AAA: Round Rock 4, at Tacoma (SEA) 6 (7)
Round Rock: 13 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 32-26, 3 GB
SP Kohei Arihara: 5 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 69 P / 43 S, 5.40 ERA
RP Jonathan Hernandez: 1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 12.00 ERA
CF Leody Taveras: 4-4, 2B, .295/.330/.490
The Express arrived late to Tacoma, leading to a 9:47 PM local start time and an agreement to play just seven innings.
Jonathan Hernandez worked the 6th on just seven pitches, so he returned to close out the 7th with a two-run lead but issued three straight walks, after which Demarcus Evans surrendered a game-ending grand slam to Alex Blandino.
Josh Sale (1-4) tripled.
OF Willie Calhoun cleared waivers and was outrighted to Round Rock. He had an option, so any claiming club could have given him a while in AAA to see what he could do, but there were no takers. Texas’s AAA roster is in flux at present but has been crowded in the outfield at times, and Calhoun was already down the depth chart before being designated for assignment, so I’m wondering about how much time he has left in the organization.
AA: Frisco 10, at Amarillo (ARI) 11 (10)
Frisco: 8 hits, 10 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 4 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 28-27, 1 GB
SP Avery Weems: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 78 P / 47 S, 7.28 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 7.20 ERA
LF Dustin Harris: 3-5, 2B, SB (12), .261/.350/.472
DH Kellen Strahm: 1-3, HR (2), 2 BB, .235/.387/.330
3B Jax Biggers: 2-5, HR (1), .333/.412/.467
Up 4-1, then down 8-5, Frisco tied the contest in the 8th on two hits, a balk, walk, HBP and wild pitch. Two more scored in the 10th on a Jax Biggers single and Jonathan Ornelas sac fly. In the bottom half, Nick Starr gave up an RBI double and two-run homer.
We are done with the walk-off homer portion of today’s report.
Dustin Harris has 10 homers and 12 steals in 46 games.
Grant Wolfram was the best of the relief corps, although he did load the bases in the 9th (HBP, single, walk) before making Lyle Lin look silly on three straight sliders.
High-A: Hickory 2, at Bowling Green (TAM) 6
Hickory: 9 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 32-23, 1.5 GB
SP Nick Krauth: 4.1 IP, 8 H (1 HR), 4 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 80 P / 54 S, 5.91 ERA
RF Aaron Zavala: 2-4, 2B, BB, .263/.422/.374
2B Luisangel Acuna: 2-5, .300/.411/.588
3B Cody Freeman: 2-4, 2B, .261/.344/.442
A win would have given Hickory the division lead. After Sunday, Hickory will be somewhere in the range of one-half game ahead to 3.5 behind.
Bowling Green’s 4-5-6 hitters were 3B Osleivis Basabe (.310/.365/.460), 1B Alexander Ovalles (.292/.392/.417), and RF Heriberto Hernandez (.224/.327/.459), the three prospects traded from 1B Nathaniel Lowe. They’re ranked 18th, 29th and 22th, respectively, by Baseball America in Tampa Bay’s top 30.
Low-A: Down East 9, at Kannapolis (CHW) 2
Down East: 14 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 27-28, 3 GB
SP Josh Stephan: 8 IP, 3 H (2 HR), 2 R, 0 BB, 9 SO, 91 P / 73 S, 4.17 ERA
SS Maximo Acosta: 2-5, .263/.351/.359
C Efrenyer Narvaez: 2-5, 2B, .207/.260/.331
DH Yosy Galan: 3-5, 2B, HR (8), .248/.335/.467
1B Abi Ortiz: 3-3, 2 2B, BB, .192/.271/.300
Josh Stephan is the first Texas minor leaguer to reach eight innings. A rare feat nowadays. Even if the starter has a low pitch count, there’s often multiple relievers scheduled to throw that night. When I saw him last month, he threw an 88-91 fastball and a billion sliders.
Yosy Galan had his first multi-hit game in over a month; he batted .134/.237/.254 between them.
The Woodies have won 11 of 16, and despite remaining in fifth place in the six-team division, they’re their closest to first place in seven weeks.
Today’s Starters
AAA: TBA (Tyson Miller listed)
AA: Bradford
Hi-A: White
Lo-A: TBD
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Cole Ragans was announced as Spokane’s Opening Day starter. At Midland, Connor Sadzeck amassed 43 pitches before being pulled in the 1st. He reached a positive count (usually 1-2) to seven batters but only retired two.