Sunday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 1-0 | @ Gwinnett, 5:05 p.m. |
Mandel (4-5, 3.06) vs. Batista (1-1, 3.38) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 5-4 | @ Bowie, 2:00 p.m. |
Wang (1-4, 5.17) vs. D. Bundy (1-0, 3.18) |
| Potomac | Won, 3-0 (6 inn.) |
vs. Frederick, 6:05 p.m. |
Ray (4-11, 6.57) vs. Berry (4-5, 4.52) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 3-1; Won, 6-5 |
vs. Delmarva, 1:05 p.m. |
Schwartz (1-1, 3.34) vs. Davies (5-6, 3.76) |
| Auburn | Lost, 7-3 (11 inn.) |
vs. Mahoning Valley, 6:05 p.m. |
Mooneyham (1-2, 3.26) vs. Morel (2-4, 4.46) |
| GCL Nationals | Lost, 5-2 | END OF SEASON | N/A |
Syracuse 1 Gwinnett 0
• Lannan (W, 8-11) 9IP, 3H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Perez 1-4 (13G hit streak)
• Negrych 1-4
• Valdez 1-4
• Walters 0-2, R, BB
John Lannan threw a three-hit shutout as the Chiefs offense got the minimum for a 1-0 win. Lannan walked just one and struck out two and needed just 87 pitched to toss the comeplete game. Eury Perez, Jim Negrych and Jesus Valdez each singled, but the lone run came in the third without a base hit or an RBI. Zach Walters walked, took second when Jarrett Hoffpauir was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a botched sacrifice and scored when Perez hit into a double play.
Bowie 5 Harrisburg 4
• Broderick (ND) 5⅔ IP, 9H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 4K
• Zinicola (BS, 1; L, 1-2) 1IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 2K, 2-1 IR-S
• Bloxom 3-4, 2B, 3B, 3RBI
• Goodwin 2-5, 2R, 2B, HR, RBI, CS
The Senators couldn’t stand the prosperity of a 4-0 lead and let the last five runs go unanswered for their third straight loss, 5-4. The “L” also officially eliminated Harrisburg from the playoffs to end a two-year run. Zech Zinicola let in the tying run in the 8th and gave up the winning run in the 8th for the blown-save-loss, allowing three hits and two walks while recording three outs. Justin Bloxom was a home run short of the cycle and drove in three of the four Senator runs. The fourth came in on Brian Goodwin’s 5th home run for Harrisburg, 14th overall.
Potomac 3 Frederick 0 (6 inn.)
• Swynenberg 6IP, 5H, 0R, 4BB, 2K
• Howell 2-3, R, HR, RBI
• Martinson 1-3, R, 3B, RBI
• Hague 1-3, SB(20)
Potomac scored three times in the rain Last Night In Woodbridge.
Hagerstown 3 Delmarva 1 — GAME ONE
• Rauh (W, 3-2) 6+IP, 3H, R, ER, 2BB, 6K
• Mirowski (SV, 2) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, K, 1-1 IR-S
• Dykstra 2-3, 2B, RBI
• Leonida 1-2, 2RBI
The Suns took an early 3-0 lead and held off the Shorebirds late for a 3-1 win in the opener. Brian Rauh pitched into the seventh but was lifted after a leadoff walk. Richie Mirowski was greeted with a double to send the runner to 3rd but got the next three outs to preserve the win. Cutter Dykstra (2-for-3) and Cole Leonida (1-for-2) combined for three hits and three RBI.
Hagerstown 6 Delmarva 5 — GAME TWO
• Anderson 4IP, 3H, R, ER, BB, 3K
• Meza (W, 8-1) 2IP, 5H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 3K, HR
• Bates (SV, 6) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Burns 3-3, 2R, BB, RBI
• Higley 1-2, R, HR, BB, RBI
• Norfork 0-1, R, 3BB
Hagerstown scored three in the 5th only to see Delmarva respond with four in the 6th, but answered back with the gamewinner in the last of the 6th for a 5-4 win and a doubleheader sweep. Christian Meza got the benefit of the Suns’ rally for his 8th win. Colin Bates pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for his sixth save. Billy Burns led the Hagerstown offense with a 3-for-3 game with two runs scored. The victories, the fourth and fifth straight, also opened up the Suns lead over second-place Hickory and West Virginia to 3½ games and lowered the magic number to clinch the Sally North to six with eight games to play.
Mahoning Valley 7 Auburn 3
• Fischer 5IP, 3H, 3R, 2ER, 4BB, 6K
• Mendez (L, 0-1) ⅓ IP, 1H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 0K
• Wall ⅔ IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 0K, 2-2 IR-S
• Renda 4-6, R, RBI
• Miller 2-6, R, RBI
The Auburn Citizen’s Ben Meyers has the story on the 11th-inning meltdown, including an Butch Hobson-like ejection of manager Gary Cathcart. The 7-3 loss drops Auburn’s lead over second-place Batavia to two games. The Doubledays and Muckdogs play next Sunday and Monday as part of Auburn’s 10-game roadtrip to end the season.
GCL Astros 5 GCL Nationals 2
• Mieses (L, 1-5) 5IP, 7H, 4R, 2ER, 0BB, 3K
• Lucas 3IP, 4H, R, ER, BB, 2K
• Difo 1-4, R
• Severino 1-4, R
The GCL Nationals finished the 2012 season with a 5-2 loss to the GCL Astros. Adalberto Mieses started and gave up four runs (two earned) on seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts over five innings, but notched his fifth “L.” Bobby Lucas finished the game with a run on four hits and a walk over the final three innings. The offense was held to just five hits and one walk, with both runs scoring by virtue of an error. The G-Nats’ final record of 27-33 was eight games off the pace and last in the GCL East.
Billy Burns is having just a fantastic year. Luke, what is your opinion of him?Would you consider him a top ten prospect for the Nats?
Next year is the key year for Burns. It’s remakable how easily he adapted to switch hitting. There’s a chance he has breakout year in 2013.
He’s the kind of player that keeps a lot of us active seamheads.
Big time Sickels sleeper mebbe?
He reminds me a little of Boomer Whiting, though not nearly as fast, but I haven’t seen him play often enough to evaluate his defense.
As for Top 10? I don’t think so. I’m with Brian Oliver in that once you get past the first 5 or 6, the gaps between the next 15 or 20 is really narrow. I’m already cringing at the thought of how to handle the multiple cases of “Nationals Elbow.”
Is age the only reason that Burns dosent get the same hype Eury does, their both slap hitters, but Burns will take a walk.
I’m gonna quote Sickels on this one: “For all players, age relative to league is a critical factor. A 20-year-old in Double-A is almost always a better prospect than a 23-year-old in Class A, even if the older player has better numbers.”
Perez has mastered two more levels than Burns has despite being nine months younger and has played professionally since he was 17 and in full-season ball since he was 20. The fact is, Perez is simply more accomplished.
The real question is why then does the Nats FO (exclusively according to Bill Ladson) think they need to go outside for a CF and/or lead-off hitter if they’ve got Perez, Lombardozzi. Plus, albeit older, a top five tool in Corey Brown who looks ready to play CF batting left? Plus Werth apparently looks as if he that is where he will fit best in the coming years as either a #1 or #2 hitter?
Here’s my take on Billy Burns….mix Chris Curran, Blake Kelso, and Boomer Whiting together and you’ve got BB. What is the amazing thing about BB is that he just manages to get the hit or get on in almost any situation. I am not a huge fan of the slap hitter in baseball, but he has almost mastered the art of it. He can bunt, jeez is he fast, the hustle is unmatched, and he’s definitely the player I want up to bat when the situation calls for a hit/walk. The only thing I would be unsure about is him being a center fielder. But i’m not sure what other position he would be that his size woudn’t come into play. He surely is a fan favorite this year, just like Kelso last year.
I would not compare him to Eury Perez. Why? What i’ve seen (and maybe this has changed over the past 2 years) is that BB is ALWAYS in the game. Perez sometimes drifts away…
Then defensively, you’d have to subtract Curran from that equation because he could catch anything and everything and had a cannon for an arm.
I can remember what you mean about lapses of concentration, but I think it’s safe to infer that that’s changed.