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Tuesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Lost, 4-2 END OF SEASON N/A
Harrisburg Won, 1-0 END OF SEASON N/A
Potomac Lost, 7-6; Lost, 16-5 END OF SEASON N/A
Hagerstown Lost, 4-3 END OF SEASON N/A
Auburn Postponed vs. Mahoning Valley,
7:05 p.m.		 Selsor (0-5, 4.17) and Giolito (1-0, 0.00) vs.
Sulser (2-2, 2.06) and Mathews (0-2, 2.80)



Buffalo 4 Syracuse 2
• Rosenbaum (L, 7-11) 7IP, 9H, 4R, 4ER, 0BB, 6K, HR
• Cedeno 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Kobernus 2-4
• Van Ostrand 2-4, RBI

Syracuse fell behind 3-0 after three innings and couldn’t come up with the clutch hit, falling 4-2 to Buffalo in the season finale. Danny Rosenbaum lost for the 11th time, allowing all four Bison runs on nine hits, including a home run. The 25-y.o. southpaw struck out six and walked none. Jeff Kobernus and Jimmy Van Ostrand both went 2-for-4 to lead the Chiefs’ 10-hit attack, which included just one hit in eight chances with RISP.

Harrisburg 1 Richmond 0
• Gilliam 4⅔ IP, 2H, 0R, 4BB, 6K
• Mirowski (W, 2-0) 1⅓ IP, 0H, 1K, 3-0 IR-S
• Holland 1IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 0K, HR, 2-2 IR-S
• Howell 3-4, RBI
• Souza 2-4, 2B

The Senators pitching has been its hallmark all season long and it showed in a 1-0 win over Richmond to secure the E.L. West Division title. Starter Rob Gilliam gave up both Squirrel hits over four and 2/3rds and walked four while striking out six. Richie Mirowski, Pat McCoy, Neil Holland, and Tyler Herron combined for four and a 1/3rd no-hit innings of relief, retiring 13 of 14 batters with no walks and six K’s. Jeff Howell plated the lone Harrisburg run with an RBI single in the 6th while going 3-for-4 overall. Harrisburg will travel to Erie for Games 1 & 2 on Wednesday with the remaining games in Harrisburg in the best-of-five playoff series. A.J. Cole, Taylor Hill, and Nathan Karns were announced as the starters for the first three games, respectively.

Frederick 7 Potomac 6 — COMP.
• Demny 5IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 6K
• Martin (BS, 3) 1IP, 1H, 2R, 1ER, 2BB, K
• Rauh (BS, 2; L, 4-2) 2IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, K, HR
• Ramsey 3-5, 2R, 2B
• Taylor 2-3, R, 2BB, 2SB (49, 50)
• Keyes 2-5 2RBI

The P-Nats couldn’t hold the 4-3 lead they took on Sunday night, giving up two in the bottom of the 6th and 7th innings as they fell in the completion, 7-6. Neither Rafael Martin nor Brian Rauh could hold a one-run lead, “earning” blown saves for both with Rauh taking the loss. Starter Paul Demny had gone five innings with three runs allowed on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Michael Taylor singled twice, walked twice, and swiped two bases to lead the Potomac offense.

Frederick 16 Potomac 5 — GAME TWO
• Mooneyham (L, 0-3) 3⅓ IP, 8H, 8R, 8ER, 4BB, 2K, HR
• Dupra 3IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 4K
• Miller 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• Taylor 2-4, 2-2B, SB
• Dykstra 2-3, 2B

Brett Mooneyham got rocked for the third time in three starts since his promotion from Hagerstown, as Potomac fell 16-5 in the second game. The Keys struck for four in the 1st and seven in the 4th to knock out Mooneyham, who was charged with eight runs on eight hits and four walks over three and a 1/3rd innings. Middle relievers Colin Bates and Greg Holt were also touched for eight runs combined. The P-Nats registered 11 hits and five doubles in the loss. Like the Sens, the P-Nats also announced their playoff rotation, with Sammy Solis taking the hill on Wednesday, Blake Schwartz on Thursday, and Matt Purke (if necessary) on Friday. As a double-half winner, Potomac will host the entire first round of the divisional series.

Kannapolis 4 Hagerstown 3 (10 inn.)
• Turnbull 5IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 3K
• Bacus (H, 1) 2⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Meza (L, 3-1) ⅔ IP, H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K, HR
• Ramos 2-5, 2B
• McQuillan 2-5, R, 2B, RBI

Jacob May’s solo shot off Christian Meza with two outs in the 10th completed the Kannapolis comeback victory over Hagerstown, 4-3. The Suns had built a 3-0 lead with single runs in the 2nd, 4th, and 8th innings on an RBI double by Mike McQuillan, and RBI singles by Will Piwinica-Worms and Estarlin Martinez. Kylin Turnbull turned in five scoreless innings of one-hit ball, walking one and fanning three. Bryan Harper got the blown save, letting in the tying runs and failing to retire any of the four batters he faced. Game One of the Sally League Northern Division Series will be tomorrow night in Charleston, WV. Games Two and Three (if necessary) are scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Neither the Suns nor the Power have announced robable pitchers thus far.

Auburn vs. Mahoning Valley — PPD
Rain postponed last night’s game to tonight, forcing a doubleheader tonight to cram the final three games into two days.

14 Commments

  1. Danny Rosenbaum had the same chance Jeff kobernus had, coming off the attention gained by being a Rule 5 pick. It is a pity that he didn’t take advantage the same way. I hope he can bounce back next year and earn his first call-up.

  2. Syracuse’ season rose and fell on it’s lack of pitching. While Kobernus(2nd) ,Perez(6th) , and Rahl(10th) were in the top 10 in the league in batting and they and 3 others were in the top 10 in 6 other categories; the pitching staff was woeful. Rosenbaum was 5th in innings pitched and 6th in walks allowed. Tatusko was 2nd in walks allowed. Maya was tied for 7th in whip with 1.28 and 9th in innings pitched. Davis was 8th in saves with 15 and Roark was tied for 9th in wins with 9.
    As a staff the Chiefs were 11th in ERA and saves. They were tied for 8th in WHIP. Their most positive stat was the 2nd lowest number of walks allowed 444. They did however allow the 2nd highest number of hits with 1297. They were 11th in strikeouts. They allowed the 2nd most runs and were tied for 3rd in Earned Runs.
    Contrast that with a team that was 3rd in average, 3rd in total bases, 4th in SLG, 5th in hits, 5th in stolen bases, and 8th in runs. They did much poorer in BB tied for 11th in the league, 12th in OBP and 6th in strikeouts. Some of that may be attributed to always being behind in games by sizable amounts and the batters trying to catch up at the expense of being patient at the plate. With even a little better pitching this team’s record would have been very different.

    One note , batting Espinosa 3rd for his entire stay in Syracuse hurt the team batting greatly. His lack of production or even productive outs was a huge drag. At least 4 full time players all hit for 20 or more points higher with runners in scoring position. Likewise batting the League Home Run Champ sixth or seventh every game limited his chances to impact games.

    1. The Chiefs pitching for this year was the worse but the last 3 years the pitching has been terrible. What is the common thing during those years; same pitching coach who should have been gone 2 years ago. Could it be that the Chiefs pitching coach has a relative who works in the Nationals Scouting Department and that’s why he continues to stay at Syracuse working for 3 different Chiefs managers?

      Regarding Espinosa batting 3rd. I was told that when he came down he was asked by the Chiefs manager where he wanted to bat in the line-up and Danny told him 3rd. Time to get rid of the manger when a player batting under .200 in the bigs tells the manager, the person in charge, where he wants to bat in the line-up.

      This Chiefs fan would like to see a change made for next year, New Manager and New Pitching Coach.

      1. Coaching aside the lack of power arms really hurt the Chiefs. Many other clubs had staffs full of mid to high 90 throwers in the rotation and especially the pen. Control in being able to throw strikes wasn’t the problem. Throwing hitable pitches was.
        I got the distinct impression that the front office dictated who started and were Espinosa among others batted in the lineup.

  3. Speaking as an old Expo fan who has donned the Nats natitude- I cannot recall in my expo years where the farm had four
    clubs readh the playoffs- especially the A ball clubs and GCL at same time;.
    Bravo to Franklin Bravo- the tutor worked with 18 different arms who toed the bump as starters and then
    worked with a re-invented bullpen.
    As for Brian Daubach….he learned under Terry Francona in Boston who learned under the Godfather in Le Montreal- felipe
    alou!!! may we see Brian one day skippering the Nats!!!
    Kudos to Menhart in Burg working with the Young and the restless pitching staff. he worked out Cole~s lag in mechanics
    opening up that toxic heat.
    bravo farm system!!! players and teachers!!! and fans!!!
    Humm, baby, Nic lee in playoffs for Hagerstown as Roger Craig always said- hum , baby!!! Let that fastball ride vs
    West Virginia!!!!
    out!

  4. Looks to be an exciting week.

    The only club we’re saying goodbye to right now are the Chiefs, and SensFan did a great post-mortem.
    It was obvious the Nats trying to fix Espinosa’s imploding career took precedant over the Chiefs success.

  5. I love seeing the season unfold giving answers to questions put on hold.
    Mike Rizzo must be a shrewd card player because he took a card ( Ivan Pinyero) ( put away the tissues
    grieving Pinyero fans) parlayed that into a very interesting PTBNL via the waiver claim miscue via DeJesus
    and tampa
    Look at hagerstown: Encarnacion and Estavez
    Joel E @ Auburn
    and somebody forgot to tell Silvestre, Rodrieguez and Suero that they were in the GCL not the DSL
    with their wicked numbers ( I once met Tommy Lee who used that word wicked like most kids used to say TOTALLY)….
    that is what makes that GCL team so sweet. they came together when most young egos are all about ME and
    getting the promotion. there was some good talent in that GCL.
    Very curious to see Turnbull, Dickson, Encarnacion, Butcus defuse the West Virginia Power.
    still shaking my head at the job done by Franklin Bravo amidst promotions, injuries and all those make-up
    DHs the Suns shined through……
    Time for Matthew Purke to show us that stuff he had at TCU. so many rooting for that lanceur!
    I still think a trade to Angels would fit Danny Espinosa~s career tilt. a bit of DH to give him rest time in the manner
    he abuses his body going full tilt. several kids for Danny.
    I bet Karns is the last promotion so he can work on that bullpen transition in his MLB destiny.
    Bummer about Nic Lee on DL for Hagerstown!

  7. Kearns could start on many major league teams right now. It amazes me to keep seeing post that say he should be in the pen… Just shows me how many people don’t know baseball..

    1. Try spelling his name correctly before calling other people out on their lack of baseball knowledge.

      Karns did start on a major league team earlier this season and didn’t excel. He was better than the numbers indicate, but was also getting figured out quickly by hitters on the second and third times through the lineup. He still had some stuff to learn, and the Nats correctly gave him another season in the minors. 2014 was always supposed to be his year to prove himself. We’ll just have to wait to see how he fares.

  8. Yeah I keep forgetting he called up to face the bottom of the barrel on..whoops wrong guy he had to face orioles and Atlanta right out of the gate….

    1. It’s great to root for the guys you like, but at some point you do have to take off your fan hat and look at it with some objectivity. Karns is going to be 26 in November and has pitched one (1) season at AA. His numbers are good, but not great. Time has not run out but it’s not outlandish to think that if he can’t crack the rotation in the spring, but could contribute in the ‘pen — especially as a long reliever — then maybe it’s time to make the switch.

  9. We all figure rizzo is either going to sign or trade for a starter next yr. I hope karns is traded because u can’t judge a kid on three starts. Like I said he could start on many other teams given a chance to pitch. I dont feel he will get a legate chance to start.

  10. I don’t think Karns would mind being in the bullpen in the major leagues. After all it is in the MAJOR LEAGUES!

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