Tacoma dropped Salt Lake, 1-0. Talk about your incredible pitching duels - after eight and a half, the score was 0-0 and the teams had combined for three hits. Then in the bottom of the ninth, a Hunter Brown walk, a wild pitch, and a Shin-soo Choo RBI single won it for the Rainiers. Even more amazing is that it was Kevin Appier who got the start for Tacoma, allowing one hit (albeit with four walks) through six innings before giving way to Emiliano Fruto and Sean Green, who tossed three hitless frames in relief. On the offensive side, Choo had two singles from the leadoff spot and Asdrubal Cabrera walked three times as he continued his hot start in AAA. Notables:
Appier: 6 IP, 1 H, 4 BB, 4 K
Choo: 2-4
Cabrera: 0-0, 3 BB
Bohn: 0-3
Dobbs: 0-3
Jones: 0-3
San Antonio took care of Arkansas, 3-2. Yorman Bazardo was strong through 6.2, fanning seven while inducing ten groundball outs. However, he left with the team trailing 2-1, and had to be picked up by a Michael Garciaparra sac fly and a Jesus Guzman run-scoring double to avoid getting the loss. Guzman, Garciaparra, and Bryan LaHair all had two hits on the day, while Wlad Balentien had one of his classic 0-4/4 K games at the plate. Notables:
Bazardo: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Garciaparra: 2-3
LaHair: 2-4, 1 2B
Guzman: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B
Clement: 0-3, 1 BB
Inland Empire lost to Visalia, 8-4. A Reed Eastley RBI single and Matt Tuiasosopo's first homer of the season gave the 66ers an early 3-0 lead, but they frittered it all away in the third, when eight men reached base and a pair of errors led to five of six runs being unearned. Not the best day for Justin Jordan or the Inland Empire infield defense. The 3-6 slots in the 66er lineup combined to go 8-16 with three extra-base hits, which is nice, but it wasn't enough to make up for the poor effort in the field. Notables:
Jordan: 4 IP, 7 H, 6 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 3 K
Chen: 2-4
Eastley: 2-4, 1 2B
Tuiasosopo: 2-4, 1 HR
Prettyman: 2-4, 1 3B
Hubbard: 1-4, 1 HR
Wisconsin dropped Fort Wayne, 6-3. Give this one to Justin Thomas, who allowed a run and seven baserunners in seven innings of work. You want to see a crazy line, though? Check out Harold Williams, who relieved Thomas in the eighth - in 12.2 innings this year, he's struck out 26 batters while walking 11. Yesterday he allowed his first two runs of the season while posting a 3/4 K/BB in one inning. Nuts. Anyhoo, Ron Garth went 4-5 from the #3 slot while Robby Hudson and JB Tucker each picked up two hits. Everyone in the starting lineup but Eddy Hernandez had at least one hit in the game. Notables:
Thomas: 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 5 K
Williams: 1 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 BB, 3 K
Garth: 4-5
Tucker: 2-5
Hudson: 2-5
Craig: 1-2, 3 BB
Valbuena: 1-3, 2 BB
On the docket:
Tacoma: Nageotte, 1:35pm
San Antonio: Mackintosh, 5:05pm
Inland Empire: Nottingham, 7:11pm
Wisconsin: Fagan, 4:25pm