Saturday’s News & Notes

Pawtucket 2 Syracuse 1
• Mandel 5⅔ IP, 6H, R, ER, 0BB, 6K
• Davis (L, 3-7) 1⅓ IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, 3K
• Perez 2-4, R, SB
• Espinosa 2-4

The PawSox rallied with two out in the bottom of the 9th to edge the Chiefs, 2-1. Erik Davis, who had gotten the last two outs in the 8th, issued a two-out walk. A stolen base put the gamewinner into scoring position and a single to center cashed him for the walkoff. Starter Jeff Mandel gave up just a run on six hits while striking out six but got the no-decision. All seven Syracuse hits were allowed by MLB rehabber Clay Buchholz in his three and a 1/3rd innings as the Pawtucket bullpen pitched five and 2/3rds of no-hit relief.

Harrisburg 6 Richmond 2
• Ray (W, 5-2) 5IP, H, R, ER, 2BB, 9K, HR
• Mirowski (H, 7) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Martinson 2-3, R, HR, BB, 2RBI
• Head 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• Souza 0-1, 2R, 4BB, 3SB

Harrisburg struck for three in the 9th to pull away from Richmond for a 6-2 win. Robbie Ray threw five innings of one-hit, one-run ball, surrendering his 13th longball of the year in the 4th, while walking two and fanning nine. Jason Martinson’s two-run homer in the 2nd got the Sens on the board first while Carlos Rivero’s two-run single capped off the 9th. Meanwhile, Erie took the second game of a doubleheader against Bowie to clinch a playoff berth. The Sens lead the Seawolves by one game with three left to play, but would lose the division on the first tiebreaker, having lost 8 of 15 meetings between the two teams.

Potomac 5 Winston-Salem 3
• Schwartz 6IP, 7H, 3R, 2ER, BB, 2K
• Bates (W, 5-4) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, HBP
• Manuel 2-4, R
• Taylor 1-3, 2R, 2BB, 2SB
• Keyes 1-2, 2RBI

Potomac scored two runs early and three runs late to take the final game of the series vs. Winston-Salem, 5-3. Making his final regular-season start, Blake Schwartz turned in another quality start of three runs on seven hits and a walk but failed to become the first 12-game winner for the P-Nats since Tommy Milone in 2009. Colin Bates got the win with two goose eggs in the 7th and 8th innings, while Robert Benincasa worked around a hit in the 9th for his 16th save. Michael Taylor singled once, walked twice, stole two bases, and scored twice to lead the Potomac offense.

Hagerstown 8 Kannapolis 2
• Dickson (W, 5-3) 6IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 9K
• Meza (H, 2) 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 4K
• Renda 2-4, 2R, 2B, BB
• Norfork 2-4, 2R, BB
• Perrott 2-5, R

The Suns put up three crooked numbers and scored in four innings total as they lapped the Intimidators, 8-2. Starter Ian Dickson struck out nine and walked none in six innings, allowing both Kannapolis runs on four hits. Every Hagerstown batter hit safely with Tony Renda and Khayyan Norfork both reaching base three times on two hits and a walk. West Virginia, which clinched a playoff berth on Thursday, won to keep pace as the two teams remain tied for the 2nd half title at 40-25.

Auburn 6 Mahoning Valley 3
• Ullmann (W, 2-2) 5⅔ IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 5K
• Hollins (SV, 5) 3⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 4K, 1-0 IR-S
• Yezzo 2-4, RBI
• Dent 1-3, 2RBI
• Lippincott 1-4, R, HR, 2RBI

Auburn scored one in the 1st, two in the 3rd, and three in the 6th as they doubled up Mahoning Valley, 6-3. Starter Ryan Ullmann pitched into the sixth, giving up all three Scrapper runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five to earn the win. L.J. Hollins closed out the game with three and a 1/3rd scoreless innings for his fifth save. James Yezzo led the hit column with a 2-for-4 game as the Doubledays scored six times on just seven hits and two walks.

GCL Nationals 6 GCL Pirates 1
• Silvestre (W, 1-0) 6IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 6K
• Webb 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, 2HBP
• Ward 2-3, R, 2B, HR, BB, 3RBI
• Difo 2-3, R, BB

Drew Ward’s two-run double capped a four-run 5th as the G-Nats dispensed with the G-Pirates, 6-1 to advance the to GCL League Championship. Ward also homered and drew a walk, collecting two of the G-Nats’ four extra-base hits. Hector Silvestre pitched six one-hit innings without issuing a base on balls and set down six on strikes to earn the “W.” Joey Webb followed with two scoreless but not painless frames, as the 28th-round pick plunked two batters. David “Yes, my brother is Wilson” Ramos lost the shutout in the 9th, surrendering a leadoff triple and a pair of two-out singles.