The Dodger minor league teams split the day with 3 wins, 3 losses, and a rainout.
Minor League Player of the Day – Arce Rodriguez - 2 for 3, 2 HR's. I wasn't sure who to chose as the Minor League Player of the Day, but then I saw what A Rod did the DSL game and realized I had to give it to him. It wasn't just that he hit 2 homers, but it was the timing of the bombs as his first one game in the 9th with 2 outs and his team down one, and the second one came in the top of the 11th to give his team the win. I put Rodriguez 130th in my ranking coming into this yearyear, which is pretty respectable given that he played in the DSL. Since he is just 18 maybe he can turn into a decent prospect for us at some point in the future.
AAA – Trayvon Robinson set a new career high with his 18th homer of the season, but it wasn't enough as the Isotopes fell to the Iowa Cubs 10 to 4. For Robinson it was part of a 2-hit night as he also singled and scored a couple of runs. Ivan De Jesus had the only other multi-hit night, while Eugenio Velez hit the team's other homer. I watched part of this game, and Jerry Sands did in fact change his batting stance slightly as his bat no longer rests on his shoulder. He went 1 for 4 on the night. Albuquerque pitching got beat up pretty badly as the staff allowed 17 hits. Starter Tim Sexton lasted 4.2 innings and gave up 8 hits, 4 walks, and 4 runs while striking out only 1. Relievers Joey Newby and Adam Dedeaux also struggled as they combined to allow 6 runs in 2.1 innings.
AA – Postponed
HiA – Every player in the Quakes lineup had a base hit, and Rafael Furcal was the only one without an RBI as Rancho calmed the Storm (Padres) 12 to 4. The offense was so spread out that it's difficult to mention who did the most damage, but I'll give it my best shot. Angelo Songco drove in 3 despite collecting just 1 hit (a double), and Austin Gallagher went 2 for 2 with a double and a RBI. As mentioned Furcal didn't drive in a run, but he did score 3 runs and reached base 3 times on a single and two walks. Starting pitcher Andres Santiago threw 7 outstanding innings, allowing just 4 hits and an unearned run to pick up the win. He's allowed just 1 homer all year, and lowered his ERA to 3.23. Justin Orenduff struggled in relief, but at that point it didn't matter as the game was already well in hand.
LoA – The Loons continued their second half slump on Tuesday as they lost to the Hot Rods 8 to 6. Great Lakes scored 3 early runs on a long home run by Bobby Coyle, but after that they were held scoreless until the late innings when they were already down big. According to the Loons announcers the homer by Coyle, which was hit down the right field line, was one of the furthest bombs he'd seen at Dow Diamond, although his partner said "it wasn't quite in Songco territory". I watched the drive myself live on milb.tv and it was quite impressive. Steven Domecus also homered for Great Lakes, while Leon Landry, Blake Dean, and Christian Lara all doubled. The starting pitcher for the Loons was the recently demoted Greg Wilborn, but he lasted only 3 innings because he isn't quite stretched out and gave up 3 runs. A couple of relievers finished off the game, but they didn't fare too well as they gave up 5 runs over the final 6 innings to put the game out of reach.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors were poised to win a game in which they got excellent pitching, but the Owls (Angels) had other plans as they came back in the 9th and defeated Ogden 3 to 2. Rick Anton started the game and was again impressive as he allowed just a single hit over 3 frames, but as I mentioned last time he had a heavy college workload so his innings are going to be limited in each start. Yimi Garcia came in as the long reliever and was very impressive over 5 innings, allowing just 2 hits and a single run to take a lead into the 9th. Scott McGough then came in to close it out, but he allowed the tying run to score on a couple of singles and a double. To quote the game story by Brandon Hart, the final play went something like this: "With runners on the corners, McGough got Ryan Jones to ground to shortstop. Mirabal stepped on second to force out Larson, but couldn't complete the double play as first baseman Matt Kirkland dropped the throw, allowing Parks to score the winning run." At the plate, the Raptors were pretty quiet for once as they had just 6 hits with only 2 going for extra bases. Charlie Mirabal went 1 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI's, and James Baldwin extended his hit streak to 9 games with a single.
Rookie Arizona – The Arizona Dodgers pounded the Indians 11 to 1 on Tuesday with an all around solid team effort. Japanese teenager Kazuya Takano started the game and was very solid, striking out 5 over 4 innings while allowing just 1 run on 4 hits. Francisco Villa, who was recently signed out of Mexico for $80K, made his 3rd professional appearance out of the bullpen and struck out 4 in two strong innings. Three more relievers finished off the game without allowing a run. Several players were impressive on offense, including Bladimir Franco and Tae-Hyeok Nam who both this their first homer of the year on hit back to back jacks in the 5th inning. Joe Winker went 3 for 5 and finished a homer shy of the cycle, and Delvis Morales had 3 hits and 3 RBI's.
DSL – The Dominican Dodgers played 11 innings on Tuesdsay, and came out a winner as they defeated the Yankees 7 to 6. The hero in this game was clearly Arce Rodriguez, as he homered in the 9th to tie the game, and then put the Dodgers ahead for good in the 11th with another bomb. Juan Garica, who just recently turned 18, also had a good night as he went 3 for 5 with a double. 17 year old Miguel Sulbaran made his 6th start of the year and did OK, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits over 5 innings. Jose Diaz tossed the final 3.2 innings of the game and was outstanding, allowing just 2 hits and striking out 3 to lower his ERA to 0.77 for the season.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)
Great Lakes Loons Box Score (LoA)
Ogden Raptors Box Score (Rookie)
Arizona Dodgers Box Score (Rookie)
Dominican Dodgers Box Score (DSL)
http://firstinning.com/daily/la