Colorado Springs Sky Sox 3, Tuscon Padres 0
Justin Berg, Nick Schmidt, and Coty Woods were able to shut out the Tucson Padres, allowing only 7 hits and two walks. Neither Berg, who earned his first win with the Rockies organization, nor Woods, who earned his second save, struck out a single batter.
Charlie Blackmon's double in the top of the first scored DJ LeMahieu for the first run of the game. He doubled again in the 4th. After the Sky Sox loaded the bases, only Blackmon scored that inning. Lars Davis would hit a solo home run in the 7th inning, after which no Sky Sox player reached base for the rest of the game.
Nolan Arenado watch: after his three hit night versus Las Vegas last Sunday, Arenado failed to get a hit in either game he's played since (last night and Thursday night in Tucson) . Relatively speaking, he's been in an offensive drought since April 18th. In that span, he has gone 4-for-22 with one walk and no extra base hits.
Tulsa Drillers 6, NW Arkansas Naturals 1
Tyler Matzek was very sharp in his outing last night, which earned him his first win at the AA level. In 5 innings of work, struck out six, walked one batter, and allowed only one run on three hits. His only mistake was a home run to lead off the second inning. Of his 87 pitches, 55 were for strikes and only one walk was issued. This bodes well for someone who has struggled with control issues.
Tulsa showed a rare offensive display to boost Matzek's performance. The Naturals' defensive blunders in the fourth provided the runs needed for Tulsa to win, but the team put up at least one run in 5 of their 8 innings of play. Delta Cleary, Kent Matthes, and Jayson Langfels put up multiple hits.
Modesto Nuts 4, San Jose Giants 6 (12 innings)
On paper, a team that strikes out 13 times, runs into two double plays, and is only 4-for-18 with runners in scoring position are not likely to win. Such was the case for Modesto, but they were able to drag it out to 12 innings and post 13 hits.
At the top of the order, Tyler Massey and Taylor Featherston had three hits apiece. Both of Sam Mende's hits were doubles, but he also struck out three times. Jordan Ribera also had a two-hit night, including the two run double in the 8th inning which tied the game and kept the Modesto team alive. Entering the game in the 11th inning as a pinch-hitter, Trevor Story hit a triple to center field, but the team was not able to capitalize on this, or any other opportunity for the rest of the game.
Interesting note on the game: there were three ejections in the game; San Jose Manager Andy Skeels in the 10th, and two San Jose pitchers in the top and bottom of the 11th. Without knowing any of the circumstances, this would have been a very interesting game to attend.
Asheville Tourists 14, Lakewood BlueClaws 10
If you have not read the news yet, David Dahl is back with the Asheville team. He joins a team that put up a 14-10 win against the Lakewood BlueClaws to improve to 13-9. The Tourists scored more runs last night than the other minor league affiliates combined, and it was an offensive display for both teams. Interestingly enough, of the 38 hits last night, there was one triple and not a single home run.
In a night where there were 14 runs on 21 hits, it is hard to single out an offensive performance highlight. Seven players hit doubles, only 4 players struck out, and only Juan Ciriaco failed to reach base. Rosell Herrera went 4-for-5 on the night with a walk. Since being moved down, Jose Rivera has posted twice the OPS in Asheville that he had in Modesto. Matt Argyropoulos and Jose Briceno hit two doubles each, which doubled their totals for the season.. Francisco Sosa continued his solid play in the Sally league, something that has certainly caught my attention.
TJ Oakes was credited with the win, one which he certainly owes to the offensive fireworks display. In 5 innings of work, he gave up 10 hits, 7 runs (only 5 earned), walking one and striking out 4. Alving Mejias allowed 3 more runs before exiting the game with one out in the eighth. The Asheville defense was shaky, which certainly didn't help the pitching do their jobs. The team committed four errors on the night.