Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 4-2; Lost, 2-1 |
vs. Durham, 7:00 p.m. |
Wang (rehab) vs. Cobb (1-3, 3.38) |
| Harrisburg | Postponed | vs. Richmond, 10:35 a.m. |
Demny (2-1, 4.97) vs. Westcott (2-2, 4.78) |
| Potomac | Losing, 6-0 (susp., mid-4th) |
@ Salem, 11:00 a.m. |
Ray (0-1, 10.38) vs. Workman (2-0, 2.76) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 8-1 (6½ inn.) |
OFF DAY | n/a |
Syracuse 4 Durham 2 — GAME ONE
• Duke (W, 3-1) 7IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 5K
• Paul 1-3, R, HR, RBI
• Maldonado 1-3, 2B
• Negrych 0-1, BB, RBI, SH, SF
Zach Duke went the distance in the opener of the doubleheader, giving up two earned on three hits and a walk while striking out five. The Chiefs gave him a three-run lead in the bottom of the 2nd, highlighted by Xavier Paul’s solo HR. A walk, single, sacrifice and another single plated the two Bulls run in the 3rd. A walk, bunt single, error and a sac fly gave Syracuse the final run in the last of the 5th.
Durham 2 Syracuse 1 — GAME TWO
• Atkins (L, 2-3) 5IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 4K
• Pena 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Paul 1-2, R
• Carroll 1-3
The Chiefs dropped the nightcap as the offense managed just four hits and two walks. Syracuse got on the board first with a pair of one-out singles from Xavier Paul and Mark Teahen and an RBI groundout by Carlos Rivero. Mitch Atkins needed more than the one run to win, as Durham broke through against him with a pair of runs in the 5th. The Chiefs would get a runner to second in the 6th and draw a two-out walk in the 7th, but couldn’t push either across.
HARRISBURG — PPD
Rain postponed the The Harrisburg Senators game Tuesday night against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Friday, July 13th.
Salem 6 Potomac 0 — SUSP (mid-4th)
Salem opened with back-to-back HRs — one over the wall, one inside the park — as the Red Sox chased Adam Olbrychowski after 2/3rds of an inning and 10 batters faced. The rain came and stopped play after 3½ innings. They’ll try to finish this one this morning at 11 a.m., then play a seven-inning game aftewards, weather permitting.
Augusta 8 Hagerstown 1
• Turnbull (l, 0-2) 3IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, K
• Dupra 2⅓ IP, 6H, 6R, 6ER, 3BB, K
• Leonida 1-2, R
• Dykstra 1-3, RBI
Rain shortened this one officially, but a four-run sixth put this one away for all intents and purposes as Augusta won 8-1 to split the four-game series. Kylin Turnbull took the loss, giving up two runs early, while Brian Dupra got knocked around for six runs on six hits and three walks in the decisive 5th and 6th innings. Cutter Dykstra’s RBI single in the 5th plated Cole Leonida to break up the GreenJacket shutout.
There really doesn’t seem like there is much to see in Syracuse anymore. Still, is it actually possible that Zach Duke is pitching himself ahead of John Lannan in the depth chart? I figure that $5M probably say no, but he hasn’t been the disaster I expected.
I would be happy to be corrected on my assessment of Syracuse’s roster, if someone has a good response.
+1/2St.
As I’ve written in the past two Syracuse reviews, AAA is now the place where teams stash the “other 15” as well as some 4As that could be “burned,” though that seems to happen now about as often as Rizzo gets a haircut.
They might improve with a few promotions from AA Harrisburg. That pitching staff is doing extremely well and they do have some hitters.
AAA these days is always a mixed bag, 1/2 Street.
At this point, you have to think if there are any possible hitters or late inning bullpen guys at Syracuse, the Nats could use them.
My excitement so far this year has been pretty focused on Harrisburg & Potomac. Lots of good things to see there.
Lannan’s performance indicates to me that he is troubled by his new surroundings, as we all knew he would be, but not to this extent. Sadly, Lannan is not doing a thing to make DJ regret his decision. He’s also playing himself out of a trade to teams that really could use him in the rotation. But he is not performing to his standards, which scares GM’s away. I have no doubt he would be his usual self were he wearing the Curly W cap, but for some reason, he’s got himself all twisted up inside.
Lannan was never really that good … the statistics are telling. In fact he was probably the worst starter in the NL last season. Really not much better than Mock, Martin, Atilano, etc.
Its showing up in Syracuse because he doesn’t have Riggleman or Johnson managing him … he doesn’t get yanked in the fifth as soon as hitter figure him out. They’ve made him pitch seven. He gets shelled just as he would in the majors after 5. There’s no one there to protect him, to bail him out except possibly for Arneson.
The other thing everyone keeps forgetting … he can’t pitch in relief and appears to have a really terrible attitude about doing that! Every time they try to do that with him he gets soundly thrashed …
And I would put Maya, Rosenbaum, and Duke ahead of him.
We can say that Lannan has been awful in 2012, but a 3.70 ERA in 33 starts, 16 of which he went 6+ innings, is far, FAR from the worst in the N.L. in 2011
Amen.
Regardless, he sucks in Syracuse this year. Unfortunately so much of that team has underperformed. A lack of offense, poor starting pitching, and poor relieving have left this team close to unwatchable. Prior to the season I had really high hopes for Syracuse; especially with Harper being there. Unfortunately I am very underwelmed by them. Go Senators!