The four Dodger minor league affiliates split the day, while a couple of Dodger prospects had good days on the diamond.
Minor League Player of the Day - Jake Lemmerman - 3 for 5, 2 2B's, 1 HR, 2 RBI's, 1 Run. Nate Eovaldi was also considered for this award, but I gave it to Late Night because he proved that he also has game in the afternoon with 3 extra base hits. The homer was the 3rd of the season, and he has increased his average to a solid .315 for the year.
AAA – The Isotopes didn't get lucky in Las Vegas as they lost to the 51's (Blue Jays) 7 to 4. The starter in this game was Steven Jackson, who was just called up from AA to take the spot of Elbert on the team's roster. Jackson allowed 4 hits, 4 walks, and 4 runs in his 2011 AAA debut in 3.2 innings, and took the loss. The Albuquerque bullpen wasn't much better as Las Vegas added to their lead throughout the night against Francisco Felix and Roman Colon. The offense was lead by John Lindsay who drove in 2 runs with a double and a single. Trent Oeltjen also had 2 hits on the night, while shortstop Juan Castro went 3 for 4 to raise his average to .458 for the season.
AA – It was another early game for Chattanooga on Wednesday, but this time the offense was able to score some runs as the Lookouts baked the Biscuits (Rays) 5 to 2. Starter Nate Eovaldi was magnificent on the mound as he allowed just 1 hit (a solo homer) over 6 innings, and also walked only 1. His strikeout total wasn't overwhelming (3 K's), but he lowered his ERA to 3.38 and his WHIP to 1.19 for the season. Joey Newby allowed a hit in 1.1 shutout innings, then Josh Lindblom threw the final 1.2 innings for the save; also giving up just 1 hit to finish off the three-hitter. The Lookouts scored 5 runs on offense, but hits were spread around so there weren't really any standout performances. Scott Van Slyke went 2 for 4 with a double, while Matt Wallach had 2 hits and an RBi in 3 at bats.
HiA – Starter Greg Wilborn got knocked around for 8 runs for the 2nd straight outing as the 66ers (Angels) did a number on the Quakes in a 11 to 2 Rancho loss. The good news for Wilborn is that he made it through 4.1 innings this time around (compared to 1+ innings in his last start), but at the end of the day it was the 5 walks he allowed that doomed his afternoon. Josh Walter and Robert Romero got hit up for 3 runs in relief, but Andres Santiago was perfect over the final 1.1 innings with 2 K's. The top of the Quakes order provided virtually all of the offense for Rancho on this day as the #1 through 3 batters collected 7 of the team's 9 hits. Nick Buss went 2 for 5, while Angelo Songco had a single and a double in 5 at bats. The player of the day, however, was Late Night Lemmerman who drove in both runs with a homer and 2 doubles.
LoA – The Loons were down by 1 in the 8th, but back to back triples from two unlikely sources gave Great Lakes the lead for good as they defeated the Lugnuts 4 to 3. Tim Sexton was the starter and did very well, beginning the game with 5 shutout innings and in total allowing just 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 7. Logan Bawcom came into the game in the 7th and promptly gave up 2 runs, but in the 8th it was Blake Dean who started the rally with a triple. Nick Akins followed with a 3-bagger of his own, then Bobby Coyle finished up the scoring with an RBI single. The one run lead was all Shawn Tolleson needed to close out the game, although there was a bit of a scare as Tolleson allowed a leadoff double in the 9th. However the next batter popped up a bunt which resulted in a double play, and Shawn then struck out the final batter of the game for the victory.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)