Diamondbacks Minor League Recap 4/10/2018: Ships Ahoy!

The Diamondbacks minor league affilates went 2-1 today with the Aces and Cougars winning their game and the Rawhide suffering the only loss of the day. The Generals had the day off between series, which are typically 5 games in the Southern League.

Snake Stars:

3 Stars: Reno RHP Braden Shipley 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 6 K, GS 56, W (2-0)

2 Stars: Kane County SS Jazz Chisholm 3 for 5, solo HR (1), 2 R

1 Star: Kane County Bullpen 5 ¹⁄₃ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K

0 Stars: Visalia RHP Randall Delgado ²⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 2 K

Reno Aces 7, Sacramento River Cats 2: Braden Shipley posted another start where he didn’t look dominant but kept his opponents off the scoreboard. Shipley allowed 2 runs in 6 innings on 5 hits, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts, a solid day for any Pacific Coast League pitcher. The Aces (3-3) offense put up an early 2-spot in the 4th before feasting on the River Cats bullpen late. After back-to-back doubles by Marcus Littlewood and Ildemaro Vargas, the Aces took advantage of sloppy play as the River Cats had a wild pitch on a strikeout and threw the ball away on a potential double play ball for the next 2 runs of the inning. The 8th inning was equally as bizarre as Yasmany Tomas, who came in as a late defensive change, walked, stole 2nd, and scored on a single from 2nd. It’s nice to see Tomas is making improvements at the three areas he’s been terrible at. The Aces bullpen was lights out with two perfect innings from Joey Krehbiel, who punched out 3, and a hitless 9th for Jake Barrett.

Visalia Rawhide 4, Lake Elsinore Storm 8: The Rawhide (3-3) offense struggled to score, collecting only two hits although both hits left the ballpark. Sam McWilliams was in trouble all night, but ultimately allowed only 3 runs, all in the first inning, in 5 innings on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. Randall Delgado’s 2nd rehab appearance with Visalia turned out to be a disaster outing as Delgado allowed 2 long balls in the 6th and 3 runs overall to blow the game open. Drew Ellis and Ramon Hernandez had the two long balls for the Rawhide, the first of the year for both. The Rawhide made it interesting in the 8th, taking advantage of walks to get the tying run to on deck circle with 1 out. Mark Karaviotis hit a sac fly and Hernandez struck out to end that threat.

Kane County Cougars 3, Quad City River Bandits 1: Jeff Bain struggled with control, walking 6 in 3 ²⁄₃ innings, although he managed to allow only 1 run on 2 hits and struck out 5. Jazz Chisholm showed off the wheels in the 3rd with a bunt single, going first to third on a Luis Silverio RBI single and eventually scoring on a fielder’s choice out at 2nd in the 3rd. Chisholm added a homer in the 6th inning, giving the Cougars a valuable insurance run and the game’s final tally. The Cougars bullpen then carried the game home with 5 ¹⁄₃ scoreless, allowing 0 hits overall. Breckin Williams retired all 7 hitters, 4 via punchout, for the win while Matt Brill and Abraham Almonte cleaned up the last 3 innings.