Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Lost, 4-2 | vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 7:05 p.m. |
Cole (0-2, 3.26) vs. Long (3-4, 4.75) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 2-1; Lost, 1-0 |
vs. Akron, 7:00 p.m. |
Bacus (1-1, 6.00) vs. Plutko (0-0, 0.00) |
| Potomac | OFF DAY | @ Salem, 7:00 p.m. |
Valdez (0-0, 1.50) vs. Ball (3-5, 4.98) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 2-0; Won, 3-1 |
@ Greensboro, 7:00 p.m. |
TBD vs. Steckenrider (1-2, 2.63) |
Louisville 4 Syracuse 2
• Billings 6IP, 8H, 2R, 1ER, BB, 2K
• Lively (L, 0-2) 1⅓ IP, 1H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 1K
• Mastroianni 2-5, 2B, RBI
• Ramsey 2-4, R
[! – – 2015 script – – ]
The Chiefs’ starter pitched well, the bullpen did not. A couple of hitters did well, but the offense otherwise struggled.
Roster move: OF Matt den Dekker optioned from Washington.
Harrisburg 2 Akron 1 — GAME ONE
• Bleier 8IP, 7H, 0R, BB, K, BK
• Mendez (W, 3-2) 1IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, 3K
• Rendon 1-4, 2B
• Lisson 1-3, R, BB, HR, 2RBI
Mario Lisson’s two-out, two-run home run in the 9th gave the Senators a walkoff win in the opener. Starter Richard Bleier threw eight shutout innings, with seven hits and one walk allowed before giving way to the bullpen. Gilberto Mendez struck out the side but gave up single and triple in the 9th. Derrick Robinson singled to lead off the final frame and scored ahead of Lisson’s big fly. The Sens totaled just four hits and a walk overall.
Akron 1 Harrisburg 0 — GAME TWO
• Simmons (L, 2-3) 4IP, 4H, R, 0BB, 3K
• Demny 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 3K
• Pleffner 1-2
• Hague 1-2, SB
Harrisburg couldn’t push across the equalizing run and were shut out 1-0 in the nightcap to split the doubleheader. James Simmons was the losing pitcher, giving up the lone Akron run on four hits and no walks while striking out three. Paul Demny and Colin Bates combined for three shutout innings of relief. As they did in the first game, the Senators tallied just four hits — all singles.
Potomac — OFF DAY
After splitting an eight-game homestand, the P-Nats hit the road four against Salem and four against Carolina.
Hagerstown 2 Hickory 0 — GAME ONE
• Purke (W, 1-1) 5IP, 4H, 0R, BB, K, HBP
• Van Orden (SV, 3) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Keller 1-2, BB
• Carey 1-2, R
Two Suns pitchers combined on a seven-inning shutout by a 2-0 score in the first of two in Hagerstown. Starter and winner Matt Purke went the first five innings, allowing a walk and all four Hickory hits while striking out one and hitting a batter. Drew Van Orden threw two perfect innings to earn the save, his third. The Suns were held to just three hits and two walks, with Alec Keller (single, BB) and Jeff Gardner (BB, HBP) the only two batters to reach base twice.
Hagerstown 3 Hickory 1 — GAME TWO
• Reyes (W, 2-3) 5IP, 2H, R, ER, 4BB, 3K, WP
• Napoli (SV, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• DeBruin 2-3, R, RBI
• Masters 1-3, 2B, RBI
Hagerstown rallied for three in the bottom of the 4th in a 3-1 win that swept the doubleheader. Luis Reyes got the win, with one run let in on two hits and four walks over five innings. Andrew Cooper and David Napoli both turned in a scoreless innings to earn the hold and save respectively. The Suns made the Crawdads pay for issuing six walks as they scored three times on just four hits, led by Grant DeBruin’s 2-for-3 effort.
Roster move: LHP Brett Mooneyham released.
Trea Turner Update
Turner ended his two-game hitless streak with a 2-for-5 night, scoring once, driving in two, and striking out twice.
Farewell to Brett Mooneyham, a high pick for whom it never clicked. He was great in Hagerstown in 2013 but got shelled at Potomac and never seems to have fully recovered. Time to finish that Stanford degree, if he hasn’t already.
And welcome back to Matt Purke. It’s good to see that the Nats are still trying him at starter. He’s always seemed to have the talent, if he could stay healthy.
Wish him well. That Stanford education and the $428,000 bonus should leave him better off than most as they enter the real world.
You have to think Johansen is in a similar situation, as he has not made much traction either.
Another Stanford product thst did not work out
Just drew storen in the history of expo / Nats has
Worked out . Right, Stan Spencer??
Erik Davis (13th round pick in 2008) is also a Stanford product. Any time a 13th round pick makes the majors (even for a cup of coffee) that is pretty good. Davis was side-tracked by am injury, but he has returned. So, can’t close the book on him yet.
It would be nicer to see Purke dominate, but on the other hand, his working out of jams was something he has been unable to do at other times. Nice to look forward to his next effort. It’s clear he has a lot of people who are rooting for him and tracking him.
Notable to see Kris Kline’s comments on Patrick’s board about the draft to come. Nats are looking for bats, LH bats, and position players. Halleluyah! Enough 1-0, 2-1 games!
Wonder who TBD is at Hagerstown tonight. The return of Austen Williams? Or one of the arms who has yet to appear, now that Mooneyham has yielded his spot?
Boy, the minors seem to be a wasteland for the Nats. Three of the four teams are either last or nearly last in their respective leagues. The fourth is only playing .500 ball. At AAA there’s only one player (Cole) who could be considered even close to being a legit major leaguer. At AA the only position player would be Difo who’s at Washington, with a slight nod in the direction of Renda (another Lombordozzi) and Goodwin, (another Maxwell, if that). The only pitcher is Ross–not Voth in my opinion.
At high A, there are good pitchers, although even Lopez has just had two bad outings in a row. No position players to speak of unless one thinks Bostick is one. I don’t.
I not sure about single A, but don’t see any players of significance there either.
Good top ten prospects but drops quite dramatically after that.
Pilchard. I recall bonus boys Stan Spencer and Justin wayne for expos
Who failed to gain traction . Bummer. Wayne was a Loria bonus baby .
Jeeves. Not a wasteland just not much progress up from
Auburn and above. NCAA guys stuck in XST – why???
If Davidson hitting .177 then how flat would Gunther be.
Probably a question brass asks each other