Down on the Farm - 5/8/13 and 5/9/13

Wednesday

AAA - Oklahoma City 7 Tacoma 6 (10 innings)

Jonathan Villar's 2-out grand slam capped a 6-run 9th for the RedHawks and sent the game into extra innings where Brandon Laird scored on an error in the 10th to give Oklahoma City (20-12) an improbable 7-6 win. Brad Peacock made his RedHawks debut and made it through 6 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, fanning 5 while not walking a batter. He threw 104 pitches. Marc Krauss reached base 4 times to lead the offense, but Brett Wallace had his hitting streak snapped going 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts. Jason Stoffel earned the win in relief.

Advanced A - Lake Elsinore 7 Lancaster 4 (Game 1)

MP Cokinos hit a pair of doubles, but didn't get much help as the Storm beat up the JetHawks (18-14) by a score of 7-2. Andrew Aplin and Preston Tucker drove in runs, but Luis Cruz allowed 5 runs in just 4 1/3 innings as the Storm never trailed in winning Game 1 of their doubleheader.

Advanced A - Lake Elsinore 4 Lancaster 2 (Game 2)

The Storm completed their doubleheader sweep of the JetHawks (18-15) with a 4-2 win in the nightcap. The JetHawks overcame an early 2-0 deficit behind rbis from Preston Tucker and Matt Duffy, but Lake Elsinore came right back against Thomas Shirley (0-3). Tucker had 2 of Lancaster's 5 hits to lead the offense and Kenny Long threw another scoreless inning out of the pen.

Low A - Quad Cities 4 Cedar Rapids 2

The River Bandits (19-11) got another stellar pitching performance from Brian Holmes, who fanned 8 in 4 2/3 shutout innings, and rode it to a 4-2 win over the Kernels. Teoscar Hernandez hit his second home run of the season and Brian Blasik had 3 of the Bandits' 5 hits en route to the win. John Neely pitched the 9th for his 6th save of the season. 

Thursday

AAA - Oklahoma City 3 Tacoma 1

Asher Wojciechowski continued his dominant run through the minors in 2013 tossing 6 shutout innings in his second AAA start to lead the RedHawks (21-12) to a 3-1 win over the Rainiers. Rhiner Cruz followed Wojo with 2 scoreless innings of his own as he continues to pitch well since his demotion and Jose Valdez pitched the 9th for his 8th save. Brett Wallace went 2 for 3 with a double and a run batted in to lead the offense and Jonathan Villar added a pair of hits and stole two more bases giving him 12 on the year.

AA - Frisco 6 Corpus Christi 4

Jake Buchanan tossed 5 scoreless innings to lower his ERA on the season to 1.14, but the bullpen couldn't keep the RoughRiders at bay and the Hooks (19-14) fell 6-4. In 9 appearances spanning 39 1/3 innings this year, opposing hitters are batting just .165 against Buchanan and he's only walked two hitters. The Hooks managed just 5 hits in the game including Erik Castro's 2nd home run of the season.

Advanced A - Lancaster 10 Lake Elsinore 4

The JetHawks (19-15) bounced back after getting swept in Wednesday's doubleheader defeating the Storm 10-4. Andrew Aplin had 3 hits, Telvin Nash and Chris Epps both homered, and MP Cokinos added a pair of rbis to lead the offensive barrage. Theron Geith (3-0) earned the win in relief as he lowered his ERA on the year to 1.69.

Down on the Farm - 5/3/13

AA - Corpus Christi 10 Midland 4

George Springer homered and drove in 3 runs to lead a 13-hit attack as the Hooks (17-11) defeated the RockHounds 10-4. Michael Burgess added 3 hits including a pair of doubles, Ben Orloff knocked in a pair of runs, and 5 different Hooks players had multi-hit games. On the mound, Matt Heidenreich, who had been struggling, turned in his best outing of the year throwing 5 shutout innings in relief to earn his 2nd win of the season and lower his ERA to 6.35. Pat Urckfitz added a scoreless inning on the mound.

Advanced A - High Desert 9 Lancaster 7

Nolan Fontana had four hits including his third home run of the year, but his error led to 6 unearned runs and the JetHawks (16-11) fell to the Mavericks 9-7. Andrew Aplin and Telvin Nash each added a pair of hits, but Delino DeShields Jr. was 0 for 4 and saw his average dip to .228 on the year and Matt Duffy went hitless and is now 0 for 17 following a 15 game hitting streak. Jonas Dufek pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief while David Rollins (2-3, 4.91) suffered the loss on the mound.

Low A - Quad Cities 3 South Bend 2

The River Bandits (16-10) scored single runs in the 7th, 8th and 9th to defeat the Silver Hawks (18-7) in a close one, 3-2. Brian Holmes followed up his 10-strikeout performance, with 3 scoreless innings in relief, and Jon Neely pitched a perfect 9th for his fourth save. Offensively, Teoscar Hernandez hit his first home run of the year in the 8th to tie the game, and Miles Hamblin drove in Jesse Wierzbicki on an rbi single in the top of the 9th to put Quad Cities up for good.

Down on the Farm - 4/29/13

AAA - Oklahoma City 9 Nashville 8

The RedHawks (14-10) overcame an early 7-1 deficit and rallied for a 9-8 win behind a huge night from Trevor Crowe. Crowe went 3 for 3 with 4 runs scored, a homer, two walks and 3 stolen bases while Jake Elmore tripled, homered and knocked in 3 more to rally the RedHawks. Jonathan Villar also had a big game with 3 more hits and a pair of steals raising his average all the way up to .290 after a 2 for 34 start to the season. Starting pitcher Ross Seaton was shelled lasting just 1 2/3 innings and yielding 7 runs, but was bailed out by the offense and the bullpen. Kyle Hallock earned his first win in AAA with 4 1/3 scoreless innings, and Jose Valdez got the final six outs for his 7th save.

AA - Frisco 4 Corpus Christi 2

George Springer hit his 8th home run of the season, but that was all the offense the Hooks (13-11) could muster as they fell 4-2 to the RoughRiders. Matt Heidenreich pitched 4 solid innings allowing just one unearned run and lowering his ERA on the year to 8.15, but Ruben Alaniz took the loss in relief to fall to 0-3 despite allowing just two runs (one earned) in 3 innings of work. Domingo Santana and Michael Burgess each had two hits in the loss.

Low A - Quad Cities 6 Great Lakes 1

Brian Holmes was simply dominant yesterday striking out a season high 10 in 5 innings while allowing just 1 unearned run to lead the River Bandits (14-8) to a 6-1 win over the Loons. Terrell Joyce had 2 runs batted in, and Teoscar Hernandez and Joe Sclafani each had two hits to lead the offense and Jordan Jankowski tossed 4 shutout innings to earn his first save of the year.

Down on the Farm - 4/13/13

AAA - Memphis 8 Oklahoma City 7

The RedHawks (5-4) fell behind 8-1 early, but battled back and even got the potential winning run on first base in the bottom of the ninth before Brandon Laird fanned to end the game. Starting pitcher Jose Cisnero was charged with all 8 runs in just 2 2/3 innings of work, but Kevin Chapman and Rudy Owens kept Oklahoma City in the game with a combined 6 1/3 shutout innings in which they allowed just 4 hits and fanned 9. Laird doubled, homered and drove in a pair to lead the offense while Marc Krauss added his third home run of the season. Jake Elmore went 2 for 5 and actually saw his average drop to .486.

AA - Corpus Christi 3 Springfield 2

Carlos Perez doubled home Enrique Hernandez to break a 2-2 tie in the 6th and the Hooks (7-2) hung on for a 3-2 win over Springfield. Starting Pitcher Jake Buchanan allowed a 2-run homer to Jake Lemmerman in the first, but buckled down and didn't allow a run the rest of the way in 5 innings of work. Jason Stoffel then slammed the door in the 9th for his 3rd save in as many chances. Perez finished with a pair of rbis to lead the offense while Erik Castro and Domingo Santana each had 2 hits.

Advanced A - Modesto 6 Lancaster 4

The JetHawks (6-3) wasted a solid outing from Mike Foltynewicz as they squandered an early 3-0 lead and fell to the Nuts 6-4. Folty worked 5 scoreless innings allowing just 3 hits while fanning 5 in his best outing of the season, but the bullpen couldn't hold on. Matt Duffy doubled and drove in a pair to lead the offense while Delino DeShields, Zach Johnson and Tyler Heineman all each added 2 hits in a losing effort.

A - Quad Cities 8 Peoria 6

Playing without Carlos Correa, who was given the day off, the River Bandits (6-2) capitalized on 5 errors by the Chiefs to come back from deficits of 3-0 and 6-4 and came away with an 8-6 win. Jesse Wierzbicki tripled and drove in two while Jordan Scott and Carlos Perdomo were each 1 for 3 with a pair of runs scored to lead the offense. Brian Holmes earned the win in relief after blowing the save in the 6th, but didn't allow a run in his final three innings of work.

Down on the Farm - 4/7/13

AAA - Oklahoma City 14 Memphis 10 (11 innings)

In a wild back-and-forth affair, the RedHawks (3-1) overcame an early deficit of 7-2, and a ninth inning deficit of 9-8 to defeat the Redbirds 14-10. Jake Elmore led the offense with 5 hits, Marc Krauss and Trevor Crowe homered, Brandon Laird and Jimmy Paredes each had three hits and Robbie Grossman reached base 5 times (2 hits, 3 walks) as Oklahoma City had 17 hits and drew 11 walks in the game. Jose Valdez was charged with a blown save in the 8th, but ended up throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings and earned his first win of the season.

AA - Corpus Christi 3 Tulsa 2

Enrique Hernandez doubled home Jonathan Meyer in the bottom of the 8th for the go-ahead run as the Hooks (3-1) erased an early 2-1 deficit and defeated the Drillers 3-2. Hernandez added a game-tying solo homer in the 4th inning and finished 3 for 4 in the game. Meyer had two doubles while Carlos Perez and Austin Wates each also had two hits in the win. Matthew Heidenreich (1-0) tossed 3 innings in relief to earn his first win of the season and Jason Stoffel pitched a perfect 9th to earn his second save.

Advanced A - Lancaster 10 High Desert 4

Preston Tucker homered and drove in 3, and Drew Muren and Rafael Valenzuela each added home runs of their own as Lancaster (3-1) made it 3 out of 4 over the High Desert Mavericks. Andrew Aplin added 3 hits and Nolan Fontana scored 3 runs as the JetHawks broke the game open with a 5-run 8th. Theron Geith earned the win in relief while Luis Cruz tossed 4 scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts to earn his first save.

Low A - Quad Cities 3 Kane County 1 (13 innings)

Teoscar Hernandez tripled with one out in the 13th and scored the go ahead run on a passed ball to give Quad Cities (4-0) their fourth straight win. Brian Holmes started and tossed 5 scoreless innings while John Neely added three scoreless innings in relief. Cameron Lamb (1-0) retired the final four hitters to earn his first win of the season and complete the sweep. Last year's top pick Carlos Correa went 0 for 5, but did score an insurance run in the 13th. He's now hitting .300 (6/20) with 8 runs batted in four games into the season.