Minor League Player of the Day – Michael Johnson (Ogden) - 3 IP, 0 Hits, 0 Walks, 0 Runs, 6 K's. It's rare for a reliever to win this award, and what makes this even more odd is that Johnson just barely edged out another bullpen arm in Freddie Cabrera to capture this honor. The 2013 14th round pick out of Dartmouth has mostly struggled in his professional debut, but there is no doubting that he was dominate on Wednesday with 3 perfect innings that included 6 K's.
AAA – Off day
AA – The Lookouts remain winless in the month of August as they fell to the Stars (Brewers) 7 to 3 on Wednesday. The loss was actually the 11th in a row for Chattanooga, and oh how the mighty have fallen since I went on vacation. Joc Pederson, who was recently named as the Southern League's most exciting player by Baseball America, saw his average fall to .274 with a 1 for 5 effort and he is hitting just .143 over his last 10 games. The only real offensive highlights were a solo homer by Angelo Songco and a 2 for 3 game for Rafael Ynoa that also saw him walk twice. On the mound Garrett Gould allowed 5 hits and 5 runs over 5 innings, although only 3 of the runs were earned. Pedro Baez and Jarret Martin both permitted a run in relief, while Michael Thomas allowed 3 base runners but didn't give up a run in his inning of work.
HiA – The Quakes made Brian Wilson's shutout inning in his Dodger debut stand up as they cleared the Storm (Padres) 4 to 3. Once Wilson left the game Freddie Cabrera picked up in relief and he was literally unhittable as he fired 5 innings of no-hit baseball (although he did walk 4). Newcomer Edwin Carl permitted a run in relief but got all 5 of his outs via the K, and later in the game Craig Stem recorded his first save for Rancho. At the dish Chris Jacobs went 2 for 3 with a homer while Darnell Sweeney connected on a pair of doubles. The late heroics, however, came on an 8th inning RBI single from Chris O'Brien which was followed up by Pedro Guerrero's eventual game winning sac fly.
LoA – The Loons slipped by the Hot Rods (Rays) 4 to 3 on Wednesday thanks to a late 2-run homer by Aaron Miller. While Miller has mostly struggled at the plate since his conversion from the mound, he does rank 3rd on the club with 7 homers despite playing in just 56 games for the Loons. Kevin Taylor also went yard in this game but that was it for the offensive highlights. 2013 1st round pick Chris Anderson struck out 5 over 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, but it was Luis Meza who got the win with 3 solid innings of relief. Owen Jones got through the 8th unscathed then Crayton Bare picked up his 2nd save with a perfect 9th.
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors were embarrassed by the Chukars (Royals) as they were blanked 5 to 0. Ogden was limited to just 5 singles in this one and nobody in the lineup had more than one hit. Starter Luis De Paula allowed all 5 runs on 9 hits over 5 innings, but Michael Johnson was dominate out of the bullpen as he struck out 6 over 3 perfect innings of relief work.
Rookie Arizona – The Dodgers late comeback attempt fell short on Wednesday as they were defeated by the Rangers 5 to 3. A Cody Bellinger triple, a Michael Ahmed double, and a Griff Erickson single accounted for most of the late scoring, but that was about it for the offense in this game. Starter Abdiel Velasquez allowed 4 runs over 4.1 innings of work and Lenix Osuna also gave up a run in relief to account for all the opposition scoring.
DSL – The Dominican Dodgers scored 8 runs in the first inning on Wednesday, yet still managed to lose to the Royals 10 to 9. The Royals simply picked away and the big lead while the Dodgers bats fell silent until the 9th inning when they scored their final run. Starter Oriris Ramirez gave up 4 of the runs, although all were unearned, then Diomailin Rosario allowed 5 more runs in relief. On offense Ariel Sandoval went 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI's while Dennis Santana also knocked in a pair, but that was it for the extra base hits and the multi-RBI performances.
Coming up – Tom Windle and the Loons take on Steve Ames' brother Jeff, while Matt Palmer and the Isotopes return to action. Scott Barlow gets the ball for the Raptors and Jon Michael Redding throws for the Quakes.
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)
Great Lakes Loons Box Score (LoA)
Ogden Raptors Box Score (Rookie)
Arizona Dodgers Box Score (Rookie)