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The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates combined to a 1-3 record, with Hillsboro being the only team to pick up a win. Notable pitching pr4ospects to take the mound include Josh Green for Reno, Luis Frias for Amarillo, and Blake Walston for Hillsboro. Here’s how they fared:
Top Pitching Performance: Hillsboro LHP Blake Walston - 8 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 11 K
Top Hitting Performance: Amarillo CF Alek Thomas - 2 for 4, HR (6), RBI, 2 R
AAA: Reno Aces 3, Oklahoma City Dodgers 10
Reno’s offense was shut down and a bad bullpen performance cost them a chance to win. Josh Green would surrender 3 home runs and 4 runs in 5 innings with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Trailing 4-0 in the 5th, Henry Ramos was able to drive home two on a single after the bases were loaded. That’s where the bullpen came into play, as the Dodgers slapped around Jordan Weems and Stefan Crichton for the final 6 runs.
AA: Amarillo Sod Poodles 3, Frisco RoughRiders 7
The game could not have started any better as Jack’s Anti powers resulted in Alek Thomas leading off the bottom of the first with a homer. Luis Frias got hit around a bit, but was able to give the team 7 roughly competitive innings, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits, 2 walks, and 9 strikeouts. He left the game trailing 4-3. The Sod Poddles would not threaten much late in the game and Levi Kelly would surrender a back-breaking 3-run homer in the 8th inning.
High A: Hillsboro Hops 3, Eugene Emeralds 2
Blake Walston’s outstanding start combined with a well-timed home run by Dominic Canzone was enough for Hillsboro to fight off Eugene. Walston would only surrender 2 hits, one a solo homer, with one walk and a career high 11 strikeouts. Hillsboro would score all three runs in the 5th inning. Back to back doubles by Cam Coursey and Jorge Barrosa would precede the Canzone home run, which gave Walston a big enough lead to work with. Yaramil Hiraldo would replace Walston in the 9th and would retire the first two hitters. Unfortunately the final out would not prove easy, as Hiraldo would surrender hits to the final three hitters they faced. On the third hit, left fielder Eduardo Diaz would nab the potential tying run out at the plate for the final out of the game.
Low A: Visalia Rawhide 10, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 18
New team, same result as Visalia’s games pretty much have become a mad lib these days. Adrian Del Moral would cough up 8 runs in 3 innings. The bullpen would get equally as crushed, although two errors led to 7 unearned runs scoring. When you give up that many unearned runners, everyone sucks. On the flip side, the offense came to life in this game, going 5 for 12 w/ RISP and plating 10 runs. Unfortunately the bad bullpen would make a potential comeback bid too difficult to attempt, as Visalia trailed 18-5 in the 7th.