Monday’s News & Notes

Lehigh Valley 7 Syracuse 6 — GAME ONE
• Lively (L, 0-1) 5IP, 8H, 7R, 5ER, 4BB, 3K
• Delcarmen 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Hood 2-4, R, HR, RBI
• Dobbs 2-3, R
• Leon 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI

Apparently Mitch Lively’s fastball was anything but lively because he yielded seven runs in the first two innings of Syracuse’s 7-6 loss to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. First baseman Greg Dobbs’ fielding error with one out in the 1st led to two of those seven runs being unearned. The Syracuse faithful got to see ex-Nat Jason Marquis almost give this one away. After six scoreless frames, he fell short of the complete game. Destin “It’s All Good” Hood was both hero and goat in the inning. He proved that Marquis was human with a leadoff bomb to left in the seventh, but he later grounded into the game ending 6-4-3 double play after reliever BJ Rosenberg tried to blow his first save for Lehigh Valley with two walks and a single upon entering the game.

Syracuse 6 Lehigh Valley 4 — GAME TWO
• Simmons (W, 2-2) 5⅓ IP, 8H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 4K, HR
• Cedeno (SV, 3) 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K, 1-0 IR-S
• Laird 2-3, 2R
• Solano 2-3, 2RBI

The Chiefs secured a doubleheader split by putting up six runs on the board over the first three innings on its way to a 6-4 victory over the IronPigs. Zach “Barbara’s not my moms” Walters 1st-inning solo shot to right got the scoring started. After Lehigh Valley’s Nate “Where’s Britney?” Spears tied it up on a solo shot of his own against starter and winner James “Big Richard” Simmons, the Syracuse offense went right back to work and put up three runs in the bottom of the 2nd. Josh Johnson’s two-run double was the key hit. After the IronPigs closed the gap to 4-3 in the top of the third, Jhonatan “The Condiment” Solano put the Chiefs back up 6-3 with a single up the middle that scored Steve Souza and Brandon Laird. Lehigh Valley made their final score with an RBI double in the 6th from Spears in the 6th before Xavier “Carry On” Cedeno closed out the game for his third save.
Roster moves: LHP Zach Jackson placed on the 7-Day DL.

Richmond 5 Harrisburg 4 (15 inn.)
• McGregor 5IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, BB, 3K
• Herron 3IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 2K
• Bates (L, 1-2) 1⅓ IP, 3H, R, ER, 3BB (1 IBB), 0K
• Vettleson 4-6, R, 2B, 3B
• Taylor 3-7, R, HR, 2RBI

Harrisburg dropped the series finale, 5-4 to Richmond in heartbreaking fashion deep into extras. In the bottom of the 1st, 3B Matt Skole made a critical error that allowed a runner to score from third. The Flying Squirrels extended the lead to 2-0 in the 3rd before Harrisburg finally answered with singles by Jason Martinson, Drew Vettleson, and Cole Leonida get one back in the 5th. However, starter Scott McGregor couldn’t produce a shutdown inning and gave up four singles and two runs to put Harrisburg into a 4-1 deficit to come back from. The Sens managed to tie it up with outstanding relief work headlined by Derek Self who pitched two scoreless frames. Manno’s Millions got a scoreless frame from their hero, and the offense finally broke through with a Vettleson triple and Quincy “Don’t Call Me Jones” Latimore sac fly in the 7th. Michael “[SD’s mancrush]” Taylor hit a two-run bomb out to left that scored a Ricky Hague ahead of him and tied it up at 4-4. Harrisburg fans listening to the dulcet tones of Terry Byrom over the interwebs had to wait until the bottom of the 15th before a bases-loaded walkoff single removed the Senators from their on-field offices

Potomac 3 Salem 2
• Rauh 4IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 5K
• Walsh (W, 2-0) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Martinez 2-3
• Severino 2-3, R, HR, RBI
• Tejeda 1-4, R, HR, RBI

Pedro Severino went “Marco!” with homer in the 8th while Oscar Tejeda went “Solo!” with a big fly in the 9th as the P-Nats edged the Red Sox, 3-2 and returned to sole possession of 1st place. The start went to Brian Rauh and he turned in four shutout innings with a single hit allowed, no walks, and five K’s. Severino and Estarlin Martinez both went 2-for-3 to lead the Potomac offense. Jake Walsh won for second time in four appearances with two shutout innings, with one hit and no walks allowed while setting down three on strikes.

Hagerstown 5 Delmarva 4
• Estevez 3IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 2K, WP, 2BK
• Johns (W, 2-0) 2⅓ IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Bautista 2-4, R, BB, 2SB (51, 52)
• Ballou 2-5, R, OF assist at HP
• Kieboom 2-5, R, 2B, HR, RBI

The Suns scored on a wild pitch in the 9th to take their first and only lead of the night as they edged the Shorebirds, 5-4. Wirkin “For The Weekend” Estevez was ineffective in his second start back from the GCL, giving up two runs over three innings on four hits and a walk while doing himself no favors with a wild pitch and two balks. Osvaldo Bautista went 2-for-4 with a walks and two stolen bases from the leadoff spot while nos. 3-4 hitters Isaac Ballou and Spencer Kieboom both went 2-for-5 with Kieboom lofting his 6th home run. Samuel Johns got the win after stranding two runners in the 7th, pitching a scoreless 8th, and working around a pair of singles in the 9th.

Lowell 6 Auburn 5
• Van Orden (L, 0-3) 5IP, 10H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 4K
• Torres 4IP, 1H, 2R, 0ER, 2BB, K
• Abreu 1-4, R, 3B, RBI, SB
• Gardner 1-4, R, 3B

The Doubledays led 1-0 early but gave up five runs in the middle innings and couldn’t complete the comeback for a 6-5 loss. Drew Van Orden took the brunt of Lowell’s assualt, giving up four runs on 10 hits and a walk while striking out four over five innings. Luis Torres returned to Auburn with four innings with two unearned runs let in on one hit and two walks over the final four frames. The Doubledays managed just six hits, but three went for extra bases with Osvaldo Abreu and Jeff Gardner both going 1-for-4 with a triple and a run scored.

GCL Nationals — OFF DAY
The G-Nats broke even with a 3-3 week against the Cardinals and Marlins. This week, it’s four against the Mets and three against the Cardinals.

DSL Nationals — OFF DAY
• Pimentel 0-2, K
• Baez ⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K

With a four-run 8th, the DSL NL All-Stars defeated the AL All-Stars, 9-7. Davinson Pimentel started at catcher and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout while Joan Baez appeared with one out in the 5th and struck out both batters he faced as the two managers did the best to make sure every player on the roster appeared. This week, it’s home games against the Rockies today, the Yankees1 and Mets1 on Thursday and Friday while they visit those three on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday.