Diamondbacks Minor League Recap 8/1/2018: Daulton Varsho hits for cycle

The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates combined to go 4-3 on the day, with the Jackson Generals rained out in the 2nd inning of their game and the AZL Dbacks finishing a game from July 30th that was suspended due to nasty thunder storms and possibly a baboon. In that game, Daulton Varsho completed the cycle with a double, homer, then single after tripling on Monday. Here are the stars from last night’s games:

Hot Bats:

Kane County 2B Jose Caballero 3 for 4, 3B, RBI
Hillsboro 1B Francis Martinez 3 for 4, 2B, 2 RBI, R
Hillsboro RF William Gorman 2 for 5, walkoff 3-R HR
AZL Dbacks C Daulton Varsho 4 for 6, Cycle

Quality Starts:

Kane County RHP Cole Bartlett 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 4 K, GS 68
Hillsboro RHP Matt Tabor 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K, GS 59

Paper Bag of Shame:

Reno LHP Anthony Vasquez ¹⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 5 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 0 K

Reno Aces 10, Colorado Springs Sky Sox 9: A pair of big innings (6-run 3rd, 4-run 5th) gave the Aces a 10-4 lead after 5 innings. Alex Young went deep in this game, allowing 4 runs in 7 innings on 7 hits, 1 walk, and 7 strikeouts. Christian Walker had a 2-run double and Juniel Querecuto capped off the 3rd with a 2-out, bases-clearing double. The 5th inning was Walker leading off with a single followed by extra base hits by Socrates Brito and Anthony Recker. Sloppy Colorado Springs defense allowed 2 more runs to score in that inning. With a 10-4 lead, Anthony Vasquez was unable to close things out as he surrendered 5 runs in ¹⁄₃ of an inning, requiring Jake Barrett to come in a 1-run game and getting the final 5 outs.

Jackson Generals 0, Montgomery Biscuits 0 (Susp. B2): Jon Duplantier’s return to the AA rotation was cut short due to weather. Overall, he got all 3 hitters he faced to ground out and threw 8 of 13 pitches for strikes.

Visalia Rawhide 5, San Jose Giants 7: Visalia pitching was not up to the challenge, with 3 of the 5 Rawhide pitchers surrendering at least 2 runs. Matt Peacock allowed 3 runs in 4 ²⁄₃ innings and took the loss due to a leaky bullpen. The Visalia offense came alive late, but perhaps a bit too late. Dominic Miroglio had 2 hits and 2 runs scored and Renae Martinez homered.

Kane County Cougars 2, Beloit Snappers 3: This game started off as a pitcher’s duel between Cole Bartlett and Jared Poche’. Bartlett allowed 2 runs on 6 hits, walked none, and struck out 4 in 7 innings. Unfortunately, the Kane County offense couldn’t do more thanks to some devastating TOOTBLANs and poor situational hitting. Luis Castillo came in the 8th and pitched a scoreless inning there but got walked off in the 9th as Beloit combined 3 singles.

Hillsboro Hops 8, Vancouver Canadians 5: Matt Tabor allowed 2 runs in 5 innings on 5 hits, 1 walk, and 7 strikeouts. After an error opened up the door in the 7th, Francis Martinez hit a key 2-run double to give the Hops the lead. Unfortunately Kai-Wei Lin allowed 3 runs in the top of the 9th to blow the save and put the Hops behind the score. Down to their final 3 outs, the Hops were able to tie the game up at 5 before sending William Gorman to the plate. With one swing of the bat, Gorman ended the game with a monstrous 3-run homer to left.

Missoula Osprey 3, Helena Brewers 6: Erin Baldwin allowed 3 runs in 4 innings, surrendering 6 hits, walked 2, and struck out 2. Jacob Stevens pitched 3 scoreless innings and Mailon Arroyo a scoreless 8th. The long ball was the Osprey’s offense with a 2-run homer from Zack Shannon and a solo homer from Brandon Leyton. After tying things up at 3, Bryan Menendez allowed 3 runs in the Helena half of the 9th and Missoula was unable to answer.

AZL Dbacks 13, AZL Giants Black 11: Resuming play from when the Dbacks had a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the 3rd, a 5-run 5th inning allowed the Dbacks to take a 9-2 lead. In this game, there were defensive replacements and pinch hitters due to rehabbing players moving up levels as well as promotions for Blaze Alexander and Alek Thomas to Missoula. Daulton Varsho doubled to start that 5th inning and homered in the 6th to put the Dbacks up 10-3, but a leaky bullpen turned a 10-3 lead into a 11-10 deficit. Paper Bag of Shame for the entire AZL Dbacks bullpen! However, the offense was able to once again take control with another 2-out rally starting a big inning as everything just fell into no man’s land for 3 runs and the win. Varsho singled in the 7th inning to complete the cycle after tripling on Monday night.

AZL Dbacks 6, AZL Giants Black 5 F/8: In what was supposed to be a 7-inning game, this one went 1 frame extra. Joe Gillette opened up the scoring with a solo homer, his 3rd of the year, in the 4th. Joshua Javier allowed 2 runs on 6 hits in 4 ²⁄₃ innings and struck out 6. The Dbacks would answer with 3 in the 5th to take a 4-2 lead. Alex King singled in a run and Kevin Watson Jr. had a 2-run single. After the game went to the 8th, the Giants scored their automatic runner without the benefit of a hit or a ball in play as a stolen base and wild pitch put them behind the score. However, Kristian Robinson was the hero at the end with a 2-run ground rule double that scored the tying and winning runs.