The Diamondbacks Minor League Affiliates combined to go 4-3 last night. Here are some of the stars of last night’s games:
Hot Bats:
AZL Dbacks LF Joe Gillette 3 for 4, 3B, RBI, R
Quality Starts:
Visalia RHP Jeff Bain 5 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, GS 61, W (2-1)
Kane County RHP Franklyn Soriano 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K, GS 76, W (1-2)
Missoula RHP Edgar Martinez 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 4 K, GS 61
AZL Dbacks RHP Michel Gelabert 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 4 BB, 7 K, GS 62
Reno Aces 1, Sacramento River Cats 9: After allowing just 1 run through the first 4 innings, Matt Koch got hammered for 7 runs in the 5th before being pulled with 2 outs. Overall Koch allowed 13 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1. Christian Walker provided the only run for Reno on a 4th inning solo homer.
Jackson Generals 1, Montgomery Biscuits 6: Emilio Vargas was hit hard once again in AA, allowing 6 runs in 6 innings on 7 hits, no walks, and 2 strikeouts. A big 5-run 3rd inning ended up doing Vargas in, although he surrendered a 2nd homer in the 6th. On the other side, the Jackson offense was completely bamboozled by Biscuits pitching and barely scratched a run across in the 9th inning to avoid the shutout.
Visalia Rawhide 4, Modesto Nuts 1: Jeff Bain gave Visalia 5 shutout innings and struck out 5 in the game. In the top of the 6th, Visalia gave him the run support he’d need with a big 3-run frame. Daulton Varsho broke the tie with a sac fly then Drew Ellis put the exclamation point on the inning with a 2-out, 2-run homer. Anfernee Grier would drive in an insurance run in the 9th. The bullpen allowed 1 run in 4 innings and struck out 7 to take the win to the finish line.
Kane County Cougars 5, Burlington Bees 0: Kane County scored early and often while Franklyn Soriano kept sending the Bees back to the dugout. Soriano allowed 6 hits in 7 scoreless and struck out 6. Yoel Yanqui drove in 3 of Kane County’s 5 runs. Bryan Valdez struck out 4 in 2 scoreless innings of relief.
Hillsboro Hops 6, Eugene Emeralds 4: Matt Mercer allowed a 3-run homer in his 3rd and final inning, but struck out 5 on the day. The bullpen backed him up with 6 innings of 1 run ball with 14 strikeouts and no walks. A 4-run 7th inning puts Hillsboro in the lead, with Andy Yerzy providing the big hit with a bases-clearing triple to tie the game at 4. Yerzy would later score the go-ahead run in the inning on a wild pitch after a walk. Armed with the lead, Cristofer Ogando proceeded to strike out all 6 hitters he faced and Joey Rose legged out an infield hit with the bases loaded to plate the 6th and final run for the Hops.
Missoula Osprey 4, Grand Junction Rockies 11: This game was low-scoring early on, until the Osprey bullpen decided to be terrible. Edgar Martinez allowed just 1 run in 5 innings and left with a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately that lead lasted all of 2 hitters as Landon Whitson allowed a pair of home runs to put Missoula behind 5-2. Zack Shannon cut the lead down to 5-4 with a 2-run homer in the 8th, but then Jake Polancic and Melvin Ovalles gave up 6 runs in the bottom of the frame to put this out of reach. Paper Bag of Shame for both of them and hopefully walking papers coming next.
AZL Dbacks 5, AZL Athletics 2: A pitcher’s duel between Michel Gelabert and Osvaldo Berrios ended with a 1-1 deadlock after 5. Despite walking 4 hitters, Gelabert only allowed 1 run thanks to 7 strikeouts. After falling behind 2-1 after 6, the Dbacks scored in each of the final 3 innings and 4 times in total. The 8th inning saw the Dbacks take the lead for good thanks to some questionable defense by the A’s middle infielders. David Garza had a 2-run single on a play the opposing SS could not make. Luvin Valbuena drove in the 5th and final run with a sac fly after Joe Gillette tripled to lead off the inning. Raibel Custodillo pitched 2 scoreless to get the win and Ezequiel De La Cruz got the final 4 outs of the game.