Minor League Recap 4/20/19: Jazz Gets It Done

Arizona’s Minor League affiliates won two out of the four games played, with Jackson and Visalia winning their games, and Reno and Kane County losing.

Top Performers

Pitcher of the Day: Jackson Goddard, SP Kane County 5 IP 0 runs 2 hits 0 BB 4 K, runner picked off of first

(Honorable mentions go to Jackson’s pitching, with starter Riley Smith, and relievers Lucas Luetge, Ryan Miller, and Michael Kohn allowing just a run on six hits, with 10 KS to just a walk, as well as Junior Garcia, Visalia RP, who tossed three scoreless hitless innings, with four k’s and 0 BB)

Hitter(s) of the Day: Jazz Chisholm, SS Jackson, 2-4 with a walk, a solo homer, and a two run homer (and just one K)

(Honorable mention to Pavin Smith, 1B Jackson, who went 3-5 with a triple, and Geraldo Perdomo, SS Kane County, who went 3-4 with a double, a homer, 3 RBIs, but was caught stealing twice. )

Worst Performers:

Pitcher: Taylor Widener, SP Reno 1.2 IP 7 runs 6 hits 4 BB 2 HRS

Batter: Yasmany Tomas, LF Reno who was 0-4 with 2 Ks and (Honorable mention to Andy Yerzy, C Kane County, who was 0-4 with 3 ks, but isn’t getting paid 15.5 million dollars to play in the minor leagues this season)

AAA Reno Aces 1 @ El Paso Chihuahuas 12

Taylor Widener had another rough start in AAA, getting tagged for seven runs in just an inning and two thirds. Widener allowed three runs in the first, and four runs in the second, allowing six hits, four walks, and a hit by pitch, with two of the hits leaving the yard. Braden Shipley relieved Widener and finished the second inning, and went on to pitch two more innings. Shipley gave up just a run in the third, and allowed five hits and no walks, while striking out three. Marc Rzepczynski pitched two innings, giving up a run on five hits and no walks as well. Robby Scott pitched a scoreless seventh, walking one and striking out one. In a non-pitcher pitching alert, Travis Snider came on to pitch the eighth with aces down nine to one. Snider allowed three runs off three hits, a hit by pitch, and a wild pitch, with one of those hits being a two run homer.

The Aces were held to just four hits and one run, with zero walks, and nine strikeouts. The first and only extra base hit, runner in scoring position, and lone run didn’t come until the fifth inning. Abraham Almonte lead off the inning with a double and Andrew Aplin followed with a single which would score Almonte. Those would be the only runs of the game, and really the only threat in the game that the Aces would pose against the Chihuahuas.

AA Jackson Generals 5 @ Birmingham Barons 1

Riley Smith would get the start for Jackson and overall it was a very solid outing. R. Smith went six innings, allowed five hits, with a lone run coming from a solo homer in the second inning, and would strike out five while walking none. Lucas Luetge, Ryan Atkinson, and Micheal Kohn would shutdown Birmingham almost completely, with Luetge allowing a lone walk and Kohn allowing a lone hit. Luetge would strike out one, while Atkinson and Kohn would each strike out a pair.

Jackson got on board with a run in the top of the second thanks to a solo home run from Jazz Chisholm. Birmingham would answer back with a solo homer of their own in the bottom of the inning to tie the game up. The Generals would strike back in the top of the third, with Pavin Smith hitting a triple to lead of the inning. While Jamie Westbrook was up to bat, a passed ball would allow Pavin Smith to score. After Westbrook grounded out, Daulton Varsho would get hit by a pitch, and Jeffrey Baez would double, allowing Varsho to score from first. Both team’s pitching would settle down from there until the seventh, when the Generals would add two more runs, thanks to a walk from Varsho and Jazz Chisholm’s second home run of the game

A+ Visalia Rawhide 7 vs Lancaster Jethawks 3

Visalia’s pitching was good enough to get the job done, but it would look even better if they could just take away two pitches; a solo homer off of starter Jeff Bain, and a two run homer from West Tunnell in the ninth inning. Bain went five innings and allowed one run off of six hits and two walks, while striking out five. Junior Garcia was impressive, tossing three scoreless innings, allowing just a pair of hits, no runs, no walks, while striking out four. West Tunnel would pitch the ninth, and would allow two runs off two hits, thanks to the aforementioned two run home run.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning, Anfernee Grier would lead off and double, advance to third on a fly ball, and then score on a sacrifice fly from Camden Duzenack to tie the game up. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Rawhide would score four runs. After a fly out from Jancarlos Cintron, Mark Karaviotis would reach on a throwing error, then Renae Martinez and Jake McCarthy would both walk to load the bases. After a mound visit, Ryan Grotjohn would hit a line drive single to right that would clear the bases, thanks to a throwing error from the opposing center fielder which would also allow Grotjohn to advance to second. Anfernee Grier would then followup with another single to right, that would score Grotjohn. Yan Sanchez would ground into a force out, with Grier out at second. Sanchez would then steal second, but Camden Duzenack would fly out to end the inning with the score now 5-1. Jose Caballero would double to lead off the bottom of the fifth, and would steal third while the next batter, Jancarlos Cintron, was up to bat. Cintron would double scoring Caballero. The next batter, Mark Karaviotis singled, scoring Cintron and making the score 7-1.

A Kane County Cougars 3 @ Quad City Bandits 4

When starter Jackson Goddard exited the game after the top of sixth with a 3-0 lead, it looked Kane County had this one in the bag. This was a game that Kane County probably would have and should have won, had it not been for some costly baserunning mistakes, defensive miscues

Geraldo Perdomo got the Cougars on the board with a one out solo homer in the first inning, to give starter Jackson Goddard the lead before he was even handed the ball. Goddard pitched five shutout innings, allowed just two hits, picked off a runner at first and walked none while striking out four. Before Goddard exited the game for Ethan Larrison in the sixth, the Cougars would add two more runs to make the score 3-0, setting Goddard up for a win. Alex King would walk, and Jose Herrera singled, but Tra Holmes grounded into a fielder’s choice, with King out at home. A wild pitch would advance both runners to second and third, setting things up perfectly for Geraldo Perdomo to be at the center of the action once again. Perdomo hit a line drive double, scoring both runners, but after an Andy Yerzy strike out, Perdomo would get caught stealing third, ending the inning.

Those little things likely cost Kane County the game, as Larrison pitched two innings, and allowed a run to score in both. Wesley Rodriguez would pitch the eighth inning and allowed the tying run to score. Ryan Miller pitcedh the ninth inning, and after a quick fly out, allowed a double. The following batter reached thanks to a fielding error from second baseman Eddie Hernandez, putting runners on first and third. A mound visit later, and Miller would allow a single on the first pitch to the very next batter, scoring the running from third, and ending the game.