Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Lost, 3-0 | @ Norfolk, 12:05 p.m. |
Billings (1-3, 4.10) vs. Villanueva (1-1, 5.23) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 12-0 | @ Richmond, 6:35 p.m. |
Ross (2-2, 3.05) vs. Marte (4-0, 3.31) |
| Potomac | Lost, 3-1; Lost, 5-1 |
vs. Wilmington, 7:05 p.m. |
Simms (1-4, 4.44) vs. Caramo (2-2, 2.40) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 8-5 | vs. Kannapolis, 7:05 p.m. |
Valdez (5-2, 1.47) vs. Peralta (1-4, 9.45 ERA) |
Norfolk 3 Syracuse 0
• McGregor (L, 3-4) 7IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 3K
• Meek 1IP, 4H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K
• Minicozzi 2-3
• Ramsey 0-2, 2BB
The Chiefs bats remained AWOL as the Tide shut them out, 3-0 for Syracuse’s third straight loss. Scott McGregor was the hard-luck loser, letting in two runs on eight hits and no walks while striking out three. Mark Minicozzi singled twice while Darin Mastroianni and Tony Gwynn Jr. each singled once to account for the four (4) hits. Caleb Ramsey drew two of the four walks as the Chiefs left on all eight baserunners and were 0-for-4 with RISP.
Richmond 12 Harrisburg 0
• Bleier (L, 3-1) 4⅔ IP, 8H, 8R, 8ER, BB, 2K
• De Los Santos 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Robinson 1-3, BB
• Vettleson 1-3, BB
The Harrisburg defense blocked two extra points but couldn’t cross the goal line in a 12-0 loss to Richmond. Reigning E.L. Pitcher of the Week Richard Bleier took the brunt of the beating, charged with eight runs on eight hits and a walk over four and 2/3rds innings for his first AA loss of the season. The Senators offense was held to four singles, one double (Brian Goodwin), and five walks with Brian Jeroloman the only batter to reach base three times on a single and two walks.
Wilmington 3 Potomac 1 — GAME ONE
• Spann (L, 0-5) 6IP, 9H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 6K, HR
• K. Perez 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Ward 1-3, R, 2B
• Yezzo 1-3, 2B
The lack of hitting was spotted in Woodbridge, too, in a 3-1 Potomac loss to Wilmington. Matt Spann took the loss, his fifth, while giving up all three Blue Rocks runs on nine hits and a walk. The P-Nats 5th encapsulated the offensive struggles as Brandon Miller drew a leadoff walk and would have scored on a James Yezzo double to the right-center gap had it not bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. Miller and Yezzo would watch the next two batters strike out then a flyout ended the 2nd-and-3rd no-out threat.
Wilmington 3 Potomac 1 — GAME TWO
• Mapes 4IP, 5H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Johansen (L, 1-4) 3IP, 6H, 5R, 4ER, 0BB, 1K
• Kieboom 2-3, 2-2B
• S. Perez 1-2, 2B, SF, RBI
Wilmington broke open a 0-0 game with a five-run 5th and easily took the nightcap, 5-1 to sweep the doubleheader. Starter Tyler Mapes scattered five hits over four scoreless innings with no walks and four K’s. The loss went to Jake Johansen, who was pummeled for a second straight appearance as the Blue Rocks sent nine men to the plate in his first inning of work and five of them came in to score. Spencer Kieboom doubled twice and Stephen Perez doubled once to account for three of the four hits and the sole run (Perez sac fly in the 6th) that Potomac produced.
Greensboro 8 Hagerstown 5
• Reyes 5IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 0BB, 4K, 2HR, WP
• Mooneyham (L, 0-2) 1IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, HBP, 2WP
• Masters 3-4, R, 2B
• DeBruin 3-4, RBI
Greensboro prevented a three-game sweep by Hagerstown with an 8-5 win in the series finale. Losing pitcher Brett Mooneyham gave up the decisive three runs on four hits, a hit batsman, and two wild pitched in one inning thrown. Starter Luis Reyes was dinged for four runs (three earned) on eight hits, including two solo HRs. The Suns collected 12 hits — five less than the rest of the Nats minors on Wedensday — with David Masters and Grant DeBruin both going 3-for-4.
Trea Turner Update
Turner struck out twice and was only 1-for-4 on Wednesday, which dropped his batting average to a paltry .342 but extended his hit streak to 13 games.
My hopes for Johansen and Mooneyham revivals aren’t going so well this week.
Is it too early to start the Turner countdown? I believe it’s 16 days until the trade can be completed.
Ouch. Bad day for the organization. 0-5 and outscored 31-7.
Big club last night and those are the ones that count. Still, losing is no fun at any level. Feel you, bro.
I think the most notable thing about Turner is that he seems to have cut down significantly on his strikeouts. It was something others had noted as being one of his flaws, but he went from 25.3% in April, to 18.8% this month (including only 7 Ks in 52 PAs during this hit streak).
A few between the lines things….
1) Vettleson, as limited his time and coming off an injury, batting cleanup in Harrisburg. He must have really impressed in the spring (or the power outage in City Island is that remarkable)
2) Jeff Gardner, man on fire. This has not surprised his supporters, knowing his collegiate success, but he is really hot
3) Dave Masters. A glove first guy who battled injuries. And now he is showing up at the plate and playing his way into everyday in Hagerstown.
4) The closer depth in the system is decimated by injury and underperformance.
5) Otherwise, there is a whole lot in the system to just flush, other than starting pitching.
6) Kieboom making developmental strides on Severino?
Matt Puke sighting in Hagerstown tonight!
The offense is pretty much nil across the Minors especially in SYR and HAR. Of course Difo and Turner sitting on the bench in WAS does not help the offense in the Minors but those are only two bats. Turner to come over soon so that will be three potential future bats. Then we need to go to A ball to look for potential but not much to show for so far. Hope for better days to come.