Tacoma did away with Colorado Springs, 5-4. Another good start for Francisco Cruceta, at least when you consider that the Sky Sox play at an altitude similar to that of their parent club - he got into the seventh inning, fanning six while allowing just three runs. Shin-soo Choo and TJ Bohn set the table with five hits from the top of the lineup, but the difference-maker turned out to be Adam Jones' two-run homer in the seventh inning that gave Tacoma a 5-1 lead. Things got interesting in the ninth, when Renee Cortez allowed a single, a walk, and another single after retiring the first two batters, but he got Carlos Rivera to ground out with the tying run on third base to preserve the win. Jones reached base three times, while Rob Johnson chipped in with a pair of hits. Notables:
Cruceta: 6.2 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR
Bohn: 3-5
Jones: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB
Choo: 2-5
Johnson: 2-4
Cabrera: 1-4, 1 3B
San Antonio lost to Wichita, 5-4. Not the prettiest of starts for Ryan Feierabend, who lasted just four innings, allowing five runs on nine baserunners before leaving the game. The bullpen held the fort while the offense tried to rally, but a three-run sixth inning fell one shy of erasing the deficit, and the Missions ended up on the wrong side of things in the end. Not that they didn't have their chances, but after Erick Monzon made it 5-4 with an RBI double, San Antonio went 0-5 with men in scoring position to close it out, including a tough Luis Oliveros line drive double play in the eighth with two on and one out. Four different members of the lineup had two-hit days, but everyone else put up a big o'fer. Notables:
Feierabend: 4 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
Boucher: 2-4, 1 BB
Guzman: 2-2, 1 2B, 1 BB
Nelson: 2-4, 2 2B
Monzon: 2-4, 1 2B
(Wladimir Balentien is still absent, and according to J at Mariner Minors, he's been placed on the DL with a groin injury.)
Inland Empire was downed by Rancho Cucamonga, 4-2. This was one of those "too little, too late" games where the 66ers didn't get anything going until they were down to their final six outs, by which point they were already too far behind the eight ball. Brent Johnson had a chance to tie it up in the ninth when he came up with two out and two men in scoring position, but he grounded to short to close it out. Robert Rohrbaugh wasn't bad, per se, but he was hittable, as he allowed three runs on eight base knocks in five and a third innings of work to get the loss. Fun fact: one of the Quakes' relievers who appeared in the game is named Frederic DeLoizaga-Carney, which totally rules. Notables:
Rohrbaugh: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
Womack: 2-4, 1 3B
Johnson: 2-5, 1 3B
Wilson: 1-3, 1 BB
Chen: 1-3, 1 BB
Rogelstad: 1-4
Wisconsin beat Clinton, 7-2. Tough to say what the big story was, here - Paul Fagan's strong six innings, Casey Craig and Nick Prosise each collecting three hits and reaching base four times, or Wisconsin hitters walking ten times in 43 plate appearances. They also had ten hits, so for much of the night, the bases were packed with T'Rats. A two-run first inning via a Craig RBI double and a Prosise run-scoring single set the tone early, while another Prosise single and a Wu fielder's choice effectively put the game out of reach in the eighth inning. Notables:
Fagan: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Craig: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 BB
Prosise: 3-4, 1 BB
Hudson: 2-5, 1 3B
Hernandez: 1-2, 1 2B, 2 BB
Dominguez: 0-3, 2 BB
On the docket:
Tacoma: Livingston, 12:05pm PDT
San Antonio: Pettyjohn? Bazardo?, 4:00pm PDT
Inland Empire: Blanco, 2:05pm PDT
Wisconsin: Williams, 11:05am PDT