Tacoma whipped Las Vegas, 8-1. As good a day for the lineup as it was for the pitching staff - Cesar Jimenez scattered five hits and two walks over five shutout innings while Jon Nelson led the way with a pair of homers and five RBI. Shin-soo Choo also homered, his sixth of the year but first since April. A tight game early, this one was a laugher by the fifth, and the mop-up duties went to Jon Huber and Sean Green (who allowed the one run). Notables:
Jimenez: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Nelson: 3-4, 1 2B, 2 HR
Choo: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB
Dobbs: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB
Garciaparra: 1-4, 1 BB
Snelling: 0-4, 1 BB
Jones: 0-5
San Antonio was defeated by arguably the greatest pitcher of all time, 5-1. Forgive the Missions for mustering only two hits in six innings against a "rehabbing" Roger Clemens, who struck out 11; someone owes Erick Monzon and Luis Oliveros some steak dinners after they managed to single against The Rocket. The lineup got going once Clemens was out of the game, but by that point it was too late, as Travis Blackley and Craig James put their side behind 5-0 by the sixth. Jesus Guzman and Bryan LaHair each had a pair of hits, which I don't think either of them was expecting coming in. Notables:
Blackley: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Guzman: 2-4
LaHair: 2-4
Monzon: 1-4
Oliveros: 1-3
Balentien: 0-3 (but he did make contact against Clemens)
Inland Empire fell to Lancaster, 5-3. Stop me if you've heard this one before: Cibney Bello got the loss, allowing more runs than he had innings pitched. This time it was five in three frames, with three walks and a pair of homers for good measure. Meanwhile, the 66ers couldn't cash in on their baserunners against Kellen Raab, struggling to get anything going until the ninth, when it was too late. Marshall Hubbard, Yung-chi Chen and Ron Prettyman all had two-hit days, with Hubbard picking up a two-run single in the final half-inning, but Michael Wilson flied out as the potential winning run to end the game. Notables:
Bello: 3 IP, 5 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 3 K, 2 HR
Chen: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB
Hubbard: 2-5
Prettyman: 2-4
Womack: 1-4, 1 2B
Johnson: 1-3, 1 BB
Tuiasosopo: 1-4
Wisconsin lost to Lansing, 7-4. Not a great day for Nick Allen, Luis Valbuena, or Justin Ockerman - Allen allowed four runs in three innings, with three of those runs being unearned due to a Valbuena fielding error, and Ockerman came in and allowed a three-run fourth out of the bullpen to put the game out of reach. I guess the good news is that Lansing has a guy named Joey Metropoulos, which is totally awesome. It's probably no surprise that the T'Rats could've overcome the early deficit, given that their starting lineup featured four guys who ended the day hitting under .200 (and another at .213), so with that in mind at least they managed to push four across the plate. Good for Casey Craig in particular, who singled and doubled. Jeff Dominguez reached base three times out of the leadoff slot, too, which is nice. Notables:
Allen: 3 IP, 3 H, 4 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 2 K
Craig: 2-4, 1 2B
Dominguez: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 BB
Hudson: 1-3, 1 BB
Sabatella: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB
Valbuena: 1-4
E & J Hernandez: 1-4 each
On the docket:
Tacoma: Baek, 7:05pm PDT
San Antonio: Mateo, 5:05pm PDT
Inland Empire: off
Wisconsin: Flores, 4:05pm PDT