Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Lost, 4-3 | @ Rochester, 11:05 a.m. |
Hill (6-1, 1.63) vs. Pelfrey (1-0, 0.90) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 7-5 (10 inn.); Won, 6-4 |
vs. Erie, 5:30 p.m. |
Poveda (1-1, 6.55) vs. Ferrell (3-4, 5.36) |
| Potomac | Lost, 4-0 | @ Winston-Salem, 7:00 p.m. |
Spann (3-0, 2.45) vs. Danish (0-0, 5.23) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 12-2 | @ Kannapolis, 7:00 p.m. |
Johansen (4-1, 4.93) vs. Leyer (2-3, 4.22) |
Rochester 4 Syracuse 3
• Laffey (L, 5-3) 6IP, 10H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 4K
• Madrigal 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Souza 1-2, R, 2BB
• Solano 1-3, BB, RBI
Rochester scored in each of the first three innings to take a 4-0 lead and held off Syracuse for 4-3 win. Aaron Laffey was charged with the loss, his third, giving up all four RedWing runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out four. The Chiefs were held to seven hits, though Destin Hood and Zach Walters were both able to double against former National Alex Meyer. Steve Souza reached base three times with two walks and a single to lead the Syracuse offense.
Erie 7 Harrisburg 5 (10 inn.) — COMP.
• Grace (L, 1-1) 2+ IP, 5H, 3R, 1ER, 0BB, 0K, 0HR
• Holland 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K, 3-2 IR-S
• Hague 2-4, BB, SB
• Keyes 2-6, 2R, HR, RBI
Erie scored once in the 8th and twice in the 10th as Kevin Keyes’s game-tying HR in the bottom of the 9th was wasted in a 7-5 loss in the completion of Tuesday night’s suspended game. Matt Grace took the loss, charged with all three runs (one earned) on five hits over two-plus innings. Neil Holland retired the first two batters he faced in the 10th but gave up the go-ahead runs on a two-out single by Devon Travis. Cutter Dykstra and Matt Skole both reached base in the bottom of the 10th but Keyes couldn’t go yard a second time and instead flew out to right field to end it.
On the off chance you’re this guy… LHP Matt Purke is expected to have Tommy John surgery today, ending his 2014 season.
Harrisburg 6 Erie 4
• Kroenke 6IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 0BB, 4K, 2HR
• Martin (W, 2-1) 3IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Taylor 3-4, 2R, 3B, HR, 3RBI
• Keyes 2-4, R, 2B
• Nicol 2-4, R
Harrisburg got the the big hits when they needed them, twice coming back from two-run deficits to win this one, 6-4. Michael Taylor (3-for-4) homered in the 5th to tie it at 2-2 while Caleb Ramsey matched the feat in the sixth to tie it at 4-4. Taylor struck again in the 7th with one-out RBI triple and scored on a Quincy Latimore single to complete the rally. Rafael Martin got the win with three scoreless innings in relief of starter Zach Kroenke, who gave up all four Erie runs on seven hits over the first six innings.
Winston-Salem 4 Potomac 0
• Turnbull (L, 0-2) 5IP, 8H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 3K
• Mendez 3IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Pleffner 1-4, 2B
Potomac’s latest circle down the first-half drain came with a 4-0 shutout by Winston-Salem, their third straight loss and seventh in the last eight games. Kylin Turnbull made his second start and gave up all four Dash runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out three. Gilberto Mendez tossed three perfect innings of relief with four strikeouts, but it was for naught as the offense was held in check. The P-Nats bats were limited to just four hits by Winston-Salem’s Myles Jaye, who had just been demoted from AA after an 0-6, 6.32 mark in 10 starts for Birmingham.
Hagerstown 12 Delmarva 2
• Voth (W, 2-3) 6IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 7K
• Webb 2IP, 0H, 0R, 3BB, 2K
• Bautista 3-5, R, 2B, 3B, 6RBI
• Ward 3-5, 3R, 2-2B
• Middleton 3-4, BB, RBI
The Suns avoided a second four-game skid this month with a 12-2 thrashing of the Shorebirds in the series finale. Rafael Bautista drove in six while going 3-for-5 with a double and a triple and a run scored to lead the 15-hit Hagerstown barrage in which eight of nine batters hit safely. Austin Voth turned his fourth quality start and earned his second win with two runs allowed on four hits and two walks over six innings while striking out seven.
So is this the end of Purke’s time with the Nats? I assume they will If they DFA him to clear up a 40-man slot, but would anyone pick him up? The alternative would be to put him on the 60-day DL, but I assume he’s more likely to get claimed this winter (post-surgery) when they have to get to 40 for the Winter Meetings.
Since he’s had but one full season in the minors (2013), he’ll be eligible for a fourth option year, which will allow him to pitch in the GCL and/or Auburn next summer — and then he’ll be out of options.
June 5-7 summer shopping for more LHP options in farm.
Mooneyham and Turnbull are almost options to be long relievers to clear
the way for the Hagerstown kids. Notice the Latin kids getting looks
in low A ball to prepare for some promotions if Pedro E and Nic Lee
linger on DL????
Luke, your thoughts on that?
outside of Gio Nats are not as lucky as the expos were in finding LHPs.
Purke is BJ Wallace all over again!
speaking of lefty guys needed, I am hearing a blast from the past has just signed with the Nationals. He did a great job here with us a couple of years ago
Wecome back I love it
I can’t wait for Ward to keep growing, so that 2B power turns into HR power. It’s also impressive that he’s pretty seamlessly made the jump from GCL to Hagerstown without needing any conditioning in Auburn.
Austin Voth is also doing really well. Has anyone ever written up a scouting report on him? What’s his stuff like?
Throws FB/SL/CH, with velo in the 89-92 range, but touches mid-90s, often in the middle inninfgs. Above-average command. Holds runners very close. Pre-draft 2013, the chatter was was that he’d profile better as a reliever, the idea being that his FB reliance and good command would be deadly with the usual bump that pitchers get when they can increase their effort for 15-30 pitches instead of pacing themselves over 85-90.