Tacoma again battled back to beat Portland, 3-2. Make it nine in a row. On the same night the Rainiers received devestating news about their pitching staff (see previous post), they also pulled out yet another come from behind victory. No way anyone could bash Chris Buglovsky who got the spot start for an injured Jorge Campillo and was quite effective going the minimum giving up an unearned run on three hits while walking two and striking out five. After Jeff Heaverlo gave up another run in his two innings of work, Tacoma entered the eighth inning down 2-1. They quickly loaded the bases and Miguel Olivo tied it with a single and then finally took the lead on a bases loaded walk to Aaron Rifkin. Masao Kida, who's inexplicably become a viable closer, shut down the Beavers in the ninth en route to his eighth save.
Notables:
Chris Buglovsky: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
Jamal Strong: 0-4.
Shin-soo Choo: 3-4.
Jose Lopez: 1-4, 1 2B.
Chris Snelling: 0-3, 1 BB.
Miguel Olivo: 1-4, 1 RBI.
Justin Leone: 1-4, 1 2B.
Yuniesky Betancourt: 1-4, 1 2B.
San Antonio shut out Midland, 3-0. Bobby Livingston could be seeing a promotion soon given that 1) the Tacoma rotation is one tweaked arm away from tatters and 2) Livingston is pitching exceedingly well. Livingston helped his case even more in this one as he was downright fantastic going eight shutout innings scattering four hits and three walks and fanning nine. Despite only three runs, the Missions had no issues seeing the ball as they knocked out thirteen hits (eleven singles). Five players had multi-hit games and everyone except Nate Espy and Jesus Guzman had at least one hit. Espy partially made up for it by walking once.
Notables:
Bobby Livingston: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 K.
Jamie Bubela: 3-4.
Jesus Guzman: 0-3.
T.J. Bohn: 1-3, 1 BB.
Gary Harris: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
Ismael Castro: 2-4, 1 2B.
Eriberto Menchaca: 2-4.
Eric Blakeley: 2-4.
Lake Elsinore hammered Inland Empire, 13-1. It wasn't Brandon Moorhead who got the start, but Nibaldo Acosta. Acosta, as you can undoubtedly see, wasn't effective and got pasted for four runs (two earned) in only three innings of work. Tanner Watson, Philip Wilson, Benny Looper's Kid and Aaron Trolia were all just as or nearly as bad as Acosta and led the team to a rout. The 66'er defense committed six errors (Jones 2, Garciaparra, Monzon 2, Hagan) in this one that lead to three unearned runs just compounding the problem. It's better the miscues come in something out of reach, but it still isn't something you want to see. The offense wasn't any help as the Storm pitchers kept them in check all night with Matt Hagan smacking the one and only XBH, a double.
Notables:
Nibaldo Acosta: 3.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
Bullpen: 6.0 IP, 13 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 4 K.
Little Garciaparra: 1-4.
Adam Jones: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI.
Bryan Lahair: 0-3.
Matt Hagan: 1-4, 1 2B.
Wisconsin smoked Beloit, 6-1. Aaron Jensen pitched what might have been his best game all season by going seven strong innings giving up a run on six hits while walking one and striking out four. He made only one serious mistake pitch all night and that pitch was blasted over the right field wall by Chris Brown. The Timber Rattler offense came alive early as the spotted Jensen to a 5-0 lead by the end of the second inning, no doubt boosting his confidence a bit. Sebastien Boucher, Yung Chi Chen, Mike Wilson and Josh Womack all had multi-hit nights.
Notables:
Aaron Jensen: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.
Sebastien Boucher: 2-5, 1 RBI.
Yung Chi Chen: 3-5, 2 2B, 1 RBI.
Asdrubal Cabrera: 1-4, 1 RBI.
Mike Wilson: 2-5.
Oswaldo Navarro: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI.
Josh Womack: 2-4.
On the docket:
Tacoma: Cha Seung Baek at Las Vegas. Game time is 7:05pm PDT.
San Antonio: Juan Sandoval vs. Midland. Game time is 5:05pm PDT.
Inland Empire: TBA (Moorhead?) vs. Lake Elsinore. Game time is 7:11pm PDT.
Wisconsin: Julio Santiago at Beloit. Game time is 5:00pm PDT.