Tacoma got by Fresno 10-6. Early on Tacoma opened up a huge ten-run lead before Chris Buglovsky did his best to try and give it all back. Luckily for him, he was pulled short of doing the impossible. Jorge Campillo continued to show that he'd be a better suited in Seattle and not Tacoma by going five shutout innings giving up four hits while walking two and striking out two. Both Greg Jacobs and Hunter Brown homered for the Rainiers and Chris Snelling had a multi-hit night and knocked in two runs.
Notables:
Jorge Campillo: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
Jamal Strong: 1-6, 1 RBI.
Shin-soo Choo: 2-4, 1 BB.
Chris Snelling: 2-5, 2 RBI.
Greg Jacobs: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Hunter Brown: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI.
Eric Blakeley: 0-2, 3 BB.
According to Dave at USSM Mike Morse was inactive last night because he was making his way to Seattle to claim the shortstop position from Wilson Valdez (the TNT has the actual story). It's tough to say if this is going to work out as I personally don't think Morse is polished enough to make the jump yet. Of course, can anyone be as big a black hole as Wilson Valdez? Dave goes on to note that "several people" who watch Morse "daily" claim his defense is better. These people are wrong, or perhaps they're blind. Morse's range at short isn't ML-quality and he often will botch a relatively easy play or do something bizarre with a cut-off throw. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not impressed with his defense in the least bit and highly doubt he'll be able to stick at short for any extended amount of time. On the other hand, last season Jeremy Reed looked ridiculous in center field and look how far he has come.
Tulsa edged San Antonio, 8-7. Not a good night for the Mission pitchers as Jon Huber and Emiliano Fruto both looked bad out on the mound and it ended up costing the San Antonio offense a win. Huber lasted only four innings giving up five runs (three earned) on five hits while walking three and striking out three. Fruto was handed the ball with one out in the eighth and a one-run lead and proceeded to quickly serve up two back-to-back dongs. Up next was a walk, hit batter and a wild pitch before Fruto finally settled down. Yuniesky Betancourt and Nate Espy both had three hits (and two doubles apiece) and T.J. Bohn homered.
Notables:
Jon Huber: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Yuniesky Betancourt: 3-5, 2 2B.
T.J. Bohn: 1-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI.
Nate Espy: 3-5, 2 2B, 1 3B.
Jesse Hoorelbeke: 2-5, 1 RBI.
Jesus Guzman: 1-5, 1 3B, 1 RBI.
Ismael Castro: 1-4, 1 RBI.
Inland Empire smashed Rancho Cucamonga, 12-4. Another night, another slugfest for the 66'er offense. Like I've done before, I'm just going to post the starters' lines...it's insane:
Michael Garciaparra: 3-5, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Matt Rogelstad: 2-5, 1 RBI.
Adam Jones: 3-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Bryan Lahair: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI.
Wladimir Balentien: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI.
Carlos Arroyo: 1-4, 1 BB.
Erick Monzon: 3-5, 2 2B, 1 RBI.
Chris Collins: 0-4, 1 BB.
B.J. Garbe: 1-5, 1 RBI.
Sick.
Inland Empire was up 8-0 by the end of the third and I doubt Aaron Trolia wasn't thankful. Trolia held his own for six innings giving up two runs on five hits and walking no one against five strikeouts. Aaron Looper made his fourth apperance of the season and pitched two uneventful innings. Four more errors for the 66'ers (Garciaparra, Jones, Rogelstad, Balentien), but when your offense is on fire, who cares?
Notables:
Aaron Trolia: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.
Aaron Looper: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Brian Stitt: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Ridiculously hot offense: See above.
Wisconsin disposed of Quad Cities, 11-4. More crazygood offense in what was a pretty huge hitting display put on by the organization in the four respective games. In this one it was Robert Johnson and Matt Tuiasosopo doing a lot of the work as both had four hits. Johnson knocked two balls out of the park and Tuiasosopo had three well-laced doubles. Trying not to be outdone, Mike Wilson chipped in with a homer and the 6-7-8 hitters all had multi-hit nights. Mark Lowe wasn't impressive from the mound, but with such a huge lead the whole game (it was 8-0 by the third) it didn't matter much to him.
Notables:
Mark Lowe: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR.
Oswaldo Navarro; 0-5, 1 BB.
Robert Johnson: 4-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI.
Mike Wilson: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI.
Matt Tuiasosopo: 4-5, 3 2B, 3 RBI.
Asdrubal Cabrera: 2-4, 1 BB.
Yung Chi Chen: 2-5, 1 RBI.
On the docket:
Tacoma: Damian Moss at Fresno. Game time is 7:05pm PDT.
San Antonio: Ryan Rowland-Smith at Tulsa. Game time is 10:05am PDT.
Inland Empire: Jason Mackintosh vs. Rancho Cucamonga. Game time is 7:11pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Mumba Rivera at Cedar Rapids. Game time is 4:30pm PDT.