© Ron Holman / Visalia Times-Delta / USA TODAY NETWORK
Triple A: Las Vegas Aviators 4, Reno Aces 5
Ace of the day: Seth Beer again for the second consecutive day, bringing in 4 runs with a hit and a sac fly.
Let’s start this article on a positive note with an Aces’ win, who got a useful performance from Tyler “no-hitter” Gilbert. Gilbert went 6 innings and got the win, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits with 2 strikeouts and 2 walks.
The game went smooth for the Aces as they already took a decisive lead in the first inning, when Seth Beer once again homered to put 3 on the board with just one out. The Aces could have made some more noise in that first inning with a walk from Canzone and a double from Graterol, but Yadiel Rivera couldn’t add a couple of runs more and grounded out.
Come the 9th inning with a 5-1 lead for the Aces, Mitchell Stumpo was asked to take care of the final 3 batters and that didn’t really go as expected. He issued a walk and a balk and allowed a couple of doubles and a single and all of a sudden the Aces saw themselves with their backs against the wall, protecting a one run lead with the tying run at second, a man on first and no outs.
In came Miguel Aguilar for the save and the Mexican did that perfectly: he got a strikeout and induced a double play to make sure the Aces keep on pushing atop the PCL West.
Double A: Tulsa Drillers 10, Amarillo Sod Poodles 3
Happy Poodle: Corbin Carroll went 2 for 3 with 2 runs and a walk.
In Amarillo the Sod Poodles had to chase the Drillers from the get-go. Today’s starter Olivero allowed a run in the top of the 1st, but that one was taken back in the same inning when Corbin Carroll could cross home plate after a groundout and a follow-up single from Forbes. But Olivero immediately gave up two more runs in the 2nd and that’d be it.
By the 5th inning the young pitcher has clearly ran out of gas but is summoned to come out again for the 6th inning and that is when everything gets completely out of hand as the Drillers run away to a 9-1 lead. The rest of the game was anecdotal.
After concluding this series the Sod Poodles won’t see the Drillers again and I’m sure they’re happy knowing that.
High A: Hillsboro Hops 3, Everett AquaSox 8
Hippety-Hop: Roby Enriquez went 3 for 4 with a run and RBI.
If you think a 4 game sweep is hard to achieve, think of how hard it must be to add a 5 game sweep to your reward list while being the last placed team in your league. Then think of the Everett AquaSox because that is the team who we are talking about. The Mariner’s affiliate was able to pound the Hops five times in a row and the D-Backs’ High A team has slipped under .500 after concluding this series.
It was a rough go from the beginning as Tineo, the Hops’ starter, gave up 3 runs in the first two innings. Although the Hops get men aboard in every inning, it isn’t until the 6th till they start to take advantage of it when Mirando launches a 2-run homer and the Hops make it a one run ballgame.
The AquaSox strike back and get to score a run after a single, a passed ball and a wild pitch but in the top of the 7th the Hops again keep it close after a homerun from Enriquez.
But then in the bottom 7 a Jake Rice unlike performance let Everett run away with the victory as 3 runs are allowed to cross the plate. The AquaSox add another run to that an inning later to conclude the 8-3 victory.
Low A: Lake Elsinore Storm 19, Visalia Rawhide 11
Like em raw: the middle of the lineup had a good performance, but let’s highlight Sheng-Ping Cheng’s performance who went 4 for 6 with 2 runs.
Last night I had some pulled pork for dinner and while I was tearing apart and chopping up the meat, I had a feeling I was depicting Visalia’s series closer against the Storm, because, boy, that was a complete carnage.
The spectators who were at the game probably had to blink a couple of times to make sure they were witnessing a baseball game and not a local football game, because you don’t see a 19-11 score every day on the diamond.
Things looked rough from the beginning for Visalia and it is never a good sign if your frontline starter is taken out of the game as early as happened yesterday with Liam Norris.
Norris, up until this game quite the reliable arm, was completely out of control in his first inning of work: a HBP to the first batter of the game (!) was followed up by a stolen base and a double, bringing in the first run without a batter out. But the party isn’t over and after a groundout that moves the second batter to third, a balk (!) brings home the second run. For some reason Norris isn’t on his game and although the coaches try to quiet his pitching, 4 consecutive walks makes the scoring 3-0. Norris is taken off after 33 pitches with just 11 strikes, and only one batter out.
His replacement Del Moral is able to induce a double play with the bases loaded and can stop the bleeding. For now. All hope isn’t lost since Visalia immediately strikes back in that first inning with Chen and Lawlar both getting multiple base hits, followed by Patiño’s HBP. All of them are brought home with a sac fly and a single from De los Santos and Malave, making the score 3-3.
The teams continue to balance each other out in the following 2 innings, each achieving another two runs. In the 4th inning things seem to quiet down and neither team is able to score. But it was just quiet before the storm, because it would become the only inning where Lake Elsinore wasn’t able to score.
If I’d try to write down what happened after that 4th inning this story would become a complete mess so I’ll leave it to the comment that the Storm were able to add 14 more runs in the next 5 innings and I will let yesterday’s pitcher stats speak for themselves:
- Norris, 0.1 IP, 3 R, 4 BB
- Del Moral, 3.2 IP, 2 R, 2 BB
- Mendez, 0.2 IP, 5 R, 2 BB
- Marcelino, 2.1 IP, 2 R, 4 BB
- Sanchez, 1.2 IP, 5 R, 1 BB
- Batista (position player), 0.1 IP, 2 R, 1 BB
On the hitter’s side lots of performances as expected and the first five hitters (Chen, Lawlar, Patiño, De los Santos and Malave) all did well or better. But 11 runs wasn’t enough, how weird that might sound, but with stolen bases, balks, homers, runs and pitchers out of control Visalia got to witness a 3.5 hour game they won’t forget soon and sure that is worth something.