Pebble Report - Weekend Recap: Eldred, McKenry, and Rosario have multi-HR games, JDLR dominates, more

AAA - Colorado Springs: L 12-7, W 5-2 (35-42)

On Saturday, the Sky Sox outhit Portland 19-17 but couldn't come away with the victory. Michael McKenry hit two home runs to bring his season total to four, and Brad Eldred hit two of his own to raise his total to 20 - which leads the organization by a large margin. Unfortunately, all four of those home runs were of the solo variety. Greg Smith started the game for Colorado Springs and was thoroughly beaten up  in four innings, as he allowed nine runs on 11 hits. Juan Rincon was also hit around, giving up three runs in three innings. That was sandwiched between three innings of scoreless relief from Matt Wilhite and Nick Bierbrodt. McKenry and Cole Garner each had four hits to lead the offense, while Eldred and Matt Miller each had three. Dexter Fowler made an eighth inning pinch-hit appearance and singled.

Jorge De La Rosa made his second rehab start in Sunday's game, and looked every bit like he did in his first start. He went six innings and allowed a run just three hits and a walk, and struck out five. He did a tremendous job of keeping the ball down, as his ten ground outs induced (compared to three fly outs) would suggest. In addition, he gave the Sky Sox the lead for good in the fourth inning with a line drive single that plated two. Matt Miller and Cole Garner each had a couple of hits to back De La Rosa, while Taylor Buchholz notched a scoreless inning of relief, allowing a hit and striking out a batter. Dexter Fowler was 0-for-4 with a couple of strikeouts.

AA - Tulsa: L 12-9 (31-42)

Much like Colorado Springs on Saturday, Tulsa hit four home runs but still fell short of picking up the W. Wilin Rosario led the offense with two homers (giving him ten on the year), while Ryan Harvey (11) and Bronson Sardinha (2) each went yard as well. Keith Weiser did not have his best outing, as he allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings, despite striking out six. However, he was in position to win the game until Ching-Lung Lo entered the game and allowed five runs on two hits and a walk. Charlie Blackmon went 1-for-4 with a walk and scored a run.

The Drillers' Sunday game was postponed.

A-ball and Rookie League recaps after the jump...

High-A - Modesto: W 5-4, L 9-5 (40-35)

With one out in the tenth inning, James Cesario hit a pinch-hit triple and was brought in on a sacrifice fly by Beau Seabury to give the Nuts the victory on Saturday, despite being outhit 10-6. Dan Houston started the game and allowed four runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings, and was victimized by the long ball. However, he was picked up nicely by his bullpen, which pitched 3.2 scoreless innings. Isaiah Froneberger was responsible for most of that, as he allowed a hit and a walk in 2.1 innings, and struck out two. Kurt Yacko and Rex Brothers pitched the remainder of the game and didn't allow any baserunners.

In Sunday's game, Ethan Hollingsworth struck out seven batters in 5.1 innings, but unfortunately he caught a little too much of the plate and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits to go along with it. The big blow was a first inning three-run homer that helped San Jose take a four-run lead out of the gate. Tim Wheeler, James Cesario, and Ryan Peisel each had two hits for the Nuts. However, all ten of the team's hits were singles.

A - Asheville: W 5-0 (31-41)

The Tourists scored all five of their runs in the top of the sixth inning on Saturday, highlighted by Jared Clark's three-run homer (10). Angelys Nina went 2-for-4 with a double, and Avery Barnes had a two-hit game as well. Nolan Arenado went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly. Wes Musick tossed seven innings of shutout baseball, allowing just five hits and a walk. He struck out two batters and maintained a GO-to-FO ratio of 11 to 3.

Sunday's game was suspended after three innings with the Tourists leading 2-0.

A (Short Season) - Tri-City: L 4-2, L 6-5 (5-5)

Russell Wilson, Chandler Laurent, and Mark Tracy each had two hits for the Dust Devils on Saturday. Tracy's double was the only extra-base hit, though, and Tri-City was held scoreless for the first seven innings on their way to the loss. Starter Edwar Cabrera allowed four runs on five hits in five innings. He was done in by a three-run homer, but seemed to have pitched pretty well other than that, as he struck out four batters. Eric Federico tossed three innings of scoreless relief, allowing the Dust Devils the opportunity for a rally.

Tri-City suffered a walk-off loss on Sunday, as Billy Vopinek gave up a single, a walk, and a double, and threw a wild pitch in between. The double scored both of the runs that Salem-Keizer needed to win the ballgame. Erik Stavert started the game and allowed a run on four hits and struck out three in four innings. Casey Weathers made an appearance as well, tossing a scoreless eighth to pick up the hold. Chandler Laurent added two more hits to his tally - both triples.

Rookie - Casper: L 4-3, W 15-9 (6-2)

Corey Dickerson went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and Anthony Aguilera had a couple of singles in four at-bats for the Ghosts, but it wasn't enough to avoid the walk-off loss in Saturday's game. Alejandro Barraza allowed two runs on five hits in five innings, but the bullpen combination of Nelson Gonzalez and Clinton McKinney couldn't hold the lead.

Sunday was a different story entirely, as the Ghosts pounded out 21 hits and made some bad-looking ERA's on Ogden's staff look even worse. Four different Casper players had three hits in the game, including Dickerson, who hit his third home run of the season, and Brett Tanos, who also homered. In addition, Juan Crousset went 2-for-5 with a home run. In all, everybody in the starting lineup had at least one hit, and all but one player had at least two. Alving Mejias picked up the victory by going five innings and allowing four earned runs on six hits, while striking out five.