AAA: Round Rock 1, at Tacoma (SEA) 10
Round Rock: 5 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 4 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 76-68, eliminated
SP Cole Winn: 5 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 7 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 90 P / 59 S, 6.42 ERA
RP Ryder Ryan: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.72 ERA
RP Kyle Cody: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 4.32 ERA
RF Elier Hernandez: 3-4, .299/.356/.528
With the caveat that I haven’t see a second of last night’s outing, Cole Winn appears to have been very much on his game for five innings, after which the troubles returned. Winn cleared five on 64 pitches, walked none, and faced only two over the minimum.
Unfortunately, his 6th proceeded double, single, single, homer, walk, walk. Still, that’s probably his lengthiest dominant stretch of the season.
AA: Frisco 5, San Antonio (SDG) 2
Frisco: 7 hits, 10 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts
Frisco wins best-of-three semifinal 2-0
SP Cody Bradford: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 SO, 97 P / 73 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Owen White: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Nick Starr: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
RF Aaron Zavala: 2-3, HR, 2 BB
3B Thomas Saggese: 2-3, 2 BB
LF Kellen Strahm: 1-2, 2 BB, SB
1B Trevor Hauver: 1-2, 2 BB
C David Garcia: 1-3, HR, BB
I’m always circumspect about predicting playoff victors because the minor leagues are chaos and I’ve seen the better team fall frequently, so in this case it was nice to see the better team quickly take care of business.
Cody Bradford saved one of his best starts of the year for a critical moment. In 2022, Bradford has three starts of 6-7 innings with zero runs and zero walks. All came against the San Antonio Missions.
Owen White! He’s back. Out for two months with an “forearm fatigue,” as foreboding a pair of words as you’re likely to see, White needed only seven pitches to complete the 7th. Avery Weems (1.1 IP, 2 R) ran into some 9th-inning trouble, but Nick Starr finished the game successfully just like Tuesday.
Aaron Zavala homered again, this time in the 1st with one on to build an early lead that would never be threatened. Catcher David Garcia homered in the 3rd. Trevor Hauver drew a bases-loaded walk in the 4th and singled in Kellen Strahm in the 8th to complete the scoring.
The Wichita Wind Surge (MIN) swept the Tulsa Drillers (LAD) by scored of 17-11 and 11-1. Hopefully the Surge are done with that nonsense. Wichita had the league’s best second-half record (43-26) and overall record (78-59).
Frisco is off until Sunday. The Riders will host one and only one game of the best-of-three championship. Tickets are five bucks. You should go.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Howard
AA: off