The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates combined for a 3-1 record. Reno, Amarillo, and Hillsboro all picked up close wins thanks to good pitching early on and opportunistic offenses. Josh Green, Tommy Henry, and Slade Cecconi took the mound for their respective teams last night.
Top Pitching Performance: Reno RHP Josh Green - 7 2⁄3 IP, 8 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-1)
Top Hitting Performance: Amarillo 2B Mikey Reynolds - 1 for 4, GS (4), 2 BB, K
AAA: Reno Aces 2, Tacoma Rainiers (SEA) 1
A rare pitcher’s duel in the Pacific Coast league occurred, albeit it happened in Tacoma as opposed to Reno, as Josh Green would outduel Darren McCaughan. Josh Green gave up only one run in 7 2⁄3 innings as his trusty sinker helped include 12 groundouts and 4 of them turning into double plays. He didn’t get much run support, but what he got ended up proving to be enough.
Reno would break this stalemate of a game by jumping ahead in the 5th. Catcher Michael De La Cruz would open up the 5th with a solo home run to break the seal. After a couple outs, back-to-back doubles by Ildemaro Vargas and Seth Beer would bring home a second and critical run in the game. After giving up 3 singles in the 8th, Green gave way to Junior Garcia, who would allow both inherited runners to get into scoring position with a wild pitch. Fortunately he was able to experience less issues retiring the hitter, forcing a ground ball to 3rd to close out the inning. The 9th inning was less dramatic, as Miguel Aguilar would retire the side in order with a pair of punchouts.
1B Seth Beer: 2 for 4, 2B, RBI, K
CF Jake McCarthy: 0 for 4, 1 K
RF Stuart Fairchild: 2 for 3, BB, K
AA: Amarillo Sod Poodles 9, Wichita Wind Surge (MIN) 5
This game started off as a pitcher’s duel, although Amarillo was able to open up this game late. Both Tommy Henry and Chris Vallimont were wild in the game, each issuing 5 walks, but kept runs off the board. Henry would be charged with 1 run on 3 hits, the aforementioned 5 walks, and 4 strikeouts in 4 2⁄3 innings before getting pulled in favor of Blake Workman. Workman would retire all 7 hitters he faced, with a couple strikeouts. While the pitching staff was keeping runs off the board, Amarillo was able to build a small lead. In the first Renae Martinez would single home Alek Thomas, who walked to open up the game. In the 5th, Stone Garrett would break a 1-1 tie with a home run to left-center.
After Workman’s job was done in the 7th, the offense went to work to putting this game away. The inning started off with a pair of walks and a hit batter to load the bases with 1 out. Jancarlos Cintron would drive home the first run of the inning on a ground ball to 2B. Then with 2 outs, Dominic Miroglio was hit with Buddy Kennedy pinch running for him afterwards. Not sure if it’s an injury, but never a good sign. The next batter, Mikey Reynolds, would cash in on this opportunity with a back-breaking grand slam to make it a 7-1 game. However Amarillo was not done in the inning. Tra Holmes would single and steal 2nd before Thomas drew his 3rd walk of the game to render that moot. After a pitching change, Dominic Fletcher would drive home both with a double to right. Stone Garrett would put up another single, but a good play by 2B Spencer Steer would prevent a 10th run from scoring.
With the massive lead, Ryan Weiss would pitch the 8th. He would be able to put up a zero, working around a walk while picking up a strikeout. The 9th inning proved to be a bit difficult problem. Joe Jones came in and allowed the first 4 batters to reach base, the 4th hitter driving out a 3-run homer. After the homer, Jones would record three groundouts to finish the game.
CF Alek Thomas: 0 for 2, 3 BB, 2 R
LF Dominic Fletcher: 2 for 4, 2B, BB, 2 RBI, R, K
LHP Tommy Henry: 4 2⁄3 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 5 BB, 4 K
High A: Hillsboro Hops 4, Eugene Emeralds (SFG) 2
Slade Cecconi was erratic but was decent at keeping runs off the board nonetheless. Cecconi would allow 7 hits and 3 walks in the game, but 5 strikeouts and good situational pitching limited the damage to 2 runs in 4 2⁄3 innings. The bullpen would pick him up, allowing only three baserunners, 2 hits and 1 walk, in 4 1⁄3 scoreless relief. Hillsboro fell behind 2-0 in the 3rd, but would counter with two in the 4th and 5th innings to take a 4-2 lead.
The bottom of the 4th started with a leadoff walk by Dominic Canzone. Canzone would eventually get up to 3rd in the next AB, stealing 2nd and advanced to 3rd on a balk. A strikeout would only serve as a temporary setback, as Spencer Brickhouse would bloop a ball into shallow left followed by a double by Blaze Alexander on an 0-2 count to tie the game. After a scoreless 5th inning that saw Cecconi get pulled, but no damage allowed overall, Hillsboro would open with another walk with the runner getting to 3rd with 1 out. Jorge Barrosa would hit a double to right to score Reece Hampton from 3rd to take a 3-2 lead. After a pitching change, Barrosa would swipe 3rd and score on a groundout to 2B.
With the lead, the bullpen took care of business. After recording the final out of the 5th, Jones would retire the side in the 6th with no issues. Wesley Rodriguez would come in for the 7th and 8th innings, pitching around 2 singles and recording 3 strikeouts. Mailon Arroyo would take care of the 9th, retiring the side in order with a strikeout in order to pick up the save.
SS Blaze Alexander: 1 for 3, 2B, BB, RBI, K
RHP Slade Cecconi: 4 2⁄3 IP, 7 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 5 K
Low A: Visalia Rawhide 1, Modesto Nuts (SEA) 8
You only need to look past the 2nd inning in the box score to figure out what happened. Adrian Del Moral got slapped around in this game, giving up 7 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts in 3 2⁄3 innings. After 4 innings, Visalia would find themselves trailing 8-0.. In the bottom of the 6th, Visalia was able to knock Sam Carlson out of the game and plate a run on a Lyle Lin sacrifice fly.
RF Jeferson Espinal: 1 for 2, 2 BB, R, K