Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 10-6 | vs. Charlotte, 6:35 p.m. |
Cole (3-2, 5.65) vs. Volstad (3-3, 4.25) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 5-4 | vs. Portland, 7:00 p.m. |
Giolito (2-2, 3.82) vs. Haley (3-3, 2.87) |
| Potomac | Lost, 3-1 | vs. Salem, 7:05 p.m. |
Valdez (4-2, 4.31) vs. Beeks (4-1, 3.10) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 3-0 | @ Lakewood, 11:05 a.m. |
Baez (1-4, 4.64) vs. Leftwich (3-2, 2.27) |
Syracuse 10 Charlotte 6
• Espino (W, 2-4) 6IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 5K
• Martin 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• den Dekker 4-4, R, 2-2B, BB, 3RBI, SB
• Ramsey 3-5, 2R, 2-2B
• Goodwin 2-5, 2R, 2-2B, 3RBI
Syracuse broke its two-game losing streak with a 10-6 win over Charlotte. Paolo Espino turned in a quality start of three runs let in on four hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out five while winning his second game. Matt den Dekker singled twice and doubled twice and drove in three while Caleb Ramsey went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored to lead the Chiefs’ 14-hit parade.
Portland 5 Harrisburg 4
• Lopez (L, 1-4) 5⅓ IP, 4H, 5R, 4ER, 5BB, 4K, HR
• Robinson (W, 2-1) 2⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, 1-0 IR-S
• Pleffner 2-3, R, BB, HR, 4RBI
• Perez 2-4, 2B
The SeaDogs got to Reynaldo Lopez early and often while ending the Senators’ seven-game win streak with 5-4 triumph. Lopez struggled with his control, putting just 51 of 90 pitches in the strike zone as he walked five over five and a 1/3rd innings. He gave up five runs total on four hits, including his 7th homer allowed (in 42⅔ IP) and struck out four. Shawn Pleffner delivered twice in the clutch, connecting for a two-run single in the 4th and two-run HR in the 7th, to lead the Harrisburg offense.
Salem 3 Potomac 1
• Reyes (L, 3-3) 5⅓ IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 5K
• M. Sanchez 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, BB, K, HBP, 2-1 IR-S
• DeBruin 2-3, 2B, BB
• Mejia 1-3, R, 2B
Salem burned Potomac for two runs in 6th to break a 1-1 tie and took the series opener, 3-1. Luis Reyes dropped his third decision with all three Red Sox runs allowed on five hits and three walks over five and a 1/3rd innings. He struck out five. Grant DeBruin singled, doubled, walked, and drove in the lone P-Nats run. Potomac batters struck out 11 times total without drawing a single walk.
Hagerstown 3 Lakewood 0
• Rodriguez (W, 4-2) 6IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 2K, WP
• Pantoja (H, 1) 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Ripken 3-4, 2R
• Tillero 2-3, SAC
Three Suns pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout while the batters eked out three runs from 12 hits in a 3-0 win over the BlueClaws. Jefry Rodriguez won for the fourth time with two hits allowed over six innings with one walk and two whiffs. Jorge Pantoja bounced back with two scoreless innings for his first hold while Mick VanVossen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save. Ryan Ripken singled three times and scored twice to pace the Hagerstown offense, which left on 10 runners and was just 2-for-13 with RISP.
Keith Law just posted his updated prospects list, given that many have graduated to the big leagues: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:15698164
Giolito is ranked #1. Law mentioned that the Nats tweaked his delivery, which was largely responsible for his poor start. He’s since reverted to his old delivery so hopefully his results will too.
Turner is #16 and Robles #21.
That’s massive having 3 top 25 prospects!
Even better that unlike last year with the tsunami of injuries there are is no need to rush any of them up to the big club. With the Nats offense improving thanks to Rendon, Revere and Zim bouncing back they can even afford to keep Espinosa’s all important SS glove in the lineup and give Turner some more development time.
A rocky outing for Lopez. Despite the 4.43 ERA, the rest of his stats still look OK. His K/9 is still slightly over 9, which plays in any league for a starter. WHIP is 1.29, average against is only .220, so he’s not getting hit hard at all. All of those secondary stats are better than Giolito’s, some significantly so. Lopez’s 11 walks over the last three games are half of his total of 20. Before that stretch, his control looked pretty good. Get a handle on control, and everything else will fall into place.
The Warmer weather jazzed up the bats
Sweet spot and pitchers off speed stuff
Releases off fingers better
Let’s watch the improvements
Doesn’t that apply to the other teams’ bats, too, thus making the pitchers in the Nats’ system less impressive/effective?