Triple-A: Reno Aces 9 @ Las Vegas 51s 5
Jake Buchanan went 5.2 innings, and gave up three runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out five, Buchanan was hitless until the fifth inning, and allowed only one baserunner, a walk in the first. Buchanan allowed a run on a single, a double to Yasmany Tomas, and then a grounder scored the first run. It was the sixth inning that Buchanan ran out of steam, and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, before being taken out for the game with two outs for Silvino Bracho. Bracho would come on with the bases loaded, and get the final out of the inning without any of the inherited runners scoring, but would end up allowing two runs to score in seventh. Braden Shipley would have an easy 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, but would allow a single and walk, and would be taken out for Jake Barrett with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Things would get really interesting when a fielding error by Christian Walker would load the bases and allow the tying run to come to the plate, but Barrett would get a fly out to end the game.
Ildemaro Vargas lead the game off with a home run, and after singles from Chris Owings, Socrates Brito, Rey Fuentes singled and scored Owings, and Yasmany Tomas scored both Brito and Fuentes with a triple for four runs total. Rey Fuentes would score again on a two run homer fromd Anthony Recker in the fourth. Kristopher Negron would lead off the seventh with a double, and after Ildemaro Vargas lined out advancing the runner to third, Chris Owings would double allowing Negron to score. A pitching change later, Christian Walker would hit a two run home run.
Double-A: Jackson Generals 2 @ Chattanooga Lookouts 8
Justin Donatella went 4.1 innings, and gave up nine hits and walked two batters, allowing five runs in total. Donatella got chased out in the fifth after leading the inning off with a single, a home run, and another single before finally a deep fly ball out. Ryan Atkinson go the last two outs of the fifth and pitched a scoreless sixth inning. Tyler Mark would allow three unearned runs after a fielder error with two outs by Kevin Medrano would allow a runner to reach and the inning to continue, leading to three runs scoring, Kevin Ginkel would face the minimum in the eighth and would strike out a batter.
The Generals could only score two runs, both in the fifth inning. Galli Cribbs lead off the inning with a single, Jason Morozowski followed with a double, and then Domingo Leyba hit a line drive single, and made it second on a throwing error. The Generals would actually load the bases after that with a walk and a hit by pitch, but failed to capitalize and score any further runs. Outside of that inning, the Generals had just six baserunners, with one (Leyba) who was caught stealing, and were 0-4 with runners in scoring position.
Class A Advanced: Visalia Rawhide 4 vs Modesto Nuts 8
Cole Stapler got the start, went 6.2 innings, and gave up three runs on nine hits and a walk, while striking out five. Mason McCullough would get the final out of the seventh, but would run into trouble in the eighth immediately, with infield pop up single hit right at him to start the inning, followed by a double. McCullough would get a fly out, but then would walk the next batter to load the bases, and allow another single which would score a run after that. McCullough would be taken out for Erbert Gonzalez, who would allow all three inherited runners to score, in addition to a runner of his own to score. In a bizarre twist, the inning would end when a batted ball hit a baserunner, ending the inning. Jake Winston would pitch a perfect ninth inning and strikeout a batter. The Rawhide would enter the ninth down 8-1, and would rally to score three runs making the score 8-4, but they couldn’t overcome the deficit created by the five run eighth inning.
Jasrado Chisholm was 2-5 and continues to hit better in Visalia than he did in Kane County. Luis Alejandro Basebe was 2-2 with a walk and a sac fly, and Adam Walton was 2-3. Visalia was 2-8 with runners in scoring position.
Class A: Kane County Cougars 12 vs Kane County Chiefs 5
Jayson McKinley start wasn’t all that impressive, going 5.1 innings, 2 Runs 5 hits 3 walks 5 strikeouts, and a 55 game score, but that certainly beats the Chiefs starter Paul Balestrieri who gave up 11 earned runs in 2.2 innings, good for a -9 game score. Yes, a negative game score. Bryan Valdez pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and striking out four. Juan Torres ran into trouble in the ninth, who after a quick fly out and ground out, gave up a single, a walk, followed by a three run blast before getting the final out of the game.
Although Jose Caballero was 2-5 with a three run home run in a seven run third inning, he holds the dubious distinction of starting and ending the same inning with an out, when the Generals batted around and score five runs in the first. Eudy Ramos was 2-5, was hit by a pitch, and doubled in two runs in the first, and made it to third on a throwing error, and later scored a run. Ryan Grotjohn was 2-5 with double, and Luis Lara was 2-3 with a walk. Yan Sanchez and Jancarlos Cintron both had two hit nights.
Class A Short-Season: Hillsboro Hops 1 Tri-City Dust Devils 0
The lone run in this game came on a solo homer hit by Joey Rose in the eighth. The Hops had plenty of opportunities to score, with eight hits and ten walks, but were a putrid 0-12 with runners in scoring position. Jake McCarthy was 2-3 with a double and a walk, but was caught stealing twice. Geraldo Perdomo was 1-3 with two walks and a stolen base. Dan Swain was hitless, but drew three walks and had an outfield assist. L.T. Tolbert was hitless, but drew two walks and had a stolen base. Andy Yerzy was 1-3 with two walks.
The real credit should go to Hops pitching, which allowed just seven hits, a walk, and a hit by pitch. Jackson Goddard pitched three scoreless innings to start the game, and allowed just a hit and a hit by pitch, and struck out two. Harrison Francis pitched three scoreless innings to follow, and allowed four hits and two walks. Yeison Santana pitched a scoreless seventh inning, and got an out in the eighth before allowing a single and being taken out for Josh Green. After allowing a single, Green got next batter to ground into a double play, and then got all three batters on grounds outs in a scoreless ninth.
Rookie: Missoula Osprey 6 @ Orem Owls 4
Missoula scored two runs in the top of the ninth to win this back and forth affair. Alek Thomas lead the game off with a double, advanced to third on a dropped strikeout and throw to first to get Blaze Alexander out, and then scored on a wild pitch by Buddy Kennedy. After Orem scored two in the second and one in the third to make the score 3-1, Missoula would score three runs in the fifth. David Sanchez would walk to lead off inning, Alek Thomas would single next, and then Blaze Alexander would triple scoring Sanchez and Thomas. After a pitching change, Buddy Kennedy would hit a sac fly, scoring Alexander, and making the score 4-3 Missoula. Orem would then score a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game up. After David Sanchez ground out to start the ninth, Alek Thomas would draw a walk, Blaze Alexander would hit a single, followed by another by Buddy Kennedy to load the bases, and the Zachary Almond would hit a third single in a row to score Thomas and Alexander, to make the score 6-4.
On the pitching side of things, Wilfry Cruz got the start, and pitched three innings, and gave up three runs. Cruz allowed five hits, but also allowed four walks and uncorked two wild pitches. Pedro Zorrilla pitched four innings, and allowed three hits and walk while striking out three. Zorrilla allowed an unearned run in the sixth with a runner reaching on an error by 1b Zach Shannon, and then scored after a double and a ground out, though a second runner failed to score thanks to 3B Buddy Kennedy throwing a runner out a home. Blake Workman struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning, with only a runner reaching on a throwing error by Blaze Alexander. Bryan Menendez walked a batter and struck out a batter in a scoreless ninth inning.
Rookie: DSL D-backs1 6 DSL Padres 2
Rigoberto Borbolla gave up a two run homer in the first, but the D-Backs1 kept the Padres off the board after that. Borbolla went 4.1 innings and allowed three hits and four walks while striking out six. Jose Valencia came into the game in the first with two on and out, and and would throw a wild pitch allowing the runners to advance, but would get a pop up and strike out to end the threw. Valencia would pitch 2.2 scoreless innings total, allowed two hits and struck out a batter. Eric Mendez would pitch two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and struck out three.
The Dbacks1 scored two runs in the first, with Jorge Borrosa hitting a single, and then advancing to second on a missed catch error on a pickoff attempt, and then Jose Curpa singled. With Jose Reyes batting, there would be a second pickoff attempt that resulted in an error, and both runners advanced. Jose Reyes would hit a sac fly scoring Borrosa, and then Neyfey Castillo would single scoring Curpa. The Dbacks1 would score the winning run in the fourth when Carmelo Palino and Carlos Goris, who were both 1-4, hit back to back doubles, with the former scoring on the latter’s double. The DBacks1 would add another run in the fifth, eighth, and ninth innings. Jose Reyes was 3-4 with two triples. Jose Curpa was 1-4, but walked, stole second, then stole third, and scored on one of Jose Reyes’ triples. Jorge Borrosa was 4-4 with a hit by pitch, stole base, and scored two runs, but was picked off and caught stealing in the ninth.
Rookie: DSL D-backs2 1 DSL Rangers2 6
The Dbacks2 were kept to the minimum of batters faced through the first eight innings despite two hits, due to both of those hits being erased with double plays. They’d score a run late with a double and a single, but they were limited to just four hits and four baserunners total throughout the entire game.
Junior Miesis was wild in 1.2 innings, with six walks to two strikeouts, and an unearned run scoring. Jose Alcantara pitched 2.1 innings and gave up an unearned run on two hits and a walk and struck out three. Jose Santamaria pitched 3 innings, and allowed a run on two hits and two walks, and struck out one. Carlos De La Cruz pitched 2 innings and allowed three runs on three hits and a walk, and struck out three.