Tristin English Has Massive Night For Reno Aces

The Arizona Diamondbacks' minor league affiliate clubs struggled Tuesday night, combining for a 1-3 record on the back of a poor night of pitching. Here's how each level performed:

Triple-A: Reno Aces 5, Round Rock Express 6

Infielder Tristin Englsih was the star of Reno's loss. He went a stellar 4-for-5 at the plate with two doubles and two RBI, but the Aces fell to Round Rock in a poor show of pitching by starter Cristian Mena and reliever Kyle Backhus.

Mena had been enjoying an excellent stretch of starts, but was shelled for eight hits and three walks, leading to five earned runs over 4.2 innings. The Aces fought back throughout, coming back from a 5-3 deficit to tie the contest in the eighth, but Backhus couldn't hold a 5-5 tie, giving up a walk and a pair of singles as the Express walked off the contest.

The Aces managed 11 hits, with Jorge Barrosa and Andy Weber each picking up multiple knocks to join English. Cristian Pache went 1-for-3 with an RBI double. Left hander Kyle Nelson pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.

Double-A: Amarillo Sod Poodles 5, Frisco RoughRiders 7

It was a rough outing for right-handed starter Jose Cabrera, as he was knocked around in the second inning for four runs. He surrendered eight hits and two walks over five innings, hanging six earned runs on his line. The Sod Poodles fought back, but were never able to even the score.

It was a solid night for D-backs' No. 3 prospect LuJames Groover, who went 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. Ivan Melendez homered and went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI. It was Melendez's fourth homer in his last seven games. Cristian Cerda was 2-for-4, and outfielder and No. 33 prospect Gavin Conticello had a leadoff triple in the ninth.

But collectively, Amarillo struggled offensively in the big moments. Though they crawled back to make the deficit 6-4 in the fifth and 7-5 in the ninth, they were a collective 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11 and squandering a 10-hit game.

High-A: Hillsboro Hops 4, Vancouver Canadians 15

It was a brutal night for the Hops' pitching staff, and their offense wasn't much to write about, either. Starter Daniel Nuñez was pounced on for five runs on six hits over his first 1.2 innings, and left-handed reliever Liam Norris allowed five more in relief of Nuñez, leading to a massive 10-run inning for Vancouver. The rest of the Hops' bullpen would give up five more collectively.

Offensively, infielder Ben McLaughlin was 2-for-3 with a walk and a double, but that would be the only extra-base hit of the night for Hillsboro. Third baseman Kevin Sim went 2-for-4, but the Hops managed just two other hits (both singles) on the night, going 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

High-ranked prospects Druw Jones and Ryan Waldschmidt finished a collective 0-for-9 with three strikeouts.

Low-A: Visalia Rawhide 4, Fresno Grizzlies 3

Arizona's Low-A affiliate was the only one to secure a win, doing so in extra innings in a tough-fought contest. No. 2 prospect outfielder Slade Caldwell was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a stolen base. Adrian Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with a double, and infielder Yerald Nin was 2-for-5 with the 11th-inning game-winning RBI single. Ruben Santana doubled and walked.

Visalia's pitching staff did just enough to keep a handle on the game. Starter Adonys Perez gave up three hits over five innings, with his only blemish being a solo homer. He struck out four and did not walk a batter. Right-hander Jonatan Bernal threw four innings of long relief, but gave up a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh to make it 3-3.

After a hit-by-pitch, sacrifice bunt and intentional walk in the 11th inning, the bases were loaded for Nin, who ripped a line-drive single to left field for the 4-3 lead. Victor Morales completed his second consecutive shutdown inning to close it out.