Friday’s News & Notes

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 7 Syracuse 4 — GAME ONE
• Roenicke (L, 3-4) 2⅓ IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 0K
• Jackson 3⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 5K, 2-0 IR-S
• Solano 2-3, R
• Laird 2-3, R, 2B, RBI

The RailRiders got to Josh Roenicke for five runs in the early going, then pulled away with two in the 7th for a 7-4 win, halting the Chiefs’ eight-game streak. The brother-in-law of Ian Desmond gave up seven hits and three walks with no strikeouts over two and a 1/3rd innings. Zach Jackson stranded two in the 3rd and blanked Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for three more innings to hold things down. Syracuse rallied for two in the 5th and 6th innings to pull within one. Alas, Mike Gonzalez couldn’t pick up where Jackson left off and coughed up two runs on three hits in his lone inning of work.

Syracuse 4 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 3 — GAME TWO
• Delcarmen 2⅔ IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 2K
• Martin (W, 1-0) 2⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 2K, 1-0 IR-S
• Souza 1-2, 2R, BB, HR, RBI, SB
• Walters 1-4, R, HR, 2RBI
• Laird 2-3, 2B, RBI

Zach Walters’s two-run home run highlighed a three-run 5th as Syracuse split the doubleheader with a 4-3 win in the nightcap. Manny Delcarmen allowed all three Scranton/Wilkes-Barre runs on seven hits and a walk with just two strikeouts over two and 2/3rds innings. Rafael Martin, Matt Grace, and Warner Madrigal combined for four and 1/3rd scoreless innings to earn the win, hold, and save, respectively. Steve Souza homered, walked, and stole his 15th base while Brandon Laird went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI as the Chiefs scored four times on just six hits, aided by five walks. Roster move: C Sandy Leon optioned from Washington.

Akron 6 Harrisburg 4
• Espino 5⅓ IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 4BB, 5K
• Self (BS, 1; L, 0-1) 1⅔ IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, BB, K, 1-0 IR-S
• Taylor 3-5, CS
• Dykstra 2-3, 2R, 2BB, SB(10)
• Harper 1-3, R, 2B, BB

Akron rallied for three in the 3rd to tie, two in the 7th to take the lead as Harrisburg lost for the sixth time in seven games at Canal Park, 6-4. Starter Paolo Espino pitched into the 6th and left with a 4-3 lead as he was charged with three runs on three hits and four walks while setting down five on strikes. Derek Self got the last two outs of the 6th but loaded the bases with a single, double, and a walk before giving up a two-run single for the blown-save-loss. Cutter Dykstra remains red-hot, singling twice, walking twice, and scoring twice while swiping his 10th base to pace the Senators offense. Roster move: OF Bryce Harper added to the roster for MLB rehab.

Myrtle Beach 11 Potomac 2
• Spann (L, 5-2) 4⅔ IP, 10H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 3K, HR, WP
• Henke 3⅓ IP, 5H, 6R, 6R, 2BB, K, 2HR, 2-0 IR-S
• Miller 2-3, R
• Severino 2-2, R, 2B, HR, BB, 2RBI

Myrtle Beach went deep three times and pounded out 15 hits as they handed Potomac an 11-2 loss, ending a five-game win streak. Starter Matthew Spann was dinged for five runs on 10 hits and three walks over four and 2/3rds as he suffered his second loss. He struck out three and gave up a solo HR in the 4th. Travis Henke finished the game to save the bullpen for another day, with five of the six runs he allowed coming via the long ball: a two-run shot in the 6th and a three-run blast in the 8th. Pedro Severino and Justin Miller were the only two batters to solve the Pelicans, with Severino’s two-run homer in the top of the 8th preventing the shutout.

Hagerstown 3 Lexington 2 — GAME ONE
• Pivetta (W, 10-3) 6IP, 8H, 2ER, 0BB, 5K, 8H, 2 HR
• Davis (SV, ) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Ward 2-3 2B, RBI
• Ballou 1-3 3B, R
• Yezzo 1-2, 2R HR, 2 RBI, R

Nick Pivetta gave up two homers. He yielded eight hits. Thankfully for Suns fans, however he issued no free passes and limited the damage to two solo shots en route to a 3-2 victory for the Suns. His biggest jam was in the top of the 2nd. After a Ramos double and a Hernandez single by Lexington put runners on first and third, Pivetta buckled down. Chad “Why does everybody call me OchoCinco?” Johnson flew out to Ballou in left. Pivetta then struck out Arteaga swinging. After a solo shot by Escalera-Maldonado of the Legends, James Yezzo’s two-run blast scored Craig Manuel, who had singled with one out. Mauricio Ramos of the lovable Lexington Legends lightly lifted a ball out of the park in the top of the 6th to equal the score at 2-2 in the top of the 6th. Isaac Ballou tripled to centerfielder Escalera-Maldonado. Drew Ward sealed the deal by doubling a ball for the game-winning RBI. Cody Davis recorded the drama-free save with two grounders and a strikeout in a scoreless 7th.

Hagerstown 1 Lexington 0 — GAME TWO
• Giolito (W, 3-2) 6IP, 3H, 0R, BB, 9K
• Walsh (SV, 10) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Lopez 1-2, R, HR, RBI
• Difo 1-2, BB

Lucas “Twinkletoes” Giolito received the prestigious invite to The Futures Game all-star weekend. Last night, the official scorer calmly recorded his domination in a 1-0 shutout of the hapless Legends. A one-out walk of Dexter Kjerstad and a single by Kevin Kuntz in the top of the 3rd got a man in scoring position. Giolito did not care for that. He struck out poor Escalera-Maldonado swinging to deny him an RBI. Torres decided to not even offer at the called third strike that ended the frame. Dexter Kierstad got a two out single off of Giolito in the top of the 5th, but Kuntz flew out to CF Rafael Bautista to end the inning. A two-out single from Frank Schwindel preceded a Mauricio Ramos groundout that ended his night. Apparently, the Hagerstown bats were so mesmerized by Giolito’s heroics that they only mustered a Carlos Lopez solo shot to center in the top of the 2nd. However, it was not to be without some heart-pounding drama at the finish. Jake Walsh put the cardiac specialists of Hagerstown on call with his high-wire act in the 7th. He gave up a leadoff double; never a good plan. A sac bunt advanced the runner to third. A Fred Ford groundout to second, kept the runner at 1st. Okay, two outs. But Kierstad struck out and reached on a dropped third strike! Thankfully, Kevin Kuntz popped out and a grateful and happy (but likely not too full) Muncipal Stadium celebrated a doubleheader sweep.

Auburn 11 Batavia 2
• Lopez (W, 1-1) 5⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 8K
• Yrizarri 2IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 2K
• Gordon 2-4, 2R, BB, RBI
• Langlois 1-3, R, 2BB, RBI

Reynaldo Lopez no-hit the Muckdogs for five and 2/3rds while the Doubledays put up four crooked numbers on the scoreboard for an 11-2 win. The 20-y.o. Dominican walked two and struck out eight in his first win of 2014. Deibi Yrizarri kept Batavia off the bases until a two-out double in the 7th while Cory Bafidis lost the shutout in the 9th despite working with an 11-0 lead. Garrett Gordon and Brian Langlois both reached base three times to lead the Auburn offense. Roster moves: RHPs James Bourque, Samuel Johns, Domenick Mancini and LHP Connor Bach reassigned from the GCL Nationals; LHP Kylin Turnbull assigned from Potomac for minor-league rehab.

GCL Marlins 9 GCL Nationals 5
• Vasquez (L, 0-1) 2IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 0K
• Turnbull 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Aguero 2-3
• Keniry 2-4, RBI, CS
• Ripken 2-4, 2R

The G-Marlins got their hooks into the D-Nats pitchers early and often as they scored the3 first six runs of the ballgame and cruised to a 9-5 win. Starter Daury Vasquez was filleted for three runs on seven hits and a walk over two innings without a strikeout for his first loss. “Fred” Aguero, Conor Keniry and Ryan Ripken each had a pair of singles as the G-Nats posted 11 hits on the afternoon.
Roster moves: RHPs John Feliz, Anderson Martinez, and Luis Torres reassigned from Auburn.

DSL Giants 19 DSL Nationals 4
• W. Pena (L, 1-3) 3IP, 1H, R, ER, 3BB, 3K, HR
• M. Pena ⅔ IP, 4H, 7R, 5ER, 2BB, K
• A. Martinez 2-3, R, BB
• Trejos 1-2, R, HR, 3RBI

The wheels came off the bus in the 4th inning for the D-Nats as they were blasted for seven runs to turn a 1-0 game into a laugher. The D-Giants scored in every inning thereafter, taking advantage of five D-Nats errors and 11 walks along with 13 hits for a 19-4 demoliton of the D-Nats. Starter Wilber Pena was the least ineffective of the bunch, walking three and striking out three while giving up a solo HR over the first three innings. 17-y.o. Edward Trejos came off the bench to hit a three-run HR while Andres Martinez singled twice and walked once to lead the D-Nats batters.