News: You may have caught it in the box score, but after his mind-blowing, though admittedly somewhat fluke-y, hit binge (29 his in 11 games), 19-year-old switch-hitting shortstop Ketel Marte (26intheMix) was promoted from Clinton to High Desert.  Brock Hebert (26intheMix) went back down to Clinton the in exchange.

And, speaking of mind-blowing, that's pretty much what Emilio Pagan had been doing, considering he had gone 20.1 IP at Pulaski without giving up a run (earned or unearned).  And only nine hits.  And only one extra-base hit (a triple).  And only five walks.

He's going to Everett.  Well-deserved.

Also going is Ian Miller, the center fielder from Wagner (on Staten Island -- another of the Tom McNamara "northeast" guys), who's been hitting .297/.374/.348.

AAA -- Tacoma 8, Round Rock 6  -- Box

The Rainiers rallied for five in the 8th for a come-from-behind win.

But they had to work for it.  It came on three walks, two singles and a pair of errors.

In fact, Tacoma didn't get an extra-base hit the entire game.

Veteran Joseph Dunigan managed to reach base three times on walks.

Tom Wilhelmsen had another one of his "structured" outings, in which he was the "starter" but in time-frame only: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 0 K.  Let's hope he was working on something.

AA -- Jackson 9, Montgomery 5  -- Box

The Generals took command with some Choi Joy! in the 6th (16th overall homer for our man Ji-Man Choi (Talk40 #19)), followed by Grand Salami Time! in the 7th from Ramon Morla.

Sure, grant that Choi's High Desert ISO (.282) was inflated, but his Jackson ISO is .226. 

And a good outing for lefty starter Anthony Fernandez (Talk40 #23): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.

High-A -- Rancho Cucamonga 6, High Desert 5 -- Box

Yes, the big blow in the bottom of the 8th that cost the Mavericks their 5-3 lead was a two-run shot from "the other brother" -- Corey Seager.  He's the one not in the Mariner organization.

Earlier, Patrick Kivlehan (Talk40 #33) had delivered his 14th homer of the year.

Marte had three hits Tuesday in his Cal League debut (all singles, of course), but was hitless on Wednesday.

Low-A -- Clinton 9, Quad Cities 7 -- Box

The LumberKings won a back-and-forth affair with single runs in each of the 6th, 7th and 8th.  They did it with six doubles and seven walks.

Taylor Ard (Talk40 #32) had two of the doubles.

Short Season-A -- Vancouver 10, Everett 1 -- Box

The Canadians not only jumped all over the Aqua Sox pitching, they also held the Everett bats to two singles and a double.  Struggling Justin Seager (48 K in 47 G) didn't get any of them.

Rookie -- Pulaski 7, Burlington 1 -- Box

Edwin Diaz (Talk40 #36) had yet another strong start: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K.

And increasingly intriguing Aaron Barbosa added two more hits and two more steals.

In 18 games, he has 19 hits, 10 walks and 14 steals with only 11 strikeouts.  He's hitting .352/.446/.444.  Interesting LH leadoff kind of guy, and another of the McNamara crew's northeastern specials (actually from Northeastern University, which is pretty much as "northeastern" as you can get).

Also a home run from Jesus Ugueto, his third.

Looking Ahead

Taijuan Walker (Talk40 #2) is NOT "Walker, Texas Ranger," but he's set to go deep in the heart with a game in Round Rock.