Both the Isotopes and the Quakes walked off with victories on Thursday, while Great Lakes also picked up a one-run win in Dayton.
Minor League Player of the Day – Matt Magill - 8 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 10 K's. Magill's strikeout numbers had been down a bit this season, but that changed on Thursday as he K'd out 10 over 8 brilliant innings. He didn't get the win, but it was a great rebound game for Matt who hadn't been at his best over his previous two starts.
AAA – Jamie Hoffmann was the first batter in the bottom of the 9th inning for the Isotopes, and with the score tied at 2 he hit a walk-off homer on the 8th pitch of his at bat to lift Albuquerque over the Reno Aces (Dbacks). For Hoffmann it was his 8th jack of the year, and his 2nd hit of the game. The only other Tope to have a notable game at the plate was Dee Gordon, who went 2 for 3 to raise his average to .321 and stole his 15th base of the season. Starting pitcher Dava Eveland kept his team in the game with 8 strong innings, but the win went to Travis Schlichting who threw a shutout 9th despite allowing 2 hits.
AA – Off day
HiA – The Quakes tied the game in the bottom of the 9th on a Rawhide error, then a Jake Lemmerman single in the bottom of the 10th gave the Quakes the organization's second walk-off win of the day as Rancho Cucamonga defeated Visalia (Dbacks) 3 to 2. The win was the perfect way to end the night for starter Matt Magill, who had his best start of the season. Magill threw 8 innings and struck out 10, giving up 5 hits and 1 run. His offense was quiet for most of the game, however, so he left the game with the score tied at 1. Shawn Tolleson came into the game in the 9th and actually allowed a home run, which was his first earned run of the season. After the Quakes bailed out Tolleson with a run in the bottom of the 9th, Shawn came out again in the 10th and threw a shutout inning, so even though he gave up the homer Tolleson ended up striking out 4 and picking up the win. In addition to Lemmerman's walk-off RBI single, Griff Erickson went 2 for 3 and Angelo Songco had a double in 4 at bats.
LoA – The Loons only had 5 hits on Thursday, but they made each of them count as Great Lakes scored 4 times and defeated the Dayton Dragons (Reds) 4 to 3. Christian Lara drove in 3 of the 4 runs with a homer, and Michael Pericht had the other RBI with a solo jack of his own. Leon Landry also had a big game, going 2 for 4 with a double and his 12th stolen base of the year. Ryan Christenson was the starter for the Loons and he gave up just 1 run over 5 innings while striking out 5. It was Ryan's fourth straight start in which he's allowed 1 run or less, which has lowered his ERA to 3.27 for the season. Brett Montgomery gave up 1 run in 2.1 innings of work, then Pete Budkevics struggled through the final 1.2 frames (2 hits, 3 walks, and a run allowed) but picked up his 4th save of the year.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)