Wednesday Pebble Report: Chad Bettis K's Career-High 11, Nolan Arenado First in All of Baseball to 100 RBI

AAA Colorado Springs -  L 1-8 (56-68, 4th, 11.5 GB)

Greg Reynolds (2006, 1st round) was tagged for six runs on seven hits in five innings as the Zephyrs defeated the Sky Sox in New Orleans.  Colorado Springs was held to just five hits, all singles, two of them by #14 PuRP Jordan Pacheco (2007, 9th round).

 

AA Tulsa - Off Day  (21-29, 4th, 5.0 GB)

The Drillers traveled home from Frisco yesterday, and they will open a series tonight against Midland with **trumpet fanfare** Drew Pomeranz (2011, trade) getting the start, pushing Dan Houston (2008, 7th round) back in the rotation.  Tulsa lost all six games on their road trip.

High-A Modesto - W 7-0 (30-21, 1st)

#11 PuRP Chad Bettis (2010, sandwich pick) was exceptional for Modesto, toying with the Lancaster JetHawks for seven dominant shutout innings.  The right-hander tied a career high with 11 punchouts, walked two and allowed just three singles.  Will Harris (2006, 9th round) brought home the shutout by striking out four of his own in two strong innings. Orlando Sandoval (2006, DR) and Beau Seabury (2007, 13th round) homered, and #24 PuRP Josh Rutledge (2010, 3rd round) and Angelys Nina (2007, DR) both stole two bases. 

#5 PuRP Nolan Arenado (2009, 2nd round) hit his 15th home run of the season in the first inning, giving him a team-high 100 RBI on the season, also making him the first player in all of professional baseball to reach 100 RBI (Brett Pill of the AA Fresno Grizzlies (Giants) reached 101 with a 2-run HR two hours later).  He is the first player in Modesto Nuts history (it started in 2005) to reach 100 RBI in a season.  The last Modesto player to hit that mark was John Suomi in 2004 for the Modesto Athletics.  

Low-A Asheville - L 2-3 (13)  (27-24, 4th, 5.5 GB)

For the second consecutive day, the Tourists went home losers by a 3-2 score, though this one took 13 innings to complete.  Taylor Reid (2010, 14th round) allowed a two-out solo walkoff home run to Aderlin Rodriguez in the 13th frame for the loss. Down a run in the ninth, Brett Tanos (2010, 10th round) and #25 PuRP Cristhian Adames (2009, DR) singled to start a rally.  Joe Mikulik elected to have power hitter #3 PuRP Kyle Parker (2010, 1st round) bunt, even with the tying run already in scoring position, and he did so successfully.  Dustin Garneau (2009, 19th round) rewarded Mik's unique strategy with a game-tying sacrifice fly.  Parker previously tripled and scored the Tourists' first run.  

#4 PuRP Tyler Matzek (2009, 1st round) was strong but unnerving at the same time.  The lefty allowed two runs on just two hits in seven innings, striking out six.  But the lefty also walked seven men, so the minimal damage he allowed was quite fortunate.

Short Season-A Tri-City - W 4-1 (13-8, 1st)

Nelson Gonzalez (2007, DR) improved to 7-0 with a 1.76 ERA by throwing five shutout innings against the Boise Hawks.  Boise managed three singles against Gonzalez, but they struck out eight times without a walk against the 21-year-old right-hander.  Ryan Casteel (2010, 17th round) hit a two run double, and Tim Smalling (2011, 15th round) singled twice and scored twice. 

Rookie Casper -  L 6-15 (10-6, t-1st)

A day after trouncing the Great Falls Voyagers, the Ghosts got the rebound treatment.  Raul Fernadez (2008, DR) gave up six runs in the start, and Alving Mejias (2009, VZ) surrendered eight runs in relief, though back-to-back errors in the sixth by Trevor Story (2011, sandwich) and Yafistel Roja (2009, DR) to lead off the sixth inning meant only two of the runs vs. Mejias were earned.  Story struck out three times, but he also singled and hit his fourth home run of the season, a 3-run shot in the seventh.  Dillon Thomas (2011, 4th round) singled twice and has at least one hit in all eight of his professional starts.

DSL Rockies -  W 6-4 (5)  (37-24, 3rd, 1.5 GB)

Carlos Estevez allowed four runs on six hits in five innings, but earned a win and complete game as the match was shortened at five innings. The Rockies bunched all four of their hits into a six-run third inning to take a commanding lead that held up.  It was the only inning in which the Rockies had more than three batters bat.