The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates combined to go 3-1 with Reno, Visalia, and Kane County picking up wins.
Snake Stars:
3 Stars: Kane County RHP Jhoan Duran 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 6 K, GS 65, W (2-0)
2 Stars: Reno RF Cesar Puello 2 for 3, HR, BB, 2 RBI, 2 R
1 Star: Visalia 1B Pavin Smith 2 for 4, HR, RBI, R
0 Stars: Visalia DH Daulton Varsho 0 for 5, 3 K
Reno Aces 8, Las Vegas 51s 5: The Aces (23-31) hosted the HR Derby with Aaron Laffey playing the role as the BP pitcher. Reno hitters took him deep 5 times in the first 5 innings with Ildemaro Vargas, Cesar Puello, Kevin Cron, Jose Queliz, and Evan Marzilli each hitting one homer in the game. The beneficiary of that offense was Alex Young, making his Reno debut, allowed 3 runs in 5 2⁄3 innings despite allowing 9 hits and walking 2 while striking out 5. Braden Shipley was touched up for 2 runs in 2 2⁄3 innings after stranding Young’s runners in the 6th and ran into trouble in the 9th. Jimmie Sherfy was there to bail out Shipley by striking out the only 2 batters he faced.
Jackson Generals 4, Montgomery Biscuits 5: Bo Takahashi allowed 4 runs in 5 2⁄3 innings in his AA debut, striking out 9. The Generals (29-22) offense started slow with only solo homers by Jamie Westbrook and Rudy Flores being the damage until the offense manufactured runs with 2 outs in the 7th and in the 8th. They ended up tying the game in the 8th thanks to walks and followed a Domingo Leyba double. Unfortunately Yoan Lopez would allow Montgomery to take the lead back in the bottom of the 8th after allowing a solo homer.
Visalia Rawhide 3, San Jose Giants 2: Tyler Keele allowed 2 runs in 5 innings, striking out 3 and walking 1. Pavin Smith opened up the scoring with his 4th long ball of the year in the 2nd. Visalia (28-25) tied the game at 2 with a Mark Karaviotis sac fly and that capped the scoring until the 10th inning. In the 10th, Luis Alejandro Basabe picked up his 4th hit and his only RBI of the game to give the Rawhide the run they needed to win. The Visalia bullpen was outstanding with 3 scoreless innings of 5 K ball from Wei-Chieh Huang and scoreless innings with 2 Ks each from Junior Garcia, who picked up the win, and Tommy Eveld, who got the save.
Kane County Cougars 6, Beloit Snappers 3: Both teams scored in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings, but it was the Cougars’ 4 spot in the 6th that proved to be the difference. Jhoan Duran was solid with 5 innings of 1 run ball with 6 Ks and 8 ground ball outs. The offense went to work on Jared Poche’ and the Snappers bullpen, picking up big hits in the 6th with Joey Rose’s double being the big blow that inning. Breckin Williams allowed solo tallies in the 6th and 7th innings before giving way to Carlos Bustamente, who recorded a 6 out save. Gabriel Maciel had his standard 2 hits and a walk in that game.