With the Canadians playing a game where, frankly, no one was bored enough to listen to the ending, the rest of the Oakland A’s minor-league teams were just as tired as the team from Vancouver.

AAA Sacramento:

Mr. Blonde, Mike Madsen, was on the hill for the River Cats tonight, facing arch-rival Tacoma Rainiers.  The game was going pretty smooth for the visiting Sacramento team until the 8th inning, when Tacoma took the lead after a two-run inning.  The Rainiers took the game in front of their 5,714 closest fans, 9-8 being the final.

JJ Furmaniak was one of a few bright spots for the A’s AAA affiliate, going 2-5 on the night.  Three River Cats were 2-4, Lou Merloni, who added a solo home-run off of Jake Woods, Gregorio Petit, who legged out his 9th double of the season, and Jeremy Brown, who apart from his 22nd double of 2007, hit a three-run first inning home-run off of the left-handed Woods.

Nick Blasi’s return to Sacramento’s lineup was a generous one, after going 1-4 with a double and a walk.  For the opposition, Nat Bailey Stadium fan favourite Ron ‘Prettywoman’ Prettyman hit his 5th dinger of the season off of Madsen.

On the hill, Madsen went five innings allowing five runs, all of which were allowed in the 5th, but the 2005 Canadian managed to strike out 7.  Kaz Tadano relieved him in the 6th, and wound himself into trouble, allowing a pair of runs in his lone inning on the hill.  Ron Flores took the loss for the ‘Cats, after pitching one and a third, in which he gave up two runs, none of which were earned. 

AA Midland:

Midland took a beating from the Tulsa Drillers, 6-0 was the final.  At the plate, Midland had one player who stood out, and that was Myron Leslie, converted right-fielder who was 3-4 tonight, and all three of his hits were singles. 

From the pitching mound, Kevin Deaton gave up five runs, five walks, five hits and struck out four in just under five innings for the RockHounds.  Shawn Kohn allowed just one hit in his time on the hill, which was 1.2 in the box score, and struck out three of the six batters he faced.  Jerry Blevins gave up the final run of the game, and ‘Bumpy’ Mike Bumatay failed to allow a hit in his inning tonight.

A Stockton:

The Ports put usually reliable Andrew ‘Bam-Bam’ Bailey against the Visalia Oaks on Saturday night in Stockton, and Bailey put up a great effort, but ran into some second inning trouble.  Visalia scored four in their second at-bats, before Stockton answered with two of their own in the 3rd.  The Oakes added one more in the 4th, before scoring a pair in the 6th, 7-2 being the final.

Stockton managed a few hits on the night, three to be exact.  Jon Zeringue had one, as did Frank Martinez and Raul Padron, who had a home-run.  Opposition wise, Bryan Byrne had a triple and two Oakes had homers. 

Bailey lasted five and two-thirds, allowing all nine Visalia hits, and all seven of their runs.  Jeff Muessig pitched 2 and a third, allowing no hits, and ‘Easy’ Earl Oakes pitched an inning to close out the game in a tough loss for the Ports.  This is Earl’s second appearance in Stockton, and his second hit-less inning.

A Kane County:

The Cougars squeaked out a snappy 6-5 win over Beloit, after going 11 innings in front of their hometown crowd of just over 9,000.  There was a 30 minute rain delay, as well.  Kane County had a field day hitting wise, including a pair of former Canadians.

Josh Horton was 1-3 with a double, two walks, HBP and an IBB.  That’s right, four walks at the end!  What a game for the Hornet.  Sean Doolittle had a 2-rbi, 2-4 game, and Jermaine Mitchell, along with ‘Hot’ Todd Johnson had two hits each.  Alex Valdez cranked his 8th home-run of the season in the 8th, and the two runs that scored proved to be the difference between a Beloit regulation win, and extra-innings.

Henry ‘Fire’ Rodriguez went just over 5 innings, allowing two hits, two unearned runs, and striking out an astounding eight.  Derrick Gordon only got one out in his stint on the hill, and he allowed three runs, after walking three, and giving up a hit.  This is not a great line for someone who is usually anything but unlucky.  Nick Walters pitched 4.1 for the Cougars, of one-hit ball.  Scott Moore picked up his first win of 2007 after pitching the 11th inning, where he struck out two.  Oh yeah, and Cougars Manager Aaron Nieckula was ejected in the 10th inning thanks to a ‘blown’ call by 1B ump Roberto Medina.

R Arizona:

The A’s allowed all eight of the AZL Cubs runs in the 6th and 8th innings, after a good start by their opening pitcher, Jason Glushon.  At the end of it, the Cubs took it 8-2, despite four errors by Chicago’s rookie team.

For the A’s, no one had two hits or more, but Jareck West, Dan Wentzell, Herbert Hudson, Leo Gil and Franklin Hernandez each had one of their teams’ five hits.  Matt Hudgins managed his second home-run of the season for the Cubs, and between Glushon and Hector Garcia, Josh Vitters’ future team had 10 hits in the Arizona desert heat.