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Auburn Collapses In Late Innings To Exit Playoffs

Five runs in the 7th and six in the 8th turned a 6-5 ballgame into a 16-7 Tri-City beatdown as Auburn lost Game Three of the New York-Penn League Semifinals and was eliminated 2-1 in the best-of-three series.

If there’s a single number that tells the story, it’s 14 — the number of walks issued by the Doubledays pitchers on the night. Seven of them would eventually score. The Auburn moundsmen would also give up 14 hits, six coming in the final two fateful frames.

Despite the eventual outcome, the Doubledays would take the lead three times, scoring two in the top of the 1st for a 2-0 lead, one in the 3rd for a 3-2 lead, and one in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead. Auburn actually outhit Tri-City 15-14, with every batter in the lineup getting a hit. Tony Renda led the charge with a 4-for-5 night, followed by Wander Ramos at 3-for-5, and Mike McQuillan went 2-for-5 with two doubles.

Six Auburn pitchers threw last night, with each of them issuing at least one walk, hit, and a run. Cody Davis, the only one to set down a batter on strikes, was charged with the loss, giving up four runs on two hits, a walk, and a hit batsman over two and 2/3rds innings.

The loss ends Auburn’s 2012 season while Tri-City advances to the NYPL Finals against Hudson Valley, which eliminated Brooklyn with 2-0 one-hitter.

8 Commments

  1. It was great to have a year during which our hopes weren’t mostly tied up in the minor league system. We can appreciate the successes and failures as secondary, as they should be. Thanks for all your analysis and reporting this year- it makes being a Nationals fan a more robust experience. I am sure that all of us regulars will reserve some attention for the Arizona Fall League, even as we are hoping for the Nats to surge deep into the playoffs.

    +1/2St.

  2. 1/2 St. is right about the big club helpig to mitigate the sad finality of the minor league season.
    Look forward to seeing the instructional league roster, and then the AFL.
    A minor league seamhead always has something around the corner to anticipate.

  3. Echoing the other comments; Luke, thank you for maintaining this site for another season. Even with big club winning, I come to your site every morning to check on farm.

    I’ve been thinking a lot about the broad state of the system; “the plan” seems to have reached its end and we are moving into a new phase. Having never experienced a winning team, I’m not sure how to expect things to change on the farm. Some teams use the farm to re-enforce the big league club at the expense of the farm and future (Thinking Philly and Milwalkee recently), others keep the farm in intact and let things play out (Rangers and Rays). What are the Nats going to do?

    Alternatively, the Nats are in an enviable position that the big league club is set for the next few years through the lineup and staff. Will this affect draft strategy? My initial thought is that they are trying to seek ceiling over surer production in the hopes of getting a super star that could unseat the decent/good ML players. Looking over my meandering comment I think I’m asking for a state of the farm post with your thoughts on the future of the Nats.

    1. The offseason is always a bit nebulous to me, especially the period between when the final game is played and the AFL starts. Reminds me a little of March in my small-town newspaper days (basketball was usually done by late February, baseball didn’t start until early April, and there was no hockey). I tend to look back at what I did a year ago and follow my 13Bs when there’s a lull. But this is a good idea. I’ve already chosen the image 😉 so let me see what comes to mind as I stew on this…

  4. Here’s the roster for the Iinstructional League

    Pitchers
    Dixon Anderson RHP
    Aaron Barrett RHP
    Joel Barrientos LHP
    Robert Benincasa RHP
    Michael Boyden RHP
    Pedro Encarnacion RHP
    Wirkin Estevez RHP
    Robert Gilliam RHP
    Leonard Hollins RHP
    Taylor Jordan RHP
    Nick Lee LHP
    Brett Mooneyham LHP
    Elisaul Gomez LHP
    Emmanuel De La Cruz RHP
    Ronald Pena RHP
    Ivan Pineyro RHP
    Brian Rauh RHP
    Robbie Ray LHP
    Jefry Rodriguez RHP
    Blake Schwartz RHP
    Derek Self RHP
    Casey Selsor LHP
    Kylin Turnbull LHP
    Deion Williams RHP

    Catchers
    Spencer Kieboom
    Craig Manuel
    Adrian Nieto
    Raudy Read
    Pedro Severino

    Infielders
    Wilmer Difo
    Cutter Dykstra
    Rick Hague
    Kevin Keyes
    Jeff Kobernus
    Michael McQuillan
    Stephen Perez
    Shawn Pleffner
    Tony Renda
    Adrian Sanchez
    Matthew Skole
    Zach Walters

    Outfielders
    Billy Burns
    Destin Hood
    Hayden Jennings
    Estarlin Martinez
    Narciso Mesa
    Brandon Miller
    Randolph Oduber
    Caleb Ramsey
    Steven Souza
    Michael Taylor

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