D-backs affiliates won seven out of the nine contests. Jon Duplantier, Riley Smith, and Cole Bartlett had excellent starts, and Jackson had a combined shutout of Montgomery.
Triple-A: Reno Aces 8 vs Salt Lake Bees 7
Salt Lake scored two runs in the first inning and four more runs in the second inning off Reno starter Joel Payamps. The Aces offense would score five runs in the bottom of the second, making the score 6-5 after two innings. Payamps would settle down after that and go four and two thirds innings, allowing the six runs on seven hits and three walks, with a two run home run in the second, while striking out four. Alex Young got a ground out to end the inning, and pitched a scoreless sixth. Snakepit Favorite Braden Shipley pitched two and a third innings, and was solid, giving up just two hits and a walk, but unfortunately one of those hits was a solo home run. Jake Barrett pitched a perfect eighth inning, and Jimmy Sherfy followed with a scoreless inning giving up just a walk.
The Aces offense then battled back in the bottom of the ninth, with Illdemaro Vargas getting his fourth hit of the night to lead off the inning. Chris Owings would fly out, but Juniel Querecuto would draw a walk, and Socrates Brito would hit a double to score Vargas to put the score at 7 to 6. With Kevin Cron up to bat, Salt Lake pitcher Miguel Almonte would throw a wild pitch, scoring Querecuto, and sending Brito to the third. Kevin Cron would then hit into a walk off fielder’s choice, scoring Brito to win the game 8-7. Illdemaro continues to hit like crazy, reaching base in all four of his plate appearences, going 4-4 with a walk. Kristopher Negron was 2-4. Socrates Brito was 1-5 with a double, and Devin Marrero was 1-4 with a triple.
Double-A: Jackson Generals 2 vs Montgomery Biscuits 0
Jon Duplantier pitched four and a third scoreless inning. Duplantier gave up five hits, hit a batter, walked four, and struck out four. Tyler Mark got the other two outs of the fifth inning, and pitched a scoreless sixth inning, allowing just a hit, while striking out two. Michael Blazek pitched a scoreless seventh inning, and gave up just a walk. Kevin Ginkel pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, allowing two hits and two walks, while striking out three.
The Generals scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth, and that was all the offense they’d need. Rudy Flores was 2-3 with a walk and stolen base, Marty Herum was 2-4 with a double. Jay Gonzalez was 2-4 with a double, and knocked in both runs. Kevin Medrano was 2-4, but was caught stealing, though he did gun down a runner at home from left in a fly out double play in the first.
Class A Advanced: Visalia Rawhide 3 Stockton Ports 2
Riley Smith pitched went 7 innings, and gave up two runs on five hits and walk, while striking out nine. West Tunnel pitched a scoreless eighth inning, giving up a just a hit, and struck out a batter. Matt Brill pitched a perfect ninth, and struck out one.
The three runs came via home run with Ramon Hernandez hitting a two run home run in the seventh, and Anfernee Grier hitting a solo home run that put the Rawhide ahead. Roman Hernandez was 2-4 with a home run and a triple, and Anfernee Grier was 2-4 with a home run. Jasrado Chisholm keeps on hitting, going 1-4 with a double, though he did strike out three times. Pavin Smith was 1-3 with a double and a walk. Daulton Varsho was 0-3 but did draw a walk.
Class A: Kane County Cougars 8 Quad Cities River Bandits 3
Cole Bartlett pitched eight innings, giving up just one run in the eighth inning on five hits and a walk, while striking out seven. After allowing a double and a single in the first with the runner getting thrown out at home to get the second out of the first, Bartlett settled down and struck out four batters in a row, and would pitch seven scoreless innings before allowing the run in the eighth. Juan Torres pitched the ninth inning, and gave up two runs on a hit, a pair of walks, and a wild pitch.
The Cougars scored a run in the first and the second, and then had a big five run seventh, before tacking on one more run to make it 8-0 nothing going into the the bottom of the eighth inning. Eudy Ramos was 2-3 with a triple and a walk, Jancarlos Cintron was 2-5 with a double, and Terrence Connelly was 2-3 with a stolen base. Jose Caballero was 1-3 with two walks.
Class A Short-Season: Hillsboro Hops 6 Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4
Ryan Weiss pitched 3.2 innings, and gave up three runs on seven hits and a wild pitch, while walking none and striking out four. Kenny Hernandez gave up just one hit in 3.1 innings, while walking none and striking out four himself, but the one hit was a solo home run. Cristofer Ogando and Chester Pimentel both pitch a scoreless inning, each giving up just a lone hit and striking out one.
Hillsboro jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs in the second and three in third to make the score 5-0, and would tack on an insurance run in the top of the fifth after Salem-Keizer made the score 5-3 after scoring two in the bottom of the fourth. Salem-Keizer would score another run at the bottom of the fifth, but Hillsboro would hold on to win it. Francis Martinez was 3-4 with a double, and knocked in three runs. Joey Rose was 3-3 but was picked off once. Jorge Perez was 1-2 with three walks, and Jake McCarthy was 1-5 with a double. Andy Yerzy and L.T. Tolbert were both hitless, but the both also walked and scored a run.
Rookie: Missoula Osprey 3 vs Orem Owlz 8
Although Alek Thomas threw out a runner at home, and Jesus Marriaga threw out a runner at second, bad defense was the real cause of this loss. Eddie Hernandez had two fielding errors, Zack Shannon and Buddy Kennedy both had a throwing error, and Blaze Alexander had a fielding error. Blaze Alexander was 1-4 with a solo homer, Alek Thomas was 2-5, Buddy Kennedy was 2-3 with two walks, Zack Shannon was 0-2 with two strikeouts, but drew two walks, and reached a third time on a hit by pitch.
Erin Baldwin pitched four innings, gave up six hits, walked two batters, and struck out three, allowing four runs, with only one being an earned run. Jacob Stevens struck out four in two innings, and gave up the other earned run on five hits and two wild pitches. Landon Whitson pitched three innings, and allowed two unearned runs on five hits and two wild pitches, walking none and striking out two.
Rookie: AZL D-backs 3 @ AZL Giants Orange 4
The AZL D-backs tied it up at 3-3 thanks to David Garza hitting a solo home run in the top of the ninth to send the game into extra innings, but the Giants Orange would score a run in the bottom of the tenth to win the game in walk off fashion. Three critical errors, one throwing error by Joe Gillette, and a fielding and throwing error by Liover Peguero, resulted in the three unearned runs, and were the real difference maker in the game.
The D-backs were held to just three hits and three walks, and one other baserunner who reached via error. Jorge Barrosa was 1-4 and had one of the hits, but was caught stealing, limiting the D-backs offense further. Kevin Watson Jr was 1-4 with a double and scored a run.
Troy Scribner pitched five innings, and gave up one unearned run, three hits and a walk, while striking out five. Liu Fuenmayor pitched 2.1 innings and gave up two unearned runs on four hits. Ezequiel De La Cruz pitched two innings, and gave up two hits, allowing the automatic runner to score, resulting an unearned run. De La Cruz struck out two while walking none.
Rookie: DSL D-backs1 4 vs Dsl Reds 2
Rael Santos went two innings and somehow gave up just one run on five hits and three walks, though the four strikeouts probably limited the damage. Jhonny Valdez pitched four innings, and gave up one run on four hits and a walk, and struck out one. Argenis Bravo pitched three scoreless innings. Bravo gave up three hits, walked two batters, threw a wild pitched, and also was called on a balk, but struck out five batters.
After the Reds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, the Dbacks1 responded with a two run inning in the third. The Reds would answer back with a run in the top of the fourth to tie it up, but the Dbacks1 would respond with another two run inning in the bottom of the seventh to put them ahead for good. Wilderd Patino was 3-3 with a double, and knocked in a run and scored two runs. Jose Curpa was 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base, but was also caught stealing. Alexander Amador was 1-3 with a stolen base, and scored a run. Alejandro Peguero was 1-3 and scored a run. Catcher Ramses Malave’s day was quite a mixed bag. Malave was 0-1, but walked three times, with a two out RBI, but he was caught stealing, and had two passed balls. RF Kevin Noriega and LF Carmelo Paulino were both hitless, but each had an outfield assist.
Rookie: Dsl D-backs2 7 DSL Brewers 6
All but two of the runs the D-backs2 gave up were unearned thanks to a throwing and fielding error by Juan Padron, and a throwing error by Rafael Jimenez. Jonathon Almonte pitched five innings, and gave up just three hits and a walk, while striking out six, but was charged with three unearned runs. Eduardo Perez pitched three hitless innings and gave up just two walks while striking out three, but was charged with an unearned run. Carlos Hernandez gave up two earned runs and was charged with the fourth unearned run of the game in 1.2 innings pitched. Hernandez gave up three hits and three walks, and struck out one. Jhairon Leal pitched 1.1 innings, allowing just a walk, and struck out two.
This was a wild game, with the game going into extra innings after the Brewers tied it up 3-3 after scoring a run in the eighth. The D-backs2 scored three runs in the top of the tenth, only for the Brewers to tie back up in the bottom of the inning by scoring three runs themselves. Thankfully, the D-backs2 would score a run in the top of the eleventh, and would keep the Brewers off the board at the bottom of the inning to win it.
Ismael Jaime was 2-4 with two doubles and a walk, and Manuel Montas was 2-5 with a home run. Alexander Hernandez was 3-5 and scored two runs and knocked in a run. Roman Ruiz was 1-6, but scored a run and knocked in a run with the lone hit. Manuel Garcia was 3-5 but was picked off at first and was caught trying to steal second, but did knock in a run to somewhat redeem himself.