Monday’s News and Notes
Harrisburg rallies to win the E.L. West wild card outright and highlight Monday afternoon in the Nats' minors
The Quick Rundown…
| Team | Yesterday’s Result |
| Syracuse Chiefs | Lost, 4-3 |
| Harrisburg Senators | Won, 6-5 |
| Potomac Nationals | Won, 7-6 |
| Hagerstown Suns | Lost, 7-3 |
Syracuse Chiefs L, 4-3 @ Pawtucket Box | Gamer
Starting Pitcher: Arnesen (L, 6-8) 8IP 7H 4R 4ER 3BB 3K 1HR
Pitching Star: None
Hitting Star #1: Orr 2-4, R, HR, RBI
Hitting Star #2: Burke 1-3, R, HR, RBI
Notes: Erik Arnesen went the distance, two veterans went deep, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Pawtucket as the Syracuse Chiefs lost 4-3. The PawSox touched Arnesen for the four runs with three in the second, and one in the fourth before Arenesen would retire 13 straight before a one-out walk in the eighth. Pete Orr and Jamie Burke both hit solo HRs in the top of the fifth to cut the Pawtucket lead in half. A bunt single by Brian Bixler and two errant pickoff throws set up the third Syracuse run in the sixth before the PawSox pitchers would bear down, allowing just a walk and a hit batsmen over the final three innings. With the loss, Syracuse finished 76-67, 11 games behind Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Harrisburg Senators W, 6-5 @ Binghamton Box | Gamer
Starting Pitcher: Roark 5⅔ IP 8H 4R 2ER 1BB 10K 1HR
Pitching Star: Pena 1⅓ IP 1H 0R 0BB 0K
Hitting Star #1: Johnson 2-3, 2R, 2BB, HR, 3RBI
Hitting Star #2: Burgess 2-4, 2B, RBI
Notes: A loss by Bowie clinched Harrisburg’s playoff spot, but the Senators made it a moot point with a 6-5 win over Binghamton. Josh Johnson delivered the knockout punch in the top of the ninth with a three-run home run to complete the comeback that had begun in the seventh as the Senators overcame deficits of 4-0 and 5-3 to beat the B-Mets. Starting pitcher Tanner Roark went the first 5⅔ innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk while striking out ten. Cole Kimball shook off a solo HR surrendered in the eighth to pitch a scoreless ninth and got the win, his fifth for Harrisburg this season. The Senators travel to Altoona tomorrow for Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-five series for the opening round of the Eastern League playoffs.
Potomac Nationals W, 7-6 vs. Kinston Box | Gamer
Starter/Pitching Star: Frias (ND) 6⅔ IP 6H 0R 0BB 8K
Hitting Star #1: Jacobsen 1-4, 3RBI
Hitting Star #2: Moresi 2-4, R, HR, 2RBI
Notes: See what happened on the final Monday Afternoon In Woodbridge
Hagerstown Suns L, 7-3 @ West Virginia Box | Gamer
Starting Pitcher: Solis 2IP 2H 0R 0BB 2K
Pitching Star: None
Hitting Star #1: Hague 2-4, 3B, HR, 2RBI
Hitting Star #2: Perez 2-4, R, 2SB (63, 64)
Notes: Sammy Solis made his second professional appearance and maintained his 0.00ERA with two scoreless innings pitched, two hits allowed, and two batters set down on strikes. Relievers Paul Applebee and Wanel Vasquez were slightly less effective, surrendering seven runs on 14 hits and two walks over the next six innings as the Hagerstown Suns ended 2010 with a 7-3 loss, its third straight defeat. The top of the order, Eury Perez and Rick Hague, combined for four of the nine Suns hits, with Perez stealing his 63rd and 64th bases and Hague tripling and homering for 2RBI. Hagerstown finished the second half in sixth place with a 29-41 mark and went 65-75 overall.
You realize just how much Hagerstown fell off looking at their second half record. 65-75 overall and 29-41 in the second half equals 36-34 in the first half. I remember thinking Hagerstown had a good shot to make the playoffs in the first half and the offensive talent would stay high in the second half. I guess they had a bunch of pitching promotions and injuries. Rosenbaum got promoted. Holder got promoted. McGeary went down with Tommy John. Bloxom and Kobernus got hurt. Much of Kobernus’ offense seemed to be replaced by Sanchez. Bloxom was leading the system offensively before he got hurt, and I thought he was going to be minor league bat of the year before Tyler Moore’s offensive surge.
Do you have any other thoughts on the reason for Hagerstown’s poor second half showing?
My take on the bad second half: stranding runners and a weak middle relief group. I can’t tell you how many times runners were waiting to be brought in. I watched this very thing this weekend on more than one occasion. The Suns must have stranded 10+ runners this past Sunday; bases loaded on one if not two occasions. Starters did so-so, but if they got on trouble, the bullpen could not help them out.
Now, having Rosenbaum called up was great for him – not for the Suns. :o)
I was asked this weekend who I though were the best players on the team this year and I definitely think Rosenbaum and JP Ramirez. Eury was good on the bases, but i’m just not sold on the fielding or his arm. Bloxom was having a stellar year, too.
I think at least 30% or more of this year’s team will be back, and i’m looking forward to seeing what Oduber and Taylor can do. Oduber mainly struck out this weekend at the plate. :o(
@TBRfan
Always great to see people who’ve actually seen guys. Many of the folks who are stuck looking at stat lines see the speed on the basepaths and the improved OBP the second half and think Perez is starting to answer some of the questions. Ramierez seems like the bat is coming around. Is he still a butcher in the field? He DHed a bunch early and seemed to make errors in left late. So mixed reviews on Eury defensively….Hmm. He’s got to be at least slightly above league average defensively if he’s going to be a solid MLB guy. Got to remind myself he’s only 20, and you hope that he can grow defensively as he progresses through the system.
I think Eury needs to get some bat power. He can bunt and run, but I think he only hit one home run this season. I liken him to a softball slap hitter. He is wicked fast though and if anything, that will get him up a few levels and we’ll see how his other skills translate.
After watching the entire Suns season, I think in the outfield RF was the weakest by far. Sort of a rotation of players with no one really getting anything going. Destin Hood tanked after the second month. Ugh. No plate presence, couldn’t hit anything off speed – period. CF was steady with Eury, but every time the ball went out there, a collective uh-oh came over my group. Now, LF and Ramirez was steady all season. Nothing real stellar, nothing “wow” outstanding. He made the plays he needed to. I’d honestly like to see him in RF. He batted just under .300 if I remember from this weekends game watching.
For infield, the only thing I can say is – no more “chuck it” souza. His attitude and lack of composure when in the field will sink whatever career he might have when he comes off the suspension. Third base was by far the weakest link in the Suns season.
Interesting to note some similarities in Hagerstown’s record to last year (31-36 1st half / 25-42 2nd half in 2009; 36-34 1st half / 29-41 2nd half in 2010). They lost their entire starting IF between 9 July & 7 August this year (Bloxom-Kobernus-Soriano-Souza), but only lost two SP’s to promotion (Holder on 11 June & Rosenbaum on 15 July).
@BinM
Were Soriano and Souza that crucial to their success? Kobernus’ production seemed to get replaced by Sanchez from what I could tell. It seemed to me that the starting pitching fell off a cliff and the relief pitching may never have been very good to begin with.
The comp to last season’s record is very revealing to me.
sould:
Actually, Soriano & Souza were error machines on the left side of the infield; What the team lost, imo, was run production over the 2nd half. Games that were being won 7-5 in May were lost 4-2 in July & August.