solo homers.
Jackson Generals 2, Tennessee Smokies 5: The offense was unable to do much aside from a 2-run homer from Stewart Ijames. Joel Payamps wasn’t very sharp, allowing 5 runs in 5 innings. The bullpen combination of Jared Miller and Gabriel Moya did a solid job with 3 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts. The offense had their chances with 6 AB with RISP, but failed to capitalize on any of them and left 10 on base.
Visalia Rawhide 5, Stockton Ports 8: The Rawhide scored 5 runs in the first two innings, but starter Tyler Badamo was bad to say the least. Badamo surrendered 11 hits and 8 runs over 6 innings, allowing 4 home runs. Marty Herum drove in 2 and Daniel Lockhart hit a 2-run homer in the 2nd. The bullpen of Cameron Gann and Ryan Burr delivered a scoreless inning each.
Kane County Cougars 0, Peoria Chiefs 1: The Cougars were on the wrong side of a pitcher’s duel as Ryan Atkinson was good, but not good enough. Overall he allowed 3 hits and 1 run over 7 strong innings, but the offense was in hibernation. Ben DeLuzio and Mark Karaviotis recorded the only two hits for the Cougars, as they were shut down by Mike O’Reilly for the 2nd time in June.
Hillsboro Hops 5, Everett Aqua Sox 4: Same score, different day. The game was much different than last night, this time with the Hops building an early 5-0 lead and hanging on for dear life. While Connor Grey (see above) was shutting down the Aqua Sox lineup, the Hops struck for 2 runs in the 6th. In the 7th, Daulton Varsho doubled in a pair and later stole 3rd base before scoring. With a 5-0 lead, the bullpen made interesting more interesting than it needed to be with Rafael Pujols failing to record an out in 4 tries, then less than stellar relief work from Anfernee Benitez. Erbert Gonzalez was able to put out the fire in the 8th and pitched a scoreless 9th for the save. Drew Ellis singled in his first AB, but got thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
Missoula Osprey 8, Billings Mustangs 1: A rare combination of solid pitching and overwhelming offense brought the bacon home in this game. Franklyn Soriano pitched 5 1⁄3 innings of 1 run ball, striking out 4 and walking 2. Jhoendri Herrera was able to pitch the Osprey out of the 6th with no damage and was rewarded with a win when the offense went into overdrive. The Osprey took a 4-1 lead, with the help of a 2-run blast by Joey Rose, his first of 2017. Gabriel Maciel saw that homer and raised it with a 3-run homer in the 6th to make it 7-1 and put the game away for good.
AZL Dbacks 5, AZL Royals 20: As you can obviously tell by the score, the pitching was not very good. After allowing 4 runs in the first, the Dbacks responded with 5 straight reaching to lead off the 2nd and took advantage of wildness. Unfortunately, the defense forgot how to catch the baseball, as a couple errors to lead off the 3rd resulted in 6 runs scoring, 5 unearned. Unfortunately, the team shut down after that point with the offense not really doing anything and the pitching continuing to bleed runs.