Minor League Player of the Day – Jeremy Rathjen (LoA) - 4 for 5, 2 2B's, 3 RBI's, 2 Runs. Rathjen got off to a very slow start in 2013 as his average is still just .213 after his big day, but he's shown signs of life over the past week and hopefully this performance will be the end of his slump.
AAA – A couple of newcomers to the Albuquerque pitching staff kept their team in the game, but the Isotopes eventually fell to Round Rock (Rangers) 4 to 3 on a walk-off single. With a rotation that's missing a couple of their starters, Matt Palmer got the call for the first time this season and did alright as he allowed 5 hits and 2 runs over 4 innings. Anthony Ortega took over in the 5th and gave up just 1 run in his 3 innings of work before Geison Aguasviva tossed a scoreless 8th. With the score tied at 3 in the 9th, however, Aguasviva made the mistake of walking the first batter of the inning and it came back to bite him as that runner eventually came around to score on a walk-off single. At the plate Albuquerque couldn't get anything going outside of a 2-run homer from Brian Barden. Jesus Flores drove in the other run and Tony Gwynn had a couple of hits, but all big bats in the lineup went hitless.
AA – Rained out
HiA – The Quakes hung a high five in the 8th inning on Sunday to pull out a 7 - 5 comeback victory over the Storm (Padres). The big story of the game of course was Hanley Ramirez's second rehab game, but Craig already covered that in his post. The rest of the offense was quiet for most of the game until the aforementioned rally in the 8th inning. There wasn't one big hit during that frame, but instead a series of walks and hits that plated the 5 runs. Darnell Sweeney and O'Koyea Dickson both went 2 for 4 with a double, with Sweeney driving in a pair and Dickson knocking in one. Ryan Mount also had two hits and a couple of RBI's. On the mound Garrett Gould had his best game of the year, but he still wasn't very good as he gave up 3 runs in just 4.1 innings. Baby steps I guess. Freddie Cabrera recorded the win in his 2013 debut and had 3 K's in 2 innings, while Michael Thomas nailed down his league leading 8th save and lowered his ERA to 0.87.
LoA – The Loons pounded out 18 hits on Sunday in their 10 to 6 victory over the Quad Cities River Bandits (Astros). Center fielder Jeremy Rathjen led the way with 4 base knocks, doubling twice and driving in 3. Tyler Ogle and Paul Hoenecke both had 3 hits, while Corey Seager boosted his average to .284 with a couple of singles. Starter Carlos Frias had another solid outing as he gave up 1 earned run over 5.2 frames, striking out 6 and recording his 3rd win of the year. Having allowed just 3 earned runs all year long, Frias' ERA is 1.14 though 23.2 innings. Jonathan Martinez threw well in relief as he fanned 3 and permitted just 1 unearned run to score in 2.1 innings, but Miguel Sulbaran wasn't as lucky as he got knocked around for 3 runs while recording just 3 outs.
Coming up – The Lookouts play a double header on Monday, and Rob Rasmussen will start one of the games. The Loons will send Lindsey Caughel to the mound, while the Isotopes starter it TBD. The Quakes have the day off.
Minor League Transactions – AAA/AA: Matt Palmer has joined the Isotopes while Matt Wallach has been sent back down to Chattanooga. HiA: Gustavo Gomez and Jon Michael Redding have both been placed on the DL with leg injuries, while Freddie Cabrera has joined the roster.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)