Friday’s News & Notes

Syracuse 1 Rochester 1
Rain halted this after one inning. They’ll pick it up this afternoon at 4:05, then play a second, seven-inning game 45 minutes afterwards.

Portland 1 Harrisburg 0
• Espino 8IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 11K
• Self (L, 2-3) 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, BB, 2K, HR
• Vettleson 2-3
• Ramsey 2-4
• 0-1, RISP; 3 LOB

Paolo Espino turned in his best outing of the season, but the rest of his teammates turned in one of their worst in Harrisburg’s 1-0 loss to the Portland Sea Dogs. Ric Flair was whipping the home crowd into a frenzy with his “WOOOOOO!” as Espino struck out 11, including four straight starting off the 3rd. Harrisburg won the hit column 5-3, but lost the game 1-0 when Espino was removed after eight innings for Derek Self. Mr. Self immediately gave up a leadoff homer to Mike Miller, and the Senators dismal 2014 season continued when they were retired 1-2-3 in the home 9th by winner Mike McCarthy in his second inning of work.

Potomac vs. Lynchburg — CNCLD
The series finale — and the final regular-season game — between Potomac and Lynchburg was canceled when the grounds were deemed unplayable following a thunderstorm. Combined with a Blue Rocks loss, the P-Nats magic number was reduced to eight games with 13 games left on the schedule (67+1 – 32W – 28L).

Greensboro 14 Hagerstown 6
• Suero 7IP, 9H, 4R, 3ER, 0BB, 4K
• Johansen (L, 5-6) 1+ IP, 2H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 0K, HBP
• Napoli (BS, 1) ⅔ IP, 6H, 7R, 7ER, 3BB, K, 2-2 IR-S
• Difo 4-5, 2R, 3B, SB
• Ward 2-4, R, 2B, 2RBI
• Souza 1-2, BB, SB ^{<-- on rehab assignment; expected to join Potomac tonight}

Greensboro scored nine runs off Hagerstown in the 9th inning to complete a 14-6 comeback at Municipal Stadium. The game was a back-and-forth affair for the first eight innings, with the Suns leading 6-5 entering the final frame. After getting two quick outs, David Napoli allowed the next nine Greensboro batters to reach base – six on hits, four on walks and hitting one batter, resulting in nine runs for the Grasshoppers. Seven Hagerstown batters had at least one hit during the game, with Wilmer Difo leading the offense. He was 4-5, with 2 runs scored and a triple. Hagerstown now holds a two-game advantage over Greensboro in the SAL Northern Division standings with ten games remaining in the regular season. Tonight, they begin a three-game set against third-place (five games behind) Hickory in North Carolina.

State College 14 Auburn 3
• Van Orden 5IP, 5H, R, ER, 0BB, 4K, WP
• D. Williams (L, 1-3) ⅓ IP, 1H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 0K
• Davidson 3-4, 2B, 2RBI
• Marmolejos-Diaz, 3-5, 2R, 2B, RBI

The Auburn bullpen gave up a combined 13 runs in two innings to State College as the Spikes crushed the Doubledays 14-3. After Auburn starter Drew Van Orden pitched five innings of one-run baseball, things started to unravel as Deion Williams allowed all five batters that he faced to reach base and four of them came around to score. The Spikes then added on three more runs in the frame before being retired. State College then collected six more runs, on seven hits and two walks, in the 7th off of David Ramos to complete the rout. Despite getting 11 hits, Auburn was only able to manage 3 runs, all in the first four innings. They were led by Austin Davidson, who was 3-4 with two RBIs and a double. Jose “Orange” Marmolejos-Diaz was also a top contributor, going 3-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.

GCL Mets 6 GCL Nationals 5
• Mills 3IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 2K
• Mancini (L, 0-2) 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 0K, HBP
• Reetz 2-4, 2RBI
• Gutierrez 2-3, BB

The G-Nats dug themselves out of a 5-0 hole with a run in the 6th and a four-run 7th, but couldn’t answer the G-Mets single run in the 8th to drop a 6-5 decision and lose their fourth straight. McKenzie Mills and Yorlin Reynoso were touched for three runs and two runs respectively over three innings apiece. Domenick Mancini saw a one-out hit batsman turn into a two-out run as an infield single plated the gamewinner. Kelvin Gutierrez reached base three times with two singles and a walk as the G-Nats notched eight hits and drew three walks for the afternoon.

DSL Nationals 1 DSL Cardinals 0 — GAME ONE
• Lopez 4IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 0K
• A. Diaz 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Y. Ramirez (W, 3-0) 4IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 3K
• Mota 2-3, CS
• Peguero 1-3
• Andr. Martinez 1-4, R, 2B

Yonathan Ramirez picked up where his teammates left off and completed the no-hitter with four scoreless innings as the D-Nats edged the D-Cards, 1-0. Andres Martinez scored the lone run in prototypical DSL fashion, leading off the 7th with a double, taking third on a wild pitch, then scoring two batters later on another wild pitch. The D-Nats were held to just four hits and two walks total, with Israel Mota the sole batter to reach base twice.

DSL Nationals 4 DSL Cardinals 1 — GAME TWO
• Bermudez (W, 5-5) 5IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, 4K, WP
• Vargas (SV, 4) 2IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 3K, WP
• Agustin 2-3, 2R, 2B, 3B, RBI,
• Pilier 1-3, RBI

The D-Cards finally broke through in the top of the 1st of the second game but then were shut down again as the D-Nats completed the de facto doubleheader sweep with a 4-1 win. Juan Bermudez evened up the won-loss record with five innings of one-run ball, allowing two hits and a walk while fanning four. Miguel Vargas tossed two scoreless innings to earn his fourth save. Telmito Agustin doubled, tripled, and scored twice to lead the D-Nats attack.