Wednesday saw both solid and underwhelming performances on the field mixed throughout the 7 games played.
Minor League Player of the Day – Joc Pederson - 3 for 5, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 RBI's, 1 SB. Pederson solidified this Player of the Day award with a walk-off 2-run homer for the Raptors to cap a wild night in Ogden. He's really been playing well in the Pioneer League and now has a .959 OPS with 11 stolen bases.
AAA – The Isotopes were up in this game 4 - 3 after 7 innings, but Roy Corcoran allowed 3 runs in the 8th as the Storm Chases (Royals) overwhelmed Albuquerque 6 to 4. Starter John Ely started this game and pitched decently enough as he allowed just 3 runs on 5 hits over 6.2 innings, and David Pfeiffer got out a mini jam in the 7th to keep his team ahead. But then things went sour as Corcoran blew the game in the 8th. The Topes actually outhit the opposition in this game and Dee Gordon was the sparkplug with 3 more hits. Jay Gibbons extended his hit streak to 12 games with a solo homer, and Joe Becker also took one deep to record 3 RBI's. Jerry Sands singled, but he also struck out twice as did Trayvon Robinson who went 0 for 4.
AA – Chris Withrow got knocked around as he gave up a season high 12 hits in a game that the Lookouts lost 7 - 5 to the Generals (Mariners). Withrow was able to somewhat limit the damage against him, however, as he only gave up 4 earned runs in 5 innings and walked just 1. Javy Solano came into the game in the 6th and was very effective as he struck out 4 in 2 perfect innings to run his AA scoreless streak to 10 frames. Steve Ames on the other hand wasn't as sharp as he showed some rust in his return from the DL which resulted in him being saddled with the loss. It was the first time that Ames had pitched in over a month, and it was actually his worst outing of the season. At the plate, Griff Erickson led the way as he went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a couple of RBI's to raise is AA batting average to .279. Brian Cavazos-Galvez also doubled and drove in 2, while Scott Van Slyke tripled and singled.
HiA – Jon Michael Redding has thrown quite a few gems this year, and his performance on Wednesday ranks right up there with the best of them as the Quakes defeated the Storm (Padres) 6 to 1. Redding allowed just 2 hits over 6 scorless innings and struck out 10 to pick up his 8th win of the year. Relievers Andy Suiter, Robert Romero, and Josh Walter finished off the 2 hitter over the next 3 frames, although one run did score. At the plate Rancho scattered 11 hits, led by Rafael Ynoa's 3 for 4 effort. Tony Delmonico, Austin Gallagher, and JT Wise had 2 hits apiece, with one of Wise's hits being a triple. Angelo Songco had a rough time as he went 0 for 5 with 4 K's.
LoA – The Loons were shutout for the first time since June 19th as they were blanked by the Silver Hawks (Dbacks) 5 to 0. Zach Lee started this game in what was a scheduled shortened start, and allowed 1 hit in his inning while striking out 1. Reports out of Michigan are that his fastball has topped out at 97 mph this year, which is great news. Garrett Gould took over the 2nd but the news wasn't so good for him as he gave up 3 runs on 8 hits in just 3.1 innings to pick up the loss. Pete Budkevics followed with 2.2 shutout frames, then Andrew Pevsner allowed the final 2 runs to cross the plate. As you may have guessed there isn't much offense to write about in a game that didn't feature any Great Lakes runs, but the one standout player was Jessie Bosnik who went 3 for 4 with a couple of doubles. It was an ugly night for Jonathan Garcia who struck out in all 4 of his plate appearances.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors won a wild and crazy game on Wednesday as they defeated the Mustangs (Reds) 13 to 11 in 11 innings. Ogden crushed 5 homers in this game, 2 of them coming in the 9th and the last one being a walk-off job by Joc Pederson. The winning bomb was one of 3 hits for Pederson, who also doubled and stole a base. James Baldwin (who went 3 for 6) and Scott Woodward had the big home runs in the 9th, while Noel Cuevas and O'Koyea Dickson went deep earlier in the game. In terms of pitching, Derek Cone went 5 innings and allowed 5 hits, 4 walks, and 4 runs, but he did strike out 9. Four relievers all gave up runs, and the only impressive bullpen arm was Matt Shelton who tossed the final 3 innings and got the win by allowing just 2 hits.
Rookie Arizona – The Arizona Dodgers played a rare afternoon game in the desert on Wednesday, and to everyone's delight it was a quick low scoring affair that saw the Dodgers defeat the Reds 2 to 1. The first two pitchers to throw for the Dodgers were both on rehab assignments, as Alberto Bastardo started and threw 2 scoreless innings, then Aaron Miller came in and had almost an identical line. I don't care so much about Bastardo, but this is good news that Miller seems to be close to returning to regular action after missing most of the season with a bad groin pull. After the two rehabbers, a quartet of relievers finished off the game in style as they allowed just 2 hits and 1 run over the final 5 innings. There wasn't much happening on offense in this game as the Dodgers only had 6 base knocks, but Scott Wingo led the way by going 2 for 4 with a triple. Doubles by Alex Santana and Jose Capellan were the only other extra base hits.
DSL – The Dominican Dodgers cranked out 13 hits on Wednesday in route to a 9 to 5 victory over the Yankees. The offense was spread among several players as almost everyone had at least one base knock in this game, but Greg Pena and Jose Moreno both stood above the rest with 3 hits and 2 RBI's apiece. Starter Samuel Taveras did OK as he allowed 3 runs on 7 hits over 4.1 frames, and 18 year old Andrew Shellon got the win with a hitless inning.
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)