Diamondbacks Minor Leagues Recap 5/6/21: Full House

The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates combined for a record of 2-2. Reno opened up their season with a win, Amarillo would win in extra innings, Hillsboro got dominated, Visalia lost in another slugfest.

Best Pitcher: Reno (AAA) RHP Corbin Martin 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 4 BB, 8 K
Best Hitter: Reno SS Domingo Leyba 2 for 4, 2B, HR (1), 2 RBI, 2 R

AAA: Reno Aces 5, Salt Lake Bees (LAA) 4

Good pitching and the long ball propelled Reno in this game. Corbin Martin was a bit erratic with command, needing 87 pitches to navigate 4 ²⁄₃ innings in his first affiliated ball start since Tommy John surgery. He only allowed 2 hits and struck out 8, but walked 4. It was a somewhat encouraging first game back, but we’ll probably need at least a 5-game sample before we consider him as an option for the MLB rotation.

Reno would take the lead almost immediately as the 2nd batter of the game, Drew Ellis, would crush a ball out to straightaway center field for his first homer of the year. They would pad their lead in the 2nd when Juniel Querecuto, or Cornucopia as edbigghead likes to refer to him, legged out a potential double play ball with runners at the corners. Salt Lake would try to cut into the lead, but the Aces would respond each time. Domingo Leyba crushed a 2-run homer in the 6th and double in a run in the 8th, with Seth Beer scoring on both hits. With a 5-2 lead entering the 9th, Yoan Lopez entered the game and served up another home run. Fortunately he only served up one as he got the final out despite walking 3.

RHP Corbin Martin: 4 ²⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 4 BB, 8 K
1B Seth Beer: 3 for 4, 2 2B, 2 R
LF Stuart Fairchild: 1 for 4

AA: Amarillo Sod Poodles 8, Tulsa Drillers (LAD) 6 (F/10)

A 6-run 3rd would be Amarillo’s only scoring in regulation, although they busted out the whooping sticks. Alek Thomas started the scoring with a 2-run homer to center field. After loading the bases with 1 out, Camden Duzenack was able to leg out a potential double play and it would be huge. The next batter, Stone Garrett, also crushed a homer to center for a 3-run shot to give Amarillo a 6-run lead. That was enough run support for Ryan Weiss, who only allowed a solo HR in 4 innings.

The lead would not last as the bullpen would melt down in the 7th. Justin Lewis would fail to get the first 4 hitters out of the inning, but then got crappy support from Mack Lemieux who allowed both inherited runners to score to tie the game. Things settled down with scoreless 8th and 9th innings to send the game into extra innings. After a pair of unproductive outs, Amarillo would get 3 straight hits to push across 2 runs. Junior Garcia would come in from there and strike out the side on 10 pitches to deny any sort of comeback bid.

RF Alek Thomas: 1 for 5, 2-R HR (1), 3 K
SS Geraldo Perdomo: 2 for 4, 2B, BB, K
CF Dominic Fletcher: 1 for 5, 2 R, K

High A: Hillsboro Hops 1, Everett Aqua Sox 12

Bryce Jarvis made his Minor League debut after being selected in the first round last year and was OK. He stranded 4 singles and 3 walks and 4 strikeouts in 4 scoreless. Hillsboro scored their only run in the 4th when Corbin Carroll single, took second on a wild pitch, and scored on Blaze Alexander’s double to right. Alexander is off to a blazing start and filling up the stat sheet on offense.

The pitching came apart in the 6th. After a scoreless 5th, Denson Hull ran into trouble in the 6th as he only recorded 1 out and allowed 1 run in the inning before getting pulled. Unfortunately, Kai-Wei Lin decided to do his best Yoan Lopez impression and would allow all 3 inherited runners and 5 more additional runs to cross the plate and 7 runs in total before getting pulled with 2 outs in the 7th.

CF Corbin Carroll: 1 for 4, R, 2 K
SS Blaze Alexander: 1 for 3, 2B, BB, RBI, SB
RHP Bryce Jarvis: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K

Low A: Visalia Rawhide 7, Lake Elsinore Storm (SDP) 9

This game more or less followed the script of the first two games. The pitching once again did not get the job done despite solid offensive effort. Visalia would fall behind 4-0 quickly after Justin Martinez scuffled for 2 innings in his full season affiliate debut. The offense would put them back in the game as Jorge Barrosa drove in a run on a double in the 3rd and Danny Oriente singled in 2 in the 4th. Unfortunately the pitching continued to bleed runs, which would become painful as the offense kept having to climb uphill.

RF Wilderd Patino: 2 for 5, 3B, R, 3 K
3B A.J. Vukovich: 0 for 5, K
RHP Justin Martinez: 2 IP, 6 H, 4 R (4 ER), 1 BB, 1 K