Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Lost, 8-4 | vs. Gwinnett, 6:35 p.m. |
Giolito (AAA debut) vs. Ro. Hernandez (4-4, 4.42) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 3-2 | @ Erie, 7:05 p.m. |
Mapes (8-6, 3.43) vs. TBD |
| Potomac | Lost, 7-6 (11 inn.) |
@ Salem, 7:05 p.m. |
Blackmar (2-0, 1.29) vs. Kopech (0-0, 0.00) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 3-2 | @ Greenville, 7:05 p.m. |
Bourque (1-4, 6.46) vs. De Jesus (0-0, 5.40) |
| Auburn | Lost, 3-2 | vs. Mahoning Valley, 7:05 p.m. |
Watson (1-1, 2.25) vs. Miniard (1-2, 2.17) |
Durham 8 Syracuse 4
• Espino (L, 6-8) 4IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 3K, HR
• Laffey 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Goodwin 3-4, 2B, BB, 2RBI, OF assist at 3B
• den Dekker 1-3, R, BB, RBI
The Chiefs fell behind 3-0 after four and couldn’t catch up as the Bulls doubled ’em up, 8-4 in the series finale. Paolo Espino lost for the eighth time with those aforementioned three runs on five hits and three walks over four innings. Koda Glover became the latest victim of the GBI curse as Durham lit him up for three runs in his two innings of work. Brian Goodwin singled twice, doubled and walked once, and drove in two to lead the Syracuse offense. As noted in the comments, Reynaldo Lopez is expected to pitch for Washington tomorrow; he had been slated to start today, hence the educated guess that Lucas Giolito will take his place tonight.
Harrisburg 3 Altoona 2
• Ross 4IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 4K
• Self (W, 3-2) 3IP, 3H, 0R, 2BB, 0K
• Keyes 1-2, 2B, 2BB
• Ward 1-4, 2RBI
The Harrisburg ‘pen was called into action early again while the offense took advantage of Altoona mistakes for a 3-2 win in the series finale. Greg Ross got hurt while covering first for the first out of the 4th, as the Curve got to him for both of its runs on three hits and no walks. Derek Self (3IP), Andrew Robinson (1IP), and Nick Lee (1IP) combined for five scoreless innings of relief for the win, hold, and save, respectively. Andrew Stevenson doubled, took third on a groundout to second, and scored on a wild pitch in the 6th. He also scored on Drew Ward’s two-out, two-run single in the 1st. The Senators managed just six hits and three walks total and were 2-for-9 with RISP.
Salem 7 Potomac 6 (11 inn.)
• Williams 4⅓ IP, 9H, 6R, 6ER, BB, K, 0HR
• Sanchez 2⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 2K, 1-1 IR-S
• Mendez (L, 2-1) ⅓ IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K
• Carey 3-4, R, 3B, BB
• Vettleson 2-5, 2B, RBI
• Schrock 2-5, R, RBI, SB(5)
The Red Sox roared back from a 5-2 deficit with a four-run 5th, to which the P-Nats answered to tie it at 6-6, but lost in extras, 7-6. Austen Williams bore the brunt of Salem’s assault with six runs allowed on nine hits and a walk over four and a 1/3rd innings. The loss went to Gilberto Mendez on a single-sacrifice-double sequence in the 11th, ending a streak of 11 appearances without an earned run. Dale Carey reached base four times with a walk, two singles, and a triple to lead Potomac’s 11-hit parade, followed by Max “For Those About To” Schrock, Alex Keller, and Drew Vettleson with two hits apiece.
Hagerstown 3 Greenville 2
• Avila 6IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 6K, HBP
• Hearn (BS, 1; W, 1-0) 3IP, 4H, 2R, 0ER, BB, 4K
• Sagdal 3-3, R, 2B, HR, 2RBI, BB
• Encarnacion 2-5, R, HR, RBI
Ian Sagdal’s leadoff HR in the 9th answered Greenville’s two-out, two-run rally in the 8th and lifted Hagerstown to its fifth straight win, 3-2. Taylor Hearn got the blown-save-win with both Drive runs let in on four hits and a walk over three innings. Pedro Avila started and turned in his best outing of the season with six scoreless innings and five baserunners allowed (2H, 2BB, HBP) with six strikeouts. Sagdal singled twice, walked, and doubled while driving in the second Suns run. The first came on Randy Encarnacion’s solo shot in the 3rd, as he extended his hit streak to six games and improved to .349 over his last 10 (15-for-43). Roster moves: RHP Pedro Avila activated from the 3-Day Temporary Inactive List.
Mahoning Valley 3 Auburn 2
• W. Davis 5IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Mooney (L, 0-1) 1IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K, WP
• Perkins 1-3, R, SB
• Sundberg 1-3, R, 3B, BB, RBI
It’s hard to win with just three hits, but the Doubledays tried as they couldn’t make two first-inning runs stand up and lost, 3-2 to the Scrappers. Weston Davis needed just 48 pitches to retire the Mahoning batters five times as he allowed no walks and just two hits while setting down two on strikes. Steven Fuentes wasn’t as effective as the Scrappers got two runs against him in the 7th. The loss went to Kevin Mooney despite his Auburn-logo mustache via a leadoff triple and a sac fly in the 9th. Blake Perkins, Jack Sundberg, and Ryan Ripken both reached base twice and went 2-for-8 with three walks. The rest of the lineup was 1-for-23.
Avila has really put up a nice season. Some good pitching from other low level types like Davis and Hearn.
OTOH, Ward and Stevenson not finding their footing yet in AA.
Just a quick note on Lopez in the midst of the hoopla that will surround his debut: he pitched fewer innings than Giolito did last season, so he’s only good for about 40 more innings this year. If his stuff plays against MLB hitters, it will be interesting to see if they keep him in the majors for a look in the bullpen.
As I noted in yesterday’s comments, there will also have to be a DFA to get Lopez on the 40-man.
Would guess that the plan is for Lopez to make one or at most two MLB starts and then for Joe Ross to return from the DL. At that point, the Nats could move Lopez to the pen in Cuse for a September call up. Would be interesting to see what the Nats do if Lopez pitches lights out, and Ross is not ready to return as it appears that Lopez has at most 6 or 7 starts before he hits his innings limit.
Has anyone else noticed the Red Sox starting catcher is terrorizing AL pitching? He’s batting .452/.493/.694 through 21 games.
That catcher’s name? Sandy Leon.
I noticed that–obviously an unsustainable pace, but it will be interesting to see where his stats settle in. Amazingly, he is only 27, and with catchers sometimes being late bloomers he might have improved enough to become an MLB regular.
Really want to see Giolito pitch well at Cuse. Understand that he has all of the tools to be high level MLB pitcher, but his results this year have been up and down. While still very good for a 22 year-old prospect, his numbers are not at the level that you would expect from the #1 pitching prospect in the game.
I think you’d be surprised what constitutes a #1 pitching prospect’s numbers.
Compare him to Julio Urias, Alex Reyes, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and you’ll see he compares favorably over the past year or so.