All of the Dodger full season minor league teams end their regular season on Monday, with the Raptors playing through Sept 8th. As the Isotopes and Loons did not qualify for the playoffs, there are only a couple more games left for these two teams.
Minor League Player of the Day – Chris Withrow - 6 IP, 1 Hit, 1 Run, 7 K's. Angelo Songco had another great game, but this award goes to Withrow who tossed a gem on Saturday. Withrow has now allowed just 3 hits over the past 11 innings, and 3 earned runs over the past 16 frames. Nice way to finish off his season, and hopefully he can continue this into the Southern League playoffs.
AAA – Jerry Sands bombed his 29th minor league homer of the season, but Brett Tomko and the Round Rock Express (Rangers) proved to be too much for the Isotopes in a 8 - 6 loss. Besides Sands' jack, the offense was relatively limited as only Jay Gibbons (2 for 4 with a double) and recently promoted Bryant Hernandez (2 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBI's) had notable performances. Starter Francisco Felix gave up 4 hits, 3 walks, and 4 runs over 5 frames, then things really went downhill when reliever Roy Corcoran allowed 4 runs of his own in just 1.2 innings of work.
AA – Chris Withrow finished his regular season in style as the Lookouts defeated the Biscuits (Rays) 3 to 2. On a day when the Chattanooga offense was a little quieter than usual, Withrow stepped up by allowing just 1 hit over 6 innings while striking out 7. Chris did walk 3 and gave up 1 run while throwing 96 pitches, but overall it was a gem of a performance. Javy Solano tossed 2 solid innings of his own as he gave up just 1 hit and struck out 4, while Shawn Tolleson recorded his 12th save by getting the final 2 outs of the game. At the plate the Lookouts scattered 6 hits, with Hector Gimenez, Corey Smith, and Matt Wallach connecting on doubles for the team's only extra base knocks.
HiA – The Quakes scored 11 runs in the first 8 innings, then decided to double down in the 9th and scored 11 more for a 22 to 8 victory over the Giants. Blake Smith collected the most hits as he went 4 for 5 with a double, but of course Angelo Songco did the majority of the damage by smacking 2 doubles and crushing his 29th homer of the season in route to 5 RBI's. Tony Delmonico didn't start this game, but capped off the scoring with a pinch-hit 3 run bomb in the crazy 9th inning. Not to be left out was Nick Buss who went 3 for 7 with 2 doubles and 3 runs scored. Starter Chris Reed's final regular season outing was unimpressive as he allowed 4 hits and 3 walks over 3 frames which led to 4 runs charged against him. Aaron Miller followed with a perfect inning, then Matt Magill picked up another win in relief despite allowing 4 runs in 3.2 innings. The craziest stat of the day, however, was that Logam Bawcom managed to pick up his 12th save in this game even though Rancho ended up winning by 14 runs. You see Bawcom came in to get the final out of the 8th when the score was still just 11 to 8, then also pitched the 9th to pick up what I can only guess is some sort of a record save.
LoA – The Loons snapped their 6 game losing streak on Saturday with a 6 - 1 win over the Silver Hawks (Dbacks). Compared to past week, Great Lakes really broke out the big sticks as they cranked out 9 hits, with 5 going for extra bases. Blake Dean went 2 for 3 with a double, and Casio Grider finished 2 for 2 with a triple and 2 runs scored. Steven Domecus connected on the games only homer and drove in 2 runs. Starter Angel Sanchez rebounded from his previous outing in a big way as he allowed just 4 hits and 1 run over 7 innings while striking out 6. Pete Budkevics tossed the final 2 frames and was nearly perfect while striking out 4.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors were outhit 17 to 6 on Saturday, and ended up losing to Idaho Falls (Royals) 6 to 2. Starter Derek Cone allowed 7 of the hits in 5 innings, but limited the damage as only 3 runs scored against him. Relievers Michael Drowne and Mike Thomas combined to give up 8 hits and the other 3 runs over the next 3 frames. As mentioned Ogden only had 6 hits in this game, but 4 went for extra bases. Joc Pederson went 2 for 4 with a double and a triple to increase his league leading OPS to 1.020, while Noel Cuevas had 2 hits including a double. The recently promoted Joe Winker, who dominated the Arizona Rookie League, made his first hit as a Raptor a memorable one as it cleared the fence for the games' only homer.
Rookie Arizona – Season over
DSL – Season over
Coming up - Nothing too exciting happening on Sunday, as Red Patterson is probably the most interesting scheduled starter for the Dodger minor league clubs.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)
Great Lakes Loons Box Score (LoA)