Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Lost, 13-8 | ALL-STAR BREAK | N/A |
| Harrisburg | Won, 9-5 | vs. Altoona, 12:00 p.m. |
McGregor (0-1, 14.21) vs. Harlan (0-0, 1.80) |
| Potomac | Won, 2-1 (13 inn.) | @ Frederick, 7:00 p.m. |
Rauh (1-1, 5.22) vs. Wager (3-7, 5.89) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 6-5 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Auburn | Won, 5-3 | @ Aberdeen, 7:05 p.m. |
Van Orden (0-2, 15.19) vs. Tarpley (0-1, 7.36) |
| GCL Nationals | OFF DAY | @ GCL Cardinals, 12:00 p.m. |
TBD vs. TBD |
| DSL Nationals | OFF DAY | vs. DSL Rojos, 10:30 a.m. |
N/A |
Charlotte 13 Syracuse 8
• Hill ⅓ IP, 6H, 7R, 7ER, BB, 0K, HR
• Grace 2IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 2K
• Walters 3-4, 2R, BB, HR, 4RBI
• Souza 2-4, 2R, BB, HR, 2RBI
• Hood 2-5, 2-2B, 2RBI
Taylor Hill retired just one of the eight batters he faced in the 1st as the Charlotte Knights scored eight times and held on for a 13-8 to split the four-game series. It was the second straight loss for Hill, who left the game after a line drive back to the mound struck his pitching arm, though he was able to get an out at the plate. Zach Walters and Steve Souza both homered and combined for four runs scored and six RBI while Destin Hood drove in the other two runs while connecting for two doubles.
Harrisburg 9 Altoona 5
• Simmons (W, 2-0) 5IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 4K, HR
• Bates (H, 3) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Keyes 3-3, R, 2B, BB, 3RBI, CS
• Ramsey 3-5, R, 2RBI, SB
• Hague 2-3, R, BB, CS
The Senators plated seven in the 1st then got two more in the 7th to hold off the Curve, 9-5. Starter James Simmons got the Jack Morris win with all five Altoona runs allowed on seven hits and three walks. He struck out four and gave up his 12th HR of the season for his second AA win. Kevin Keyes reached base four times with a walk, two singles, and a double and drove in three while Caleb Ramsey went 3-for-5 with two RBI to lead the 13-hit, four-walk attack. Michael Taylor went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts as he played all nine innings in CF for the USA squad in the 2014 Futures Game.
Potomac 2 Frederick 1 (13 inn.)
• Dickson 5IP, 5H, 0R, 2BB, 1K
• Mirowksi 3IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 4K
• Walsh (W, 1-0) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K, WP
• Oduber 3-6, R, 2B
• Martinez 1-2, R, 2B
Estarlin Martinez doubled and scored on Tony Renda’s lone hit in six trips to the plate as the P-Nats edged the Keys, 2-1 in 13 innings for their fourth straight win. Ian Dickson started and tossed five scoreless innings, letting up five hits and two walks with one strikeout. The win went to Jake Walsh as he pitched around a single that he turned into a double via a wild pitch in the 12th but then shut the door with a three-up-and-three-down 13th. Randolph Oduber doubled and scored in the 7th and went 3-for-6 overall as the Potomac managed just eight hits total.
Lexington 6 Hagerstown 5
• Johansen (L, 5-4) 5IP, 8H, 6R, 4ER, BB, 3K, WP, HBP
• Ullmann 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Middleton 2-3, R, BB
• Mesa 1-4, R, HR(GS), 4RBI
Narciso Mesa’s grand slam capped off a five-run rally for Hagerstown in the 9th, but it was too little, too late as Lexington held on for a 6-5 win to prevent the four-game sweep. Starter Jake Johansen, who turned in his first quality start in his 27th career start last time out against Lakewood, couldn’t make it 2-for-28. The 23-y.o. was lit up for all six Legends runs on eight hits and one walk over five innings for his fourth loss. Drew Ward (1-for-3) drove in the first run of the 9th with an RBI single as only he and Brenann Middleton (2-for-3, BB) reached base multiple times for the Suns. Lucas Giolito’s 2014 Futures Game appearance was uneven as he gave up a singlethen had Javy Baez put a coat on a hanger for a two-run blast to turn a 1-0 USA lead into a 2-1 deficit in the 6th before retiring the next two on a long flyout and strikeout before he was lifted.
Auburn 5 Aberdeen 3
• Derosier (W, 1-2) 5IP, 5H, R, ER, BB, 2K
• Mapes (SV, 2) 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Read 2-4, 2R, HR, 2RBI
• Medina 2-4
Matt DeRosier celebrated his birthday by pitching Auburn to a 5-3 win over Aberdeen. The 20-y.o. gave up jut one run on five hits and a walk over five innings while striking out two to earn his first “W” of ’14. Tyler Mapes put the tying runs on base in the 9th but neither came in as he got the last three outs for his second save. Raudy Read helped frost the cake with a two-run homer off rehabbing Steve Johnson in the 1st as both he and Willie Medina went 2-for-4 to lead the seven-hit, four-walk Doubledays attack.
GCL Nationals — OFF DAY
Despite a pair of rain-affected dates, the G-Nats put together a 5-2 week to move into second place in the GCL East. This week, their opponents are the first-place G-Cards and the fourth-place G-Marlins.
DSL Nationals — OFF DAY
The D-Nats moved up a spot in the Boca Chiac South to tie the D-Yankees1 for third place. This week, it’s four home games and two on the road and a good chance to match last week’s 4-2 mark.
So Taylor gets a hit in the futures game but strikes out twice–doing nothing to assuage what makes me nervous about him as a prospect. At best, it sounds like he could develop into the CF version of Desmond (good power, good speed, great range, great arm–but a low OPB and very high K guy). Only thing is, Taylor strikes out more as a minor leaguer than Desmond ever did.
Except Taylor is not a low-OBP player. His walk rate has exceeded 9% in five of six seasons and is at 11% thus far for this season.
Thank you.
Mike Cameron is the comp for Taylor, folks. Mike Cameron at an affordable price during his pre-arb years is not something that The rZo will trade away lightly for a pittance.
Monday. Humid. So humid the sunglasses are foggy
Nice touch by Cathcart to give Matty D a birthday
Start. I am going to try and get to Rip Stadium
To see Dutch Duke Drew take the bump .
Luke, in my years of following baseball . I took a quality
StArt to be 7 IP 3 ER or less but of course that
Was before LaRussa and Duncan changed
The paradigm on Oakland .
Shall we say this without jinxing anyone ?
Hood and Estarlin have turned a corner
In their respective seasons .
Once again we have eyes. Soul drummer ,
On one of the six starters signed out of
Emergency need @ Burg.
Maybe even some more magic from Q
In LF/RF ?
You got me with this comment, Jeff. I report on the games and make jokes. Geoff Morrow the beat guy for Harrisburg might be the guy you want to direct specific questions at. Alternatively, Terry Byrom their radio guy is pretty responsive on twitter. If you can ask that question a bit more clearly, I’d even ask the question for you to one or both of them if you’re not as comfortable with the social media tools that I use to learn about the Big Club and the affiliates.
Here is something from a BP chat this morning:
GCL guy (Sunshine state): As a Gulf Coast League observer, which position players have caught your eye, Jeff? Thanks for chatting!
Jeff Moore: The Nationals GCL team has a strong crop of athletic Dominican players from their international signings the past two years. Tools galore at various stages of development, which is always fun to watch.
Stretch run for draft signings. Any predictions? I assume Fedde and Suarez sign, and the delay has been about getting some extra dollars for Byler or one of the 30+ round HSers?
That is outstanding news, and one of the reasons that I wanted to make sure that I caught up with the comments after a couple of days away. Thanks for this surprising endorsement of our often weak international department.
Ty for that GCL comment
Box score rings with Luis Guzman,
Daryl Florentino. Oliver Ortiz doing his best
Warren Cromartie…infielders with gap power…
Turning to Chris Manno …does brass want to
Remove a sage influence on a playoff bound
Club when David Napoli is logging good quality
Innings for Suns??? I doubt a lefty on auburn
Has earned a hags promotion yet if Napoli would
Go to Potomac.
Thoughts from nats nation?
Curious?
Why the haikus?
Like SD says, it’s just his styling… for a long time, I did wonder if it’s something he picked up while doing motorcycle repair.
Hey man, whatever floats his boat. I’ll wear my coat and read his notes. If it’s about great commenters around here he’s got my vote.
Don’t know if this has been brought up before, but how’s about a nice congrats to former Nats farmhand Jake Smolinski for finally getting his big-league debut last week with the Rangers. I caught some highlights the other night and heard his name mentioned and had to do a double-take since I thought he had fallen off the face of the earth. Turns out he’s been toiling in the Marlins system since he was traded by the Nats in ’08 (along w/Emilio Bonifacio) for Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham. Last year he hooked up with the Rangers and they called him up last week. Congrats Jake!
Wow, there’s a name I didn’t even know was still in the game.
Like the saying goes, make them tear the uniform off you!
Total congratulations. He’s a Big Leaguer now and nobody can take that away from him. Made it before callups even! Hope he’s doing well, and I’ll check him out on Baseball-Reference.com where he ought to take a screen shot of his now one or two game states.