Monday’s News & Notes

Syracuse 7 Gwinnett 0
• Mandel (W, 5-5) 9IP, 6H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Leon 3-4, 2-2B, BB, RBI
• Rivero 3-5, R, 2RBI
• Johnson 2-4, 2R, BB, SB

Jeff Mandel followed the lead of John Lannan and spun a six-hit shutout on Sunday night, but had much more margin for error as the score was 7-0 Syracuse over Gwinnett. Mandel walked none and struck out four, throwing 102 pitches and 69 for strikes for his fifth AAA win. Sandy Leon went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a walk and an RBI to lead the Chiefs offense, which pounded out 12 hits and drew five walks. Carlos Rivero was close behind a 3-for-5 effort and drove in two. Eury Perez tripled to extend his hit streak to 14 games.

Bowie vs. Harrisburg — PPD
Rain postponed the finale of the four-game series turning it into a three-game sweep for the Baysox. The Senators head down the road to Richmond for four games before returning to Harrisburg for what will now be a five-game series, with this game being made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday.

Frederick 10 Potomac 7
• Ray (L, 4-12) 3⅓ IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 4BB, 4K, 2HR
• Olbrychowski 3IP, 4H, 0R, 2BB, 3K, 1-0 IR-S
• Skole 2-4, 2B, BB, 2RBI
• Kelso 2-5, R, 2RBI
• Keyes 2-4, 2R, 2B, BB

One winning streak was stopped while another losing streak was extended as the P-Nats fell to the Keys, 10-7. The loss snapped a five-game run for Potomac but continued starter Robbie Ray’s August swirl with his fifth loss in as many starts. The 20-year-old southpaw gave up a pair of home runs, including a three-run blast in the first and five runs total on four hits and four walks over three and a 1/3rd innings. The nos. 2, 3, 4 batters Blake Kelso, Matt Skole, and Kevin Keyes combined for six hits, three runs, two doubles, two walks and four RBI as Potomac pounded out 10 hits and drew six walks (three by Steve Souza). The loss lowered the P-Nats’ tragic number to five with seven games to play, including three against the current first-place Wilmington, which split a doubleheader with Lynchburg and leads Potomac by 2½, Lynchburg by two, and Frederick by a ½ game in the somebody-has-to-win-this (right?) Carolina League’s Northern Division.

Hagerstown vs. Delmarva — CANCELLED
Hagerstown was leading 1-0 in the top of the 3rd when the rains came, forcing the final meeting between these two teams to be cancelled. This is the second cancellation in the second half, setting up the possibility of a division title on percentage points, though the Suns still lead the division by three games and have a magic number of six with seven games left to play. Today is a scheduled off day with Hagerstown making its final regular-season road trip to Greensboro for a three-game series starting tomorrow.

Auburn 4 Mahoning Valley 0
• Mooneyham (W, 2-2) 6IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Boyden 2IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Henke 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Manuel 2-3, BB, RBI
• McQuillan 2-4, R

Auburn closed out the regular-season home schedule with badly needed 4-0 shutout of Mahoning Valley. Starter Brett Mooneyham went the first six frames, allowing just a hit and two walks and striking out three to get the victory, his second for the Doubledays. Michael Boyden and Travis Henke combined for three innings of scoreless relief, each allowing a hit and striking out two. Craig Manuel reached base three times with two singles and a walk to lead the 10-hit Auburn attack. The win kept pace with second-place Batavia to maintain the Pinckney Division lead of two games and lower the magic number to clinch to nine with 10 to play. Next up: a three-game series against third-place State College.