Wednesday’s News and Notes

The Quick Rundown…

Syracuse Chiefs L, 10-7 @ Norfolk
Starting Pitcher: Jones (L, 1-5) 1IP 5H 5R 5ER 1BB 1HR
Pitching Star: English 2IP 1H 0R 1BB 2K
Hitting Star # 1: Ordaz 2-4, R, HR, RBI
Hitting Star # 2: Davis 1-4, R, HR, 2RBI
Notes: The Chiefs got into a big mess early as Norfolk scored five runs in the bottom of the 1^st. But Norfolk wasn’t done there as they scored one more in the 2^nd and thre more in the 3^rd to take a 9-0 lead with only 4 innings played. Syracuse finally cut into that lead in the 5^th with one run and in the 7^th they got some momentum going as they scored two. Then in the 8^th they added one more making it 10-4. In the 9^th was the Chiefs last chance for a great comeback, but unfortunately they fell a bit short as they only managed to score three runs, losing this one 10-7. Starter Jason Jones went only one inning giving up five hits, five runs and one walk with the loss.

Harrisburg Senators W, 2-0 vs. New Britain
Starter/Pitching Star: Detwiler (W, 2-2) 7IP 5H 0R 1BB 7K
Pitching Star #2: Kimball (SV, 1) 1IP 1H 0R 1BB 2K
Hitting Star #1: Valdez 2-4, R
Hitting Star #2: Lowrance 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI
Notes: For the second straight game, the Harrisburg Senators blanked the New Britain Rock Cats by a score of 2-0. Marvin Lowrance matched Danny Espinosa’s feat from Tuesday, connecting on a two-run shot in the second inning to account for both runs. Starter Ross Detwiler evened his AA mark at 2-2 with his second straight scoreless outing, allowing five hits and one walk over seven innings. He also struck out seven.

Potomac Nationals L, 3-2 (8 inn.); W, 4-1 vs. Salem
GAME ONE
Starter/Pitching Star: Zimmermann 4IP 2H 0R 0BB 4K
Hitting Star #1: Johnson 3-4, 2B, SB
Hitting Star #2: Moore 2-3, BB
Notes: [The odd start time plus parental duties precluded Sue from seeing much of either game.] The offense generated 13 baserunners, but the clutch hit escaped the P-Nats yesterday, as the two runs were scored by a Mike Burgess home run and a wild pitch. Jordan Zimmermann made his fourth, and one would think, final rehab outing for Potomac striking out four and allowing two hits over four scoreless innings.

GAME TWO
Starting Pitcher: Rosenbaum (W, 1-0) 5IP 3H 1R 1ER 2BB 3K
Pitching Star: Leatherman (SV, 11) 2IP 2H 0R 0BB 2K
Hitting Star #1: Moore 2-3, 2R, 2B, HR, 2RBI
Hitting Star #2: Lombardozzi 2-4, SB
Notes: Danny Rosenbaum won his Carolina League debut with five innings pitched, one run allowed on three hits and two walks. He also struck out two. Sue’s take on his repetoire: “Had some difficulty locating his fastball and his curveball could use some dentures, but bore down when he needed to and got the key grounder off his sinker and a changeup that ‘drops off the table.’ Appears shorter than his listed 6’1″ but that could very well be an illusion created by his, um, sturdy carriage – a trait that appears highly valued by the Rizzo regime as a sign of durability”

Hagerstown Suns L, 13-10 @ Asheville
Starting Pitcher: Demny  3⅔ IP 5H 6R 6ER 3BB 1K  
Pitching Un-Star: Graham (L, 1-1) 1⅔ IP 6H 4R 3ER 3K
Hitting Star #1: Kobernus 2-4, 2R, 2B, BB, HR, 5RBI
Hitting Star #2: Leon  2-3, 3R, 2B, 2BB
Notes: Hagerstown started the scoring with one in the top of the 1^st which Asheville matched in the bottom of the inning. In the 2^nd the Suns added four more, but Asheville wouldn’t give any breathing room to the Suns as they scored four runs in the 3^rd to tie things back up. Hagerstown finally got a bit ahead in the 4^th scoring two and they added one more in the next inning making it 8-6. They went on to add one more in the 6^th to make it 9-6, unfortunately Asheville got hot and scored one in the 7^th and four more in the 8^th to make it 11-9. Hagerstown scored one run in the 8^th but that was as close as they’d get as Asheville added two more runs in the bottom of the 8^th to win this one 13-10. Starter Paul Demny went 3⅔ innings giving up five hits, six runs, three walks but got the no-decision. 

Vermont Lake Monsters — PPD
Notes: The game at Connecticut was rained out today and will be made up Thursday as a doubleheader starting at 6:05 p.m. Vermont leads Connecticut by five games in the Stedler Division of the New York-Penn League.

GCL Nationals L, 6-3 vs. GCL Cardinals
Starting Pitcher: Matthew Grace 1⅔ IP 4H 2R 1ER 1BB 3K
Pitching Star: Pat Lehman 4IP 1H 0R 0BB 6K
Hitting Star #1: Hector Taveras 3-5, RBI
Hitting Star #2: Jeremy Mayo 2-4, R, HR, RBI
Notes: Matthew Grace stumbled in his GCL debut, allowing two first-inning runs and four hits overall in just 1⅔ innings as the GCL Cardinals doubled up the GCL Nationals 6-3. The G-Cards would extend their lead to 3-1 after seven innings before the G-Nats tied it at 3-3 in their half. Relievers Nick Serino and Tim Dupuis wilted in the ninth, allowing the game’s final three runs for the 6-3 count.

DSL Nationals W, 7-4 @ DSL Cubs2
Starting Pitcher: Wirkin Estevez (W, 5-3) 7IP 8H 4R 2ER 0BB 8K
Pitching Star: Inocencio Heredia (SV, 7) 1⅓ IP 1H 0R 0BB 1K
Hitting Star #1: “Smiley” Alvarez 3-4, 2R, 2B, BB, SB
Hitting Star #2: Paul Chacin 3-4, 2B, 4RBI
Hitting Star #3: Aderling Ruiz 2-4, 2RBI
Notes: Wirkin Estevez got his 5th win of the year with seven strong innings of work, lowering his ERA to 2.44 and striking out eight to pull within two of the league lead. The D-Nats were a respectable 5-for-15 with RISP, plating seven runs on 12 hits and stranding just four runners. The $1.6M sinkhole now known as Carlos Alvarez led the offense with a 3-for-4 effort, with two runs scored, a double, walk and a stolen base.