Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 13-4 | @ Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. |
Mandel (2-7, 5.18) vs. Cloyd (4-9, 5.25) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 8-2 | @ Trenton, 7:00 p.m. |
Karns (7-5, 3.27) vs. O’Brien (6-6, 3.90) |
| Potomac | Won, 9-8 | vs. Frederick, 7:05 p.m. |
Purke (2-3, 5.77) vs. Wager (3-6, 4.64). |
| Hagerstown | Won, 4-1 | @ Delmarva, 7:05 p.m. |
Lee (4-3, 4.50) vs. Guzman (6-3, 4.60) |
| Auburn | ALL-STAR BREAK | @ Williamsport, 7:05 p.m. |
TBD vs. TBD |
| GCL Nationals | Won, 2-1 | vs. GCL Marlins, 12:00 p.m. |
Ott (1-0, 5.21) or Derosier (2-1, 2.89) vs. TBD |
| DSL Nationals | Won, 2-1 | @ DSL Yankees1, 10:30 a.m. |
Torres (0-3, 4.40) vs. Cedeno (4-1, 2.68) |
Syracuse 13 Buffalo 4
• Hill (W, 1-0) 6IP, 10H, 3R, 2ER, 2BB, 5K
• Lowe 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 5K
• Johnson 3-5, 2R, 2B, HR, 4RBI, SB
• Walters 2-4, 2R, 2B, HR, BB, 2RBI, E(30)
• Rahl 2-5, 2R, 2B, 2RBI
The Chief laid out the lumber for 16 hits, including three doubles and three homers, as they stampeded the Bison, 13-4. Every batter had a hit, five had two, and Josh Joshnson led the hit parade with a 3-for-5 night, scoring twice and driving in four. Zach Walters moved into 2nd place on the I.L. leaderboard with his 27th HR, while Tyler Moore smacked his 9th in 42 games. Taylor Hill scattered 10 hits for three runs (two earned) while walking two and striking out five to win his first AAA game.
Trenton 8 Harrisburg 2
• Ray (L, 4-2) 4⅔ IP, 6H, 6R, 5ER, 3BB, 2K
• Perry 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Burns 3-5
• Hood 1-3, R, 2B, BB
Robbie Ray was, um, thunderstruck twice for three-run rallies in the 2nd and 5th as Trenton defeated Harrisburg, 8-2. The 21-y.o. southpaw kept the ball in the yard, but gave up six runs on six hits and three walks over four and 2/3rds innings. He struck out two while suffering his second AA loss. Billy Burns bunted his way on in the 3rd and singled twice more but was left on base all three times. The Senators stranded 10 baserunners total while going just 2-for-11 with RISP
Potomac 9 Carolina 8
• Rauh 4⅓ IP, 7H, 6R, 6ER, 3BB, K, HR
• Holt (W, 6-0) 1⅔ IP, 1H, R, ER, 2BB, 0K, WP, 3-3 IR-S
• Wort (SV, 6) 1⅓ 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, 3-0 IR-S
• Miller 2-4, 2RBI
• Soriano 1-1, 2R, 3BB, 2RBI, CS
• Dykstra 1-3, R, 2B, 3RBI, 2BB
The P-Nats and Mudcats combined for 17 hits, 17 runs, and 16 walks, with Potomac getting the edge where it matters the most, 9-8 in runs. Starter Brian Rauh walked three and and gave up six runs on seven hits, including a two-run HR in Carolina’s five-run 5th. Greg Holt let in all three runners he inherited in the 5th and one of his own in the 6th but got the win thanks to Potomac’s two-run answer in the bottom of the 5th that put the P-Nats up 9-6. Rob Wort stranded three runners in the 8th and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. Lineup bookends Cutter Dykstra and Francisco Soriano combined to go 2-for-4 with three runs scored, five walks, and five RBI while Brandon Miller pushed his hit streak to 14 games with a 2-for-4 afternoon.
Hagerstown 4 Delmarva 1
• Dickson (W, 3-3) 6IP, 5H, R, ER, BB, 6K
• Pena (SV, 1) 3IP, 1H, 0R, BB, K
• Mesa 2-4, 2R, 3B
• Pleffner 1-4, R, HR, RBI
Shawn Pleffner’s three-run shot in the 6th sent the Suns to a 4-1 win over the Shorebirds. Six strong innings from Ian Dickson also helped as he evened his won-loss record at 3-3 with one run allowed on five hits and a walk while fanning six. Ronald Pena closed out the game with three scoreless frames, letting up a hit and walking a batter for his first professional save. Narciso Mesa paced the Hagerstown offense from the leadoff spot, tripling and scoring the first Hagerstown run in the first and leading off the 6th on with a bunt single and trotting in on Pleffner’s Earl Weaver Special.
Auburn — ALL-STAR BREAK
The Junior Circuit walked off against the Senior’s best for a 4-2 win in Norwich, but Auburn’s David Napoli never made it into the game. The Doubledays play out the string with a pair of road games in Williamsport before returning to Falcon Park for a Friday-Saturday duet against Mahoning Valley.
GCL Nationals 2 GCL Cardinals 1
• Giolito 5IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 5K
• Ramos (BS, 3; W, 4-2) 1IP, 1H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K, HR
• Sylvestri (SV, 1) 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• D. Eusebio 2-2, 2B, RBI
• Gordon 1-3, 3B
The G-Nats improved to 40-6 with their 16th straight win, a 2-1 victory over the G-Cards. Lucas Giolito continues to pitch well, throwing five scoreless innings with just two hits and two walks allowed while striking out five. He left with a 1-0 lead that David “Yes My Brother Is Wilson” Ramos coughed up with a solo shot surrendered in the bottom of the 8th. Ramos would get the blown-save-win thanks to a 9th inning rally as Drew Ward singled with one out in the 9th and Diomedes Eusebio plated him with an RBI double. Michael Sylvestri preserved the one-run lead despite letting up two hits in the 9th for the save.
DSL Nationals 2 DSL Mets1 1
• Morales (W, 3-3) 7IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, 3K
• Y. Pena (H, 1) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Salazar (SV, 11) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Gutierrez 2-2, R, 2BB
• Ortiz 1-4, RBI
The D-Nats capitalized on four D-Mets1 errors for a 2-1 win. 18-y.o. Jose Morales tossed a season-high seven innings, allowing the lone D-Mets1 run on two hits, with no walks, and three K’s. Yefri Pena and Melvi Salazar (both also 18) each worked around a hit while laying a goose egg in the 8th and 9th innings to earn the hold and save, respectively. Kelvin Gutierrez singled twice and walked twice, scoring the gamewinner on Oliver Ortiz’s infield single in 8th, to lead the D-Nats’ six-hit, three-walk attack.
Josh Johnson has quietly put together a really good season. Yeah, he’s pretty old (27), but he’s younger than Corey Brown…
I never had thought of Johnson of anything more than organizational depth, but infield depth has had quiet possibly the worst possible season this year, with Espinosa’s melt-down and Lombardozzi’s pathetic offense, is there any chance Johnson could get a shot at all-around utilityman next year? He’s got nearly 200 games at each of 2B, SS and 3B, and even has a couple dozen games in the OF.
I just don’t see how Lombardozzi’s bat will play in the majors. Unless he can add walks to his offensive repertoire (of which currently only includes singles, strikeouts, groundouts and flyouts), he’s a pretty awful PH option. His defense is good, but he can’t play SS.
Johnson, on the other hand, actually has more career walks than strikeouts, has a great career BB% of double that of Lombo’s, and seems to have developed some decent power. But best of all he can play all the infield positions.
I’d be interested in seeing how he’d fare in a few appearances in September to see what we’ve got, but it would be difficult for Rizzo to find space on the 40 man (in reality, Hairston should be shown the door).
The entire bench with the exception of Lombardozzi should be shown the door. Tracey, Bernadino, and Hairston have shown they are not only not the answer but part of the problem. The Nats need to bring as many of their AAA players as possible up in order to get good looks at them and make decisions for the future. Unfortunately the same can be said for Davey Johnson. He should go and Knorr be given a good audition for the next big decision Rizzo faces.
Why do you think Lombardozzi still deserves a spot?
Unlike Bernadina, Tracy and Hairston, he’s been given semi-regular starts, and has been pretty miserable. Under no circumstances does a .272 OBP have any right being on a major league team. But what’s most worrying, is that there’s nothing to suggest Lombo is underperforming. His BABIP is .292. His batted ball profile is actually better than last year (nothing out of the ordinary like an inflated IFFB rate or anything).
He’s been given a fair crack at things and hasn’t proven himself. We know what we have with him, a weak hitting low-OBP batter who can play average to good defense at 2B and 3B. But that’s not particularly valuable.
I’d rather see what Walters, Johnson or Kobernus can do.
Lombardozzi is the youngest of that quartet by far. He also provides insurance in case the Zimmerman, Rendon, LaRoche thing explodes. In the minors he has consistently outperformed Johnson. Keeping him around thru next Spring does not hurt but I do agree that Walters, Johnson, and Kobernus should get real trials in order to evaluate them. I also see Walters as more of a third base option than a middle infielder.
Let’s see if Harrisburg can score more than two runs tonight for karns and surprise us all.
It really is sad that Burns has a .412 OBP in 10 games and has scored just 2 runs. Last night he gets on 3 times and the two guys behind him go 0-8. This team really needs to get healthy or it will be a short playoff run….if they limp in. Great pitching by the way.
Was really hoping that Hood would put up some decent numbers this year and finally polish his promising raw tools, but he really hasn’t done much of anything. Is there any hope left that he can turn it around?
There always seem to be some guys that have trouble staying healthy. Hood seems to be one of them.