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Thursday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Won, 4-3 vs. Rochester,
7:00 p.m.		 Hill (11-6, 2.81) vs.
Vasquez (1-1, 4.50)
Harrisburg Won, 6-4 @ New Hampshire,
6:35 p.m.		 Dupra (1-6, 5.61) vs.
Bibens-Dirkx (6-3, 2.57)
Potomac Won, 3-0;
Won, 3-0		 @ Wilmington,
6:35 p.m.		 Silvestre (1-2, 5.40) vs.
Dziedzic (5-7, 2.65)
Hagerstown Won, 3-2 @ Asheville,
7:05 p.m.		 Ott (0-2, 9.95) vs.
Freeland (2-0, 0.48)
Auburn Won, 6-4 vs. Batavia,
7:05 p.m.		 A. Martinez (2-2, 3.63) vs.
Cavanerio (3-6, 4.86)
GCL Nationals Lost, 5-3 (10 inn.);
Lost, 4-1		 vs. GCL Cardinals,
12:00 p.m.		 TBD vs. TBD


Syracuse 4 Rochester 3
• Laffey 7IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 6K, HR, WP
• Cedeno (W, 5-1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Martin (SV, 10) 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 0K
• Kobernus 2-3, RBI, SB
• Souza 2-4, R, 2B, RBI

With a thrilling 4-3 comeback win over the Red Wings, the Chiefs lowered their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one. Syracuse found itself down 2-0 early when starter Aaron Laffey allowed a double to Pedro Florimon and a home run to Chris Hermann in the 1st. Things got even worse in the inning when Laffey allowed two more singles, threw a wild pitch, and Josmil Pinto scored on Deibinson Romero’s RBI groundout. The Syracuse comeback from the 3-0 deficit began in the 7th when Tyler Moore and Brandon Laird drew a pair of walks on a total of twelve pitches off Rochester starter Kris Johnson. Following a Eury Perez single to load the bases, Jhonatan “Onion” Solano hit a sacrifice fly to score Moore and Jeff Kobernus hit a clutch two-out single to score Laird. Following a dominant top of the 8th (3BF, 2K) by winning pitcher Xavier Cedeno, the Chiefs completed the comeback in the bottom of the 8th on an RBI double by Steven Souza and an RBI single from Laird. Rafael Martin missed the prefect 9th with a two-out walk, but still recorded his tenth save for Syracuse. Roster move: OF Steven Souza assigned from Washington for MLB rehab.

Harrisburg 6 New Hampshire 4
• Kroenke (W, 3-8) 5IP, 9H, 5R, 5ER, 0BB, K, HBP
• Holland (H, 2) 3IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, K, HR
• Martinson 3-5, 3R, 3B, HR, 2RBI
• Skole 2-5, 3R, HR, RBI
• Vettleson 2-5, R, 2B, 2RBI

Harrisburg outslugged New Hampshire for a 9-6 win. Every Senator recorded at least one hit in the 15-hit attack. With two outs and one on in the 1st, New Hampshire’s first baseman, KC Hobson, breathed life into the dormant Senators offense with an error that allowed Matt Skole to reach safely and Adrian Sanchez to score. A two-out single from Jason Martinson, double from Drew Vettleson, and a single by Mitch Canham gave the Senators a 4-0 lead before centerfielder Melky Mesa gunned down Canham trying to take second and ended the inning. After starter Zach Kroenke coughed up the lead, Quincy Latimore’s sacrifice fly in the 4th scored Canham and put the Senators up 5-4. Harrisburg got some badly needed insurance on Matt Skole’s 13th HR, Jason Martinson’s fourth triple, and an RBI single by Drew Vettleson in the 5th before Kroenke gave up one more run. Martinson hit a 7th inning solo homer, but reliever Neil Holland gave up a home run to Brad Glenn in the 8th as well to make the score 8-6. In the 9th, Harrisburg tacked on another run on a Brian Jeroloman RBI single but Canham was thrown out at home to end the inning before Robert Benincasa pitched a clean 9th for his seventh save.

Potomac 3 Wilmington 0 — GAME ONE
• Spann (W, 9-5) 6IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Mendez (SV, 14) 1IP, H, R, ER, BB, K
• S. Perez 2-3, 2-2B, RBI
• Martinez 2-3, 2B, 2RBI

Matt Spann retired 18 of 20 batters faced including the first 11 batters as the P-Nats shut out the Blue Rocks, 3-0 in the opener. The 23-y.o. southpaw gave up just two hits and no walks over six scoreless innings to earn his team-leading ninth win. Gilberto Mendez set ’em down in order in the 7th to notch his 14th save. Estarlin Martinez snapped the 0-0 deadlock with a two-run double in the 4th while Stephen Perez drove in the third Potomac run with his second double in the 5th; both players went 2-for-3 for the game.
As noted in this space, the three cancellations in the second half worked to Potomac’s favor as they need just this win to clinch the C.L. North for the second straight season of double-half wins.

Potomac 3 Wilmington 0 — GAME TWO
• Turnbull (W, 3-3) 6IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 6K
• Walsh (SV, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K, HBP
• Wooten 2-3, R, 2B, HR, 2RBI
• Renda 2-3, R, BB

Kylin Turnbull and Jake Walsh improved upon the efforts of Matt Spann and Gilberto Mendez in Game Two by allowing just two baserunners as Potomac hung another 3-0 shutout on Wilmington. Turnbull let up just a 3rd-inning single to Ramon Torres over his six innings of work, walking none and fanning six as he earned his third win — all in his last five appearances. Jake Walsh plunked Raul Mondesi to lead off the 7th then retired the next three Blue Rocks for his second High-A save. John Wooten smacked a two-run homer in the 3rd while Isaac Ballou tripled in Craig Manuel in the 7th to account for the three scores. It’s scoreboard watching from here on out to see who the P-Nats will host next week. Lynchburg leads the race for second place by a game over Frederick, a game and a half over Wilmington. The Hillcats finish their final five games on the road while both the Blue Rocks and the Keys close out their remaining six games at home; all three teams are playing playoff contenders — Carolina and Myrtle Beach for Lynchburg; Potomac and Salem for Wilmington; Salem and Potomac for Frederick.

Hagerstown 3 Asheville 2
• Suero (W, 4-1) 6IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, BB, 7K
• Napoli (SV, 6) ⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Ward 2-3, 3B, BB, RBI
• Yezzo 1-4, R, HR, RBI

Behind a solid six-inning performance by Wander Suero, Hagerstown returned to the win column with a 3-2 victory over Asheville. This is the fifth consecutive start that Suero has pitched at least five innings. The right-hander allowed only three hits and one run, while striking out seven Tourists. The Suns jumped on the board quickly with a run in each of the first two inning — one on a Spencer Kieboom double and one on a James Yezzo home run to the short porch in right field. After extending its lead to 3-1, Hagerstown held off a 9th-inning rally from Asheville, with David Napoli recording the final out to preserve the win. The Grasshoppers and Crawdads both won to keep pace, but the Suns’ win reduced their magic number to four for the second-half title, one for the wild card.

Auburn 6 Batavia 4
• Van Orden (W, 2-3) 5⅔ IP, 7H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 4K
• D. Williams 2⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Gordon 3-3, R, 2B, BB
• Carey 2-4, R, HR, 2RBI
• Eusebio 2-5, 2R, 2B

Auburn held off a 9th-inning rally by Batavia to defeat the Muckdogs 6-4. Reliever Mario Sanchez entered the inning with a four-run lead, but quickly got into trouble, allowing two batters to reach base, which both then came around to score on a triple by Wildert Pujols. Garrett Gordon led the Doubledays with three hits in three at-bats, as Auburn put up runs in four innings on a combined 13 hits. Drew Van Orden pitched five and 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and two runs, while striking out four Batavia batters for his second win of the season.

GCL Cardinals 5 GCL Nationals 3 (10 inn.) — GAME ONE
• Solis 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• J. Ramirez (L, 3-1) 2IP, 3H, 2R, 1ER, BB, 0K
• G. Ramirez 2-4, R, 2B
• Rosario 1-3, R, 2B, BB

The G-Nats led just once in Game One after scoring three unearned runs in the bottom of the 5th but fell in extras, 5-3. Sammy Solis made his second appearance since Memorial Day with two perfect innings, which should prompt MASN Commenter to call him up on Monday. The loss went to Jean Ramirez, who gave up for 10th-inning runs to the G-Cards for his first loss. The G-Nats were limited to four hits and four walks, with Gilberto Ramirez and Dionicio Rosario connecting for the two (2) extra-base hits.

GCL Cardinals 4 GCL Nationals 1 — GAME TWO
• Mills (L, 1-2) 3+ IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, K, HR
• Reynoso 4IP, 4H, R, ER, BB, 2K, 1-1 IR-S
• Aguero 1-2, BB, CS
• Ortiz 1-3, R, 2B

The G-Cards scored a pair of runs in both the 2nd and 4th innings to send the G-Nats to their tenth straight defeat, 4-1 in Game Two. McKenzie Mills took the loss with three runs allowed on five hits and two walks over three-plus innings. “Fred” Aguero singled and drew the only walk while Oliver Ortiz and Dionicio Rosario both doubled as the G-Nats mustered just six hits total.

5 Commments

    1. The question is whether the Nats will keep him in Cuse for the playoffs or add him to the active roster. Given that the Nats bench is so right-handed dominant already, and the Nats current reserve OF Shierholtz only has 3 plate appearances over the 5 games that he has been active, I could see the Nats keeping Souza with Syracuse unless Werth or Harper get dinged up again.

      1. I agree. Believe the same for Michael Taylor. They really won’t have the playing time for both. In the end the better course of action may be to bring up Kobernus who is the most versatile and has the most speed for PR / bunt situations.

        However, the Nat’s dearth of power is more than a bit disconcerting. Has to be the major factor in why they typically struggle to score 4 in any game. The lineup isn’t built to manufacture runs. As much as everyone suddenly loves Span he’s not Coco Crisp at lead-off and it sure looks possible that Emmanuel Burriss might be better. Span has reduced a lot of his swing at the first pitch pop-up / ground out tendencies in the 2nd half making he and Rendon, who is right up there near the top among third baseman in the MLB, a pretty solid #1- #2. Question has to be whether Rendon wear down mentally having never played this many game?

        Its after those two where Souza might help. If they could get him regular playing time he might give that additional boost this offense so desperately needs given how worn down Werth and LaRoche seem to be. Kind of like Allen Craig was for the Cardinals after losing Pujols, left with the aging and oft injured elite hitter Berkmann. Plus Beltran.

        I guess I see Souza with Craig’s role with the Cardinals in 2012 going forward. I’m just not sure Matt Williams, the rookie manage, is a good enough helmsman to figure out a way to get him into the lineup regularly while keeping veterans like Werth and LaRoche happy. I suppose you could see Zimmerman with that role but he’s a guy who really doesn’t have a position due to the shoulder and now a rehabbing severely torn hamstring? His only slot is first base? And like Craig Souza could play there.

        Otherwise, if they aren’t going to play Souza (and/or Taylor) they should leave them in the capable hands of IL manager of the year Billy Gardner Jr. giving them as much playing time as possible and starting the reset for next season.

        1. Give it a rest on Burris. Honestly, he’s a 29yo in AAA who has played five seasons in the bigs and been terrible in every single one. He’s not worth a 40 man roster spot, much less a callup. He’s Matt Antonelli II … only several years older. There’s no “there” there.

          1. I don’t know. Buriss sure looks a lot better than Kevin Frandsen and Nate Schierholtz. They define AAAA. Schierholtz had one good year as did Frandsen in a limited number of plate appearances. Buriss is the better defender over Frandsen and Souza over Schierholtz.

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