Diamondbacks Minor League Recap 9/4/2019: Playoffs Begin

The first week of September signifies the end of the minor league regular season and the start of the playoffs. Jackson, Visalia, Kane County, and Hillsboro all qualified for the playoffs state-side while the DSL Dbacks2 affiliate continued their playoff series against the Royals’ DSL affiliate.

(AA) Jackson Generals 0, Montgomery Biscuits 4: Jackson’s offense failed to show up for the game, as Paul Campbell and two other relievers shut down the Generals hitters to just 3 hits (1 XBH) and 2 walks for the game. Josh Green turned in a solid performance, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) over 6 innings. Green struck out 5, allowed 6 hits, and walked 1 in the start. Southern League Semi-Finals: Montgomery 1, Jackson 0

(A+) Visalia Rawhide 3, San Jose Giants 1: A 2-run first would allow Visalia to take an early lead in this game. The Rawhide opened up with singles by Geraldo Perdomo, Alek Thomas, and Luis Alejandro Basabe to take a 1-0 lead. Eduardo Diaz would bounce into a force at 2nd to drive home the second run. The run support was enough for Justin Vernia, who allowed just 1 run and struck out 8 in 6 ²⁄₃ masterful innings. Mack Lemieux and Breckin Williams would get the last 8 outs of the game to close it out. Perdomo paced the Visalia lineup with a 4 for 5 day out of the leadoff spot. Cal League North Division Finals: Visalia 1, San Jose 0

(A) Kane County Cougars 3, Clinton LumberKings 7: Levi Kelly would struggle with 5 walks in 3 innings, but kept Clinton off the board although it required 64 pitches (half were strikes). Andy Toelken would pitch a scoreless 4th before giving up a 3-run homer to David Hollins to put KC down 3-0. Singles by Tra Holmes and Dominic Fletcher to lead off the 6th would put the tying run at the plate in the form of Zack Shannon, who hit a massive bomb to left-center field to tie the game at 3-3. Clinton would retake the lead with another 3-run homer, this time off the bat of Kameron Misner. The Cougars struggled to put any offense together for the rest of the game, as they were held hitless after the Shannon homer. Midwest League Quarterfinals: Clinton 1, Kane County 0

(A-) Hillsboro Hops 2, Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 1: The only baserunner Tyler Holton and Nick Snyder would allow was a solo homer in the 4th. Holton allowed the homer, but otherwise struck out 10 over 6 innings. Snyder would finish the game with 3 perfect innings with 3 strikeouts. For a large portion of the game, it was looking like that was going to beat them until late-game heroics from the offense. Corbin Carroll led off the 8th inning with a swinging bunt single to 1B, advanced to second on an error on a pickoff attempt, and scored on an Andy Yerzy single to tie the game. The Hops would walk off the game in the 9th, taking advantage of a fielding miscue and a walk as Liover Peguero smashed a ball to the opposite gap for a double. Northwest League Semifinals: Hillsboro 1, Salem-Keizer 0

(Rk+) Missoula Osprey 5, Billings Mustangs 6 (F/10): We interrupt this postseason baseball for a regular season game in the Pioneer League. Dustin Lacaze would pitch 5 scoreless innings to start the game and left with a 4-0 lead. Tristen Carranza got Missoula on the board with a 4th inning homer and scored 3 more in the 7th between 2 walks and 2 singles. That lead didn’t make it past the bottom of the 7th, as a 2-out throwing error by pitcher Jared Liebelt would load the bases. Denson Hull would serve up a grand slam to the first batter he faced that tied the game at 4-4. The game remained scoreless until the 10th, when Jose Reyes doubled home the free runner to give Missoula a 5-4 lead. The lack of tack-on runs would burn Missoula as Billings would rally for 2 in the bottom half of the 10th to win it.

(Rk-) DSL DbacksTwo 6, DSL RoyalsOne 1: The Dbacks would take an early lead in this game as Deivis Vegas doubled home Ricardo Caldera to make it 1-0. Danyer Sanabria would quadruple the lead with one swing of the bat with a 3-run homer to right. That was enough offensive support for Jheyson Perez, who allowed 1 run and struck out 7 in 4 innings. After the Royals scratched across a run in the 4th, the Dbacks answered with one of their own in the 6th to make it a 4-run lead again. Sanabria would also add his 2nd homer of the game in the 7th to make it the current final score. Mauricio Bascunan would pitch 3 hitless innings with no walks and 3 strikeouts, getting credited with the win. DSL Championship: DbacksTwo 2, RoyalsOne 1