It was an interesting day on Friday as the Quakes won on just 3 hits, while the Arizona Dodgers came back from a big deficit to win on a walk-off double. Overall the Dodger minor league teams split the day again with 3 wins and 3 losses.
Minor League Player of the Day – Arismendy Ozoria - 7 IP, 1 Run, 5 hits, 6 K's. There were a couple of candidates I considered for this award, but I gave it to Ozoria because in my opinion he had the best overall performance. It was the 2nd straight outstanding start for Ozoria, and he seems to have found a groove after he started his season with a couple of rough outings.
AAA – The Isotope hitters had all kinds of trouble with Royals prospect Mike Montgomery on Friday as Albuquerque got shutout by the Storm Chasers 6 to 0. The Topes were limited to just 3 singles in the game and extended their losing streak to 9 games, which ties a franchise record. Jerry Sands went 0 for 4 with 2 K's, while Trayvon Robinson reached base twice via the walk and overall went 0 for 1. Dana Eveland started for Albuquerque and allowed 4 runs on 7 hits through 6 innings. Merkin Velez threw a scoreless inning of relief, and Jon Link gave up the final two runs of the game.
AA – The Lookouts lost to the Jackson Generals (Mariners) 7 to 4 as the Chattanooga offense was never really able to get into a groove. 6 of the team's 8 base knocks were singles, with the only extra base hits coming on doubles by Kyle Russell and Alfredo Silverio. Will Savage started and picked up the loss as he allowed 7 runs on a season high 11 hits. The one bright spot of the night was Cole St. Clair, who threw 2 more scoreless innings to lower his ERA to a miniscule 0.68 for the season.
HiA – The Quakes only had 3 hits on Friday, but somehow they still managed to out-duel the Mavericks (Mariners) 2 to 1. Ramon Jean was responsible for one of the hits and runs as he connected on his 4th homer of the year. The other score was created when with Rafael Furcal singled, stole 2nd, was bunted over to 3rd, and then came home on an Austin Gallagher sacrifice fly. Starter Arismendy Ozoria was outstanding for Rancho as he gave up just 5 hits and 1 run over 7 innings. He walked only 1, and struck out 6. Javy Solano tossed a shutout inning in the 8th, then Steve Smith collected his 6th save of the year despite allowing a couple of runners to reach base in the 9th.
LoA – The Loons got solid pitching and the offense put together a couple of 4 run innings as Great Lakes defeated the Lugnuts (Blue Jays) 10 to 3. Garrett Gould threw 7 strong innings as he allowed 3 runs on 6 hits. He didn't issue a walk, and struck out 7 in route to his lead leading 8th win of the season. Ryan Acosta was perfect for the final 2 frames and picked up the save. Big Chris Jacobs led the Loons' offense with 4 RBI's as he crushed a 3 run homer and singled. Jonathan Garcia also hit one out of the park, a bomb estimated at 434 feet, and had collected 3 RBI's himself. Michael Pericht drove in the other 2 runs with a double and a single.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors outhit the Owls on Friday, but they still came up a couple of runs short as Orem (Angles) beat Ogden 6 to 4. Brandon Martinez started this game and although he had trouble finding the plate and was saddled with the loss, his overall line for the night wasn't too bad. B Mart struck out 5 in 4.2 innings and only allowed 2 earned runs, but as mentioned he was wild and walked 4. Carlos De Aza was perfect in relief for 2.1 innings which kept the Raptors in the game for a while, but Matt Shelton gave up a couple of runs in the 8th the put the game out of reach. At the plate, 3rd baseman Jeff Hunt had his best game of the young season as he went 3 for 3 with a triple to give him an OPS of .931 thus far. Noel Cuevas hit his 2nd homer in as many days, and James Baldwin had a single in the 9th to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Baldwin also stole his 9th base of the season.
Rookie Arizona – The Arizona Dodgers played in a high scoring affair on Friday, and when the dust settled it was the Dodgers who walked-off with a 11 to 10 victory over the Brewers. Things did not look good early for the Dodgers as they were down 7 to 1 early. Starter Luis Mesa got roughed up for 7 runs (5 earned) on 9 hits over 5 frames, and reliever Adner Ruiz allowed 3 runs in two-thirds of an inning. Freddie Cabrera and Andy Suiter held the Brewers scoreless over the final 2.1 innings, however, and that's what allowed the Dodgers to come away with the win. After being down early, the home team battled back for 5 in the 3rd the 3 in the 5th before Joe Winker ended the game with a walk-off ground rule double in the 9th. It was Winker's 3rd hit and 3rd RBI of the night, and increased his average to .429 for the young season. Tae-Hyeok Nam also contributed to the win in a big way as he clubbed a 2-run homer and had a sac fly, while Bladimir Franco went 2 for 4 with a couple of runs batted in. 2011 2nd round pick Alex Santana also had a couple of hits, and 19 year old Malcolm Holland (2011 33rd rounder) singled in his professional debut.
DSL – Off day
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)