Tucson 2 @ Omaha 3
Every team, no matter what level they play on, wants to win, but the curious
thing about Minor League Baseball is that above all else, no matter what, the
parent club comes first. That's the quick and simple explanation for Oscar Villarreal starting Tuesday, and Brandon Lyon entering the game in the second
inning. Both pitchers had perfect frames, and both recorded one strikeout.
For Villarreal that's three straight scoreless outings, for Lyon it was his
third scoreless appearance of the four he's made since coming off the disabled
list.
That meant Mark Freed came out of the bullpen for the third straight time,
though he was in essence the starter in all three games. Freed was solid,
going five innings and allowing three earned on five hits and two walks.
He would strikeout six in the game, but the Sidewinders bats couldn't get it
going, and he took his fifth loss of the season.
Offensively there was but one star, and that was Carlos Quentin. He
extended his hitting streak to five games with a 3-4 performance that included a
double and his 21st home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth inning that
would pull the Sidewinders to within one.
Andy Green was 1-3 on the day and scored the first run for the Sidewinders,
it was of the unearned variety.
Montgomery 3 @ Tennessee 7
Adam Bass has earned only two decisions in his last nine starts, and both
were losses. He turned it up a notch Tuesday by going seven innings and
scattering 11 hits. How do you know he scattered them? Because he
allowed only three runs. Bass got the win, his first since June 12th.
The good news was that Bass was staked to a six run lead after a second
inning explosion that included six singles, an error, and a two run homer by Dan Uggla. The bad news came an inning earlier when shortstop Stephen Drew
lined a double down the left field line but was promptly pulled from the game
after he came up lame. The early prognosis is a strained hamstring, but he
will be re-evaluated tomorrow.
With Drew out that gave Matt Morgan an opportunity to shine, and his 1-3 day
included a run scored and a RBI. Left fielder Noochie Varner had two hits
and an RBI on the day, he joined Uggla as the only two Smokies to have more than
one hit Tuesday. Though Varner and Uggla were the only two Smokies with
multiple hits, every Smokie grabbed at least one.
Still all eyes will be on Stephen Drew, watch for an update on Drew's
condition right here at FutureBacks.com tomorrow afternoon.
Lake Elsinore 6 @ Lancaster 13
Jon Castellanos was solid, and the JetHawks bullpen survived some sketchy
defense late as the bats went wild in Lancaster. Castellanos allowed three
runs on eight hits, but Lake Elsinore's catcher, Colt Morton, did all the
damage, with a pair of home runs off the JetHawks starter. By the time
Morton hit his second, a two run shot in the sixth inning, the outcome was
already decided, because the JetHawks put up four runs in the third, five in the
fourth, and two more in the fifth inning, moving them out to a 12-1 lead after
five frames.
The bullpen was strong for Lancaster, Billy Biggs, Kyle Bono, and Dustin Glant each pitched a frame. Biggs struck out all three batters he faced in
the seventh, the newly acquired Bono allowed a solo home run but was otherwise
unscathed in the eighth, and despite two hits, a walk, and the 27th error of the
season by Danny Richar, which allowed two unearned runs to cross the plate in
the ninth Dustin Glant closed things out.
The JetHawks hitters looked like they were still in batting practice during
the game. Seven different JetHawks had at least two hits, and four had at
least two RBI. Right fielder Jeff Cook had a day, going 4-5 with two
doubles, a RBI and a run scored, and Richar's error notwithstanding, he was
stellar as well, going 3-5 with a double and a triple. In Richar's last
two games he's 5-10 with a double, triple, home run, four runs scored and six
RBI. First baseman Javier Brito had his best game since being promoted to
Lancaster, going 2-4 with three RBI and a run scored, and left fielder Alex Frazier also grabbed two RBI during his 2-4 day.
The man of the hour was center fielder Steve Garrabrants, hitting out of the
lead off spot Garrabrants got things started with a first inning home run, his
seventh, and was 2-4 on the day with a walk, two RBI and three runs scored.
Lansing 6 @ South Bend 4
One day after Ross Ohlendorf dominated with a complete game shutout, Steven Jackson came looking for the same kind of success, and though he pitched well,
it wasn't enough as closer Matt Elliott couldn't keep the game tied in the top
of the ninth.
Jackson gave up four earned runs for the third straight start, this time in
5.2 innings pitched, and he walked two while striking out only one. Josh Perrault and Esmerling Vasquez combined for 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, and
with the game tied at four South Bend closer Matt Elliott entered. Coming
into Tuesday Elliott hadn't allowed an earned run in 22 straight appearances,
and hadn't allowed a homer all season long. Both streaks would be wiped
out when Eugenio Velez crushed a ball over the right field fence to give Lansing
the lead, and eventually the win.
Offensively the bottom of the order had to carry the team, as the first three
hitters in South Bend's lineup went a combined 0-11 with one walk and two
strikeouts. With nobody on ahead of them Cesar Nicolas and Jereme Milons
were reduced to table setters, and luckily left fielder Travis Gulick, hitting
ninth, felt like driving them in. Gulick, who came into the game hitting
just .200 on the season, was 2-3 with a double, and he drove in three of the
four Silverhawk runs on the day.
Yakima 1 @ Tri-City 7
Angel Rocha struggled in Lo-A South Bend, prompting his demotion to the Short
Season Yakima Bears, but his luck still hasn't changed. Tuesday Rocha
lasted only 3.2 innings, allowing six hits, three walks, a hit batter, a wild
pitch, and seven earned runs before Kyler Newby and Craig Pfautz shut down the
Tri-City offense.
By then it was took late, because the Bears bats were hibernating. Only
four Bears reached base, and despite Josh Ford going 3-4 and Leyson Septimo 2-4
no one else could bring them in. Septimo scored the only Yakima run on a
sacrifice fly by Juan Olivares.
Missoula was off Tuesday