The Dodger minor league teams won 4 of 7 games on Thursday, but it was in the Chattanooga loss that produced the best offensive performances. In addition, there were a couple of scoreless inning streaks that got extended by a pair of unlikely pitchers.
Minor League Player of the Day – Alfredo Silverio - 5 for 7, 1 HR, 2 3B's, 1 2B, 3 Runs, 3 RBI, Hit for the Cycle. There were quite a few outstanding performances on Thursday, but this award has to go to Silverio for his huge game. Alfredo had been relatively quiet as of late, but he reminded people that he is in the midst of a breakout season with his big night.
AAA – After losing the first two games of the series, Albuquerque was able to drown the River Cats 2 to 1 on Thursday. John Ely looked strong through 6.2 innings of work as he allowed just 1 run and struck out 7. Roman Colon and Travis Schlichting did not allow a baserunner over the final 2.1 innings, with Schlichting picking up his 4th save. Jerry Sands recorded the only RBI in this game with his 24th jack of the year, but he struck out in his other 3 at bats. Brad Coon went 2 for 3 with a double, and Jamie Hoffmann extended his hit streak to 16 games with a single.
AA – The Lookouts played in a wild and crazy game on Thursday as their offense featured 5 homers, two players with 5-hit nights, and a cycle, but Chattanooga eventually fell to the Mudcats (Reds) 12 to 11 in extra innings. Down 9 - 5 through 6, Chattanooga scored 1 in the 7th and 2 in the 8th before giving back a couple runs to Carolina in the top of the 9th. In the bottom of the 9th, however, Alfredo Silverio did what he does best as he drove home two with his league leading 16th triple (and second of the game), then Alex Castellanos doubled home the game tying run to send the game into extras. Silverio, who homered earlier in the game, wasn't done though as he doubled in the 11th to complete the cycle, and he ended the night with 5 hits, 3 RBI's, and 3 runs. Scott Van Slyke also had 5 hits including 2 doubles to give him 9 hits in 2 games and 14 base knocks in his past 4 contests. The other Lookout homers came from Travis Denker, Castellanos, Elian Herrera, and Jake Lemmerman. The pitching wasn't as impressive as Chris Withrow allowed 6 runs in 4 innings (albeit with 6 K's) and Josh Wall gave up 3 in relief. Steven Ames also struggled as he allowed the scores in the 9th, and Cole St. Clair recorded the loss in the 12th.
HiA – The Quakes went down quietly on Thursday as they lost to the 66ers (Angels) 5 to 2. Starter Matt Magill got hit around a bit as he allowed 8 hits and 5 runs over 4.2 innings, although he did strike out 6. Jordan Roberts tossed the final 3.1 frames and was solid as he did not allow a run. On offense Austin Gallagher went 2 for 4 with a double, while Nick Buss' triple was the only other extra base hit for Rancho.
LoA – The Loons were up a run heading into the 9th, but closer Scott McGough let the lead slip away as the Dragons (Reds) defeated Great Lakes 5 to 4. McGough allowed a leadoff homer in the 9th, then a walk and 3 hits later tagged him with the loss. Going back to the start of the game, Rick Anton struggled a bit as he gave up 7 hits in 3 innings, but he as able to limit the damage as only 2 runs scored against. Garrett Gould then threw 3 innings of 1 hit relief as the team continues to limit his workload, and Bret Montgomery extended his impressive scoreless streak to 25.1 innings with 2.2 scoreless frames. At the dish Bobby Coyle went 2 for 4 with a 2-run homer, and Chris Jacobs also took one deep for his 12th bomb of the year.
Rookie Ogden – Starter Derek Cone was money for the Raptors on Thursday as he led Ogden to a 9 - 1 win over the Brewers. Cone allowed just 3 hits and 1 run over 6 strong innings and recorded 7 strikeouts in the process. A couple of recent non-drafted free agent signees finished off the win with 3 shutout frames. Matt Kirkland, who has been heating up as of late, went 3 for 4 with a homer to pace the Raptors' offense. Noel Cuevas went 2 for 5 with a double, while Justin Boudreaux also doubled and drove in 2 runs.
Rookie Arizona – With their season winding down, the 1st place Dodgers were able to record another win with a 7 to 2 victory over the Rangers. The Dodgers are 2 games ahead of the Reds with 9 games to play, but 3 of those contests are against the Reds. Getting back to the game, Matt Laney started the game for the Dodgers and threw 6 shutout frames to record the win. What makes that significant is that Laney has now thrown 21.1 innings as a professional and has yet to allow a run. He's also only allowed 7 hits during that span for an incredibly low .114 batting average against. Signed as a non-drafted free agent on July 1st out of Coastal Carolina, this 6'4" lefty throws in the low 90's and might be one of the few non-drafted players who makes an impact. Anyways, Laney was followed by 4 relievers who finished off the win by allowing just 2 hits over the final 3 innings. At the plate, the recovering Blake Smith crushed another home run and now has an extra base hit in each of his 3 rehab games. Chris O'Brien also homered and had a double as he drove in 3, while Alex Santana went 3 for 4 with a stolen base.
DSL – The Dominican Dodgers are finishing off their season strong as they won again on Thursday with a 4 to 1 victory over the Rays. 17 year old Miguel Sulbaran put together another stellar start as he allows just 1 run over 6 innings and struck out 9. In his last 4 outings, Sulbaran has 27 K's in 23 innings and has given up just 2 runs. Fellow 17 year old Jonathan Martinez lowered his ERA to1.67 with 2 shutout innings, and Aris Angeles picked up the save. The only notable performance at the plate came from Abinaer Soriano who went 2 for 3 with a double and a run scored.
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)