The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates combined to go 3-3 with the AA Jackson taking the day off yesterday. Here are the stars of last night’s games:
3 Stars: Reno 1B Kevin Cron 3 for 5, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 3 R
2 Stars: Reno RF Socrates Brito 2 for 2, 2 solo HR, 3 BB, 4 R
1 Star: Visalia LF Mark Karaviotis 2 for 2, HR, 3 BB, 4 RBI, 3 R
0 Stars: Missoula RHP Trent Autry 1 IP, 4 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 3/3 inherited runners scored, BS (1), L (0-1)
Reno Aces 14, Salt Lake Bees 4: As mentioned in the title, Bees RF Jabari Blash challenged the Reno Aces to a HR Derby, but ended up losing 6-3 in that department. Blash homered 3 times and drove in all 4 of Salt Lake’s runs, but the Aces were more than ready to counter. Kevin Cron alone matched that HR output with 3 of his own, driving in 7 of Reno’s 14 runs. Socrates Brito added 2 solo homers and 3 walks (!!!) and Yasmany Tomas belted out a HR. Anthony Vasquez allowed 3 runs in 6 innings, courtesy of Blash’s single-game exploits as he kept the rest of the Bees’ lineup quiet.
Visalia Rawhide 13, Inland Empire 66ers 4: Tyler Keele pitched around trouble, but kept the 66ers off the scoreboard for 5 innings. While that was going on, the Rawhide brought the whooping sticks to town. Ramon Hernandez started the scoring with a 3-run homer in the 2nd inning. Then a 6-run 5th inning happened in which the Rawhide took advantage of less than ideal defense as they batted around and killed the 66ers with death by a 1000 cuts strategy. Mark Karaviotis and Luis Alejandro Basabe capped off the scoring barrage with homers in the 8th and 9th innings. Carlos Bustamente was the only Rawhide pitcher who allowed runs, allowing 4 in the 6th inning although the game was all but over at that point anyway.
Kane County Cougars 2, Peoria Chiefs 3: Kane County was unable to string together offense, especially when it counted with a 1 for 13 clip with RISP. That spoiled a decent start by Mack Lemieux, who allowed 2 runs in 6 innings although with a less than stellar 4/3 K/BB ratio. Thanks to some sloppy defense, the Cougars had a chance in the 9th inning, but the trying run was left on 3rd base after a groundout to 3B and a strikeout.
Hillsboro Hops 7, Boise Hawks 2: The Hillsboro offense came ready to play as they scored 6 early runs to put Boise well behind in this game. Ryan Tufts was the big bat, driving in 4 runs as part of a 3-hit, 2-double game. Jake McCarthy added two hits, including a triple. Funnily enough, it was the bottom half of the order that got things done with the 5-9 hitters getting 10 of the 13 hits and responsible for all 7 runs. Franklyn Soriano pitched 5 solid innings of 2-run ball in large part due to help from his battery mate as Andy Yerzy gunned down both stolen base attempts against him. Dan Swain added a 9th inning homer to cap off the scoring.
Missoula Osprey 8, Helena Brewers 11: The Osprey put up big innings with a 3 run 3rd, but also grabbing the lead again with a 4-run 7th. Unfortunately, the pitching was allergic to winning with both leads ending up getting blown. Nick Dalesandro, Brandon Leyton, and Jesus Marriega drove in 6 of Missoula’s 8 runs and were responsible for 8 of the 11 hits. The Aces’ 7-3 lead was blown due to sloppy defense and poor relief pitching by Trent Autry (see above) as Helena scored 8 runs in their final 2 trips to the plate.
AZL Dbacks 3, AZL Angels 5: The Dbacks got a decent start out of Alex Valdez, who allowed 1 run in 4 innings. The Dbacks offense consisted of mostly Alex King and Joe Gillette, who were responsible for all 3 runs. Alek Thomas also participated with a hit and a stolen base. Juan Araujo and Brian Ellington combined for a scoreless 5th inning and Jake Polancic had a scoreless 6th before the wheels fell off. Polancic allowed the tying runs to score and left two runners on base while only recording 1 out in the 7th. Raibel Custodio came in and ended the inning without further damage before allowing 2 runs of his own in the 8th to lose it.