Diamondbacks Minor League Recap 4/29-4/30/19: Double Recap Edition

Apparently there was not a recap for Monday’s slate of games so you’re getting double the recaps in this one article. I’ll try to be a bit more brief so the article isn’t insanely long, so you’ll want to check the box scores out for sure.

Monday April 29, 2019

The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates combined to go 1-2 in their games.

These are the stars from Monday night’s games:

Superstar: Visalia Renae Martinez 2 for 5, 2 HR (2, 3), 3 RBI
Not a Star: Visalia RHP Kevin McCanna 2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 5 R (5 ER), 3 BB, 2 K, L (2-1)

(AAA) Reno Aces 3, Las Vegas Aviators 6: Apparently Las Vegas has changed their names again, although I’d prefer if they embraced their main attraction more in the team name. Maybe Las Vegas Blackjacks or something like that, but I digress. Vinny Nittoli took the start for Reno with Jon Duplantier pitching 4 shutout innings for the Dbacks and gave up 2 runs on 2 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Unfortunately, he lost because the offense and bullpen stunk in this game. Tyler Heineman drove in 2 and Yasmany Tomas drove in the 3rd run for Reno, but Robbie Scott and Braden Shipley allowed 4 runs in the 6th-8th innings.

(AA) Jackson Generals 3, Pensacola Blue Wahoos 1: Both teams traded off runs in the first inning as Travis Blankenhorn and Jeffery Baez hit solo homers. For Matt Peacock, he would only allow 1 more hit over the next 3 innings with no walks, a strikeout, and a 9/2 GO/AO ratio. The score remained tied until the bottom of the 7th when Andy Young broke the tie with a 2-run homer. Kevin Ginkel and Michael Kohn retired the final 6 hitters of the game in order although Ginkel did have a walk erased by an inning-ending double play in the 8th.

(A+) Visalia Rawhide 6, Stockton Ports 11: After winning 14 in a row, the Rawhide have dropped 3 straight. Pitching was less than stellar as all three Visalia pitchers allowed at least 2 runs before finishing their outings. Justin Vernia was the victim of an error at 3B, although he had a chance to get out of the 2nd with no damage before allowing 3 runs with 2 outs. Visalia would answer in the 3rd, as three home runs in a 4-batter span gave them a 4-3 lead. Vernia would cough up the lead immediately on a homer to Austin Beck. The game remained tied at 4 until Renae Martinez launched his second homer of the game to give Visalia a 5-4 lead. Unfortunately, Kevin McCanna was terrible and gave up 5 runs in the 6th and 7th innings which put Visalia down too far back although they battled to make it 7-6 in the bottom of the 6th. Kyler Stout continued to the bad pitching theme with 2 runs allowed in the 8th.

Tuesday April 30, 2019

The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates went 2-1 last night.

Here are the stars from last night’s games:

Shining Star: Reno LHP Alex Young 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (2-0)
Starstruck: Visalia RHP Shumpei Yoshikawa 3 IP, 6 H, 5 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 4 K, L (0-1)

(AAA) Reno Aces 4, Las Vegas Aviators 3: Taylor Widener tied his AAA best with 6 strikeouts, but struggled with the pitch count again as he was only able to last 3 ²⁄₃ innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks included in that start. Reno fell behind 3-0 but immediately chipped away. Tim Locastro had an RBI triple in the 3rd and Yasmany Tomas hit a solo homer in the 4th to cut the deficit to 3-2. After three shutout innings of relief from Alex Young, the Aces took the lead in the 6th on a 2-run homer by Juniel Querecuto. Stefan Crichton and Jimmie Sherfy closed out the game with 2 ¹⁄₃ scoreless.

(A+) Visalia Rawhide 3, Stockton Ports 5: Shumpei Yoshikawa’s states debut went south as he allowed 5 runs in the first three innings to put Visalia down 5-0. The offense struggled through the early parts of the game, not scoring until the 5th and would eventually get the trying run to the plate with 2 outs in the 9th, but a ground out finished the game. L.T. Tolbert, Mark Karaviotis, and Alex King had RBI hits in the game.

(A) Kane County Cougars 7, Fort Wayne TinCaps 4: Bryan Valdez allowed 4 runs to score for the first two innings include a 3-run 2nd inning, but settled down and the bullpen putting up zeros for the rest of the game as the offense went to work. The Cougars loaded the bases with no outs in the 4th, but only got two on a pair of forceouts at 2nd. Kane County would take the lead in the 5th on an RBI single by Geraldo Perdomo, RBI groundout by Zack Shannon, and an RBI single by Zachery Almond. RBI singles by Eddie Hernandez in the 6th and Almond again in the 7th would account for the final two runs of the game.