Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitcher |
| Syracuse | Lost, 3-1 | vs. Gwinnett, 7:00 p.m. |
Brad Peacock (3-1, 4.35) vs. Todd Redmond (9-8, 2.84) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 5-3 | @ Akron, 7:05 p.m. |
Danny Rosenbaum (1-0, 1.42) vs. Austin Adams (9-9, 4.00) |
| Potomac | Lost, 2-1 | vs. Winston-Salem, 7:05 p.m. |
Sammy Solis (4-2, 3.38) vs. Cameron Bayne (11-5, 3.30) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 9-6 | @ Kannapolis, 7:05 p.m. |
Matt Grace (11-5, 4.32) vs. Phil Negus (3-0, 2.62) |
| Auburn | Won, 4-2 | vs. Aberdeen, 7:05 p.m. |
Wirkin Estevez (4-2, 3.86) vs. Matt Hobgood (0-4, 12.23) |
| GCL Nationals | Suspended, Mid 4th vs. GCL Cardinals |
@ GCL Astros, 12:00 p.m. |
TBD vs. TBD |
| DSL Nationals | Lost, 12-5 @ DSL Mets1 |
@ DSL Phillies, 10:30 a.m. |
TBD vs. TBD |
Gwinnett 3 Syracuse 1
• Stammen 6IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 3BB, 9K
• Martin 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Bernadina 2-3, SB
• Solano 1-3, R, 2B, BB
Gwinnett broke through with two runs in the 7th in this pitcher’s duel for a 3-1 win over the Syracuse Chiefs. After both teams scored early — the Braves in the 1st, the Chiefs in the 2nd — journeyman Craig Stammen matched goose eggs against (yet another Atlanta) stud pitching prospect Julio Teheran through the 6th. The Braves loaded the bases against Ryan Tatusko in the 7th on a double, walk, and an infield single. Jeff Mandel came in to put out the fire with two outs and was greeted with a two-run single to the 5/6 hole. The Braves bullpen allowed just one baserunner over the last three to nail this one down. Syracuse now stands 55-66, 14½ games back, and its elimination number is just four.
Harrisburg 5 Akron 3
• Roark (W, 8-8) 7⅔ IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 8K, HR
• Pena (S, 7) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Davis 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI, BB
• T Moore 1-3, R, HR, RBI, BB
Akron and Harrisburg playing swimming-pool tag, with the pitchers saying “Marco” and five hitters going “Solo.” But the Sens got a two-run shot from Leonard Davis and an unearned run on an errant pickoff for the difference in a 5-3 win. Tanner Roark evened his record at 8-8 with seven and 2/3rds innings, with six hits and three runs (all on home runs) given up. Pat McCoy stranded two runners to get the last out of the 8th for his 12th hold while Hassan Pena got his 7th save with a 1-2-3 ninth. The win took advantage of Bowie’s fourth straight loss to extend Harrisburg’s lead to two games, while Richmond kept pace at 2½ games back in the E.L. West.
Kinston 2 Potomac 1
• Bronson (L, 4-4) 6IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 4K
• Holland 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Kobernus 2-4, SB
• Lozada 1-3, R, 2B, BB, 2K
Kinston scored two runs in the bottom of the 1st. Thanks to Potomac’s twin troubles of an inability to hit in the clutch and make contact, that was enough to lose by a 2-1 count. Francisco Soriano’s two-out RBI single in the top of the 5th was the only one in 11 chances with RISP while Eury Perez was the sole batter not to strike out, as the P-Nats whiffed 11 times. Evan Bronson was the latest hard-luck loser, giving up the two Kinston runs on four hits and three walks over six innings. The loss dropped second-place Potomac to six games behind first-place Frederick and shaved its lead over third-place Lynchburg to five games in the Carolina League’s Northern Division.
Hagerstown 9 Lexington 6
• Strasburg 1⅔ IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 3K
• Applebee (W, 7-2) 6IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 5K, HR
• Curran 3-4, 2R
• Taylor 2-5, R, 2B, 3B, 3RBI
• Nieto 2-4, R, 2B
Stephen Strasburg struggled in his second rehab outing in Hagerstown, unable to finish the second inning as he took 49 pitches to get five outs with the first four batters reaching against him in a three-run 1st. The Suns, however, remain red-hot, winning this one 9-6 for their 7th straight. Kevin Keyes erased that 3-0 deficit with a three-run shot in the bottom of the 1st, and Hagerstown put up another three-spot in the 2nd to take Strasburg off the hook with a 6-5 lead. The Suns got nine runs on 11 hits, including three doubles and two triples. Chris Curran led the hit parade with a 3-for-4 night. Paul Applebee finished the game with six strong innings, allowing a solo home run, a double and a single, no walks, and set down five on strikes for his 7th win. Hagerstown heads into Kannapolis for a four-game showdown against the Intimidators, needing three wins to take first place.
Auburn Doubledays 4 Aberdeen Ironbirds 2
• Meza 5IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 3K
• Garcia (W, 1-0) 2IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 6K
• Ortega 2-4, RBI
• Burns 1-2, R, BB, SB
Bryce Ortega’s one-out single, coupled with an error, broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the 7th as Auburn, um, doubled up Aberdeen, 4-2. The Christians Meza and Garcia got the start and the win, with Meza going the first five and giving up both Ironbird runs on four his and a walk, while Garcia struck out six over two innings in the 6th and 7th innings for the win. Aaron Barrett walked three but struck out four over the last two innings for the save, his sixth. Ortega led the Doubleday offense with a 2-for-4 night. The win keeps Auburn one game up on Mahoning Valley and Williamsport in the Pinckney Divison of the NYPL.
GCL Nationals 1 GCL Cardinals 0 — SUSP, Mid 4th
Rain halted play in the middle of the 4th with the Nationals leading 1-0. It will presumably be made up when the two teams next meet on Saturday, August 27. My apologies to folks hoping for news on Jack McGeary’s next outing. The GCL and DSL are guessing games when it comes to probables, especially when there are lots of rainouts and doubleheaders. With less than 10 days left, it’ll be TBD vs. TBD the rest of the way.
DSL Mets 12 DSL Nationals 5
• Moscat (L, 3-7) 2⅔ IP, 7H, 8R, 7ER, BB, 2K
• Suero 3⅓ IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Rosario 2-3, 2R
• Eusebio 1-4, R, HR, 3RBI, BB
A six-run 3rd put this one out of reach at 8-0, as the D-Mets blasted the D-Nats 12-5. Diomedes Eusebio’s two-run homer in the 4th, broke up the shutout, but the D-Nats were held to just six hits total, taking advantage of four D-Mets errors and seven walks drawn to score their five runs. Felix Moscat got the start and got knocked from the box with two outs in the 3rd, charged with eight runs on seven hits and two walks to take the loss. The D-Nats are now 32-34 and will need to win two of the next three to finish above .500.
Boy, Hagerstown is once again is turning into a feel-good story, let’s hope they can keep it going.
The one stat that’s jumps out at you in Auburn is Bryce Ortega, a 41st round pick, is raking at a .891 OPS clip.
For comparison, that 70 points higher than the 5th round pick. Just sayin’.
And the 5th round pick was an AS. cant wait to get some reports on Ortega and Skole next year at Hagerstown
I few thoughts on last night.
1. Severino should be up instead of Balester, the Nationals might have one last night game if it werent for Burnett. LET SEVERINO PITCH!!!
2. 2 guys in Hagerstown that have really supprised me this year are Matt Swynenberg, and Paul Applebee. Both these guys have really turned it around from last year, and I would think would move up to Potomac next year. Both are starting to put themselfs on the prospect radar
“…journeyman Craig Stammen…”. Yes, I am a fellow UD Flyer and will defend him no matter what, but I thought the definition of a journeyman was someone who traveled from oraginzation to organization, never staying too long with one team. Craig was drafted by the Nats years ago. Am I missing something?
Nope, using the word in the sense of its second definition (the first being “having fully served an apprenticeship in a trade or craft and is a qualified worker in another’s employ”) which is “experienced, competent, but undistinguished” which I put a step above “yeoman” or “workmanlike” but a step below a “craftsman” or “master craftsman,” which, if we’re borrowing from the guild system, would refer to major-leaguers, no?
I’m a bit confused by Potomac’s chances to get into the playoffs. How does Lynchburg fit into the equation? I was confused last year as well. One would think I’d have it by now. Ah well, just a pretty face, I guess.
Two teams are guaranteed to make the playoffs from each division. Ideally, two different teams win the half in its division, but every now and then you have a team that wins both halves.
Frederick won the first half and is cruising towards winning the second half. When that happens (double-half winner), the second-place team of the second half (not the team with the best overall record), gets the playoff bid.
Thus, the Northern Division has become a race for second place. Potomac is in second place, ahead of Lynchburg by five games. All they have to do to make the playoffs is finish above third place — if they finish in first, they’re the second-half winner; if they finish second, they’re the wild card.
What makes this a farce is that the teams actually play the other division more than their own in a given half (30 games vs. their own, 40 vs. the other). You could conceivably win the division with a losing record against your division opponents (e.g. finish 38-32, 14-16 vs. your division, 24-16 vs. the other division). Given how dominant the Southern Division teams usually are (Kinston and Myrtle Beach have been double-half winners with 40+ wins in a half since I’ve been following the league), I’m sure this has already happened.
Glad to see Applebee get a shout out for his ‘quality start’ out of the bullpen last night (6.0IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 5K, 1HRA). The Suns need to win or split this pending series @ Kannapolis to keep their playoff hopes alive, as time is running out.
Thanks Sue. Wasn’t it last year that (on paper) it appeared Potomac got diddled?