The Diamondbacks Minor League affiliates combined for a 3-1 record.
AA Game 1: Amarillo Sod Poodles 10, Frisco RoughRiders 9 (F/7)
This game started off as a slugfest, as both starters were knocked out after 3 innings. Tommy Henry allowed 7 runs in his start as he got blasted for 8 hits and 2 home runs in his outing. The offense was able to match blow for blow in this game, putting up back to back 4-run innings in the 2nd and 3rd. Amarillo went 6 for 11 with runners in scoring position in the game. Dominic Miroglio’s 3-run homer in the 3rd inning would also provide an 8-7 lead that held up until the 6th inning. After scoreless relief from Blake Workman, Blake Rogers would cough up the lead in the 6th.
Undeterred by the 9-8 deficit they faced, Amarillo would rally in the 9th. Geraldo Perdomo would single to lead off the inning before scoring on Stone Garrett’s double to tie the game. After a strikeout and stolen base, the winning run was only 90 feet away with Dominic Fletcher at the plate. Fletcher would roll a ball through the right side of the infield to complete the comeback.
AA Game 2: Amarillo Sod Poodles 3, Frisco RoughRiders 0 (F/7)
Game 2 presented itself more as a pitcher’s duel, as it took good defense to keep Frisco off the board in this game. Eduardo Diaz would gun down two runners attempting to score in this one, as Amarillo pitchers were able to escape jams inning after inning despite having 11 runners on base. Geraldo Perdomo would give the Sod Poodles the lead on an RBI single to center to score Jancarlos Cintron. The one run was enough for Kenny Hernandez, who pitched 5 scoreless innings in this start.
In the 5th, Amarillo was able to triple their lead when Cintron struck for a 2-run homer, scoring Lyle Lin ahead of him. The home run gave the bullpen a nice and comfortable lead to work with, as Tyler Jones and Matt Brill had to pitch around traffic to provide scoreless innings to close it out.
High A: Hillsboro Hops 3, Vancouver Canadians 2
A key error by Vancouver allowed Hillsboro to take a 3-0 lead in the top of the 5th. After a Cam Coursey walk, stolen base, and an Axel Andeuza single opened up the inning with runners on the corners with no outs, an E-6 allowed both runners to score. The third run of the inning came on a sacrifice fly by Ronny Simon to score Nick Dalesandro, who reached on said error. That was all the runs that Hillsboro would score and all they would need, as Justin Vernia allowed just 1 run in 6 innings on the mound. Things would get a bit hairy in the 9th, as three singles to start the inning as well as some suspect pitching would put the winning runs in scoring position. Fortunately the 3rd out was recorded on a strikeout to hold off the late charge and allowed Hillsboro to escape with a win.
Low A: Visalia Rawhide 4, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 5
Visalia would find themselves trailing 4-0 after two innings, but rallied back to tie the game in the 3rd. Ryan Bliss would put the Rawhide on the board with a 2-run homer in the 3rd and an error in the outfield would allow two more runs to score in the inning. The scoring would be capped there for quite a bit, as both teams stopped adding extra baserunners with bad defense. Visalia struggled to capitalize with their attempts with runners in scoring position with a 1 for 6 clip. The game would remain tied until the bottom of the 9th when a 2-out single by Yeiner Fernandez would touch down in center field and score the winning run from 3rd.