Wednesday’s News and Notes

The Quick Rundown…

Syracuse Chiefs L, 5-3 @ Louisville
Starting Pitcher: Chico (ND) 6IP 6H 0R 0BB 5K
Pitching Star: Wilkie [H, 8] 2IP 1H 0R 0BB5K
Pyrotechnician: Severino (BS, 5; L, 4-3) ⅓ IP 2H 3R 3ER 1BB 0K 1HR
Hitting Star #1: Bynum 1-1, 1R, 1HR, 1RBI
Hitting Star #2: Davis 1-3, 1R
Notes: Syracuse and Louisville remained scoreless through five innings of play until the 6^th where Syracuse scored two runs, courtesy of RBI singles by Boomer Whiting and Danny Espinosa. A solo HR by Seth Bynum in the 8^th extended the Chiefs’ lead to 3-0, and things were looking good. Louisville had their backs to the wall until the bottom of the 9^th where they scored five runs off relievers Adam Carr and Athualpa Severino, capped off by a grand slam by stud catching prospect Devin Mesaraco to give Louisville the 5-3 win. Starter Matt Chico went six scoreless innings, giving up six hits and no walks while registering five strikeouts with the loss

Harrisburg Senators W, 10-1 vs. Erie
Starting Pitcher: Milone (W, 10-5) 6⅔ IP 7H 1R 1ER 0BB 13K
Pitching Star: Jones, Jas 1.1IP 2H 0R 1K
Hitting Star #1: Marrero 4-5, 2R, HR, 4RBI
Hitting Star #2: Ivany  3-4, 2-2B, 2RBI
Notes: Tom Milone won his 10^th game in striking fashion (13K), as the Harrisburg Senators drowned the Seawolves 10-1. The 23-year-old southpaw allowed just one run on seven hits and no walks over 6⅔ innings. Offensively, Harrisburg started the scoring early in the bottom of the 1^st with 2 runs, and added two more in the 4^th making it 4-0. Erie scored its lone run in the top of the 5^th, but Harrisburg was just too hot today as they scored three more in the bottom of the 5^th, then piled on with one more in the 6^th then two more runs in the 8^th to finish the night at 10-1. Chris Marrero led the 14-hit onslaught with a 4-for-5 night with four RBI.

Potomac Nationals W, 9-1 @ Kinston
Starting Pitcher: Holder (W, 2-2) 5⅔ IP 3H 1R 1ER 3BB 5K 1HR
Pitching Star: Wort 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K
Hitting Star #1: Moore 2-3, R, HR, 5RBI
Hitting Star #2: Nicol 3-5, R, RBI
Notes: Tempers flared in the 6^th inning, as both starter Trevor Holder and manager Gary Cathcart were ejected after Holder allegedly threw behind a Kinston batter (Chun-Hsiu Chen, who had homered in his previous at-bat) one inning after Tyler Moore was plunked. Moore’s crime was merely doing what he’s been doing since the middle of last month: beating the snot out of opposing pitchers, which he did in grand (slam) fashion in the first inning for third time this season as the P-Nats prevailed 9-1. The Potomac first baseman ran the bases following the HBP, but removed from the game when the Potomac took the field in the bottom of the 5^th, indicating that perhaps his removal was defensive but not injury-related. Moore would finish the night at 2-for-3 with 5 RBI. Holder was done but got the win—his second in as many starts—with the one Kinston run allowed on three hits and three walks over 5⅔ innings. Two more batters would be hit (one for each side) but no more ejections were issued. The win, combined with a Blue Rocks loss, returns the Potomac lead to two games over Wilmington.

Hagerstown Suns — PPD
Notes: Heavy rains forced an early cancellation of Wednesday night’s game, forcing a doubleheader tonight at 6:05 p.m. For more details, click the link above.

Vermont Lake Monsters L, 4-3 vs. Lowell
Starting Pitcher: Ott (L, 0-1) 3IP 3H 2R 2ER 4BB 3K
Pitching Star: Selik 2IP 1H 0R 0BB 2K
Hitting Star #1: Moore 2-3, R, BB
Hitting Star #2: Freitas 1-3, 2B, BB
Notes: Vermont was well rested for this one but it seems Lowell was too. In the 3^rd Lowell scored two runs and added 1 more in the 5^th and another in the 6^th to make it 4-0. The Lake Monsters roared back with three runs in the bottom of the 6^th but lost steam after that as they were downed 4-3. Recently demoted starter Billy Ott went just three innings giving up three hits, two runs and three walks and took the loss.

GCL Nationals W, 5-4 vs. GCL Marlins
Starting Pitcher: Matt Grace (W, 1-1) 5IP 3H 1R 1ER 1BB 7K
Pitching Star: Nick Serino (H, 3) 1⅔ IP 0H 0R 1BB 0K
Hitting Star #1: Estarlin Martinez 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
Hitting Star #2: Roberto Perez 3-4, SB
Notes: Matthew Grace continues to pitch stronger, going five innings and allowing one run on three hits and one walk. He also struck out seven while lowering his ERA to 6.27 for his first professional win as the GCL Nationals defeated the GCL Marlins 5-4. Roberto Perez led the 11-hit offensive attack with a 3-for-4 afternoon, while Chris Manno came on in the ninth with two out and two runners on and struck out the lone batter he faced for the save, also a professional first.

DSL Nationals L, 5-3 vs. DSL Mets1
Starting Pitcher: Antonio Guzman (L, 4-5) 4IP 4H 1R 0ER 0BB 3K
Pitching Star: Karin Burgos 2IP 1H 0R 2BB 0K
Hitting Star #1: Bienvenido Valdez 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI
Hitting Star #2: Adderling Ruiz 2-4, R, 2B, 2SB
Notes: Bienvenido Valdez’s two-run HR in the bottom of the ninth made this game look closer than it was, as the DSL Nationals lost to the DSL Mets1 by a count of 5-3. The DSL Nationals hit the ball far (three extra-base hits) but not often (four hits total) going 0-for-7 with RISP and stranding five baserunners. Starting Pitcher Antonio Guzman took the loss, giving up one unearned run on four hits while striking out three, while three of the four relievers that followed surrendered runs to enable the Mets1 squad to build a 5-0 lead before Hitting Star #2 Adderling Ruiz scored on an RBI groundout in the 8^th to break up the shutout.