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Minor League Player of the Day – Jonathan Garcia - 3 for 5, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 Runs, 2 RBI's. Kemp probably deserved to win this award for the second day in a row, but I'm giving to to Garcia for his strong game on Monday. Jonathan missed the cycle by a triple, and since returning to the Quakes earlier this month he is hitting .333 with a .896 OPS.
AAA – The Isotopes built a comfortable lead early on Monday, then held on for a 11 - 9 win over the RedHawks (Astros). Matt Kemp was again the lead story for Albuquerque as he one-upped his performance from the night before by going 3 for 4 with a double and another homer. Fellow rehabber Juan Rivera went 1 for 3 with a RBI, while Brian Cavazos-Galvez entered the game as a defensive replacement and made the most of his one at bat by crushing a 3-run bomb. Matt Angle, Josh Fields, and Jeff Baisley all had 2 hits each and drove in at least one run. On the mound Mike Parisi started this game but left after just one inning because he re-aggravated his shoulder injury. Derrick Loop took over and allowed 4 runs over the next 4 innings, but given the short notice of his long relief assignment it's tough to blame him. Shawn Tolleson recorded the win in this game with two flawless frames that included 3 K's, and while Josh Wall pitched the entire 9th he didn't get the save because he entered with a 5 run lead, and based on the final score you can see how he fared.
AA – The Chattanooga bats fell silent on Monday night as the Lookouts were bounced by the Barons (White Sox) 2 to 1. The pitching staff actually threw well in the loss as they combined to allow just 5 hits, but it was the walks they issued that doomed them in the end. Starter Aaron Miller gave up 5 of the walks in his 5 frames, but also struck out 6 and allowed just 1 run. Free passes haunted Geison Aguasviva the most as he didn't give up a hit in his 1.2 innings, yet was still saddled with the loss as the walked 3 batters and had one of them come around to score once he left the game. As mentioned the offense was very quiet on Memorial day as the good guys managed just 4 singles. Griff Erickson had the only notable day as he had two of the hits in 3 official at bats.
HiA – The Quakes completely shelled the Nuts (Rockies) on Monday in a 12 to 2 route. Every player in the Rancho lineup had at least one hit, with 5 of the players collecting at least 2 base knocks. Jonathan Garcia had probably the best game as he connected on the team's only homer, and finished the day going 3 for 5 with 2 RBI's and 3 runs scored. Alexis Aguilar had the only other 3 hit game and drove in a trio, while C.J. Retherford doubled, singled, and had two sac flies to plate 4 runs. Joc Pederson and Michael Pericht both doubled and rounded out the players with more than 1 hit. Brandon Martinez won his first California League game with 6 innings of 4 hit ball, striking out 5 and allowing 2 runs. Jordan Roberts followed with 2 shutout innings, and Eric Eadington worked around 2 hits in the 9th to finish off the game.
LoA – The Loons received reinforcements on Memorial as both Angelo Songco and Ralston Cash made their 2012 debuts, but that wasn't enough as Great Lakes lost to South Bend (Dbacks) 6 to 2. Starter Jarret Martin threw just 1 inning in a scheduled shortened outing, and that allowed Cash to take over for the next four frames. Ralston showed a little rust and gave up a run in his first inning, but overall he threw pretty well and struck out 4 while hitting as high as 93 mph. The game was tied when Cash left the game, but lefty Michael Thomas had a rare implosion and gave up 3 runs which resulted in the loss. The Loons had 8 singles spread among 7 players, with the rarely mentioned Pratt Maynard posting the only multi-hit game. Joe Winker only had one hit, but had a perfect day at the plate with 3 walks, while Songco went 1 for 5 with an RBI.
Coming up – All four teams play on Tuesday, but only two have probably pitchers listed with Chris Reed going for the Quakes and Will Savage throwing for the Isotopes. Based on the past schedule it looks like Jose Dominguez will pitch for the Loons, but the Lookouts starter is more of a question mark as it's Matt Magill's day to throw but he was recently removed for the roster, presumably for a little rest. That being said it's possible he'll be re-added to the roster tomorrow to take the spot of Nathan Eovaldi.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)