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Thursday’s News & Notes

Three wins out seven for the Nats farm on Wednesday

The Quick Rundown…

Team Yesterday’s Result Today’s Game Pitching Probables
Syracuse Chiefs Lost, 7-3 vs. Indianapolis, 7:00 p.m. Brad Meyers (4-3, 4.42) vs.
Garrett Olson (1-0, 2.56)
Harrisburg Senators Won, 3-2 @ Richmond, 7:05 p.m. Erik Arnesen (4-1, 2.22)
vs. Brett Jacobson (3-1, 2.78)
Potomac Nationals Won, 4-3 (10 inn.) vs. Winston-Salem 7:05 p.m. Paul Demny (4-7, 3.98) vs.
Jacob Petricka (A+ Debut)
Hagerstown Suns Lost, 7-2 vs. Lakewood, 7:05 p.m. Sammy Solis (1-1, 3.93) vs.
Garett Claypool (3-3, 3.01)
Auburn Doubledays Lost, 7-3 @ Williamsport, 7:05 p.m. Manny Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00) vs.
Colin Kleven (0-0, 4.15)
GCL Nationals Won, 2-1
@ GCL Astros		 vs. GCL Mets, 12:00 p.m./td>

Nathan Karns (0-0, 0.00) vs.
Rafael Montero (0-1, 2.70)
DSL Nationals Lost, 5-3
@ DSL Phillies		 @ DSL Rangers, 10:30 a.m.

Indianapolis 7 Syracuse 3
• Maya (L, 1-5) 6IP, 7H, 4ER, BB, 6K, HR, HBP
• Tatusko 2IP, 4H, 2ER, 2BB, K
• Solano 3-4, 2 2B
• Antonelli 2-4, 2RBI, SF

Yunesky Maya was hit hard during a four-run sixth inning rally in a 7-3 loss to the Indianapolis Indians. He was tagged for a leadoff homer by Brian Friday, a single, a walk, a two run triple by Miles Durham, and an RBI double by Gorkys Hernandez. Syracuse had built a 2-0 lead. In the third, a rehabbing Rick Ankiel (2B, 2R) hit a leadoff double and later scored on a sac fly. In the fifth, Ankiel reached on a two-base error by Miles Durham on a dropped line drive, was sacrificed over by Steve Lombardozzi (1-3, nine-game IL debut hit streak), and was driven in by a Matt Antonelli single. Indianapolis extended its lead to 7-3 with two runs off Ryan Tatusko in the seventh and Friday’s second homer of the game and the season. With the loss, Syracuse falls to 33-44, good for a fourth-place tie in the North Division of the International League, twelve games back.

Harrisburg 3 Richmond 2
• Peacock (W, 9-2) 5⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 3BB, 6K, WP
• Lehman (S, 2) 1⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Jo Johnson 2-4, 2B
• McConnell 2-4 2B, 2RBI
• Pahuta 1-2, 2R, HR, RBI, BB

In the resumption of yesterday’s suspended game, Harrisburg jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind five and 2/3rds shutout innings from staff ace Brad Peacock. Peacock gave up only one hit, striking out six and walking three before Rafael Martin came into strand Peacock’s runner at third as part of his one and 1/3rd innings of relief. Harrisburg scored its first run on a Tim Pahuta homer in the fifth. In the seventh, Chris McConnell landed the key blow for Harrisburg, a two-run double that scored Archie Gilbert and Pahuta. Pat McCoy yielded two runs before Pat Lehman came in for the four-out save, his second, to give Harrisburg a 3-2 win. Harrisburg improved its record to 44-32, good for a four-game lead in the Eastern League’s Western Division over Richmond.

Potomac 4 Winston-Salem 3 (10 inn.)
• Bronson 7IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 4K, HR
• Holland 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Hood 1-5, RBI, GWRBI
• Soriano 1-3, R, 2B, 2BB, RBI
• Bloxom 2-4, 2B, RBI

After 11 days off, LNIW is back!

Lakewood 7 Hagerstown 2
• Jordan (L, 8-4) 5⅔ IP, 4H, 3R, 0ER, 3BB, 8K
• McCatty 2⅓ IP 4H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 2K, HBP
• Keyes 1-1, 2B, 3BB
• Newsome 1-3, RBI, BB

Hagerstown scored two painful first inning runs against Lakewood. Wade Moore and Adrian Sanchez were hit by pitches before Bryce Harper reached on a fielding error to load the bases in front of a Jason Martinson one-out sac fly. With two outs and the bases loaded, Brett Newsome walked to plate Sanchez. Hagerstown’s four errors did its pitching staff no favors. In the third a fielding error by shortstop Jason Martinson led to an unearned run against starter Taylor Jordan. In the fourth, a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and a missed catch by Michael Taylor led to two more unearned runs. The good news for Shane McCatty was that he stranded the bases loaded to keep the score 3-2 for Taylor Jordan. The bad news is that he gave up three runs of his own in an eventful 8th inning that featured an ejection of Hagerstown pitching coach Chris Michalak. Recently demoted Dean Weaver gave up a run in the 9th to close the scoring at 7-2 in a Hagerstown loss. With the loss, Hagerston falls to 4-3, good for a three-way tie for second place, one game back in the early second half of the Sally League 2011 campaign.

Williamsport 7 Auburn 3
• Encarnacion (L, 0-2) 4IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 2K
• Moldenhauer 2-3
• J Miller 2-4

Auburn couldn’t capitalize on the seven walks and three errors given to them by Williamsport, falling 7-3. The Doubledays stranded 13 runners and were a woeful 2-for-14 with RISP. Russell Moldenhauer went 2-for-3 to lead the nine-hit attack, as both he, Jimenez and Skole extended their hit streaks to 10 games apiece. “Vote For” Pedro Encarnacion started and went the first four innings, but gave up three runs on five hits and two walks. Neither reliever (Alex Kreis and Chris Jenkins) was effective, as both men gave up two runs in two innings. The loss drops Auburn to 8-5, good for second place in the Pinckney Divison, and one game behind the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

GCL Nationals 6 GCL Astros 2 (8 inn.)
• B King (W, 1-0) 5IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Hanks 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Curran 2-5, 2R, 2K
• Schill 2-4, R, 3B, RBI, SB
• Ramos 1-3, R, 2B, 3RBI

Brandon King rebounded from a beatdown last time out to throw five perfect innings, striking out four, as the GCL Nationals tripled up the GCL Astros 6-2 in a rain-shortened contest. Chris Curran and Wes Shill each had two hits, while Wander Ramos drove in three to pace the offense, which somehow managed to score six times on eight hits while going 1-for-12 with RISP. The GCL Nats are now 4-4 in the GCL East, one game behind the GCL Mets.

DSL Phillies 5 DSL Nationals 3
• Moscat (L, 1-2) 3IP, 4H, 5R, 3ER, 3BB, 2K
• Vasquez 3IP, 3H, 0R, BB, K
• Difo 3-4, 2R, 2B, HR, RBI
• B Valdez 2-4, RBI

The DSL Phillies only scored once in eight innings, but the five-spot they put up on the board held up for a 5-3 win over the DSL Nationals. Felix Moscat gave up all five runs over his three innings pitched, giving up four hits and three walks while setting down two on strikes. Wilmer Difo led the offense with a 3-for-4 game, doubling and homering while scoring two runs. The loss snapped a modest three-game win streak and drops the D-Nats to 12-15 in the Boca Chica South, 5½ games behind the DSL Rangers and DSL Yankees1.

18 Commments

  1. Yet another good showing for Harrisburg.
    Great combination for almost guaranteed win — Peacock followed by ‘Beer League’ Martin & Lehman closing has got to be about a 95% of winning.

    1. Am I the only one that thinks Martin needs to go to AAA?

      Lehman is lookign good, so far in AA also which is good to see

  2. So is it safe to say at this point that Maya probably isn’t a leading candidate for a spot on the Nats rotation? Keep waiting for him to ‘adjust’ to MLB hitting / game, but he really seems to have hit a plateau, if not regressed somewhat. Begs the question (again), When will the Nats start to show some real progress in Latin America?

    1. Someone on here will probably start throwing names around and complain that they have been successful in Latin America, but mds4752 makes a very good point when you look at a couple of examples of them shelling out big bucks with no return. Maya is nothing special, inconsistent, and doesn’t come close to the hype, and let’s not forget the Smiley debacle. They did way better with a guy from a beer league. Their best prospects are turning out to be guys who weren’t prospects at all, but proved themselves on the way up, like Peacock and Moore. Makes you wonder about the scouting.

      1. When I first started visiting NFA, the constant complaint common refrain was centered on the lack of spending on big-name IFAs, which is why I now refer to the few TLCs left in the Natmosphere as the Lt. Dan’s (because they don’t have any legs to stand on).

        The past three drafts have shown that the DC ownership is now willing to invest in the farm system and in big-name free agents. Everybody and their grandmother knew that signing Werth to that fat contract was a mistake in isolation, but much like Maya in micocosm, it did serve the purpose of showing that they’re players and not also-rans, and thus, could pay dividends in the future by attracting future (younger) FAs both domestically and internationally.

        I strongly suspect that there won’t be a big-name signing when the July 2 signing deadline passes, but my hope is much like Brian’s: A whole bunch of players in the $50-$100K range get signed, spreading out the risk and increasing the odds that one or two (or even a few) catches fire.

      2. If the purpose in the Nats’ signing of Maya was to ‘blaze a trail’ for signing more effective and productive players down the road, then perhaps the Lerners’ money on Maya was well spent. As Sue points out, it may have been more to show that they are legitimate players in the market. In looking at the past few Amateur Drafts, it would seem that the Nats’ domestic scouting machine may be doing decent work. I think the ‘post Smiley’ international scouting efforts are still somewhat unknown and may remain so for a time to come. Hopefully the recent activity in the DR (as written about by Kilgore a few months ago) will bear some fruit here in the next few years. We shall see.

  3. alot of money spent on Maya they might just see if they can get some type of return reminds me of the yankees signing the lefty from Japan big money no return

    1. Is it Kei Igawa that you speak of? Igawa is Truth! He shut down Syracuse a couple of weeks ago! Or is the ‘Cuse offense just The Lie?

  4. Second time through… Peacock did not disappoint.

    Arm strength wasn’t there as it was the first game… he was at 90-93 all night instead of 92-95 as he was the first game. Curveball is a true plus pitch, as when he needed a K or an easy out, he’d throw it over for a strike or burry it in the dirt.

    Changeup still wasn’t anything special, but I at least saw one time where he dropped it in the dirt rather than floating it over the plate… so that’s a positive.

    Most of the his strikeouts came early on as he was just blowing fastballs by the hitters. You have to remember, most AA pitchers can’t throw 92-93, and if they can, they’re usually in the pen.

    He did have some wildness where the ball would get away from him and sail wide to his arm side… but other than that, he looked good, and ready for AAA.

    Not sure why he was taken out around 85 pitches… I wanted to see him work out of trouble, but the Harrisburg manager is crazy into micro managing his bullpen… here’s a tip, dude… this isn’t the MLB, you don’t need to burn through five pitchers to get seven outs.

    Overall, Peacock wasn’t at his best… but even then, he completely dominates AA hitters. He has nothing left to prove. Move him up.

    1. Thank you so much for this report. My dream is that I’ll get to see Peacock pitch when Harrisburg comes through here to play Bowie in late July. Job has to break right in funds and hours for that to happen, though.

    2. ‘Eyes-on’ reports from the outposts are always appreciated, David; Muchas gracias. Now, if Sue_D could just recruit an irregular or two in the D.R. & Auburn, we might have full coverage.

      Just got back from the Phitz, and I refuse to spoil the lede for tomorrow’s ‘Last Night in Woodbridge’.

  7. The speculation about Manny Rodriguez being stretched out to eventually start proved prophetic. Sue, either you or Soul D need to take a bow. He may be shooting star over the night sky here. Hasn’t really been hit yet, stay tuned.

    I’m rooting for Erik Arnesen tonight, maybe he can win an award at the end of the season for best performance by a ‘jerked around’ minor leaguer

    Thanks again, Dave, for the scouting report.

  8. FWIW: Maintenance – Clean-up on aisle 2 (the HAR-RIC link takes you back to the IND-SYR box score).

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