Minor League Player of the Day – Jake Lemmerman (AA) - 3 for 4, 2 2B's, 4 RBI's, 1 Run. Despite his struggles this season, Late Night had a big game on Saturday as he helped lead his team to an important victory. Lemmerman is still hitting .239 for the season, but at least he's shown some signs of life in August as his OPS for the month is .913.
AAA – Starter Fernando Nieve rebounded big time from his last time out and the Isotopes increased their division lead to 4 games with a 4 - 2 win over Memphis (Cardinals). Nieve allowed just 4 hits and 2 runs over 6 innings while striking out 9, winning his 7th game of the year. Javy Guerra gave up 3 hits over 2 frames but did not permit a run, then Josh Wall recorded his league leading 27th save of the year with a hitless 9th. Probably the biggest news of the day for Albuquerque fans was that Jerry Sands will continue to play despite being the obvious player to be named later in the deal with Boston, and he celebrated by hitting a 2-run homer in the 1st. Scott Van Slyke went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and a RBI, while Elian Herrera had a double and a single. One final note is that the rehabbing Dee Gordon went 0 for 2 in his first game action since his injury and played 5 innings in the field at shortstop.
AA – The Lookouts also inched closer to the playoffs on Saturday thanks to a 8 - 5 win over the Generals (Mariners). Jake Lemmerman, who has basically struggled all season, went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI's to lead his club, and it should also be noted that he was playing 2nd base again. Bobby Coyle went 2 for 4 to record the only other multi-hit game, and Luis Nunez's double was the only other extra base hit for Chattanooga. On the mound Aaron Miller struggled a bit as he allowed 6 hits, 3 walks, and 5 runs over 4.1 innings, but his bullpen was great which secured the victory. Red Patterson won his 7th game in relief with 2 scoreless innings, then Steve Ames and Steven Rodriguez threw 1.1 frames each and got the hold and save, respectively.
HiA – The Quakes are staying alive in the playoff hunt after they won a high scoring affair with the Giants 11 to 8. Rancho slugged 3 homers in this game, with one of them coming from the red hot Joc Pederson who has 15 jacks since the start of July and a 1.304 OPS in the month of August. Chris Jacobs connected on his 3rd bomb in 5 games, and Chris O'Brien had the other long ball. Austin Gallagher also chipped in as he went a perfect 3 for 3 with 2 walks, drove in a pair of runs, and scored twice. On the mound starter Brandon Martinez's nightmare month of August continued as he gave up 4 runs in one official inning of work as he couldn't get out of the 2nd. Jordan Roberts stepped up in relief and won his 8th game of the year (against no loses) by throwing 5 innings and allowing just one earned run. Yimi Garcia gave up a couple of runs out of the bullpen, but Eric Eadington finished the game with 1.2 scoreless frames to pick up the save. Finally, if you haven't heard already Yasiel Puig has not been in the lineup for the last few days as he has a bruised heel, and is listed as day to day.
LoA – The Loons delighted the home crowd with a combined shutout as 3 pitches blanked the Captains (Indians) 3 - 0. Despite being basically eliminated from the postseason, Great Lakes did their best to look like a playoff team as James Campbell, Scott Griggs, and Craig Stem all pitched exactly 3 scoreless innings and gave up exactly 2 hits. Griggs got into some trouble as he also walked 4, but at the end of the day he was the one that got the win. At the plate the Loons weren't all that exciting as they had just 6 hits, but O'Koyea Dickson did connect on his 16th homer of the season. Scott Schebler went 2 for 4, and Darnell Sweeney had an RBI double.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors were involved in another slugfest on Saturday as they saddled the Mustangs (Reds) with a 11 - 8 loss. Despite the big win there were no homers in this game, although Jose Capellan went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and 3 RBI's to lead his club in several categories for the day. Noel Cuevas and Tae-Hyeok Nam also doubled and drove in 2 runs each, while Jesus Valdez had 2 singles and a run batted in. Malcolm Holland reached base 4 times via 2 hits and 2 walks, and also stole 3 bases to give him a league leading 33 swipes for the season. Starter Gregg Downing allowed quite a few base runners over his 5 innings of work , and even though 4 runs scored against him he still recorded the win. Derek Cone gave up a run in relief, and then Owen Jones got the ugly save after allowed 3 runs over the final two frames.
Rookie Arizona – Off day
DSL – Game cancelled; season over
Coming up – Chris Reed makes his return to the mound for the Lookouts on Sunday after missing a few weeks on the DL, and Stephen Fife will be throwing for the Isotopes. Ross Stripling and his sub-one ERA will take the mound for the Raptors, while Duke von Schamann and Jon Michael Redding will get the ball for the Loons and Quakes, respectively.
Minor League Transactions – AAA: Matt Antonini was placed on the DL with a strained left elbow, Tim Corcoran was signed from the Mexican League and joined the Isotopes, Alex Castellanos rejoined the club, Ivan De Jesus was traded, and Steve Cilladi was activated from the DL. HiA: Jarret Martin was placed on the DL for the Quakes.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)
Great Lakes Loons Box Score (LoA)