Tacoma was doubled up by Nashville, 6-3. Don't pin this one on Francisco Cruceta - through 6.2, he allowed only two runs on seven baserunners while striking out 11. He's currently sporting a K/9 of 12.4 after a career in which he's never topped 9.0 at any level. Something's different here, and if he ever figures out how to regularly stick around the strike zone, Cruceta could wind up being a major 2007 sleeper. Anyway, Jesse Foppert picked up the final out of the seventh to keep it 3-2 Rainiers, but then this happened:
* Defensive Substitution: Shin-Soo Choo remains in the game as the left fielder.
* Tony Gwynn walks.
* With Dave Krynzel batting, wild pitch by Jesse Foppert, Tony Gwynn to 2nd.
* Dave Krynzel walks.
* Brent Abernathy walks. Tony Gwynn to 3rd. Dave Krynzel to 2nd.
* Coaching visit to mound.
* Nelson Cruz walks. Tony Gwynn scores. Dave Krynzel to 3rd. Brent Abernathy to 2nd.
Mike Nannini relieved him and promptly let all three inherited runners score, blowing the game open for the Sounds. Tacoma got the tying run to the plate in the ninth in Adam Jones, but he popped out to end the game. Mike Morse hit his fourth homer of the season in the third, as he's finally beginning to show some signs of life. Notables:
Cruceta: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K
Foppert: 0.1 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 4 BB
Jones: 1-5, 1 2B
Morse: 1-4, 1 HR
Snelling: 1-3, 1 BB
Garciaparra: 1-2, 2 BB
Cabrera: 1-4
San Antonio felled Corpus Christi, 5-3. Ryan Feierabend tossed a terrific six innings in the start, but he was gone by the time the wild seventh rolled around. In the top of the inning, Chad Fillinger allowed an RBI double to Walter Young to tie it up, and then beaned Josh Anderson to force in the go-ahead run. In the bottom half, though, Ismael Castro tripled in a pair of runners to restore the one-run lead, and Bryan LaHair added some insurance with an RBI single to score Castro. Fillinger then settled down, as he and Jon Huber finished the game without getting into any more trouble. Castro's two hits led the team, while Sebastian Boucher and Oswaldo Navarro each drew a pair of walks. Notables:
Feierabend: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 K
Castro: 2-4, 1 3B
LaHair: 1-3, 1 HBP
Navarro: 0-1, 2 BB
Boucher: 0-1, 2 BB
Balentien: 1-4
Inland Empire lost to Rancho Cucamonga, 4-3. All hail wildness, as the 66er pitching staff allowed just four hits but issued seven free passes and hit five batters. Not a pretty day for Ivan Blanco, who had one of his worst starts of the season. The IE lineup picked up 11 hits, including three from Marshall Hubbard and two apiece from Brent Johnson and Yung-chi Chen at the top of the lineup. Reed Eastley also reached base four times from the #3 slot, giving the first three hitters a .600 OBP in 15 plate appearances. Wasn't enough though, as the rest of the lineup just couldn't drive them in. Notables:
Blanco: 5.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R (2 ER), 6 BB, 4 K, 3 HBP
Hubbard: 3-5, 1 2B
Johnson: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB
Chen: 2-5
Eastley: 1-2, 3 BB
Tuiasosopo: 1-4, 1 2B
Wilson: 1-4, 1 BB
Wisconsin was downed by Kane County, 5-1. Ruben Flores only had one bad inning, but it was a really bad inning, as the Cougars pushed across five runs in the second inning to set the tone early. After that the T'Rat lineup just couldn't get anything going, despite Jeff Dominguez getting on three times from the leadoff spot and Eddy Hernandez doubling and drawing a walk. Just five hits in all for Wisconsin, which also committed three errors. Notables:
Flores: 5 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Dominguez: 1-2, 2 BB
Hernandez: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB
Garth: 1-4
Valbuena: 1-4
On the docket:
Tacoma: Livingston, 4:05pm
San Antonio: Moorhead, 5:05pm
Inland Empire: Nottingham, 7:11pm
Wisconsin: Escalona, 4:35pm
It's worth noting that Gil Meche and Bobby Livingston are currently on the same schedule, which could (and probably will) make it real easy for the team to swap the latter in for the former when Gil is finally given his walking papers.