Las Vegas 4 @ Tucson 0
Three Las Vegas pitchers combined to shut out the Sidewinders Friday, wasting
a solid effort from Michael Gosling, who gave up just two earned runs in seven
innings of work. Though Gosling took the loss it was argueably his best
outing of the year. He scattered nine hits and walked only one, striking
out five.
The Sidewinders managed only six hits on the night, and those who collected
them were the usual suspects. Conor Jackson was back at first base and
went 1-3 on the night with a double and a walk. The double gave Jackson
the top spot in the Pacific Coast League with 20 two-baggers on the season, and
the walk helped keep him on top of the PCL in On Base Percentage at .497, just
five points ahead of teammate Carlos Quentin, who was 0-4 on the evening.
Catcher Kelly Stinnett was 1-3, making him 7-16 in his last four starts,
while shortstop Sergio Santos was 1-4, giving him a hit in his last seven
starts.
Second baseman Andy Green was the only Sidewinder to collect two hits Friday,
going 2-4 with a walk and extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
Tennessee 8 @ Huntsville 6
Matt Chico lasted only four innings, but was victimized by two errors that
allowed three unearned runs to score Friday. He picked up his second
straight no decision.
The bullpen picked Chico up though, going five innings and allowing only four
hits, and no runs. Pete Sikaras picked up the win with two innings of
perfect relief, and Casey Daigle got his first save of the season.
Jesus Cota has been sidelined for the past four games, and wasn't available
to start on Friday, but it hardly mattered. His pinch hit three run home
run in the eighth gave the Smokies the lead for good. In his last six
games Cota has driven in 10 runs.
Left fielder Noochie Varner continued his tear by going 2-4 with two runs
scored and two stolen bases.
Rancho Cucamonga 9 @ Lancaster 11
Starter Sam Smith was shelled to the tune of nine hits and eight runs (seven
earned) in just 3.1 innings, but the JetHawks used four home runs to fight back
and win. Smith has now given up 13 homers in 10 starts this season.
Three JetHawk players made errors during the game, but in the final analysis,
all three made up for their fielding mistakes at the plate. Derek Bruce
booted a ball in field, but proceeded to go 2-3 at the plate with his second
home run in as many days. Danny Richar made his league leading 17th error
at shortstop, but was 3-4 with a walk and three runs scored, and catcher Miguel Montero made his sixth error of the season on an errant throw, but would be
forgiven after he hit his second home run of the game with two out in the bottom
of the ninth to give the JetHawks the win. Montero was 3-5 on the day,
driving in four and scoring three runs.
The bullpen was fantastic, throwing 5.2 innings and giving up only one
unearned run. Alex Cremidan came on for Smith in the fourth and pitched
1.2 innings, allowing the unearned run to cross the plate. It was the
fifth unearned run Cremidan has allowed in his last two appearances, with no
earned runs on his watch. Next out of the pen was Jered Liebeck, who threw
three innings of two hit, four strikeout ball, keeping the JetHawks close, and
when Ryan Coffin tossed a perfect ninth he was rewarded with the win after the
Montero walk off.
South Bend 4 @ Cedar Rapids 7
Koley Kolberg got his second start of the season in South Bend but it was a
far cry from the five innings of shutout ball his tossed in start #1.
Kolberg lasted only 4.1 innings, allowing three walks and seven hits, including
two homers, as he took his first loss of the year.
Allen Mottram started at first base Friday and delivered his sixth homer of
the season, going 2-4 on the day and scoring two runs.
Third baseman Augie Murillo added to his Midwest League leading RBI total
with a 1-3, RBI performance, his eighth inning double also put him in fourth in
the League in that category, with 13.
Reliever Josh Perrault pitched 2.2 innings on Friday, and gave up only his
second earned run of the season. Perrault's ERA skyrocketed to 0.78.