The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates combined for a 2-2 record last night. Visalia won again, which tied their franchise-best win streak with 12 straight games in a row. That tied a mark set in July 2014, with record keeping in minor league games non-existent prior to 2004.
Here are the stars from last night’s games:
3 Stars: Visalia RHP Justin Vernia 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 4 K, W (1-0)
2 Stars: Jackson 1B Pavin Smith 3 for 5, HR (4), 3 RBI
1 Star: Visalia C Renae Martinez 3 for 3, 2B, BB, RBI, R
0 Stars: Kane County LHP Franklyn Soriano 3+ IP, 4 H, 6 R (4 ER), 4 BB, 3 K, L (2-1)
(AAA) Reno Aces 5, Fresno Grizzlies 9: Jon Duplantier struggled badly in the first inning, allowing 5 straight baserunners to open the game and would have been worse if Tyler Heineman didn’t throw out two runners on the bases. A miscue in right field also contributed to a 3-run inning as Abraham Almonte allowed the ball to get behind him and allow the 2nd and 3rd runs to score. Duplantier would retire the next 7 hitters before exiting the ball game after 3 innings. After Reno (5-14) scored two runs in the bottom of the 3rd to cut the deficit to 3-2, Braden Shipley proceeded to cough up 5 runs in two very poor innings to make the deficit insurmountable and put them behind 8-3. Yasmany Tomas would add a 2-run homer in the 8th, but the game had already been lost before then.
(AA) Jackson Generals 9, Birmingham Barons 0: Matt Peacock scattered 7 hits and 3 walks over 6 innings as he had the ground ball pitch working. Peacock induced 12 groundouts vs. 0 flyouts (GB rate north of 80% on the season to date) in the game, 4 of them producing double plays. The hitters wasted no time to pick up the lead, as a single preceded a 2-run homer by Pavin Smith to give Jackson (11-7) a 2-run lead just two hitters into the game. A 4-run second inning blew open the game early and the team just cruised from there.
(A+) Visalia Rawhide 6, Stockton Ports 1: Early offense and quality starting pitching once again fueled a Visalia (16-4) win. Justin Vernia allowed just 1 run in 7 innings and the Visalia hitters put the game away in the 1st inning again. The win gives Visalia a 12-game win streak, the longest ever recorded win streak in franchise history. Jose Caballero launched a leadoff homer from the second pitch of the bottom of the first and Visalia never look back from there. After a RISP clinic, Visalia took a commanding 4-0 lead after 1. They would tack on two more in the 7th to make the game more lopsided and two shutout innings from the bullpen took the game to the finish line. Caballero would add a pair of stolen bases to the mix as well to give him 13 already on the year and Renae Martinez reached base in all four trips to the plate.
(A) Kane County Cougars 3, Burlington Bees 6: Franklyn Soriano struggled for 3+ innings, surrendering 6 runs (4 earned) on 4 hits and 4 walks. Unfortunately, that dug too deep a hole for Kane County (12-8) to climb out of despite Eduardo Diaz and Geraldo Perdomo’s best efforts. Perdomo drove in 2 runs and Diaz reached base four times with a single, double, HBP, and a walk.