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Minor League Player of the Day – Matt Kemp - 2 for 3 - 1 HR, 3 RBI's, 2 Runs. Kemp as the minor league player of the day? I guess that make sense when you send Matt to a hitters' haven like Albuquerque. The outfielder is apparently healthy given his offensive outburst, so hopefully he'll be back with the big league club by Tuesday.
AAA – The Isotopes used major league bats on Sunday to defeat the RedHawks (Astros) 11 to 9. Matt Kemp went 2 for 3 with a 2-run homer and 3 RBI's, while Juan Rivera also took one deep in his rehab debut. Josh Bard also had 2 hits and went yard, while Trent Oeltjen and Alex Castellanos also had two base knocks in the 18 hit-attack. Starter Fernando Nieve allowed just 3 hits and 1 run over 5 innings, and even though he had 7 K's his ERA is still an ugly 9.53. Cole St. Clair and Ramon Troncoso both allowed 4 runs in relief, and luckily Scott Rice was able to shut the door for his 5th save of the season.
AA – Ethan Martin allowed just 4 hits over 6 frames and struck out 7, but he still recorded his first loss of the year in a 4 - 3 defeat to the Suns (Marlins). Martin gave walked just 2 and didn't give up a homer, but he had an unlucky outing which resulted in the defeat. After Ethan left the game Javier Solano threw a hitless inning of relief, and then Allen Webster made hist 5th consecutive appearance out of the bullpen and was perfect over 2 frames. At the plate Nick Buss went 2 for 5 with a triple, while Blake Smith had the only only other multi-hit game and stole a base.
HiA – The Quakes managed just 4 hits on Sunday as they lost to the Nuts (Rockies) 6 to 1. The 4 hits came from just 2 players as Chris Jacobs went 2 for 3 with a homer while C.J. Retherford had a pair of singles. Garrett Gould was the starter for Rancho and he got touched up for 9 hits and 4 runs, and he fell to 1 - 5 for the season. New addition Carlos Frias allowed the other 2 runs in relief, while Ryan Acosta gave up just a single hit over the final 1.2 frames.
LoA – After enduring a lengthy in game rain delay, the Loons used a clutch 8th inning rally to ground the Silver Hawks (Dbacks) 6 to 4. Shortstop Delvis Morales had a big game at the plate as he went 2 for 3 with 2 runs batted in, and it was his RBI triple in the 8th that sparked the comeback. There were no other extra base hits in this game and nobody other than Morales had more than one base knock, although Jesse Bosnik reached based twice via the walk, scored two runs, and stole a pair of bases. Arismendy Ozoria started the game for Great Lakes, but threw just 2 innings because of the 1 hour and 59 minute rain delay. Juan Noriega took over once the skies cleared and gave up a pair of runs in two frames, but Raydel Sanchez saved the day with 4 solid innings of relief work. Yimi Garcia allowed two singles in the 9th, but was able to bare down and record his 8th save of the season.
Coming up – All of the teams will play early games on Memorial Day Monday with the exception of Chattanooga who will likely send Aaron Miller to the mound in an evening affair. Jarrett Martin and Brandon Martinez will throw for the Loons and Quakes, respectively, while veteran Mike Parisi will take the ball for the Isotopes.
Minor League Transactions – LoA: Some significant moves were made by the Loons on Sunday as both Angelo Songco and Ralston Cash were added to the team, while Nick Akins and Arismendy Ozoria were removed from the roster.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)