Transactions update: Mike Zunino, the #3 overall pick in the draft, signed Tuesday for a reported $4 million bonus. Zunino brought his parents and fiancee to the signing with Ms scouting director Tom McNamara. The bonus is below-slot by $1.2 million, which facilitated extra bonus money to 2nd- and 3rd-round picks Joe DeCarlo and Tyler Pike, who are already paying dividends in rookie ball. (Hopefully, it's still sufficient for future-Mrs. Zunino. Heck of a lot better than if she'd met a guy who was going to be a history teacher or something.)
Meanwhile, James Paxton (Talk40 #2B) is set to come off the DL and pitch Tuesday night for Jackson -- same night that fellow member of The Big Three Danny Hultzen (Talk40 #2A) is slated to pitch for Tacoma. And potential candidate for The Next Big Thing Seon Gi Kim is scheduled to go for Clinton.
AAA -- Tacoma 4, Fresno 3 (12 innings) [Box]
Blake Beavan got the start and was solid again, but lacking in strikeouts (again). 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. He got excellent bullpen help from potentially-corner-turning Chance Ruffin (Talk40 #19), who seems to have stopped falling off the face of the Earth with four straight scoreless performances, and killer-lefties Brian Moran (Talk40 #24) and Bobby LaFromboise. LaFromboise got the win when the Rainiers scratched out a run in the bottom of the 12th.
Nick Franklin Shortstop Watch: Shortstop. 2b 6, SS 5. (Franklin (Talk40 #4) 1-for-5, triple, walk, 4th error, 3rd error at SS)
Worm Turn Watch: Advantage Liddi. Alex Liddi (Talk40 #7) at 3b second day in a row (1-for-4, double, walk)
Vintage Vinnie Watch: Present, kinda. Catricala (Talk40 #5) in LF (2-for-5, both singles)
AA -- Jackson 2, Montgomery 1 [Box]
A similar story in Jackson, with a solid start and good relief. Forrest Snow (Talk40 #16), like Ruffin, trying to reclaim a season that has gone off-track, went 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
Then came another guy in the same boat -- Mauricio Robles (Talk40 #30) -- who's been quietly doing some awesome rallying of his own: 11 straight outings with 0 ER. No earnies since May.
And, of course, no one is more automatic than Carter Capps (Talk40 #8A) -- no earnies since April for him.
High-A -- High Desert 11, Rancho Cucamonga 8 (14 innings) [Box]
Well, quite a deal out in Rancho Cucamonga. In the 5th extra frame, the Mavericks finally broke through with three runs, assisted by an untimely balk. After already using five pitchers, the Mavs went with 2b Carlos Ramirez to close out the game. The infielder gave up a single and a wild pitch, but got a strikeout and two popups to end the game. His ERA of 0.00 is more impressive than his OPS of .533.
Brad Miller (Talk40 #11) had a multi-hit game for about the gazillionth time (3-for-6) and Mike McGee (26inthteMix) had his 9th home run.