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Thursday’s News & Notes

Syracuse stops the losing skid, Auburn extends its winning streak... but the rest lose

The Quick Rundown…

Team Yesterday’s Result Today’s Game Pitching Probables
Syracuse Chiefs Won 12-4 @ Gwinnett, 7:05 p.m. Craig Stammen (5-3, 4.34) vs.
Erik Cordier (1-3, 3.86)
Harrisburg Senators Lost, 4-2 vs. Richmond, 12:00 p.m. Erik Davis (3-2, 3.81) vs.
Daryl Maday (2-4, 3.68)
Potomac Nationals OFF DAY @ Myrtle Beach, 7:05 p.m. Adam Olbrychowski (1-3, 5.46) vs. TBD
Hagerstown Suns OFF DAY @ Greensbooro, 7:05 p.m. TBD vs. TBD
Auburn Doubledays Won, 5-0 vs. Mahoning Valley, 7:05 p.m. Wirkin Estevez (0-1, 14.73) vs.
Harold Guerrero (0-1, 5.40)
GCL Nationals OFF DAY @ GCL Cardinals, 12:00 p.m. TBD vs. TBD
DSL Nationals Lost, 5-0
vs. DSL Rangers		 @ DSL Giants, 10:30 a.m. Felix Moscat (0-1, 5.14) vs.
Carlos Diaz (1-1, 2.50)

Syracuse 12 Gwinnett 4
• Milone (W, 5-5) 6IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 7K, HR
• Gaudin 2IP, 2H, 0ER, 0BB, K
• J Valdez 5-6, 4R, 2HR (HR, 3R HR), 5RBI
• C Brown 2-4, 2R, 2B, HR, 2RBI, 2BB
• Milone 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Lombardozzi 2-6, R

Tom Milone led Syracuse to a dominating 12-4 victory over the Gwinnett Braves, snapping the Chiefs’ five-game losing streak. He continued to exhibit his pinpoint control, adding seven strikeouts and no walks to his stingy K:BB ratio (89:5) while evening his won-loss mark at 5-5. Jesus Valdez had a career night, with five hits, including a leadoff homer in the 5th and a three-run, two-out clout in the top of the 7th. Other notable offensive performances: Steve Lombardozzi went 2-for-6, including his second first-inning leadoff single in as many games; Matt Antonelli went 2-for-5 with a walk to raise his team-leading batting average to .318; Corey Brown had a 2-for-4 night with a solo shot; and Milone helped his own cause with a single and an RBI double, his 2-for-4 night to move his batting average to .333 (pretty damn good when you consider pitchers don’t swing the bat in the minors until AA).

Richmond 4 Harrisburg 2
• Roark (L, 4-3) 6⅓ IP 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 5K, HR (ERA 5.72)
• McCoy 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Gilbert 2-3, R
• A Valdez 1-2, 2B, 2RBI, BB

Harrisburg’s feeble offense was not enough to support a quality start Tanner Roark against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Harrisburg scored both of its runs in a two-run fifth. A Tyler Moore leadoff walk, Archie Gilbert single, Ivany sacrifice bunt, and a decisive two-run Alex Valdez double plated the two runs for a temporary 2-0 Harrisburg lead. After a Juan Perez solo shot against Roark in the 6th, Roark tired and gave up the lead in the seventh with three consecutive leadoff doubles to give Richmond a 3-2 lead. Jimmy Barthmaier (ERA, 6.63) struck out two in 1 and 2/3 innings pitched but yielded a single and a Chris Dominguez triple to close the scoring at 4-2. With the loss, Harrisburg’s record fell to 39-31, good for a three-game lead over Bowie, Erie, and Richmond in the Eastern League’s Western division.

POTOMAC NATIONALS — OFF DAY
The second half begins with a three road games against the Southern Division first-half champs, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Adam Olbrychowski gets the start (whether it’s a spot start or a new role remains to be seen), followed by Trevor Holder and Paul Demny.

HAGERSTOWN SUNS — OFF DAY
Neither team is releasing details regarding the starting pitchers, as our public query was ignored, defeating the purpose and so-called advantage of social media. The Suns return to Hagerstown on Monday after this four-game set.

Auburn 5 State College 0
• Demmin (W, 2-0) 5P, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Henke (H, 2) 2#8532; IP, 1H, 0R, 2K
• Grisz 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Ramsey 2-3, 2B, BB, 2RBI
• R Perez 1-4, 2RBI, 3K

The Auburn Doubledays swept the State College Spikes with a 5-0 win on Wednesday, improving to 5-1 on the young season. Ryan Demmin, Travis Henke, and Ben Grisz combined for the three-hit shutout with Demmin and Henke earning the win and hold. Caleb Ramsey’s two-run double broke open a 1-0 game in the 6th, while the one time Roberto Perez didn’t strikeout resulted in the last two Doubleday runs in the 8th. The win was the fourth straight for the Doubledays, who are now home for the next six games.

GCL Nationals — OFF DAY
The G-Nats resume play as they hit the road for three of the next four games, visiting the G-Cardinals today, hosting the G-Astros tomorrow, and cruising down the Eastern Florida cost to visit the G-Mets and G-Marlins over the G-weekend.

DSL Rangers 5 DSL Nationals 0
• Navarro ⅔ IP, 2H, 5R, 5ER, 4BB, K
• J Guzman 5⅓ IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 4K, IR-S 3-1
• Vasquez 3IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Mercedes 1-3, 2B

A five-run first put the game away, as the DSL Nationals were held to just one hit in a 5-0 shutout. Miguel Navarro was charged with all five runs on two hits and four walks over 2/3rds of an inning to take the loss. Jesus Guzman and Daury Vasquez were sensational in relief, combining for eight and a 1/3rd innings of relief, with Guzman allowing just one of three inherited runners to score. Yermin Mercedes collected the sole hit for the D-Nats, who lost their third straight.

14 Commments

  1. Hmmm… there may be some shuffling under consideration for the Potomac & Hagerstown staffs. With a chance to reset the rotation, LeCroy opens the 2nd half with Olbrychowski / Holder / Demny; curious choices, imo.

  2. Yes and no. Remember that the goal is to keep certain starters aligned with the parent club for the purposes of injuries/replacements. It’s not always 1:1, but it’s usually within a day or two.

  3. Interesting indeed. I thought Olbrychowski was closer to getting released than put into the rotation earlier in the year. He’s had a nice string of good outings, including some longer relief roles that seemed to have stretched him out.

    Do you think Rosenbaum merits a promotion to Harrisburg based on what he’s done so far?

    1. He’s probably the closest of anyone in the Potomac rotation, but I don’t think he’s ready yet. I’d feel better about him if his K:W ratio was a bit above 2:1. Sue’s probably seen him a little more than I have, so he might have a stronger opinion.

    2. Nope. Needs to improve the control, start throwing that curve for strikes consistently.

    1. Not yet, but I can assure you that my odds of hearing about him getting the call are a bit better than even.

  5. Sue, what are your thoughts as far as Harper playing in Hagerstown a bit longer and then making the jump right to Harrisburg in order to avoid the Pfitz horrible field?

  6. I don’t think it is in Harper’s best interest to jump to AA. He needs to progress normally, face incrementally better hitters. His career plan should be an immediate promotion to high-A, *maybe* play in the fall league again, then start 2012 in AA with an eye for a June 1 promotion to avoid super-2 status to the major leagues (perhaps with a Strasburg-esque May promotion to AAA).

    Yes the field situation is a mess at Potomac, but for me its more about managing competition for him than worrying about a messy outfield.

    1. Im torn between sending him to AA, or A+.

      for AA Bile Reinhart is in the back of my mind, but also Hoods knee injury has me wondering about the field. Im glad I dont have to make the call

  7. Syracuse still needs some help in the bullpen. Gaudin certainly improves matters quite a bit but he is doing rehab for a return to the majors. Kimball looks like a potential option once he gets past his injury unless he ends up on the 60-day. Carr is still on the DL in Syracuse. Balester likely gets returned when Gaudin is deemed ready and that should help. Balester isn’t even close to the pitcher Mattheus is … so … so far the best relief talent rises to the top and ends up on the major league roster.

    1. Please dont let Gaudin pitch in the majors again for Washington, if Balester gets sent down for him, I will be pissed I would expect Zinicola to get called up soon, as he is a little old for AA, and I would expect Testa to go to AA to replace him

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