Saturday’s News & Notes

Columbus 7 Syracuse 3
• Hill 5IP, 10H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 3K, HR
• Delcarmen (L, 2-2) 1IP, 1H, 4R, 3ER, 4BB, 1K, 0HR
• Hood 1-3, BB, OF assist at HP
• Solano 0-2, R, 2BB, OF assist at 2B
• Solano 1-4, R, HR, 3RBI

After trailing 3-0 for most of the game, Chiefs’ backstop Jhonatan “The Condiment” Solano thumped a three-run dinger to tie the score in the 8th, making Nick Hagadone of Columbus pay for walking Brian Goodwin and Tyler Moore. Solano’s team-leading fifth homer must have woken up the Columbus Clippers because the Chiefs’ new lease on life did not last long. Right-hander Manny Delcarmen emerged from the ‘pen in a giving mood and promptly issued the dreaded leadoff walk to Roberto Perez. Solano the hero became Solano the goat when he committed a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Audy Ciriaco. All hands were safe. A Todd Hankins sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk of Tim Fedroff loaded up the sacks for the pivotal moment, which was a Justin Sellers walk by Delcarmen to give Columbus a lead that they would not relinquish. Syracuse would only manage a Destin Hood leadoff walk in the top of the 9th, and kissed their six-game win streak goodbye.
Roster moves: 1B/OF Tyler Moore optioned from Washington, OF Erik Komatsu released.

Harrisburg 4 Binghamton 3
• Meyers 4⅔ IP, 3H, R, ER, BB, 6K, HR
• Holland (BS, 1; W, 3-1) 1IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 0K
• Madrigal (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Dykstra 3-4, R, SB
• Taylor 2-4, R, HR, 2RBI

Cutter Dykstra (3-for-4) led off the 9th with a single, stole second and came around to score after singles by Justin Bloxom and Ricky Hague for a 4-3 Harrisburg win over Binghamton. It was the first road win of the season that came in the Sens final at-bat. Brad Meyers made his season debut and his first start north of Florida since 2011. The 28-year-old gave up just a run on three hits, walked one intentionally, and struck out six over four and 2/3rds innings but left with the score tied 1-1. Michael Taylor (2-for-4) pushed Harrisburg to a 3-1 advantage with a two-run shot in the 6th. Neil Holland was touched for two runs in the bottom of the 8th but got the blown-save-win. Warner Madrigal earned his first AA save of the year with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Myrtle Beach 7 Potomac 5
• Bacus 5⅓ IP, 4H, R, ER, 3BB, 5K
• Benincasa 2IP, 5H, 4R, 4ER, 0BB, 3K, 2HR
• Mendez (L, 1-1) 1IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, K, 2HR
• Oduber 3-5, R, 2-2B, BB, RBI
• Tejeda 2-5, 2B, RBI
• Pleffner 2-5, R

Apparently, a four-run lead was too much prosperity for the Potomac ‘pen as Myrtle Beach used four home runs in the final three innings to turn a 5-1 deficit into a 7-5 win in 11 innings. Robert Benincasa served up two (2) two-run homers and five hits total in the 9th to send the game into extras. Gilberto Mendez became the latest to suffer from the GBI curse as the “Good” went to “Bad” with two solo shots in the 11th to take the loss. The implosion erased a strong start by Dakota Bacus, who pitched five and 1/3rd innings of one-run ball with three walks and five whiffs. Randolph Oduber led the offense with a 3-for-5 night, with the second of his two doubles starting a back-to-back-to-back sequence with Stephen Perez and Oscar Tejeda in the bottom of the 8th for the final two P-Nat runs.

Hagerstown 5 Hickory 2
• Pivetta (W, 5-2) 5IP, 3H, 0R, 3BB, 6K
• Walsh (SV, 4) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Wooten 2-4, R, HR, 2RBI
• Kieboom 2-4, R, 2B, 2RBI

The Suns are as hot as their namesake as they boiled the Crawdads, 5-2, to complete a four-game sweep and take their 10th consecutive road game and seventh straight win overall. Nick Pivetta won for the fifth time in seven starts with five shutout frames, giving up three hits and three walks and striking out six. John Wooten homered for the third time this week and fourth of the season with a solo shot in the 4th. He followed Spencer Kieboom’s RBI double in the 8th with an RBI single as both men went 2-for-4 with two RBI on the night. Jake Walsh struck out the side in the bottom of the 9th to earn his team-best fourth save.