Player of the Day

Within a night of close call victories and slim losses, every play counted, and Rocket City Pandas left fielder Orlando Martinez kept the lineup moving throughout the night, going 2-for-4 with a scoring run and an RBI that made the game competitive. Martinez’s smart moves at the plate scored 2 out of the 4 runs on the board, and his RBI in the bottom of the 8th inning earned the team a victory.

Triple-A Salt Lake

The Bees took on the Reno Aces for the final game of the series, and boy did they put up a fight. The team took the game to extra innings. Unfortunately, the Aces lineup won the standoff in the end, leaving Salt Lake with a heartbreaking loss and a score of 6-5.

Both bullpens stayed neck and neck throughout the game, each giving away the same amount of runs up until the 10th inning. Aaron Slegers (6.43 ERA), who has played 29 games within MLB this year, gave up three runs after pitching 3 innings. The same can be said for Reno pitchers Tyler Holton (6.26 ERA) and Josh Green (7.61 ERA) who also gave up 3 combined runs in the first three innings. The power of the bullpens lined up once again in the 7th with Aces pitcher Sean Poppen (2.08 ERA) and Bees pitcher Tyler Danish (4.30 ERA) both giving up 1 run and leaving the score at 5-5.

The 10th inning broke the cycle when Aces third baseman Juniel Querecuto and shortstop Jake Hager both hit doubles which scored two runners and gave Reno the lead they needed. Despite a strong plate appearance in the bottom of the 10th by Matt Thaiss which scored Luis Rengifo, Aces closer Matt Gage (4.14 ERA) shut down the inning, and the Aces walked away with a victory in extra innings.

Double-A Rocket City

The Rocket City Trash Pandas claimed a slim victory over the Biloxi Shuckers on Tuesday night, starting off the 6 game series on the road with a win that was locked in by some smart base running and a batting lineup that stepped up in the fifth inning to capture the lead.

Pandas designated hitter, David MacKinnon, recorded his 55th RBI of the season, scoring left fielder Orlando Martinez in the top of the fourth and putting the Pandas on the scoreboard. The bats only picked up from there, with both Ray Patrick-Didder and Anthony Mulrine opening the 5th inning with two sacrifice flies that scored two more runs, cementing a 3-1 lead in the 5th. Shuckers shortstop David Hamilton closed the 2 run score gap in the 6th inning with an RBI off Pandas pitcher Kolton Ingram (3.92 ERA), but it was no match for Martinez who stepped up to the plate in the 8th inning with a clutch RBI to score the winning run.

Despite a final scoring run from the Shuckers, the work of the lineup prevailed, and the night ended on a 4-3 victory. Starting Pandas pitcher Smith now has a 6-6 record after pitching 9 innings with 9 H, 2 R, 1 BB and 7 SO.

High-A Tri-City

The Dust Devils opened their 6 game series against the Eugene Emeralds with a close call 3-2 win. Despite the Emeralds strong performance in the bullpen, Tri-City pulled into the 7th inning with a 3-run rally that earned them the lead.

Dust Devils center fielder Jordyn Adams, and first baseman Kenyon Yovan kicked off the 7th inning rally with their only hits of the night, but it was Kevin Maitan’s RBI and Francisco Del Valle’s 2 run home run that painted the scoreboard with a small lead that earned them their first win of the week.

Low-A Inland Empire

Unlike the Dust Devils and the Pandas, the 66ers kicked off their series against the Stockton Ports with a slim loss at 2-1. It was an uneventful night for both teams’ lineups as the bullpens went head to head, keeping each side scoreless for 5 innings.

66ers pitcher Julio Goff (3.28 ERA) pitched an impressive 7 innings, walking away with 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB and 6 SO. Likewise, Ports pitcher Jake Walkinshaw (4.85 ERA) matched Goff’s pace, giving away only 2 H and striking out 10 batters after 6 innings.

Stockton rallied in the bottom of the 5th with two runs, and it was enough to keep the 66ers from climbing back to victory, even with Paxton Wallace recording his 3rd home run of the season in the top of the 8th.

Today’s Scores

Rocket City Trash Pandas 4 | Biloxi Shuckers 3

Reno Aces 6 | Salt Lake Bees 5

Tri-City Dust Devils 3 | Eugene Emeralds 2

Stockton Ports 2 | Inland Empire 66ers 1

Wednesday Schedule

4:35 PM PST: Rocket City (Davis Daniel, 2.75 ERA) vs Biloxi Shuckers (Carlos Luna, 3.29 ERA)

7:05 PM PST: Tri-City Dust Devils (Jake Smith, 9.00 ERA) vs. Eugene Emeralds (Jake Dahlberg, 8.06 ERA)

7:05 PM PST: Inland Empire 66ers (Brett Kerry, 0.00 ERA) vs. Stockton Ports (TBD)