Minor League Player of the Day – Pratt Maynard (LoA) - 3 for 4, 1 HR, 4 RBI's. Maynard hit the first grand slam for the Loons since May 25th and also singled twice to capture the player of the day award. The 3rd round pick from the 2011 draft has been disappointing so far in 2012, but he's shown improvement over the past two months and makes good contact so he shouldn't be written off just yet.
AAA – Both games of the scheduled double header were rained out
AA – The Lookouts overcame a crazy 4 hour and 23 minute rain delay to shutout the Braves 3 to 0 on Saturday. Allen Webster started this game but only threw one inning thanks to the wet skies. When things finally cleared up it became a bullpen game, with Javier Solano tossing 3 scoreless innings and then Red Patterson throwing 3 hitless frames. Steve Ames pitched a scoreless 8th and struck out a pair while Logan Bawcom was perfect in the 9th and recorded his 12th save. Chattanooga scored a run in the 1st thanks to a Rafael Ynoa double and a couple of ground outs, and as mentioned above the pitching staff made that run stand up. Ynoa also singled later in the game and had the only multi-hit contest, while Travis Denker's two-bagger rounded out the extra-base hits in this affair.
HiA – The Quakes lost their 4th straight game on Saturday, this time falling to the Blaze (Reds) 5 to 3. Despite the loss starter Andres Santiago threw a very good game, giving up just 2 hits and 1 earned run over 6 frames while striking out 8. Reliever Freddie Cabrera kept the opposition at bay in the 7th, but after Ryan O'Sullivan took over in the 8th things got out of hand as allowed the final 3 runs of the game to score and recorded the loss. The top two hitters in the Rancho lineup actually matched the hit total for Bakersfield as Leon Landry went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles and Joc Pederson singled and hit his 7th homer of the year to increase hit batting average to .300. Angelo Songco also had a pair of hits as he went 2 for 3 with an RBI, but that was the extent of the Quakes offense.
LoA – Pratt Maynard continued to hit in the month of July as the catcher led the Loons to a 9 - 3 win over the Bandits (Cardinals). Maynard has been pretty quiet so far in 2012, but he increased his OPS to 1.023 in for this month by going 3 for 4 and connecting on a grand slam in the 3rd inning. Darnell Sweeney also went 3 for 4 with a double and stole a pair of bases, while Scott Schebler had a two-bagger during his 2 for 5 night. On the mound it was Duke von Schamann who won his second game of the year after allowing 8 hits and 3 runs over 6 frames. Juan Noriega tossed a pair of hitless innings to lower his ERA to 2.28, while Daniel Coulombe was eased back into things with a pressure free 9th.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors were involved in one of those back and forth Pioneer League games on Saturday, but when the dust settled it was Ogden who came out on top with a walk-off 11 to 10 win over the Brewers. Catcher Jose Capellan played hero in this contest as his second double of the night drove in the game winning run, and he finished the night with 3 hits and a pair of RBI's. Eric Smith also went 3 for 5 and was able to drive in 3 runs, while Devin Shines hit the team's only homer and plated a trio. On the down side Corey Seager went 0 for 3, while Alex Santana made two errors at 3rd base to give him 10 miscues for the young season. On the mound starter Matt Laney got roughed up for 6 runs over 5 innings of work, but APU grad Alan Garcia got hit around even harder as he gave up 4 scores in just one frame. Just two days after allowing his first runs of the season Sawil Gonzalez collected the win by striking out the side in the 9th.
Rookie Arizona – The Arizona Dodger bats were held quiet for 8 innings, but they tied the game in the 9th then were able to pull out a 4 - 3 win over the Mariners in the 10th. After a pair of walks, a sac bunt, and a ground out started the 9th for the Dodgers, Corey Embree came through with the game on the line and hit a game tying single. Then in the 10th Jesmeul Valentine set up the game winning scores with a ground rule double that put runners on 2nd and 3rd, who eventually scored on a balk and a single by John Cannon. On the mound Luis Meza made his first start of the year, but he only threw two innings before Victor Araujo came in and tossed 5 innings and no-hit ball. Samuel Taveras picked up the win with a scoreless 9th and then Rickey Perez got the save despite allowing an unearned run in the 10th.
DSL – All Star Break. I'm not exactly sure who made the team but I guess we'll find out when I look at the box score from the All Star game that will be played on Sunday.
Coming up – Zach Lee will highlight the pitching matchups on Sunday as he will throw for the Lookouts, and Garrett Gould will take the mound for the Quakes if he's not traded before then. New father Derek Cone is expected to start for the Raptors, while Gustavo Gomez will be the pitcher for the Loons. The Isotopes will try again to get in their double header with Will Savage and Blake Johnson as the scheduled starters.
Minor League Transactions – AAA: Josh Wall was promoted to Los Angles to take the place of Javy Guerra. AA: Travis Denker was activated from the DL while J.T. Wise was placed on the disabled list. Rookie Arizona: Luis Meza was assigned to the team from extended spring training.
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)
Great Lakes Loons Box Score (LoA)
Ogden Raptors Box Score (Rookie)