Tacoma downed Tucson, 10-4. A three-run first, powered by Justin Leone and Miguel Olivo run-scoring doubles, provided more than enough support for Chris Buglovsky, who tossed six shutout frames for the win. Still leading 3-0, Tacoma pushed another four across the plate in the fourth, mostly thanks to Yuniesky Betancourt's first AAA home run. Miguel Olivo led everyone with three hits, and is showing some signs of breaking out of this nasty funk, upping his line to .254/.320/.433 after an awful start. Five other Rainiers had two-hit days, as everyone in the starting lineup reached base at least once. Notables:
Buglovsky: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Olivo: 3-5, 2 2B
Betancourt: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR
Leone: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB
Gonzalez: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB
Choo: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB
Strong: 2-4, 1 BB
Dobbs: 2-4
The West beat the East in the Texas League All Star Game, 5-0. Representing San Antonio:
Livingston: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 K
Guzman: 1-2
Bohn: 0-2
Inland Empire was creamed by Stockton, 12-3. 66er pitching allowed runs in every inning between the second and the seventh, and the lineup was looking at a 7-1 deficit enterting the bottom of the third. Nibaldo Acosta was awful out of the gate, lasting just 3.1 innings while allowing nine runs, and Miguel Martinez made things worse in long relief. IE had as many errors as they did runs, including Adam Jones' 22nd of the season. Garciaparra committed his 13th himself, quite an accomplishment when you consider how much time he missed due to injury. BJ Garbe and Matt Rogelstad were the only 66ers to notch two-hit days. Notables:
Acosta: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 9 R (7 R), 2 BB, 1 HR
Jones: 1-4
Garciaparra: 1-5
Balentien: 0-2, 2 BB
Lahair: 0-5
Nesbit: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB
The East beat the West in the Midwestern League All Star Game, 4-2. Representing Wisconsin:
Bello: 0.2 IP
Cabrera: 1-3
Tuiasosopo: 1-3, 1 2B
Chen: 1-2
Johnson: 1-2
Womack: 1-2
Everett kicked off its 2005 season with an ugly 7-2 loss. The Aquasox committed five errors - all by different players - leading to four unearned runs being scored. Marwin Vega got the start and lasted four innings, allowing three hits while fanning four. Nick Allen and Oliver Arias combined for four innings of relief, allowing the rest of the Boise runs to score. Two Aquasox had two-hit days - Corby Heckman and Michael Saunders - with Saunders drilling a double in his professional debut. Bryan Sabatella had the big hit for Everett, a home run in the ninth. Jeremy Reed's brother Mark, by the way, was 2-4 with a walk for the Hawks. Notables:
Vega: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R (1 ER), 4 K
Saunders: 2-4, 1 2B
Heckman: 2-5
Sabatella: 1-4, 1 HR
Tucker: 1-3, 1 BB
Flaig: 1-4
Zorn: 1-5, 1 2B
Coming up: Cha Baek pitches for Tacoma, some yet-to-be-determined bad pitcher goes for Inland Empire, and Paul Fagan's up for Everett.