There were a couple of solid performances by recently signed international players on Monday. One was my minor league player of the day, and the other is buried further down in my DSL recap.
Minor League Player of the Day – Raydel Sanchez - 6 IP, 0 Runs, 3 hits, 11 K's. We found out in Monday's bankruptcy papers that Sanchez signed with the Dodgers for $125K, and in his start later that day he made that money stand up with a gem of a performance. The Cuban was almost untouchable for 6 innings, and I'm pretty sure his 11 K's are the most by a Dodger minor leaguer this season for an outing of 6 frames or less.
AAA – Albuquerque played a 15 inning marathon on Monday, but after 4 hours and 52 minutes the Isotopes finally lost 6 to 5 on a walk-off single by the Cubs. It was a rough night for a couple of offensive players, including Trayvon Robinson who went 0 for 7 with 4 strikeouts. Jerry Sands went 1 for 4 with a double and 3 walks, and Eugenio Velez had 3 hits in 6 at bats. John Ely threw 6 innings and allowed 4 runs, but it was the relievers who actually shined in this game despite allowing the winning run to score. Merkin Valdez, David Pfeiffer, and Jon Link combined to allow 3 hits over 6 innings while striking out 7.
AA – The Lookouts had to withstand a furious 9th inning comeback attempt, but in the end they were able to hold off the Suns (Marlins) 9 to 6. Chattanooga cruised to a 9 to 1 lead through 8 innings in a game that was led by the team's main offensive prospects. Brian Cavazos-Galvez went 3 for 4 with a homer and 2 RBI's, while Kyle Russell went deep for the 16th time this season. Alfredo Silverio also homered in this game while Scott Van Slyke doubled and collected 2 runs batted in. Starter Michael Antonini was great as he gave up only 4 hits and 1 run over 6 innings while striking out 8. Ethan Martin made his AA debut and was his usual self because he walked 2 batters, but neither scored which is good news. Cole St. Clair tossed 1.1 perfect innings to lower his ERA to 0.73, but then a few hits and a few errors led to Wilkin De La Rosa giving up 5 unearned runs in the 9th. After throwing 29 pitches, De La Rosa was removed for Josh Lindblom who got the final out and picked up his 9th save of the season.
HiA – The Quakes lost their first game of the 2nd half on Monday as they were defeated by the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) 6 to 5. Red Patterson made is California League debut and was immediately touched up for 3 runs in the 1st inning, and in total allowed 9 base-runners and 5 runs (3 earned) over 5 frames. Patterson did strike out 6 and kept his team in the game as he left with the score tied, but Javy Solano picked up the loss in relief as he gave up the eventual winning run in the 7th. At the plate, the two catchers on the team hit back to back big flies as JT Wise (the DH for the day) went yard first and then was followed by Griff Erickson's 6th homer of the season. Nobody else did much at the plate, and that includes Rafael Furcal who led off and went 0 for 4 with 2 K's.
LoA – The Loons were outhit 11 to 5 on Monday, but they were still able to come up with the 4 to 3 victory in walk-off fashion over the Hot Rods (Rays). It wasn't a glamorous walk-off as the winning run scored on a fielding error on a grounder by Jonathan Garcia, but it was a exciting game nonetheless. Jessie Bosnik homered earlier in the game and had 2 RBI's, while Casio Grider went 2 for 3. Starter Ryan Christenson got knocked around a bit for 8 hits over 5 innings, but he didn't walk a batter and limited the damage against him as he gave up only 1 earned run. Logan Bawcom threw the final two frames and allowed just a single hit as he recorded the victory.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors quieted the Casper Ghosts (Rockies) 7 to 0 on Monday behind the stellar pitching performance from Raydel Sanchez. The right-hander from Cuba was worth every cent of his $125K signing bonus in his 2nd start of the season as he scatter just 3 hits over 6 innings and struck out 11. Matt Shelton followed in relief and struck out 3 in 2 shutout innings, then Mike Drowne completed the shutout with a hitless 9th. The Ogden offense was actually led by recently promoted 2nd baseman Enlly Morales, who went 3 for 4 with a double and RBI. Scott Schebler also had a decent game as he tripled and had 2 hits in 4 at bats. James Baldwin only had 1 hit on the night, but he still managed to reach base in 4 of his 5 plate appearances due to errors and a HBP and even collected a couple of RBI's.
Rookie Arizona – The Arizona Dodgers crushed the Padres 13 to 6 on Monday in what was can only be described as an all around team effort. Every player in the Dodger lineup had at least 1 hit, and 6 guys had multi-hit games. Even though most of the hits were singles, it was still a good show put on by the rookie team. Joe Winker went 3 for 5 with a double, while Chris O'Brien and Jesus Valdez (who by the way was playing 1st base) both had 2 hits and a couple of RBI's. On the mound Jose Dominguez started and had a decent game, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits through 5 innings, but 2 of the 3 relievers struggled as only the rehabbing Andy Suiter threw a shutout frame.
DSL – The Dominican Dodgers defeated the Royals 7 to 1 on Monday in a game that completed early due to rain. Dodger pitching allowed only 2 hits over the 6 inning game, and it started with Ricardo De La Rosa who allowed just 1 hit over 4 innings. The most notable performance of the day, however, belonged to Jonathan Martinez who was just signed by the Dodgers and literally just turned 17 today. He is a 6'1" right-hander from Venezuela and he picked up the win by allowing just 1 hit over the final 2 innings. He may be a guy to watch as the season progresses. At the plate, Webster Rivas went 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI's, while Faustino Oguisten went 2 for 4 and also had a two-bagger.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)
Great Lakes Loons Box Score (LoA)
Ogden Raptors Box Score (Rookie)
Arizona Dodgers Box Score (Rookie)