The action resumed last night after a California League win in All-Star competition earlier this week. Tonight saw close wins for the Rawhide against the Giants (5-3) and for Lancaster at Lake Elsinore (3-2). Elsewhere, a couple of teams won by wide margins, as Rancho Cucamonga beat Inland Empire 8-1 and High Desert got five late runs for a 7-0 win at Modesto.
While all that was going on, Stockton topped Bakersfield by a score of 9-5.
The beauty of having the season split into halves is that everybody starts from scratch in the standings when the second half starts. The Stockton Ports and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes didn’t challenge for first-half titles, but they’re both 2-0 after tonight’s action. Game on.
STELLAR PITCHING
In the five games on tonights’ schedule there were numerous pitching performances of note. Here are the ones that caught my eye, sorry to leave anyone off:
JAYSON AQUINO, lhP, Modesto – 6IP, 7H, 2ER, 2BB, 11K’s. Rockies’ #17 prospect bounces back from disastrous 5IP/9ER start in his last outing. His 2nd good start in last three.
DALE UNSWORTH, rhp, High Desert – 7IP, 3H, 0ER, 0BB, 12 K’s. Non-drafted free agent in 2009, Unsworth rebounded from 3 1/3 IP/10ER disaster last time out.
TOM WINDLE, lhp, Rancho Cucamonga – 5IP, 5H, 1ER, 2BB, 7K’s. Dodgers’ #7 prospect turns in his third solid start in his last four outings.
ROMAN MADRID, rhp, Lake Elsinore – 3IP, 0H, 0ER, 2BB, 1K. An All-Star in 2012 and 2013, Madrid lowers his ERA to 2.13.
JOSH HADER, lhp, Lancaster – Stayed perfect, moving to 7-0 with a line of 6IP, 3H, 1ER, 2BB, 3K’s. Astros’ #14 prospect stays undefeated. Houston’s rebuild is looking pretty good.
OMAR DURAN, lhp, Stockton – 2IP, 2H, 0ER, 0BB, 5K’s. Six straight clean outings for the lefty from the Dominican Republic.
ANDREW KITTREDGE, High Desert – 2IP, 1H, 0ER, 0BB, 4K’s. The reigning Cal League Pitcher of the Week posted two more no-drama innings tonight.
SWINGING BIG BATS
You know how they do it out here, though, and there were a couple of noteworthy performances at the plate.
CHRIS JACOBS, 3B, Rancho Cucamonga– 2-for-3, 2R, HR (12), 4RBI. A big night for Jacobs, who has been struggling recently, but led the Quakes to a win.
RENATO NUNEZ, DH, Stockton – 3-for-5, HR (11), 4RBI. The A’s #6 prospect keeps it going, extending his hitting streak to six games.
BIG-TIME ROSTER SHUFFLE
The baseball calendar rolls along, and when June comes around a lot of talent is brought into the mix. The First-Year Player Draft starts a domino effect as new blood is injected into the vast system.
With that infusion comes a ton of movement up and down the chain. The California League saw its share of comings and goings. Promotions to AA, promotions from below, it was all in play.
After this last week’s shakeup, the Cal League retained some of its elite talent. Notably, Corey Seager (Rancho), D.J. Peterson (High Desert), Brandon Drury (Visalia), Carlos Correa (Lancaster), Alex Glenn (Visalia), Josh Hader (Lancaster), Trevor Story (Modesto), Anthony Kemp (Lancaster) and Rosell Herrera (Modesto). There are others, but these are some of the hot prospects and big producers of the first half.
Enjoy it while it lasts. But don’t fret when any of these guys move up.
The first-half North division champion Bakersfield Blaze saw the promotions of Ben Lively, Kyle Waldrop and Jesse Winker to AA, among others, and Hunter Renfroe moved on from Lake Elsinore. The talent is here only briefly in the grand scheme of things.
The baseball is always good out here. There are prolific offensive performances and brilliant pitching stints in the face of a high-scoring environment. But player development is the end game and, as much as our communities embrace the teams, the better the players are, the quicker they move on.
Then, another class moves in.
