Minor League Recap 4/21/19: Bad Day On the Farm

Visalia and Kane County both had a scheduled day off, so only AAA Reno and AA Jackson had games played yesterday. Both Reno and Jackson got beat up pretty bad, with Reno losing by eight runs and Jackson losing by six.

Best Performances

Pitchers: Tyler Mark, RP Jackson 2 IP 1 H 0 runs struck out five out of seven batters faced

TJ McFarland, RP Reno Three batters faced, three strikeouts

Hitters: Andy Young, 2B Jackson 2-5 with home run

Domingo Leyba, 2B Reno 1-3 with a walk and sac fly

Pavin Smith, 1B Jackson 2-5 with a double

Worst Performances

Pitchers: Alex Young, RP Reno 1 IP, 5 Runs, 5 hits, 1 BB, 2 HRS allowed

Bo Takahashi, SP Jackson 4 IP 5 ER, 6 Runs, 7 hits, 2 BB:3 Ks, 1 HR

Justin Donatella, SP Reno 4 IP 5 runs 5 hits 2 BB HBP 5K 3 HRs

Hitters: Yasmany Tomas, LF Reno 0 for 4 3 Ks 3 LOB (most strikeouts out of any Dback minor league hitter, most LOB for Reno hitters)

Tyler Heineman, C Reno 0-4 Passed Ball (most runners left on base)

AAA Reno Aces 2 @ El Paso Chihuahuas 10

Justin Donatella’s rough start began in the first inning. when he gave up back to back singles, followed by a walk to load the bases, and then hit a batter, which forced in the first run of the game. The next batter would hit a sacrifice fly which scored the second run of the inning, but Donatella would get the next two batters out to end the inning. Donatella then gave up a solo homer to the first batter he faced in the second, and two back to back solo homers to the first two batters he faced in the third. After three innings of the Chihuahuas tearing the cover off the ball, Donatella finally pitched a scoreless inning in the fourth. Down five runs, the Aces would finally get some offense going in the top of the fifth inning. Kelby Tomlinson doubled to lead off the inning, and then Justin Donatella would reach on a perfectly placed bunt to the third baseman, which also moved the runner over to third. After a strikeout by Andrew Aplin, Domingo Leyba hit a sacrifice fly that scored Tomlinson, making the score 5-1, but Yasmany Tomas followed with a strikeout to end the threat and the inning.

In the eighth inning, after Andrew Aplin struck out to lead off the inning, Domingo Leyba would draw a walk. Leyba would advance to second due to defensive indifference while Tomas was up to bat. Tomas would strikeout, but Travis Snider would single, putting runners on the corners. Snider would also advance to second due to defensive indifference, Wyatt Mathisen singled, scoring Leyba, and the second run of the game.

Alex Young replaced Donatella for the fifth inning, and quickly set about putting the game completely out of reach. Young allowed back to back home runs to the first two batters he faced, followed by a double and a groundout that moved the runner to third. A single would score the runner from third, then a walk and a sacrifice bunt would put runners on second and third. One last single would score the fourth and fifth runs of the inning, giving El Paso a 10-1 lead.

TJ McFarland, Rubby De La Rosa, and Matt Jones pitched a scoreless inning each. De La Rosa allowed the only hit amongst the three, and both Jones and McFarland pitched perfect innings, though the latter struck out all three batters he faced.

AA Jackson Generals 4 vs Birmingham Barons 10

Bo Takahashi may have had more run support, but he somehow had an even worse start than Justin Donatella. After a strikeout to the first batter he faced, Takahashi gave up a single, and then got the newest baseball player named Luis Gonzalez to line out to right. Unfortunately, Takahashi allowed a home run to the next batter. giving the Barons a 2-0 lead before getting a flyout to end the inning. In the second inning, Takahashi gave up a lead off walk, a single would put runners on the corner, and a ground out would allow another runner to score, making the score 3-0.

The Generals would strike back in the top of the third, with Andy Young knocking the first pitch he saw out of the ballpark. The next batter, Pavin Smith, swatted a line drive double to right, and advanced on a wild pitch to the next batter, Ramon Hernandez, who’d strike out. Daulton Varsho would come through though with a sacrifice fly that would score Smith, but Jazz Chisholm would fly out to right to end the top of the third.

In the bottom of the third inning, Takahashi would run into even more trouble. Takahashi would give up a leadoff single, and he’d get the next batter out on a flyball. The runner on first stole second, and then the real trouble would begin. Back-to-back singles would score two runs, and a fielding error by Pavin Smith would allow a third run to score, making the score 6-2. Takahashi would stop the bleeding there, and would go back out on the mound and pitch a scoreless fourth inning. Bud Jeter would relieve Bo Takahashi, and pitch a scoreless fifth inning.

The sixth inning would prove to be a wild one for both teams. Jazz Chisholm would draw a leadoff walk, Dominic Miroglio would then single putting runners on first and second. Ben DeLuzio would then hit into a fielder’s choice, with Miroglio out at second, putting runners on first and third. Galli Cribbs walked to load the bases. A mound visit, a strikeout, and a pitching change later, the new pitcher would throw a wild pitch that would allow Chisholm to score, and the remaining runners to advance to second and third. Andy Young then went down on strikes to end the inning. Bud Jeter would come out and pitch the bottom of the sixth inning, and would be unable to get any outs. He gave up a lead off single, a wild pitch would allow the runner to advance to second and then walked the next batter. The next runner would actually reach on a sacrifice bunt, loading the bases. A line drive single would score two runs and put runners on first and third, before the manager finally took Jeter out of the game for Daniel Gibson. Unfortunately, Gibson would give up a lead off double, allowing both inherited runners to score, making the score 10-3. Gibson would uncork a wild pitch letting the runner to advance to third, and then walked the batter after, but fortunately was able to get the next three batters out. Tyler Mark pitched two scoreless innings, the seventh and the eighth, allowed just a hit, and struck out five out of the seven batters he faced. The Generals did add another run in the eighth via a single, an error, and a sac fly.