Mariners On the Farm: Max Povse strikes out season-high seven for Travelers
![Kyle Waldrop homered, doubled and drove in three in Tuesday’s win for Arkansas Travelers. (Mark Wagner / Courtesy Arkansas Travelers)](https://thumb.spokesman.com/uO6q6eDqVn9RLDznlEJuDvMVKgE=/600x0/media.spokesman.com/graphics/2018/07/sr-loader.png)
Results for the Seattle Mariners top affiliates for Tuesday night provided by team releases.
El Paso 4, Tacoma (AAA) 3
EL PASO, Texas – A seventh inning solo home run sunk the Tacoma Rainiers (7-4) in a 4-3 loss to the El Paso Chihuahuas (6-7) on Tuesday night at Southwest University Park.
Tacoma starting pitcher Sam Gaviglio (0-2) worked 6 1/3 innings for the Rainiers and surrendered four runs on seven hits while taking his second loss of the year. He issued no walks and struck out five.
Tyler Smith, starting at shortstop for the Rainiers, went 2 for 3 with one run as the only multi-hit performance in Tacoma’s lineup.
Center fielder Boog Powell snagged a 1-0 lead for the Rainiers on an RBI groundout in the top of the third inning, scoring Smith from third base.
First baseman D.J. Peterson doubled the Rainiers lead in the fifth with a towering solo home run down the left field line that just barely stayed fair to extend the visitors advantage to 2-0.
El Paso bruised and lucked their way into a trio of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take their first lead of the evening at 3-2. Jabari Blash led off the inning with a fly ball to left that got lost in the sky and eventually fell in for a leadoff triple. Jamie Romak doubled home Blash, and subsequently came across to score on an RBI single from Rafael Ortega. Finally, a wild pitch thrown by Gaviglio brought Ortega home, putting the Chihuahuas out in front.
Rainiers second baseman Gordon Beckham notched his third home run of the year, a solo shot that barely escaped over the right field wall, in the top of the sixth to tie the game up at 3-3.
The tie didn’t hold up for long, as Romak would send out a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving El Paso the winning run at 4-3.
Emilio Pagan was the only arm out of the Rainiers bullpen on the night, pitching 1.2 innings and allowing just one hit – he walked three and struck out two.
The Rainiers and Chihuahuas continue their series on Wednesday with a first pitch again set for 5:35 p.m. PT. Tacoma and El Paso will send a pair of righties in Chris Heston (1-0, 2.25) and Tyrell Jenkins (1-1, 2.61), respectively, to the mound.
Arkansas (AA) 6, San Antonio 2
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Arkansas Travelers (6-6) completed a three-game sweep of the San Antonio Missions (6-6) winning 6-2 on Tuesday night. The Travs utilized a strong combination of offense and pitching to secure the victory.
The first inning yielded two runs as Kyle Waldrop’s ground-rule double scored Ian Miller and Chuck Taylor. After a San Antonio homer in the second cut the lead in half, the Travs responded with three runs in the third. Brock Hebert’s line drive single to right scored Jay Baum, then two hitters later Taylor doubled home Joey Wong and Ian Miller to push the lead to four. The Travs final run would come on Kyle Waldrop’s solo blast to right in the sixth, his first homer of the year.
On the night, five Travs had multiple hits led by Ian Miller’s three. Miller also stole two bases to up his league leading total to seven. Waldrop, Ryan Casteel, Marcus Littlewood and Wong each had two hits a piece with Waldrop collecting three runs batted in.
Max Povse (3-0) was sensational on the mound despite allowing his first run of the season in three starts. The 6-foot-8 right-hander pitched six innings giving up the run on a solo homer, four hits total and one walk with a season-best seven strikeouts to earn the win. He has pitched 18.2 innings this season with just one run and only 14 baserunners allowed. Ryan Horstman, Peter Tago and Darin Gillies each worked an inning out of the bullpen to round it out.
The Travelers will take Wednesday off before starting a quick four-game homestand against the Springfield Cardinals on Thursday night. Right-hander Dylan Unsworth, just down from Triple-A Tacoma will make the start for the Travs, his first in Double-A this year and third of the season overall. Lefty Austin Gomber (0-1, 9.00) is set to start for Springfield.
Modesto (High-A) 8, Stockton 7 (11)
MODESTO, Calif. – Gianfranco Wawoe completed the Modesto Nuts’ comeback in their 8-7, eleven-inning win over the Stockton Ports on Tuesday night at John Thurman Field.
In the eleventh, Arturo Nieto walked to start the eleventh against Ports’ (7-5) reliever Joey Wagman (L, 1-1). Austin Grebeck came in to pinch run and moved to second on a groundout. After another walk. Wawoe smacked a sharp single into left to bring Grebeck home to win the game for the Nuts (7-5).
Two unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth for the Nuts got them to extra innings. Eric Filia recorded a one-out hit in the ninth. Filia finished 4 for 5 with a home run. Braden Bishop followed with a single to push his hitting streak to ten games. They both moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Chris Mariscal drove in one run with a sac fly. Wawoe banged a bouncing ball to third that Mikey White booted with two outs to bring in the tying run.
Art Warren (W, 1-0) and Lukas Shiraldi were lights out for the Nuts’ bullpen late in the game. Shiraldi worked two scoreless innings with six strikeouts. Warren tossed the final three innings with five strikeouts and no hits allowed.
The Nuts had opened an early lead thanks to Logan Taylor. In the first, Taylor smacked a two-out RBI double. He followed with a two-out, two-run triple in the third.
Pablo Lopez started for the Nuts and was sharp early allowing just one hit in three scoreless frames. In his fourth and final inning, Lopez coughed up the lead allowing four runs on five hits. He finished after four innings and four runs on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
After splitting the first two games of this four-game series, game three against the Stockton Ports is Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m.
Wisconsin 9, Clinton (Low-A) 5
CLINTON, Iowa – The Clinton LumberKings smashed two home runs off Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitching on Tuesday afternoon at Ashford University Field but fell 9-5. In a seesaw battle, the Lumberkings (5-7) and the Timber Rattlers (6-6) traded the lead five times before late offense by Wisconsin proved too much to overcome.
The LumberKings jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a rally for free. Rayder Ascanio drew a one-out walk and moved to third and two wild pitches. Shortly after, Ascanio came home for the first run of the game on a balk charged to Wisconsin starter Victor Diaz.
In the top of the second inning, the Timber Rattlers took their first lead of the game. A Ronnie Gideon single, Jose Cuas RBI double and fielding error by Gareth Morgan in left led to a two-run Timber Rattlers rally.
Trailing 2-1, the LumberKings registered their first hit of the game in the second inning. Dimas Ojeda and Morgan worked walks before Anthony Jimenez slugged his first home run of the season, a three-run shot to left that put Clinton on top 4-2.
Again, the lead did not last long for Clinton. In the top of the third inning, Demi Orimoloye and Tucker Neuhaus smashed solo homers to tie the game at four.
Conner Hale put the LumberKings back on top in the fourth inning. He led-off with a solo homer down the line in left to put Clinton up 5-4. It was Hale’s first home run of the year, the second in the game for the LumberKings, and the fourth in the game for both teams.
Ronald Dominguez entered the game in relief for Clinton after starter Danny Garcia was pulled following the fourth inning. Dominguez (0-1) worked a perfect first inning in the fifth but ran into trouble in his finale 1 and 1/3 innings. In the sixth, the Timber Rattlers tied the game through a combination of a single, LumberKings fielding error, balk, and fielder’s choice.
Wisconsin retook the lead for good in the top of the seventh. Dominguez hit the lead-off man of the inning and was pulled following a Mario Feliciano single that put runners at second and third with only one out. Matt Clancy entered and after retiring the first man for the second out of the inning allowed both runners to score on a Monte Harrison two-RBI double to left center.
The Timber Rattlers added two more runs in the top of the eighth, more than enough offense for Nattino Diplan who shutout the LumberKings in his three innings of relief work, walking one, and striking out four. Diplan (1-1) earned the win, his first of the year, eating up innings after Timber Rattlers’ starter Diaz was pulled after only 2 1/3 innings.
The LumberKings will play the third and final game of the three-game series and home stand with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Wednesday. RHP Brandon Miller (1-1, 2.45) will get the start for Clinton and face Wisconsin’s RHP Trey Supak (0-0, 0.00). First pitch is slated for 12:00 p.m.