The Dodger minor league teams played some interesting games on Sunday ranging from a 2 - 0 win by the Isotopes to a 14 - 13 loss by the Arizona Dodgers. Also, as you can see from the title of this post, Gorman "Griff" Erickson was promoted to AA after Matt Wallach was placed on the DL.
Minor League Player of the Day – JJ Ethel - 3 for 5, 1 HR, 5 RBI's, 2 Runs. 2011 49th round pick JJ Ethel probably will never become much of a prospect, but he had the best day of all Dodger minor leaguers on Sunday with a big night at the plate. Ethel has played 2 games as a professional since signing with the Dodgers, and so far he is 6 for 8 with 7 RBI's and a 2.028 OPS.
AAA – The Isotopes finally ended their long losing streak on Sunday by shutting out the Storm Chasers (Royals) 2 to 0. Even though Albuquerque only had 5 hits in this game, Russ Mitchell's 2-run homer provided the pitching staff with all the support they needed. Nobody else did much damage at the plate, including Jerry Sands who went 0 or 4 and Trayvon Robinson who had a single in 4 at bats. John Ely started this game and blanked Omaha for 7 innings despite striking out just 1. Ely gave up just 4 hits and walked 2. Merkin Valdez tossed a scoreless 8th, while Jon Link struck out 2 in the 9th to pick up his 8th save of the season.
AA – Griff Erickson made a big splash in his AA debut, but that wasn't enough for the Lookouts as Chattanooga lost to the Generals (Mariners) 5 to 4. Erickson went 2 for 4 with a late 8th inning homer that closed his team's deficit to just 1, but the rest of his team couldn't close the gap. Alfredo Silverio went 2 for 5 with a couple of singles, and Brian Cavazos-Galvez's double was the only extra base hit of the game. Wilkin De La Rosa made the spot start in this game and allowed 5 hits and 5 runs over 4.2 innings, although all 5 runs were unearned due to 3 errors (with 2 of the errors coming from De La Rosa himself). Josh Wall threw in relief, and looked great as he was perfect over 3.1 innings while striking out 2.
HiA – Angelo Songco started the firework show early on Sunday with a 1st inning homer as the Quakes defeated the High Desert Mavericks (Mariners). Songco's homer was part of a 2-hit night for the DH, while Tony Delmonico also contributed with a RBI triple and a single in 3 at bats. Starter Andres Santiago tossed 7.2 strong innings as he struck out 7 and allowed just 3 runs. Steve Smith struck out 2 in a perfect 9th to collect his 7th save of the year.
LoA – Back to back homers in the 12th inning helped the Loons beat Bowling Green (Rays) 5 to 3 in a game that lasted almost 4 hours. Chris Jacobs started the 12th with a single, then one batter later Jonathan Garcia hit a bomb to left center field. Michael Pericht followed with a long ball of his own, which was his 3rd hit of the night and left him just a triple shy of the cycle. Casio Grider also had a big game as he went 3 for 5 with a double, while Chris Henderson had 2 hits in 3 at bats. Starter Greg Wilborn threw 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits, then 3 relievers got the team through the next 7 frames. Bret Montgomery came into the game in the bottom of the 12th to finish off the game, but after he allowed a couple of hits and a run Great Lakes turned to closer Logan Bawcom who got the final out to pick up his 12th save.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors were down early, but they scored 1 in the 7th and 4 in the 8th to come away with a 5 - 2 victory over the Chukars (Royals). Jeff Hunt had a big game as he had a couple of singles and a bases loaded walk to record 2 RBI's, while Noel Cuevas went 2 for 5 with a double and a triple. Scott Schebler also had a couple of big hits as he doubled twice on a day that James Baldwin had the day off. Starter Rick Anton allowed just a single run in 3 innings of work, then Yimi Garcia picked up the win with 4 innings of 3-hit ball that included 5 K's. Joel Lima tossed 2 hitless innings to end the game as he recorded his 1st save of the season.
Rookie Arizona – So much happened in this game that it's hard to describe exactly what happened in the Arizona Dodgers 14 to 13 loss to the Royals. What I can say is that the game ended in the 15th inning when Devon Ethier, who is an outfielder by trade (but also was a part time pitcher in college), came into pitch and allowed 3 unearned runs in the 15th inning due to a couple of errors. Amazingly it was the 6th game in a row that the Dodgers had scored more than 10 runs in a game, and for the first time during that streak they actually lost. JJ Ethel led the way with a homer and 5 RBI's, while Alex Santana went 2 for 6 with his first homer as a professional and scored 4 runs. A few other offensive players had multi-hit games, but they shall remain nameless as this time. Kazuya Takano started for the Dodgers and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in 4 innings while striking out 5, then 6 different relievers threw before Ethier came into game. Freddie Cabera was the most impressive reliever as the struck out 5 in 3 shutout innings while allowing just 2 hits.
DSL – Postponed
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)