Minor League Player of the Day – Tyler Ogle - 4 for 5, 1 HR, 5 RBI's, 3 Runs. I've already said it a few times this year, but I'll say it again; Tyler Ogle has nothing left to prove in the Arizona Rookie League. After another huge game the 21 year old now sports a 1.447 OPS over 16 games, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him with the Loons at some point before the year is up given the offensive struggles of the Great Lakes hitters.
AAA – All Star break
AA – Ethan Martin was sharp in the early going, striking out 4 of the first 6 batters he faced, but a 4-run 3rd by the Smokies (Cubs) doomed Martin and the Lookouts in a 4 - 3 loss. Ethan settled down after the 3rd and actually allowed just 1 hit over his final 4 innings of work, and in total he K'ed 9 batters. Fellow 1st round pick Chris Withrow pitched the 8th and needed to 12 pitches to get through his perfect inning. At the plate Blake Smith had a big game as he went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI's, but the rest of his teammates failed to connect on any other extra base hits. Nick Buss had the only other multi-hit game by going 2 for 5
HiA – The Quakes shut out the Giants 6 to 0 thanks to stellar pitching and timely hitting. Starter Garrett Gould allowed exactly 2 hits and 4 walks over 6 innings for the second game in a row, but this time he did not give up a run (compared to 2 runs last time out). The trade bait struck out 3, and lowered his ERA to 4.61. Reliever Ryan Acosta had another overpowering performance as he picked up 6 strikeouts in two innings, and he has actually recorded each of his last 12 outs via the K. Freddie Cabrera finished off the shutout with a scoreless 9th. Casio Grider smacked his 2nd homer of the year out of the #9 spot in the lineup, while Steve Domecus went 2 for 5 with a double and 2 RBI's. Joc Pederson didn't record a hit but he did walk twice and managed to steal a pair of bases.
LoA – Great Lakes salvaged their series finale with Dayton as they finally trapped the Dragons (Reds) 8 to 3. Duke von Schamann put together another strong start for his first Midwest League win, allowing just 4 hits and 1 earned run over 5.2 innings while striking out 3. It took 5 relievers to finish the 9 inning game, however, including a rare performance from Daniel Coulombe who struck out the only batter he faced yet did not get credit for an out as the runner reached base on the wild pitch. Steven Rodriguez allowed a hit and struck out two in his second professional inning, and Michael Thomas also struck out a pair in a perfect 9th. Joe Winker led all batters with 3 hits including a double and a RBI, while Jeff Hunt also doubled and drove in 2. James Baldwin hit a pinch homer, his 3rd of the season, but O'Koyea Dickson saw his batting average fall to .272 with an 0 for 5 night (and he made 2 errors at 1st base).
Rookie Ogden – Every batter in the Ogden lineup had at least 1 hit as the Raptors downed Grand Junction (Rockies) 10 to 6. What was even more impressive than everyone getting a hit was that 6 of the 9 batters actually had two hits, including Jeremy Rathjen who led the way with a double, a homer, and 3 RBI's. Jesus Valdez also had two hits including a homer, his 1st of the year, and Devin Shines took one deep as well. Corey Seager and Eric Smith also had multi-hit games. On the mound Matt Laney started and allowed 5 runs (3 earned) over 5 innings, but was reliever Sawil Gonzalez who had the most impressive outing of the night as he struck out 4 in two innings of work. For the season, Gonzalez has allowed just 3 hits over 10 innings, has struck out 15, and walked just 1 which equals a FIP of 0.80.
Rookie Arizona – The Arizona Dodgers jumped all over the Indians and their 13 - 3 win helped them improve to 14 and 2 for the season. In what has become a recurring theme, Tyler Ogle led the way at the plate as he went 4 for 5 with a homer and 5 RBI's. The catcher leads the league in several categories like OPS, Slugging %, and RBI's though 16 games played. Bladimir Franco continued his strong season as well as he tied Ogle for the team lead with his 5th homer, and also doubled on his way to 3 RBI's. Justin Chigbogu and Jacob Scavuzzo also had two hit's apiece. Zachary Bird started on the mound allowed the only 3 runs of the game in 3 innings of work, although he did strike out 3 without issuing a walk. The Dodger bullpen was great as Jackson Mateo struck out 4 over two frames and Alfredo Unzue K'ed the side in the 9th.
DSL – The Dominican Dodgers endured a rare shutout as they were blanked by the Indians 6 to 0. The offense managed just 6 singles in this game, with two of them coming from Jorky Infante. Josmar Cordero was held hitless for just the second time this season. After starting the season on fire, Jhosue Bermudez has been erratic as of late and on Monday he allowed 8 hits and 4 runs over 5 innings for his first loss of the year. Luis Silverio struck out 4 in 3 innings of relief but he also allowed 3 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs (1 earned).
Coming up – I don't remember this from last year, but apparently almost all the minor league teams take the day of the All Star game off as the only Dodger minor league affiliate who is playing on Tuesday is the Dominican Dodgers.
Minor League Transactions – Arizona Rookie: 2012 3rd round pick Onelkis Garcia has been assigned to the Arizona Dodgers.
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)