There won't be a hot/cold minor league player of the week again due to the MLB draft happening today, but here is a quick update as to where the Dodger minor league teams stand with the 1st half of the season winding down:
Albuquerque Isotopes: 31 - 25, 2nd place in the PCL American South Division and 1.5 games behind the division leading Round Rock Express
Chattanooga Lookouts: 26 - 31, 4th place in the SOU North Division and 10 games behind the division leading Tennessee Smokies
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes: 32 - 25, 1st place in the CAL South Division and 3.5 games ahead of the High Desert Mavericks
Great Lakes Loons: 31 - 26, 2nd place in the MID Eastern Division and 2 games behind the division leading Lansing Lugnuts
Minor League Player of the Day – Travis Denker - 2 for 4, 2 HR's, 2 Runs, 3 RBI's. Denker crushed a couple of homers to tie Blake Smith for the Dodgers minor league lead at 12. The 25 year old is definitely the veteran of the Quake team, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he has 6 homers, 14 RBI's, and a 1.396 OPS over his past 10 games.
AAA – The Isotopes lost their starting pitcher and the game on Sunday in an 8 to 2 defeat to the Round Rock Express (Rangers). Starter Alberto Bastardo left the game in the 1st inning due to a sprained ankle, then Francisco Felix allowed 7 runs in 3.1 innings of relief. Mario Alvarez and Adam Dedeaux finished off the final 4.1 frames of the game and were actually extremely effective as they gave up just 2 hits without allowing a run. Albuquerque managed just 4 hits at the plate, with JD Closser's 7th homer being their big blow of the day. Trayvon Robinson and Eugenio Velez both had doubles, and Dee Gordon had a single to round out the base knocks.
AA – The Lookouts hung 10 runs on the Carolina on Sunday with a 10 to 4 defeat of the Mudcats (Reds). 2nd baseman Elian Herrera had the big day with 4 RBI's, while Alfredo Silverio and Scott Van Slyke both collected two doubles each. Starting pitcher Will Savage went 7 strong innings and allowed just 4 hits to pick up his 6th win of the year, and he gave up just 4 hits and struck out 5. Youngster Joel Lima allowed a hit and an unearned run in an inning of relief, while Steve Ames threw a shutout frame to close out the game.
HiA – Matt Magill held Bakersfield in check through 8 innings as the Quakes burned the Blaze 6 to 1 on Sunday. Magill gave up 7 hits and struck out just 3, but he limited Bakersfield to just 1 run over 8 innings of work. It was a strong rebound performance for Matt after he had allowed 15 runs over his previous 8.2 innings. Steve Smith pitched the final inning of the game and was perfect. At the plate, Travis Denker did most of the damage as he connected on a couple of homers and collected 3 RBI's. Griff Erickson also crushed a homer, his 4th, and collected a double to increase his OPS to .973 for the season. Center fielder Nick Buss also hit a long ball, his 2nd of the year.
LoA – Great Lakes was outhit by Peoria 9 to 7, but that didn't really matter as the Loons pulled out a 6 to 2 victory over the Chiefs (Cubs). Garrett Gould allowed 8 base-runners in 5 innings of work, but both runs that scored against him were unearned and the All-Star picked up his 6th win of the season. Gould struck out 4, and while watching the broadcast I heard that he had a fastball reading of 95 mph. Minor league veteran Ryan Acosta threw 3 innings of shutout relief, and Logan Bawcom worked around 3 baserunners in the 9th to pitch a scoreless inning. On offense, Bobby Coyle connected on a double and his 3rd homer of the season to drive in a couple of runs. Leon Landry also collected a couple of RBI's on a single in the 7th inning.
DSL – Must be crazy weather in the Dominican Republic as the DSL Dodgers were rained out for the 3rd day in a row.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)