Minor League Player of the Day – Corey Embree (Arizona) 5 for 6, 2 3B's, 2 Runs, 5 RBI's. I was all set to give this award to Yasiel Puig after he returned to action on Sunday and had one of his best games to date as he went a perfect 4 for 4, but Corey Embree had to go and one up him with a big performance late in the night in the Arizona Rookie League. Not only did Embree have 5 hits and 5 RBI's, but he tripled in the game winning runs for the Arizona Dodgers in the 10th inning to win the game. The 20 year old 38th round pick in this year's draft has been pretty quiet so far, but he seems to have decent value and tools despite getting selected so late.
AAA – The Isotopes were 3-hit on Sunday as they lost to Memphis (Cardinals) 7 to 1. Trent Oeltjen's solo homer provided the only scoring for Albuquerque, while everyone else but Scott Van Slyke and Tim Federowicz went 0 for the night. Dee Gordon had the second straight hitless game to start his rehab, and he made one error during 5 innings in the field at shortstop. On the mound Stephen Fife had a rough outing as he allowed 9 hits and 6 runs over 4.2 frames, with most of those runs scoring on the 4 homers that he gave up. Cole St. Clair also permitted a run to score over his 2.1 innings, while Scott Rice was the only pitcher to get through the night unscathed.
AA – Chris Reed made his first appearance in two weeks on Sunday, but his return was marred by a 5 - 4 Lookout loss to the Generals (Mariners). Reed started the game but was limited to just 2 innings during which time he struck out 1 and allowed just a single. Once Chris left the game reliever Wes Roemer got into some trouble and gave up 4 runs (3 earned) over the next 3.1 frames, with most of the damage coming on a pair of homers. Geison Aguasviva held Jackson to just 1 hit over the next 1.2 innings, but then Jose Dominguez gave up the first run of his AA career in the 9th which resulted in the loss. Despite the 4 runs Chattanooga had just 5 hits in this game, with two of them coming from the suddenly hot Jake Lemmerman who doubled and tripled. Bobby Coyle, who is starting to find his groove in the Southern League, also had a triple and drove in 3 for the only other offensive highlight of the day.
HiA – Rancho used a big 6th inning to belittle the Giants 10 to 7 on Sunday. After sitting out a few games with a sore heel, Yasiel Puig owned the night by going a perfect 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's. Nobody else on the Quakes had more than one hit, although Angelo Songco did hit a 3-run homer that helped solidify the victory. On the bump starter Jon Michael Redding recorded the win despite allowing 9 hits and 6 runs, although 3 of those runs were unearned thanks to a pair of Rancho errors. The recently demoted Eric Eadington has only spent about half the season in the California League, but on Sunday he recorded his 20th save which ranks 2nd in the league.
LoA – The Loons scored 3 first inning runs and then never looked back as Great Lakes defeated Lake County (Indians) 4 to 2. Several Loon hitters contributed to the early scoring, including O'Koyea Dickson who doubled in a run and Nick Akins who singled in another. Nobody in the lineup had more than one hit, although Jeff Hunt doubled later in the game and Tyler Ogle homered to give Great Lakes their 4th run. On the mound starter Duke von Schamann won his 4th game of the year by allowing just 4 hits and 1 run over 5 frames while tying a season high with 7 strike outs. Daniel Coulombe got the hold with 1.1 hitless innings, then Daniel Carela recorded his first save since joining the Loons last week.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors won their 4th straight game on Sunday as they completed their sweep of Billings (Reds) with a 7 - 5 victory. Starter Ross Stripling amazingly lowered his ERA to 0.85 as he didn't allow an earned run over 4 frames, although Kazuki Nishijma was the one who picked up the win (his 8th of the year) with 2 innings of 1-hit ball. Jason West and Alan Garcia both gave up runs in relief, but the bullpen was still able to hold off the Mustangs with Garcia getting the save. At the plate Jesus Valdez extended his hitting streak to 9 games and had his 3rd multi-hit game in a row by going 2 for 4 with the Raptors only extra base hit; a double. Devon Ethier gets his name mentioned for the first time in while by going 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI's, while Malcolm Holland had another big game on the base paths with 4 stolen bases and 2 runs scored.
Rookie Arizona – The Arizona Dodgers secured a playoff spot on Sunday with a come from behind 11 - 9 victory over the Reds. The Dodgers were actually down 3 heading into the 9th, but they managed to pull ahead by 1 thanks to a 2-RBI double by Josh Henderson, which gave him 4 runs batted in for the game. The Reds subsequently tied the game in the bottom of the frame, but in the 10th Corey Embree's 5th hit and 2nd triple of the game drove in the winning runs (and he finished with 5 RBI's). The other notable performance at the plate came from Greg Pena who went 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored. On the mound starter Victor Araujo gave up 6 hits and 6 runs over 4 innings, but only 2 runs were earned due to 4 Dodger errors (including the 19th of the season by Jesmuel Valentin). A trio of relievers thew 2 innings each and they all gave up exactly one run, including Joe Robinson who blew the save in the 9th but then recorded his first professional victory by throwing a scoreless 10th.
DSL – Season over
Coming up – Everyone plays but Ogden on Monday, but so far none of the scheduled pitchers are very interesting as Will Savage throws for the Isotopes, Ryan Acosta takes the mound for the Quakes, and Arismendy Ozoria gets the ball for the Loons.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)
Great Lakes Loons Box Score (LoA)
Ogden Raptors Box Score (Rookie)