The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates combined to go 3-4 last night. Here are the stars from those games:
Hot Bats:
Jackson 3B Marty Herum 3 for 4, solo HR
Visalia CF Marcus Wilson 2 for 2, 2B, solo HR, SB
Kane County 1B Terrance Connelly 3 for 4, 2 RBI
Hillsboro CF Jake McCarthy 3 for 4, 2B, 3B, R, OF assist on a double play
Missoula CF Kristian Robinson 2 for 3, 2 HR, BB, 4 RBI
AZL Dbacks CF Jorge Barrosa 3 for 4, 3B, BB, R
Quality Starts:
Reno RHP Joel Payamps 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R (0 ER), 3 BB, 6 K, GS 70, L (0-3)
Jackson RHP Justin Donatella 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 3 K, GS 74, W (6-8)
Visalia RHP Riley Smith 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 6 K, GS 63, W (8-6)
AZL Dbacks RHP Troy Scribner 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 7 K, GS 70
Reno Aces 0, Tacoma Rainiers 3: Joel Payamps allowed 6 hits and walked 3, surrendering a pair of unearned runs in the 6th. The Aces lineup wasn’t able to contribute much with a 0 for 9 RISP average and 6 left on base. Things got heated in the 8th after a Kevin Cron groundout in which both the player and the manager were ejected by the 1B umpire during the inning break.
Jackson Generals 2, Tennessee Smokies 1: Justin Donatella pitched 7 innings of 1-run ball with no walks and 3 K’s. Marty Herum homered in the 4th to put the Generals on the board. The game remained tied at 1 going into the 8th before Kevin Medrano led off the inning with a double and scored on a throwing error on a infield hit by Herum. Ryan Atkinson and Michael Blazek both pitched scoreless innings to seal the deal.
Visalia Rawhide 3, San Jose Giants 1: Riley Smith allowed a 2nd inning solo homer and nothing else for 6 innings with 1 walk and 6 K’s. Visalia played the long ball game with solo homers in the 4th and 5th to take the lead. Marcus Wilson launched his 9th and Stephen Smith his 6th. Visalia was able to score a key insurance run in the 8th when Jazz Chisholm reached on an error and scored on a Daulton Varsho single. Jason Creasy and Matt Brill pitched scoreless outings, although added some unnecessary drama with an average of 2 baserunners per inning after the 6th.
Kane County Cougars 3, Peoria Chiefs 4: Kane County was well on its way to winning this game until Luis Castillo came in with 2 on and 2 out in the 8th and promptly served up a game-winning homer. Lane Ratliff struck out 6 in 7 innings of 1-run ball, but unfortunately the pitchers that followed him struggled. A 2-run 2nd that included an RBI triple from Eudy Ramos and an RBI single from Terrance Connelly put Kane County up 2-0 early. Connelly would drive in the 3rd and final run on another hit in the 4th. Tyler Keele came in to start the 8th and gave up 2 walks and a single but got a double play ball before giving way to Castillo.
Hillsboro Hops 3, Everett Aqua Sox 1: Matt Tabor allowed 1 run in 4 innings with no walks and 2 K’s. Hillsboro would take the lead two batters into their half of the 1st when Jake McCarthy tripled and scored on a groundout. The game remained tied at 1 going into the 6th until the first three batters for Hillsboro reached. Joey Rose broke the tie with a single, although a baserunning snafu had 2 runners at 2nd base. Rose would later add a sac fly in the 8th to cushion the lead. The bullpen was outstanding with 5 scoreless innings, allowing just 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 7 to preserve the tight lead.
Missoula Osprey 7, Grand Junction Rockies 10: Marcos Tineo gave up 2 runs in 4 innings, putting Missoula down 2-0 going into the bottom of the 4th. Kristian Robinson gave Missoula the lead after a Zack Shannon RBI single with a 3-run homer that put them up 4-2. Unfortunately, the Missoula bullpen felt equally as charitable as Melvin Ovalles and Tyler Jandron gave up a combined 7 runs on 4 home runs in the 5th and 6th innings. Robinson and Shannon would each hit solo homers, but it was ultimately not enough.
AZL Dbacks 3, AZL Athletics 4: Troy Scribner allowed just 1 unearned run over 6 innings in a rehab appearance, walking 2 and striking out 7. The Dbacks built up a 3-1 lead at the time and like with the Kane County game, as soon as the starter leaves the game things got out of hand quickly. It doesn’t help the pitcher has to get 6 outs in 1 inning, although there’s less sympathy when the pitcher makes one of three throwing errors in the 7th. The Dbacks made a bid to tie the game in the 9th when Dominique Collie pinch ran for Sandy Martinez and stole 2nd. On a Jorge Barrosa hit, they tried to send in Collie for the tying run and was gunned down at home for the final out of the game.