With the M's playing early games in Kansas City (5:05 pm PDT), why not go to MiLB.com and catch the radio feeds of the tail ends of some night games once the M's game is over?  Following links to the appropriate teams should eventually lead to links for the MiLB radio feeds.

The Rainiers go at 7:15 pm, and should still be in the early stages of another contest with the Salt Lake Bees once the Mariners game ends.  The Everett Aquasox start a series tonight with the lowly Boise Hawks at 6:15 pm PDT and should be in the middle innings by the final out of the Mariners game.  And the High Desert Mavs play their 2nd contest of a series with our old affiliate Inland Empire at 7:05 pm PDT: see who they decide to send to the hill.

So, enough ho-ing, and I don't mean Ramirez.  The rookie clubs and the DIAMOND JAXX took Sunday off, but there was still plenty of action, some great news for a struggling prospect in High Desert (even if the game itself didn't end well), a bad game the Aquasox would like to forget, and Adam Jones leading the charge in a blowout of the Angels' crappy AAA affiliate.

VENEZUELA~!  ... The VSLM's took Sunday off.

AZL:  The AZLM's took Sunday off.

a:  Everett took the- ha, just kidding.

Eugene 9, Everett 3

Robert Harmon:  3.1 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 8 walks, 2 K
Keith Meyer:  3.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 4 walks (1 intentional), 6 K, hit batter
Bryan Harris:  2 IP, 2 H, walk, K
Kris Sanchez:  1-4, double, 2 RBI, K
Jeff Dunbar:  pinch hit solo HR
rest of Aquasox lineup:  4-25, 2 R, 3 walks, 3 K

12 walks from 2 pitchers, with only 4 for the other team, leads me to wonder about the integrity of the strike zone.

That said, taking it at face value, not a good day for the Aquasox.  Maybe they should have taken the day off after all.

NEXT:  Doug Salinas gets another turn as the Aquasox begin a series in lovely Boise at 6:15 pm PDT.  The Boise Hawks, by the way, have started the season red hot with a record of 2-11.

A:  Wisconsin 5, Quad Cities 2, 11 innings

Kyle Parker:  6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 walks, 5 K, hit batter
Shawn Kelley:  2 IP, 2 K
Justin Souza:  3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER (HR), K
Kuo Hui Lo:  1-5, double, R, 2 K (.273)
Trevor Lawhorn:  1-5, R, 2 RBI, 2 K (.238)
Alex Liddi:  1-5, 2 RBI (.208)

Kyle Parker finally rebounded from two poor starts to throw six strong innings.  He did a good job of holding the fort after T-Rats manager Jim Horner got tossed before the bottom 2nd for arguing balls and strikes following a Joseph White strikeout.  Parker's first couple of innings were a mixed bag of flyballs and groundballs but he settled into a groove down the stretch, getting 12 of his last 13 batters to either strikeout or hit it on the ground (and he hit that 13th batter with a pitch; better that than a car, I suppose).

Flyballs:  4
Groundballs:  11
Line Drives:  1
Walks:  2 (plus 1 hit batter)
Strikeouts:  5

But it was a 1-1 ballgame, and it stayed that way, both pitching staffs dueling and refusing to give the other side much of anything.  The Swing did get a runner aboard in the bottom 9th against Justin Souza, but pinch runner Christian Lopez got thrown out trying for 2nd.  D'OH.  The Swing went down quietly.

They did try to win it in the bottom 10th, getting back to back two out singles against Souza, who was clearly out there for the haul... but Jared Schweitzer put it on the ground, 3B Alex Liddi fielded it cleanly and threw to 2nd for the 3rd out.

And then the T-Rats awoke in the top 11th.  Juan beltran led off with a single, then stole 2nd base before Calvin Beamon flew to center for one out.  Juan Diaz drew a walk, and after Kuo Hui Lo swung and missed strike three for two outs, it looked like another sputtering rally... except Reed Eastley walked to load the bases... for Trevor Lawhorn.

And Lawhorn lofted a flyball to center that dropped in for a base hit!  Beltran scores, Diaz scores, Eastley slides into 3rd as Lawhorn took 2nd on the errant throw home.  T-RATS LEAD!

Alex Liddi came up and smoked a grounder into left to pour it on.  Eastley scored, Lawhorn scored, Liddi got a little greedy, went for 3rd and got thrown out at 3rd for the 3rd out.  Hm.  It didn't cost the T-Rats anything serious, but the kid's gotta learn that, on RBI singles, you're fortunate to get two bases, so holding up at 2nd, no matter how far ahead of the ball you are, is a sound idea.

With a 5-1 lead, Justin Souza came out to finish it off, and immediately surrendered a leadoff home run to Steve Hill, Hill's 1st home run of the season.  No biggie, because despite a two out single from Timothy Dorn, the Swing went quietly and the T-Rats sealed the extra inning win!

According to Chris Mehring at Rattler Radio, the T-Rats are now 5-0 in extra inning games this year.

NEXT:  Between half their prior starters getting jacked in the bullpen and the guys who replaced them not doing too well, it's anybody's guess who gets the ball tonight for the Mavs.  Find out at 7:05 pm PDT.

A+:  Inland Empire 4, High Desert 3

Chris Tillman:  7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER (HR), 5 K
Roman Martinez:  1.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 walks, K
Adam Moore:  1-4, RBI, 2 K (.290)
Johan Limonta:  1-4, triple, R, K (.286)
Travis Scott:  1-3, solo HR, K (.307)
rest of Mavs lineup:  0-18, 3 walks, RBI groundout, 5 K

THWARTED by our old affiliate again!  And the score belies how dead the Mavs bats were yesterday against Empire, as they only managed 3 hits, THREE hits.

The obvious good news is that it's not Chris Tillman fault.  He pitched an awesome game, going 7 strong and allowing only 3 hits (no walks!), one a solo HR for the only run he allowed.  Needless to say, this was easily his best performance to date with the Mavs.  Let's not proclaim him having turned the corner just yet, but man, what an encouraging sign to see him pitch this well after the lengthy string of bad outings.

Empire did not manage a hit until the 4th inning.  In the 5th, Lucas May hit a leadoff HR and a flyball and line drive indicated problems on the horizon, but then Tillman induced a double play ball, which the infield turned into a 6-4-3 inning ending DP.  Tillman did allow two flyballs in a 1-2-3 6th, but the 7th and final frame went popup-strikeout-groundout, a fine finish to a solid effort as he departed with a surprising 3-1 lead (given the lack of hitting).

Flyballs:  6
Groundballs:  8
Pop Ups:  3
Walks:  0
Strikeouts:  5

Then Roman Martinez came in and the wheels came off.  Drew Locke doubled to lead off the bottom 8th, and Bridger Hunt eventually cashed him in with a line drive single.  3-2.

In the bottom 9th, Blake Dewitt and Russell Mitchell went down quickly, but Lucas May singled, then Drew Locke doubled him in to tie the ballgame.  Shane Justis walked, and before you could say 'Where in the world is Austin Bibens-Dirkx*?', Jamie Hoffmann singled to center to cash in Locke for the walkoff 4-3 win.  That sucks.

* - He wasn't available because he pitched during Saturday's horrible 17-4 loss to Lancaster.  He was one of the pitchers that got shelled.

AA:  The DIAMOND JAXX had Sunday off.  They needed it.  :/

NEXT:  Doubleheader today in Jackson.  Joe Woerman gets game one at 4:05 pm PDT.  Jury's out on who will start game two, likely 'mop up guy that does not pitch in game one'.

AAA:  Tacoma 10, Salt Lake 0

Chris Reitsma:  1 IP, 1 H, 2 K
Jorge Campillo:  6 IP, 7 H, 3 K
Jamie Cerda:  2 IP, 2 walks, K
Nick Green:  4-5, double, triple, 3 R, SB (311/354/622 in his first 11 games as a Rainier)
Jeremy Reed:  2-4, 2 R, RBI, SB (.273)
Adam Jones:  2-5, 3 run HR, 2 R, K (.315)
Bryan LaHair:  2-4, double, R, RBI, walk (.265)
WLAD:  2-4, triple, R, RBI, K (.325)
Jeff Clement (DH):  0-3, walk (.281)
Rob Johnson:  3-4, double, RBI (.260)
Ronnie Prettyman:  1-4, solo HR (.277)

The Salt Lake Bees are out of gas now that the Angels have called up all their top talent, hence their falling flat on both sides of the ball in this series.  What better time to bring in Chris Reitsma and have him work a rehab inning?  Meanwhile, the Rainiers blew up for 4 runs in the 1st and 3 runs in the 2nd, ending the competitive nature of this contest rather quickly.

Also, Jorge Campillo, rather average and beatable these days, followed Reitsma and threw 6 shutout innings without allowing a free pass.  He gave up a lot of line drives and flyballs, but with the Bees deflated from falling behind so quickly, and deflated in general for the reason above, he had the cruise control switch flipped on anyway.  I mean, heck, Jamie Cerda threw 2 shutout innings to finish.  If you're a AAA ballclub and you can't hit Jamie Cerda, then you're not doing too well.

Flyballs:  5
Groundballs:  7
Line Drives:  7
Pop Ups:  1
Walks:  0
Strikeouts:  3

NEXT:  2nd go around in AAA for Robert Rohrbaugh, and it's likely the Bees give him an easy time.  Now that I've fired up the jinx machine, expect the Bees to go nuts on him.  :P  7:05 pm PDT.