Last Night In Aberdeen
Three Doubledays pitchers combined on a one-hit shutout as Auburn pummeled Aberdeen, 10-0 to complete a three-game sweep.
Nick Lee retired the first nine batters in order before giving up a leadoff single to start the 4th. He quickly erased that baserunner with a nifty 1-3-6-4 pickoff play then finished the inning.
The no-hit bid was an academic exercise by that point as the Doubleday batters were having their way with the Ironbird pitchers, scoring in each of the first four innings and highlighted by Wander Ramos’s two-run shot in the second inning.
The game was blown wide open in the 8th and Ramos was once again in the spotlight, reaching base on a disputed HBP call. Mike McQuillan tripled him in with a liner over the centerfielder’s head for a triple, with Josh Johnson singling him in, then Shawn Pleffner doubling Johnson in, and following a pitching change, Estarlin Martinez finishing the scoring binge with an RBI single ripped up the middle, too hot for the Ironbird SS to hold on to.
The Doubledays pounded out 15 hits, with every batter reaching base and eight of nine batters hitting safely, with Jordan Poole as the “beer man,” though he did draw two walks. Martinez led the hit column with a 3-for-5 night.
Lee lasted six innings, giving up just the one hit and two walks while striking out three. Jack McGeary was the first man out of the bullpen, and worked around a two-out HBP, a stolen base, and a wild pitch by striking out the last of the four batters he faced to preserve the shutout bid.
Cody Davis sealed it by retiring the last six Aberdeen batters in order, striking out the side in the 9th and four overall.
With the win, the Doubledays hit the road and head up I-95 to I-395 to Norwich, CT for three games against the Connecticut Tigers before returning home to Auburn on Tuesday.
Great to see you made it to the SS guys! Any scouting impressions you’d care to share: particularly on Wander and McGeary?
Wish I could, but that’s one thing I learned last night — can’t do it from the press box. I had been told that I could sit with the scouts, but there’s no dedicated section for them and didn’t want to play whac-a-mole with the ushers. I asked for a credential because it’s a tough ticket and didn’t want to buy in advance and have them get rained out. Live and learn.
McGeary was consistently in the 83-84 range, FWIW.
Where did Nick Lee sit with the FB? The outing with only stats sounds very good.
High 80s. Davis was low 90s. From that high up, it’s hard to judge movement/location when you’re not used to it.
Disheartening news on McGeary.
What about the stadium?
Like all the O’s system fields that I’ve seen – pristine. It took me nearly four hours to get there thanks to traffic, construction and accidents, so I basically had enough time to check in to the motel, get to the park, get my credential, grab some notes, and go. I’d love to go back as a fan, just not on a Friday, which was the only day I could make it for this series.
Thanks for the effort. Traffic up the BW-DC corridor is renowned for being wicked all the way to Cumberland and Hagerstown. LA crammed into 50 square miles. Not fun.