Saturday Pebble Report: Christian Bergman Throws 3 Hit Shutout

The affiliates went 3-4 last night, with 5 of the 7 decided by 3 runs or less.

New Orleans 3, Colorado Springs 0

The Sky Sox (57-70) continued their miserable season with a shutout loss in which they mustered only six singles. Alan Johnson was decent for a change, allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits in 7 innings, but took the loss anyway (4-9). Fun fact: Jorge Cantu is hitting .167 in AAA.

Tulsa 4, Midland 2

The Drillers (24-29 2nd half, 57-66 overall) continued their recent run of strong pitching with a decent performance from the unheralded Dan Houston and the bullpen. Houston (4-3) only lasted 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 8 hits, but the bullpen threw 4 scoreless innings to get him the win after the Drillers scored all 4 of their runs in the bottom of the 5th. Offensively, Tulsa was led by a 3-4 night by PuRP 18 SS Hector Gomez.

Modesto 9, Visalia 8 (F-10)

The Nuts (32-22 2nd half, 65-59 overall) won a wild extra-inning game last night to pull 1.5 games ahead in their division in the 2nd half. Modesto was up 2-0, down 5-2, tied 5-5, down 8-5, then tied 8-8, and finally up 9-8 in a walk-off victory. PuRP 5 3B Nolan Arenado was at the forefront of Modesto's offensive efforts, going 4-6 with a triple and 3 RBIs. Not to be outdone, PuRP 24 SS Josh Rutledge went 3-5 with a double, 3 runs, and 2 RBIs that sent the game to extra innings. 2B Angelys Nina went 2-5 and had the game winning single in the 10th.

By the by, here are the offensive numbers of Arenado and Rutledge at this point. Arenado: .295/.342/.482 with 49 XBHs (17 HR) and professional baseball leading 108 RBIs (11 in his last 5 games) as a 20 year-old in High A. Rutledge: the 22 year-old defensive shortstop is handling the bat pretty well too, hitting .338/.405/.474 with 39 XBHs.

Rome 12, Asheville 3

The Tourists (28-26 2nd half, 59-64 overall) were beaten soundly in this game, going down 8-0 early and never recovering. Both 3B Joey Wong and PuRP 15 DH Corey Dickerson were bright spots for Asheville, getting 3 hits each, while PuRP 3 OF Kyle Parker hit his 20th homer of year, a two-run shot.

Short season ball after the fold.

The Dust Devils (15-9 2nd half, 37-25 overall) continued their dream season thanks again to their dominant pitching. This time it was Christian Bergman, a 24th round pick last year, who threw a complete game 3 hit shutout in less than 2 hours. The 23 year-old Bergman (7-4, 2.55 ERA, 58/9 K/BB) has allowed runs in only 1 of his past 6 starts. Tri-City got all the offense they would require from OF Tyler Massey, who launched a solo shot and had both of the game's RBIs.

Billings 14, Casper 8

The Ghosts (10-9 2nd half, 21-36 overall) lost their 4th straight game to fall 2 games back in the divisional race. It was not pretty for Casper, as the Ghosts committed 6 errors in the contest including 2 each by SS Rosell Herrera and 3B Sam Mende. The Ghosts got hits from all but one player that came to bat, but none went over the wall. Top 2011 draft picks SS Trevor Story and OF Carl Thomore combined to drive in 5 runs while CF David Kandilas had a double and a triple to improve his line to .321/.378/.542.

DSL Cubs 5, DSL Rockies 4 (F-8)

The DSL Rockies (43-27) fell to one game back in the wild card race with only one game remaining. They absolutely need to win tomorrow to have any chance at the playoffs. They were up 4-1 in this game, the first of a planned doubleheader (the 2nd of which was cancelled by rain), but Carlos Leon gave up 3 runs in the 5th without recording an out and the Rockies lost in extras. CF Raimel Tapia and 1B Jose Briceno both had multi-hit games while RF Jesus Basilio knocked in two for the DSL Rockies.