Minor League Player of the Day – Johnathan Linares (DSL) - 3 for 4, 3 2B's, 4 RBI's. The Dominican Dodgers win this award for the second day in a row thanks to a trio of doubles from Linares. Even though he's just the second best catcher on the team (behind Cordero), the 19 year old has value as he is hitting .324 with an OPS of over .900.
AAA – The Albuquerque pitching staff was excellent in Nashville on Friday as the Isotopes shutout the Sounds (Brewers) 7 to 0. Starter Fernando Nieve had one of his best games of the year as he hurled six scoreless innings, allowing just 4 hits while averaging a strikeout per frame. Michael Antonini, Cole St. Clair, and Angel Guzman followed with an inning each of hitless relief to cap off the 4-hitter. The offense was led by Matt Angle who went 3 for 4 and even connected on a rare homer, finishing the night with 3 RBI's. Brian Cavazos-Galvez also took one deep, his 13th of the year across all levels, while Alex Castellanos had two singles for the only other multi-hit night.
AA Game 1 – The Lookouts bats fell silent on Friday as they scored just 2 runs across both games of their double header, and in game one they fell to the Blue Wahoos (Reds) 2 to 1. Chattanooga managed just 4 hits in this contest, with the highlights being doubles by Griff Erickson and C.J. Retherford. Aaron Miller started this game and held Pensacola scoreless through 3 frames, but in the 4th he ran into some trouble and was removed from the game. Miller ended up with the loss after Javy Solano allowed one of his runs to score, who later gave up a run of his own. Geison Aguasviva was a bright spot in the bullpen as he lowered his 3.09 with a scoreless inning.
AA Game 2 – Chris Reed had by far his worst outing in AA as the Lookouts lost to the Blue Wahoos 6 to 1 to get swept in Friday's double header. Reed only allowed 3 hits in 2.2 innings, but he also walked a trio and did not strike anyone out which led to 5 runs. His bullpen was great in the 7 inning affair, including a perfect frame from Chris Withrow, but it didn't matter as the offense wasn't able to get anything going. Nick Buss did hit a solo homer and Jake Lemmerman doubled, but that was about it.
HiA – The Quakes lost the to the 66ers (Angels) 9 - 2 on Friday as Inland Empire completed their 3-game sweep of Rancho. Starter Brandon Martinez got touched up for 5 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs over 4.1 innings, while reliever Ryan Acosta also allowed 4 scores in relief. At the plate Joc Pederson continued his recent hot streak by going 2 for 4 with a double, while Scott Wingo also had 2 hits. Two-baggers by Pedro Baez and Steve Domecus round out the offensive highlights.
LoA – The Loons failed in their attempt to sweep the Kernels as Great Lakes fell to Cedar Rapids (Angels) 8 to 3. Starter Ralston Cash had another rough outing as he gave up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 4 runs over just 3.1 innings, and Joel Lima wasn't any better in relief as he allowed 4 runs to score in just 1.2 frames. Jose Dominguez and the recently activated Matt Shelton were much better, however, as they both threw 2 innings of shutout ball. Nobody had more than one hit at the plate, although Scott Schebler connected on his 26th double of the season and drove in two runs. Jesus Arredondo also doubled, while Pratt Maynard drove in the team's other run.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors connected on 7 doubles on Friday, but that wasn't enough as they fell to the Voyagers (White Sox) 5 to 4. Corey Seager went 2 for 4 with an RBI and the first extra base hit of his professional career; a double. Jeremy Rathjen had a pair of two-baggers, while the other four doubles came from four different players. On the mound Ross Stripling did not allow a hit over 2 innings, but he's being using sparingly after a heavy college workload so was relieved in the 3rd. Long reliever Kazuki Nishijima gave up 2 runs in relief, then Carlos De Aza allowed the final 3 runs to score although only 1 run was earned thanks to an Malcolm Holland error.
Rookie Arizona – The Arizona Dodgers fought hard for 14 innings, but eventually fell to the Angels 2 to 1. Lots of pitchers threw in this game for the Dodgers, starting with Jonathan Martinez who was outstanding over 5 scoreless frames as he gave up just 4 hits and struck out 5. Jordan Hershiser was the one who allowed the run to score in the 8th, while Lindsey Caughel recorded the loss when an unearned run scored in the bottom of the 14th when a tripled turned into an inside the park homer thanks to a Theo Alexander throwing error. On offense there really isn't much to write about other than another strong performance from Bladimir Franco who went 3 for 5 to increase his OPS to 1.128.
DSL – The Dodgers crushed the Astros 8 to 2 behind the force of 15 hits. Melvin Santana had a team high 4 base knocks including a double and a triple, while Johnathan Linares doubled three times and drove in 4 runs. Geison Nunez and 17 year old Luis Subero rounded out the multi-hit games with a pair of singles each. Six different pitchers threw in this game for the Dodgers so I can't possibly name them all, but it should be noted that Luis De Paula made his first start of the year and did not allow an earned run over 3 frames (although 2 unearned runs did score against him). Jose Moreno threw another scoreless frame and has not given up an earned run over 11.1 innings this season.
Coming up – It's the Isotopes turn to play a double header on Saturday, and Will Savage will start game one. Allen Webster and the Lookouts will face old friend Brent Leach, while the Quakes will send Andres Santiago to the mound. Finally, Duke von Schamann is scheduled starters for the Loons.
Minor League Transactions – AAA: Scott Van Slyke and Elian Herrera both re-join AAA, while the recently acquired Osvaldo Martinez was also added to the roster. Joe Becker was placed on the DL. HiA: Jan Vazquez was promoted from LoA while Chris O'Brien was placed on the DL with a strained hamstring. LoA: Matt Shelton was activated from the DL to take the place of Vazquez.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score - Game 1 (AA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score - Game 2 (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)
Great Lakes Loons Box Score (LoA)
Ogden Raptors Box Score (Rookie)
Arizona Dodgers Box Score (Rookie)