The Isotopes had Sunday off so unfortunately there is no Jerry Sands update, but there were other prospects who stepped up and helped the Dodger affiliates win all 3 of their games.
Minor League Player of the Day – Nate Eovaldi - 5 IP, 8 K's, 2 hits, 2 BB's, 0 runs. At just 21 years old Eovaldi is the youngest active player on the Lookouts roster and is also one of the youngest players in the Southern League, but on Sunday he didn't show his age as he dominated Birmingham hitters. I know some people want Eovaldi in the bullpen, but until he proves otherwise I think he should be kept in the rotation.
AAA – Off day
AA – The Lookouts were limited to just 1 run and 3 hits through 6 innings in Birmingham on Sunday, but broke out in a big way in the 7th and went on to beat the Barons (White Sox) 7 to 2. After a double, a single, and 2 walks had already plated one run in the 7th, Alfredio Silverio came up with the bases juiced and unloaded to left field on the 2nd pitch he saw from right hander Johnnie Lowe. Silverio also had a sac fly in the 9th inning to give him 5 RBI's on the night. Nobody else did anything exciting on offense except for Elian Herrera, who went 2 for 4 with a double and a triple. On the mound, however, there was a lot of excitement as Nate Eovaldi worked 5 scoreless innings and struck out 8 while allowing just 4 baserunners (2 hits, 2 walks). I'm not sure how hard he was throwing, but from the looks of it he had his plus stuff all day. Cole St. Clair allowed his first runs of the season in relief, but Josh Wall, Mario Alvarez, and Justin Miller combined to allow just 1 hit over the final 3.1 innings to shut the door on Birmingham.
HiA – After leading for most of the game on Sunday, the Quakes got a bit of a scare when Luis Vasquez couldn't find the plate in the 9th, but luckily Steven Ames was able to bail out his bullpen buddy and Rancho Cucamonga ended up with a 5 to 3 victory over the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres). Leading 5-2 entering the 9th after a masterful performance from Matt Magill, Vasquez hit a batter, walked a guy, got an out on a deep fly ball to left, then walked 2 more to force in a run. That was all Juan Bustabad could handle as he opted to go with the more accurate Ames, and the move paid off as Steven struck out both batters he saw to end the game and pick up his 4th save. Getting back to Magill's performance, Matt entered the game in the 2nd after Vicente Padilla's rehab appearance and kept the Storm hitters off balance all night, giving up 6 mostly harmless hits while striking out 6. He picked up his 2nd win and now has an ERA of 0.75 in his first 12 innings of 2011. On the offensive side of the ball, Travis Denker hit a line drive 3-run homer for his 3rd jack in two days, and Austin Gallagher went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
One additional note is that I was actually at this game, and will have a separate post in the next few days which will go into more detail about the stadium and the performances I saw out of the Dodger prospects. The one thing I will say here is that Padilla didn't really look too bad as he seemed to have good control of all his pitches, including his eephus which he thew once. He got his fastball up to 91 mph (although the radar gun was said to be 3 mph slow so really that's probably 94 mph), and both hits he allowed were grounders between 3rd base and shortstop. Even still, he looked a little disappointed when he walked off the mound so another minor league outing will be good for him.
LoA – The Loons used solid pitching and timely hitting to beat the Fort Wayne TinCaps (Padres) on Sunday 4 to 2. Great Lakes starting pitcher Red Patterson threw 6 innings and allowed just 3 hits for the 2nd start in a row, so he has now made up for the pounding he took on opening day. Pete Budkevics allowed a run in relief, then Shawn Tolleson came in and picked up his league leading 5th save of the year. This outing from Tolleson wasn't quite as sharp as his previous four, however, as he allowed a hit and a walk and only recorded 2 of the 3 outs via strikeout. Slacker. Speaking of slackers, Jonathan Garcia only recorded one extra base hit in this game, although I guess I'll give him some credit since the hit was his 6th homer of the year. Michael Pericht was probably the best Loon hitter of the night as he went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)