For the 2nd day in a row, the Isotopes were the only Dodger minor league affiliate to pick up a win. The Quakes and Loons came close and Zach Lee had a solid professional debut, but overall it was another disappointing day for the Dodger minor leagues.
Minor League Player of the Day – Justin Sellers - 2 for 4, 2 HR's, 3 RBI's, 1 BB. Zach Lee got consideration for this award because of his solid professional debut, but I gave the honor to Sellers because of the two homers. Sellers has never shown any power in his career except for in the Pacific Coast League, but that shouldn't take anything away from the smallish middle infielder who has generally been know for his defense. Sellers hit 14 homers for the Isotopes last year in just 90 games, so it will be interesting to see what he does over a full season in AAA.
AAA – The Isotopes won their 2nd straight gave over the Storm Chasers (Royals) 10 to 6, despite being out-hit by Omaha 11 to 7. Albuquerque got off to a hot start with 4 runs in the 1st, including a triple by Dee Gordan and an RBI double by Jerry Sands. Justin Sellers was the offensive player of the game, however, as he smacked two homers and drove in three runs. John Lindsay, who had two RBI's, was the only other Isotope player to drive in more than one run in the game. Carlos Monasterios got the start for Albuquerque, but he lasted just 4 innings and gave up 6 runs on 9 hits. Ramon Troncoso was the first reliever out of the bullpen and was outstanding, throwing 3 innings of 1 hit ball to pick up the win. John Link and Ramon Colon then closed out the game with two more shutout innings.
AA – Friday was another unimpressive game for the Lookouts who lost their 2nd straight game to the Smokies (Cubs) 6 to 3. Chattanooga had just 5 hits in the game, two of them coming on singles from 2nd baseman Jaime Pedroza. Kyle Russell and Corey Smith also had a hit each as they both recorded RBI doubles. Michael Antonini was the starting pitcher and picked up the loss as he allowed 10 hits and 5 runs in 5.2 innings. Cole St. Clair was solid out of the bullpen in his 1.1 innings of work, while Josh Lindblom got lucky as he gave up just 1 run in two innings despite allowing 5 base hits.
HiA – The Quakes seemed poised for victory in both the 9th and 12 inning on Friday, but on both occasions the pitching didn't hold up and Rancho Cucamonga ended up losing to the 66ers (Angeles) 7 to 6. Lefty Greg Wilborn was impressive as the starting pitcher as he allowed just 1 run in 5 innings of work while averaging a strikeout per inning, but the bullpen wasn't able to hold the lead as Robert Romero gave up two runs in the 8th and Luis Vasquez blew the game in the 9th. During the extra frames Andy Suiter didn't allow a hit but picked up the loss when he walked a batter and made an error on an attempted sacrifice bunt. Steven Ames allowed the winning run to score in the 12th inning. Rafael Ynoa had the most impressive performance for the Quakes at the plate as he went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's and a stolen base. Angelo Songco was the only other Rancho Cucamonga player that more than 1 hit, and he would have been the hero of the night after he singled in the go ahead run in the top of the 12th inning had the bullpen not blown the save.
LoA – Zach Lee looked very good in his professional debut, and even though he only threw four innings his outing gave some justification to his #1 prospect ranking. Despite walking 3, he seemed to have good control of all of his pitches, and ended up striking out 5 batters (3 looking). According to the Loons announcers and based on what I watched online, Lee showed a 93 mph fastball, a slider (which looked more slurvy to me), and a changeup. Despite Lee's effort, the Loons were unable to come away with the win as they were defeated by the Lake County Captains 2 to 1. The Loons offense basically did nothing in this game as they struck for just 4 total hits. Down by 2 entering the final inning of play, Great Lakes had a chance to tie (or win) the game in the 9th as Christian Lara and Blake Dean opened the inning with back to back doubles, but Nick Akins and Jonathan Garcia struck out before Roman Pena grounded out to end the game.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)