Thursday July 29th
The Diamondbacks Minor League system went 3-1 on Thursday, with Reno and Visalia picking up wins.
AAA: Reno Aces 6, Sacramento River Cats 5
Tyler Gilbert would provide a strong start for Reno, allowing just 3 singles and 2 walks while striking out 10 in 6 innings. The strong start allowed Reno to build a lead and withstand a late surge from Sacramento. Reno would score in the 4th-8th innings in various way. Home runs by Henry Ramos and Christian Lopes helped. Leadoff man Jake McCarthy would go 5 for 6 in the game as well as 3 stolen bases to give Reno multiple changes to score throughout the game. Reno had a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the 7th before handing the ball to the bullpen, which nearly turned into a disaster. Shane Carle would allow one run in the 7th and 3 runs in the 8th before getting lifted for Brandyn Sittinger, who would record the final 5 outs.
AA: Amarillo Sod Poodles 3, San Antonio Missions 10
The first 6 innings of the game looked fine, as Amarillo was on the right side of a pitching duel between Matt Tabor and Osvaldo Hernandez. That came to an end in the 6th inning, as Tabor and Tyler Jones would allow 7 runs to score. Tabor falling off in the 6th came as a shock as he had been cruising up to that point. Two of Amarillo’s 3 runs would come off solo homers, hit by Dominic Fletcher and Mikey Reynolds.
High A: Hillsboro Hops 6, Tri-City Dust Devils 1
Justin Vernia would allow 1 run in 5 innings, while the offense went to work in the 6th inning to take this one to the finish line. The first two runs of the game came off solo homers by Spencer Brickhouse and Eduardo Diaz, both hitting their 8th of the season. After it looked like Hillsboro was going squander a 2nd and 3rd with no outs situation thanks to a bizarre double play that had two runners make outs at 2nd, a wild pitch followed by the next four hitters reaching allowed them to turn it into a 5-run inning. Hillsboro’s only two hits with a runner in scoring position occurred in the inning.
Low A: Visalia Rawhide 6, Stockton Ports 3
Marcos Tineo pitched into the 7th inning, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, 0 walks, and 10 strikeouts. While Tineo opened up the game with six straight zeros, the offense was able to build a quick 5-0 lead. Ronny Simon kicked off the scoring with a 2-run homer in the 1st. Visalia also took advantage of some wild pitching, benefitting from 5 of them in the game and an error to pick up some runs. The bullpen was able to retire the final 7 hitters in the game to take this one home.
Friday July 30th
The Diamondbacks affiliates went 1-4 on Friday, with the one win coming from a split doubleheader for Hillsboro.
AAA: Reno Aces 4, Sacramento River Cats 7
Reno’s offense would come around slowly, which put them in a big hole early. Kevin McCanna allowed 4 runs in 4 2⁄3 innings before getting lifted for Matt Gage. Jesus Liranzo would come in for the 6th inning and would surrender 3 critical insurance run. Seth Beer tried his best to get Reno back in the game with a 2-homer game, but a 7-1 deficit was too big to overcome in this game.
AA: Amarillo Sod Poodles 5, San Antonio Missions 5 (F/11)
This game began as a pitcher’s duel between Adrian Martinez and Ryne Nelson. Nelson would allow a solo homer in 5 1⁄3 innings with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. Amarillo would find themselves in a 2-0 hole going into the bottom of the 9th and would come back to tie it there on RBI singles by Stone Garrettt and Buddy Kennedy. Both teams would plate 3 runs in the 10th inning, as Amarillo got home runs by Renae Martinez and Osvaldo Abreu to extend the game further. Unfortunately Blake Rogers would surrender a 2-run homer in the 11th inning with Amarillo not being able to answer in the bottom half.
High A: Hillsboro Hops 5, Tri-City Dust Devils 2 (Game 1)
Drey Jameson would allow 2 runs in a 7 inning start, just needing 85 pitches to complete the first game of the 7-inning doubleheader. The game was close until Hillsboro pulled ahead in the 5th inning with a 4-run outburst. Trailing 2-1 entering the inning, a pair of singles followed by a forceout at 2nd put runners on the corners with 1 out. Spencer Brickhouse would lift a sac fly to left to score the tying run. After a pair of walks would load the bases, Axel Andueza cleared the bases for the decisive score.
High A: Hillsboro Hops 1, Tri-City Dust Devils 7 (Game 2)
Josh McMinn got blasted in tthis game, surrendering 6 runs and recording one out in the game, as Hillsboro trailied 7-0 after the top of the first. There wasn’t much scoring the rest of the game, as Hillsboro was limited to 3 singles and 3 walks in Game 2. Danny Oriente’s RBI single was the only hit with a runner in scoring position that Hillsboro had.
Low A: Visalia Rawhide 4, Stockton Ports 5
Visalia would let an otherwise winnable game slip right through their fingers. Avery Short was able to rebound with 3 runs in 5 innings with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts in this start, which gave Visalia a chance to come from behind. They did that, as the Rawhide picked up back to back 2-run innings in the 4th and 5th. Mason Berne would drive home the first two with a 2-run homer. In the 5th it was Alexander Hernadez hitting a home run followed by an RBI double by Ronny Simon that made it 4-3. That lead would hold until the 9th, when Enmanuel Acosta would fail to retire any of the two hitters he faced, surrendering a walk-off 2-run homer to Danny Bautista Jr.