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Saturday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Lost, 8-3 vs. Columbus,
7:05 p.m.		 Voth (3-2, 2.90) vs.
Plutko (AAA debut)
Harrisburg Lost, 4-0 vs. Reading,
6:00 p.m.		 Ross (2-0, 0.00) vs.
Morris (0-0, 9.82)
Potomac Won, 4-2;
Won, 4-3		 vs. Myrtle Beach,
5:00 p.m.		 Williams (0-1, 2.57) and
Reyes (3-6, 5.18) vs.
Clifton (4-3, 2.21) and
Leal (8-3, 3.55)
Hagerstown Won, 6-1;
Won, 4-1		 vs. Greenville,
7:05 p.m.		 Bourque (0-2, 8.22) vs.
Almonte (1-1, 2.90)
Auburn Won, 3-0 vs. Batavia,
7:05 p.m.		 Mills (0-2, 7.71 in ’15) vs.
McKay (1-3, 4.15 @ GCL in ’15)


Columbus 8 Syracuse 3
• Hill (L, 3-6) 6IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, BB, 4K, HR(9)
• De Los Santos 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Severino 2-3, 2R, 2B, BB
• den Dekker 0-2, R, 2BB
• 1-9 RISP, 10 LOB

Columbus scored in six of nine innings as they, um, sailed past Syracuse for an 8-3 win. Chiefs starter Taylor Hill took the loss, his sixth, as he gave up five runs on eight hits and a walk over six innings while striking out four. The Syracuse offense took advantage of four Clipper errors and seven walks issued to score three times on just five (5) hits. Pedro Severino led the way with a single, a double, and two walks.

Reading 4 Harrisburg 0
• Valdez (L, 0-1) 6IP, 6H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 6K, HBP
• Simms 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Difo 1-2, 2B, 2BB
• Collier 2-4

Former National farmhand Nick Pivetta shut down his former teammates with a seven-hit shutout as the Fightins’ filibustered the Senators, 4-0. Phillips Valdez had but one bad inning—four in the 2nd—in six innings pitched, as he lost his first AA game with six hits and a walk allowed while fanning four. Wilmer Difo walked twice and doubled once while Zach Collier went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles to account for three of the seven hits and two of the three walks allowed by Pivetta.

Potomac 4 Myrtle Beach 2 – GAME ONE
• Fedde 4IP, 3H, R, ER, 2BB, 2K
• Brinley (W, 3-0) 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Mejia 2-3, 2B
• Read 1-4, R, HR, 2RBI

Raudy Read’s line-drive, two-run HR to left-center ended the opener in “extras,” for a 4-3 Potomac win over Myrtle Beach in eight innings. Erick Fedde returned from the DL to pitch four innings of one-run ball on two walks and three hits as he set down two on strikes. The win went to Ryan Brinley for a scoreless 8th with a walks and two whiffs. Drew Ward also homered while Bryan Mejia led the hit column with a single and a double in three at-bats.

Potomac 4 Myrtle Beach 3
• Whiting (W, 7-2) 6IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 4K
• Orlan (SV, 7) 1IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, 2K
• Marmolejos 2-3, R, 2B
• Ward 2-3, R, 2B, RBI

The Pelicans got sloppy on defense and it cost them dearly as the P-Nats scored four times in the 3rd on just two hits that left the infield and two errors in a 4-3 win to complete the doubleheader sweep. Boone Whiting shook off two shaky innings early to win his seventh game. He struck out four on a quality start of two runs on two hits and a walk over six innings. R.C. Orlan held the lead but gave up a run as he was credited with his seventh save. Jose “Orange” Marmolejos and Drew Ward both went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored to pace the P-Nats attack.

Hagerstown 6 Greenville 1 – GAME ONE
• Baez (W, 3-5) 5IP, 2H, R, ER, 3BB, 8K
• Borne 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Schrock 3-3, 3R, 2-2B, RBI
• DeBruin 1-2, BB, 2RBI
• Page 1-3, 2B, 2RBI

The Suns disengaged the Drive with a four-run 5th to take the opener, 6-1. Joan Baez struck out a season-high of eight over five innings as he won his third game. He let in the lone Greenville run on two hits and three walks. Max “For Those About To” Schrock scored three times and drove in one as he singled once and doubled twice to lead the Hagerstown offense.

Hagerstown 4 Greenville 1– GAME TWO
• DeRosier (W, 3-3) 5IP, 5H, R, ER, BB, 3K
• Walby (SV, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 0K
• Robles 2-4, R, 3B, RBI, SB
• Reetz 2-3, 2B

Hagerstown scored twice in the 1st, twice in the 2nd and cruised to a 4-1` win to sweep the doubleheader. Matt DeRosier notched his third win with as he gave up a run on five hits and a walk over five innings. Jorge Pantoja and Philip Walby each pitched a scoreless innings to earn the hold and save, respectively. The Suns collected nine hits total, seven by the top four hitters in the lineup, with Victor Robles totaling the most bases (4) with a single and a triple in four AB’s. Delmarva is keeping up the pressure with its seventh straight win but is now on the brink of elimination as they must win all three remaining games while Hagerstown loses today and tomorrow to take the first half division title in the Sally North.

Auburn 3 Batavia 0
• Watson 5IP, 3H, 0R, BB, 7K
• Dickey (W, 1-0) 3IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 4K
• Encarnacion 1-4, R, HR, 2RBI
• Ripken 2-4, R

Three Doubledays pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout to neuter the Muckdogs, 3-0. Tyler Watson went the first five innings and gave up all three Batavia hits while issuing a walk and striking out seven. Robbie Dickey followed with three scoreless innings, issuing a walk and getting four whiffs. Angher Cespedes worked around a walk in the 9th and got two K’s to push the team total to 13 on the night. Randy Encarnacion’s two-run HR in the 7th broke up the Star Trek convention on the scoreboard while Clayton Brandt drew a bases-loaded walk to plate the third Auburn run.

17 Commments

  1. Big season debut for Tyler Watson! Looks like the Nats really did their homework getting him out of high school. 🙂

    1. Let the Watson hype begin! He’s a 6’5″ lefty who’s only 19. If he can make it to Hagerstown this year, the Nats will have two 19-year-old starters there, Watson and Avila. If I were a team talking trade with the Nats right now, I’d be paying a lot of attention to Watson . . .

      . . . and to Fedde. Good to see him back, and solid if not overwhelming in his return. I’m still not completely sold on Baez, but at 21, he’s the same age as the new college draftees, so there’s plenty of time for him to cut down on the walks.

      Not listed in Luke’s recap, but Glover put up another perfect inning at Harrisburg. He’s only allowed runs in one out of his last ten appearances. There’s buzz on some other sites about the possibility of the Nats bringing up Giolito or Lopez for a run in the bullpen, but I think those folks are sleeping on Glover, the true closer rocketing through the organization. He would seem to be the next guy up for the back end of the bullpen.

      1. The only real negative on bringing up Glover this year is his relative lack of professional experience compared to the others. A team in the middle of a pennant chase can’t really afford to wait for him to make the adjustment as he had to do at Harrisburg. But he definitely looks like a potential future closer, possibly as early as next year.

        If they choose to promote from within, my money is on Lopez. Rightly or wrongly, the huge bonus they paid to Giolito probably means they will be less wiling to take a chance by disrupting his role and routine.

        I also think Voth will be a prime trade chip. He doesn’t have much left to prove in the minors, and could be of immediate help to another team.

        1. I agree about Voth. He’s MLB-ready now, and the Nats have no place for him. When they go about clearing a spot in the rotation, it’s going to be for Giolito. The only downside to thinking about moving Voth sometime soon is that he’s the most ready safety net they have if one of the MLB starters goes down.

          We’ll see. The Nats have a lot more depth from which to deal in their pitching than they do their everyday players.

  3. Nice to see Baez and DeRosier turn in solid outings, hopefully they get some momentum out of it.

  4. Sheldon Neuse has been added to Auburn’s roster according to the Citizen twitter @citizenddays so I guess he has signed. I hope they bat lives up to his name (Pronounced “Noisy”). Ha ha “Key-Boom” and “Noisy”.

    1. Good news that he’s apparently signed, and even better that he’s already headed to Auburn. Did the announcement include what position he’s slated to play? I would guess that it’s not a conversion to catcher, which undoubtedly would have taken place in the GCL.

        1. Something like a catcher conversion would happen in the instructional league, not now. Hand him a wooden bat and get him onto the field!

          1. Granted the Potnats faced a cool customer in
            Evan Leal tonight. Some of the guys are so
            Pull conscience despite having huge holes
            Open in the defensive shift. Comes to mind Dale
            Carey with two on in game one and meijia
            Who could Rod Carew trans to death if he
            Changed his mindset
            Baker is overworking Rivero to death

        2. Does that mean that they’re holding Franco back at GCL so Neuse can play 3B at Auburn? Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

  5. Neuse signs for 900K, 207K below slot. Official tally is 540,800 extra with Dunning, Luzardo, Banks, and Harris to go. Plus approximately 381K they can go over without losing draft picks. So about 921,800 at the moment.

    Unofficial estimate based on rumors and such would be about 688K with Dunning and Banks to go.

    1. Luzardo is signed, for $1.4M, which was $764.2K over slot. I’m thinking Banks will want some over-slot money, but he’s given every indication that he’s signing.

  6. Likely more, but….

    Simonetti (13) signed
    Simonds (14) signed
    Morse (16) signed
    Braymer (18) signed
    Howell (21) signed
    Rishwain (23) signed
    Boggetto (25) signed

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