Minor League Player of the Day – Alex Castellanos - 2 for 3, 1 HR, 4 RBI's, 2 Runs. Castellanos hit his 4th homer since joining the Lookouts, and 23rd overall, and drove in half of Chattanooga's runs on Thursday. The 25 year old also sports a combined .975 OPS, and done nothing but impress since joining the organization.
AAA – The Isotopes were shutout for 8 innings on Thursday and ended up losing to the Redbirds (Cardinals) 6 to 2. Ivan De Jesus drove in 2 with a double in the 9th to break the spell, but it was obviously too little too late. Kyle Russell and Ivan Ochoa also had a two-bagger each, but the other 4 hits were mere singles. Jerry Sands went 0 for 4 and is still 2 homers short of the 30 HR plateau with 4 games to play (not counting his MLB bombs). Starter Alberto Bastardo only allowed 4 hits and 2 runs in 6 frames while striking out 8, but also walked 5. Joey Newby gave up the remaining 4 runs in just a single inning to put the game out of reach for good.
AA – The Lookouts continued their winning ways on Thursday with a 8 - 3 baking of the Biscuits (Rays). The usual suspects had big nights at the plate as Alex Castellanos went 2 for 3 with a homer and 4 RBI's while Scott Van Slyke had 3 hits including his 45th double of the year. Hector Gimenez also took one deep with a pair of runners on base to put the finishing touches on the victory. Starter Stephen Fife got the win despite a somewhat shaky outing as he allowed 6 hits and walked 4 in 5 innings while punching out just 1. Four relievers combined to finish the game with 4 hitless frames, however, including Ethan Marin and Cole St. Clair who K'ed two each in their innings of work.
HiA – The Quakes won another close, yet high scoring game on Thursday as they defeated the Mavericks (Mariners) 13 to 11. Starter Arismendy Ozoria ended up with the win despite not striking out a batter in 5 innings and allowing 6 runs on 10 hits. Jordan Roberts also had a tough time as he gave up 5 runs, but Logan Bawcom was solid over the final 1.2 frames as he picked up the save and didn't allow a hit. At the dish, Angelo Songco moved closer to his quest for 30 HR's as he smashed his 28th of the season and recorded 4 RBI's to give him a total of 107. J.T. Wise also took one deep, while Blake Smith went 2 for 4 with a double and a pair of runs batted in. Finally, Nick Buss went 3 for 5 and moved his batting average to .322; good for 6th place in the California League.
LoA – Great Lakes lost their 5th straight game on Thursday as they fell 8 - 1 to the Lugnuts (Blue Jays). The Loons offense has apparently flown south in preparation for winter as the team had just 4 hits and has scored just 5 total runs over the past 5 games. Nick Akins did crush a solo homer, but that was the only highlight at the dish. Zach Lee's final appearance of 2011 was not his best as he allowed 5 hits and 4 runs over 4 innings while striking out just 1. He finishes the season with a 9 - 6 record and a 3.47 ERA. Ryan Christenson also wasn't very sharp as he gave up 3 runs over 3 frames.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors were unable to overcome 4 errors in a 8 - 6 loss to the Ghosts (Rockies) on Thursday. O'Koyea Dickson and Joc Pederson, who rank #1 and #2 in Pioneer League OPS, drove in 5 of the 6 Ogden runs to lead the offense. Dickson, who has pretty quiet as of late, connected on his 11th homer of the season, while Pederson went 2 for 3 with a double, 3 RBI's, and 2 stolen bases. Raydel Sanchez allowed a pair of homers in 5 innings of work which resulted in 3 runs, and Yimy Rodriguez was victimized by the errors as 3 of the 5 runs he gave up were unearned.
Rookie Arizona – Season over
DSL – Season over
Coming up - Garrett Gould will follow Lee and make his final appearance in 2011 on Friday, and the other starters for the Dodgers minor league teams will be John Ely (AAA), Michael Antonini (AA), Jon Michael Redding (HiA), and Ryan O'Sullivan (Pioneer League).
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)
Great Lakes Loons Box Score (LoA)