Juan Nicasio's AAA debut was limited to just 53 pitches (uncertain if that was intentional or not). He allowed a hit and a walk over three innings, striking out three and allowing no runs. Unfortunately, the Sky Sox bullpen was extremely hittable and gave the game away handily. First in line was Mike McClendon who gave away three runs on four his over two innings, Hisanori Takahashi gave up four more on six hits over his two innings, and Michael Solbach allowed six runs over the final two innings, though only three were earned due to a Charlie Culberson error.. He allowed eight hits. The Sky Sox pitching staff walked just two batters, but surrendered a whopping 21 hits to Tucson.
Charlie Blackmon was the primary offensive performer in the game, going three for four and scoring the game's only run. He was a home run short of a cycle. Ben Paulsen was the man that batted in Blackmon, going one for three with a walk, as did Tim Wheeler. Xavier Nady went 0-4 with two strikeouts in his Rockies system debut.
Like their AAA sibling, the Drillers also scored just one run, but in this case, it was enough for a win. That run was scored by Jayson Langfels, off the bat of Delta Cleary Jr. The only other two hits came from Tyler Kuhn and Dallas Tarleton. All four of these players were hitting at or under the Mendoza line going into the game. No Drillers walked in the game.
Tyler Matzek's start was bizarre, in only the ways a Tyler Matzek start can be. Matzek walked six batters and only struck out two, but the two Corpus Christi hits off of Matzek were poorly timed, as none of those six walks came around to score. Leuris Gomez continued his scoreless Tulsa season with two and a third clean innings. Isaiah Froneberger and Cole White closed out the game with ease.
A pair of three-run homers from Jared Simon and Harold Riggins helped to propel Modesto over the top in this slugfest of a game. Both players had two hits, as did Brian Humphries and Ryan Casteel, who reached base every plate appearance, with four walks ontop of his two knocks. David Kandilas led the team with three hits in the game. 15 total hits, 12 total walks and only 5 strikeouts.
Ben Alsup, who has been very hit or miss this year, allowed seven runs on 10 hits and three walks over four and two thirds innings. High Desert continued to cause problems for the Nuts as reliever Russell Brewer allowed four hits in his inning and a third. Three of them were homers. Kraig Sitton and Scott Oberg both allowed runs in the final third of the game, but only one each which was enough to avoid a late High Desert comeback.
While Modesto was able to protect their lead, but eight Augusta runs in the final three innings, a four run ninth inning, left Asheville in the dust. Starter Ryan Arrowood was excellent, allowing just one run on three hits and a walk. He struck out nine. Patrick Johnson struggled with control in an inning of relief, walking three, but the damage didn't start until Brook Hart came in in the following inning. Both Hart and Rayan Gonzalez allowed four runs each in the final three innings.
Rosell Herrera had three singles and a walk in the game, scoring two runs for the Tourists. Jason Stolz hit his first homer of the year as one of two hits, while scoring three times. Francisco Sosa knocked in three runs on his two hits. Max White also had to knocks.
Alex Mehrten continued his hot start to the season with two hits with a walk and a run scored. Michael Tauchman singled in a run and walked twice. Patrick Hutcheson scored the third Tri-City run, with RBIs run Ashley Graeter and Sean Dwyer.
Jayson Aquino put up a good start, allowing two runs over five hits over five and two thirds, walking one and striking out six, but reliever Huascar Brazoban got his third loss of the young season, allowing five runs on five hits in his inning.
Zach Jemiloa was excellent, allowing just one hit in seven innings. Carlos Yan and Scott Firth preserved the shutout with clean innings. Correlle Prime singled three times and scored a run. Emerson Jimenez and Dom Nunez had two each. Zach Osborne hit his first homer as a professional baseball player.
Purple Row's own Drew Creasman was in attendance, and offered the following commentary:
Zach Jemiola could have thrown a 1 hit shutout if not for a botched double-play by second baseman Dom Nunez. After giving up his only hit of the game, a soft liner to right field, Jemiola induced a bouncing grounder to second but a high hop forced a quick throw from Nunez that pulled the short stop Emerson Jimenez off the bag when he still attempted a relay throw that would not be in time. After a bunt advanced the runners, a sacrifice fly to shallow right field would yield the only run against Jemiola who would be otherwise literally unhittable.The home run that Zach Osborn hit took less than three seconds to clear the wall. It was a screaming line-drive shot that would have been out of any park without a tall left field fence.Jemiola sat on 89 with his fastball, but worked extremely effectively with his off-speed, throwing it at times early in counts for strikes. He also worked at a very quick pace, and despite his counterpart being almost Raffy Betancourt slow with runners on, the game clocked in at 2:06.