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Friday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Won, 5-3 @ Buffalo,
7:05 p.m.		 Espino (6-9, 3.62) vs.
Copeland (0-1, 6.00)
Harrisburg Lost, 3-2
(10 inn.)		 @ Hartford,
1:05 p.m.		 Blackmar (1-1, 4.50) or
Mapes (10-6, 3.30) and
TBD vs. Wade (1-2, 4.69) and
C. Hernandez (5-7, 5.19)
Potomac Won, 10-2 @ Carolina,
7:00 p.m.		 Bacus (0-2, 4.18) vs.
Beech (2-4, 4.26)
Hagerstown Lost, 9-5 @ Hickory,
7:00 p.m.		 Bourque (3-4, 6.13) vs.
Swanson (6-4, 3.52)
Auburn Won, 3-2 vs. West Virginia,
7:05 p.m.		 W. Davis (2-2, 2.63) vs.
Escobar (3-2, 3.20)


Syracuse 5 Buffalo 3
• Cole (W, 7-7) 7IP, 8H, 2R, 1ER, BB, 6K
• Martin (SV, 20) 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 0K
• Skole 2-3, R, HR, BB, 2RBI
• Martinson 1-4, R, 2B, BB
• den Dekker 1-3, R

The Chiefs managed not to ruin A.J. Cole’s seven strong innings as they took a 5-0 lead and held on for a 5-3 win over the Bison. Cole evened up his won-loss record at 7-7 with two runs let in on eight hits and a walk while striking out six. Koda Glover whiplashed through the 8th with a HR allowed for the hold while Rafael Martin got the tying run to the plate with a two-out walk but rolled a groundout to earn his 20th save. Matt Skole powered the Syracuse offense with a single, walk, and a two-run home run followed by Jason Martinson, who went 1-for-3 with a walk, a double, and a run scored.

Hartford 3 Harrisburg 2 (10 inn.)
• Long 6IP, 7H, 2R, 1ER, BB, 5K, HR
• Brinley (L, 0-2) ⅔ IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 0K
• Ballou 2-4, 3B, BB, 2RBI
• Stevenson 1-4, R, BB, SB

Harrisburg was no-hit for seven and 2/3rds innings before Isaac Ballou’s two-out, two-run triple tied things at 2-2. Alas, it was the closest Harrisburg would get as Hartford turned a leadoff walk into the game-winner for a 3-2 victory in the 10th. Jaron Long started and turned in a quality start of two runs allowed on seven hits and a walk while striking out five. Ryan Brinley suffered the loss, his second, as he gave up the aforementioned base-on-balls and a two-out single. That might have been tying run had Andrew Stevenson not been thrown out at the plate trying to score on Ballou’s two-out single in the top of the 10th.

Potomac 10 Carolina 2
• Williams (W, 2-3) 7IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 5K, HR
• Thomas 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 0K, HBP
• Schrock 3-4, R, BB, HR, 4RBI, CS
• Marmolejos 2-4, 2R, 3B, BB
• Read 2-4, R, 2B, 2RBI, SB

Austen Williams won his second straight start while the P-Nats hooked the Mudcats, 10-2 in the series opener. Williams gave up both Carolina runs on six hits and three walks and struck out five. Justin Thomas closed out the game with two scoreless innings. Max “For Those About To” Schrock went 3-for-4 with two singles, a walk, and a homer and drove in four. Dale Carey also went deep, while Jose Marmolejos (triple) and Raudy Read (double) connected for extra bases as Potomac marched to a 14-hit parade. Roster moves: RHP Dakota Bacus activated from the 7-Day DL; RHP Trey Lambert released.

Hagerstown 9 Hickory 5
• Baez 4⅓ IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, BB, 2K, HR, HBP
• Howell (W, 1-0) 2⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 4K, 2-2 IR-S
• Pantoja 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Agustin 4-4, R, 2B, 2RBI, SB
• Wiseman 2-3, 2R, 2B, HR, 2BB, 4RBI
• Page 2-3, R, 2B, BB, 2RBI

Hagerstown got to the Hickory bullpen in the 8th, putting up the decisive four-spot in a 9-5 victory. Joan Baez was sent packing in the 5th as he was charged with all five Crawdad runs on seven hits and a walk over four and a 1/3rd innings. Jacob Howell let in both inherited runners while getting the last two outs of the 5th but then pitched two scoreless innings to earn the win. Telmito Agustin and Rhett Wiseman both reached base four times and combined for six RBI as the Suns scorched Crawdad pitchers for 14 hits total.

Auburn 3 West Virginia 2
• Mills 5IP, 0H, 0R, 3BB, 2K
• Acevedo (BS, 1; W, 1-3) 2⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 2K, WP, 2-1 IR-S
• Brandt 1-2, SAC, 2RBI
• Ripken 1-3, RBI

Clayton Brandt’s single over a drawn-in IF plated the decisive run as the Doubledays edged the Black Bears, 3-2. McKenzie Mills (5IP) and Nick Conner (1IP) no-hit West Virginia for six innings but Nick Conner lost the no-no as he allowed a one-out single, then the shutout with the double that followed. A third straight hit chased him and Carlos Acevedo nearly escaped the jam with a whiff but a wild pitch tied the game. A two-base error to open the 7th and a grounder to the right side put the game-winner at third for Brandt, who delivered his second RBI of the night.

9 Commments

  1. Nice outing by Cole, especially right before the trade deadline. He hasn’t been discussed nearly as much as part of the team’s future as he once was, but I wouldn’t mind seeing if he could throw out of the bullpen. He did pretty well in his couple of relief appearances last year.

    Speaking of relievers, with Perez and Rivero so inconsistent, now seems like a good time to point out that Matt Grace is having another solid year at AAA, pitching to a 1.89 ERA.

    That 1.89 number is also his career AAA ERA over parts of three seasons at Syracuse, totaling 90 games and 123 innings. In other words, not a small sample size. Like Cole, Grace seems like a player the team needs to either use now with the big club or use as a trade chip to get something in return that the big club can use now.

  2. Another Ho-Hum outing by Max Schrock, his OPS at Potomac is now .938.

    Good to Agustin get out of his doldrums.

    A farewell to Trey Lambert, an undrafted minor leaguer who managed to chase his dream for a good 3 years.

  3. I’m concerned that the Nats will cave to the pressure to deal at least one of Giolito, Lopez or Robles for a bullpen arm that may not make a material difference in the team’s fortunes this year, but will have a major impact on the future. If the Yankees and/or Royals are requiring an upgrade from what the Cubs paid for Chapman, no thank you. Would rather see the Nats acquire Colome from the Rays or Doolittle from the A’s for Fedde and a couple of other lower rated prospects than sacrifice a big chunk of the Nats best young controllable talent.

  4. Looking over the new MLB.com rankings, I cannot say I have significant quibbles beyond just the ordering of the players. They have the Top 5 (Giolito, Turner, Robles, Lopez & Fedde) absolutely right. My other comments are as follows:

    Difo (6, unchanged) – seems like he should have dropped with his poor season, but since the Nats just recalled him, maybe not.

    C. Kieboom (7), Dunning (8), Neuse (9), Banks (13) & Luzardo (18) – seems like pretty high placement for new draftees, but MLB.com has always favored potential over on field performance.

    Voth (11, down 2) – for whatever reason, the scouts just don’t seem all that impressed with him. There is no other way to explain him dropping after a month of poor performances given how good he’s been his whole career.

    Glover (14, up 5) – he should be ranked #6 overall given his meteoric rise and electric stuff. Relievers just don’t get any respect.

    Schrock (19) – seems like he should have been placed higher, but a smallish player like him is always going to have to be extra good to win respect.

    Perkins (21, dropped 11) – I thought he was placed way to high in the preseason, and now he drops 10 spots despite holding his own at Auburn at age 19. This one makes the least sense to me.

    Franco (23, dropped 10) – Seems like way to large a tumble for a player who apparently merely had an injury setback.

    The one guy they inexplicably dropped was Bostick. But once again, potential utility guys, like relievers, always seem to get the short shrift.

    It’ll be interesting to see who makes the list when Turner “graduates” in another 10 days or so. Bostick or Goodwin might re-emerge, or Watson or “Orange” might finally get some prospect love.

  5. MASN is reporting that Severino is headed to San Francisco to join the Nats tonight. Not clear if Ramos or Lobaton is injured or if this move is connection with another transaction.

  6. Franco is back and only a matter of time before he starts to reassert himself. Hopefully we will see him in low A this year.

    Keep an eye on Jhonathan German at GCL.

    1. Just to expand on this, he went 3-for-4 today, raising his average to .300. But, he’s only had 20 ABs since returning last week and has yet to finish a game. Doesn’t seem like he’s quite ready to be promoted till he can at least go 9 innings.

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