Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 6-1 | vs. Buffalo, 6:35 p.m. |
Cole (7-7, 4.24) vs. Diamond (7-10, 3.42) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 6-1 | @ Binghamton, 6:35 p.m. |
Long (3-2, 2.13) vs. Montero (2-1, 2.19) |
| Potomac | Won, 4-1 | vs. Carolina, 7:05 p.m. |
Bacus (1-2, 3.45) vs. Griffin (2-7, 6.92) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 7-1 | @ Lakewood, 7:05 p.m. |
Guilbeau (2-1, 4.65) vs. Taveras (4-8, 3.99) |
| Auburn | Lost, 8-3 | vs. State College, 7:05 p.m. |
W. Davis (2-2, 2.17) vs. Dobzanski (3-4, 3.83) |
Syracuse 6 Buffalo 1
• Voth (W, 6-7) 7IP, 6H, R, ER, 3BB, 4K
• Grace 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Lombardozzi 1-2, R, 3BB, SB
• Skole 1-3, R, BB, HR, RBI
• Martinson 1-3, R, 2B, BB, 2RBI
Austin Voth turned in seven strong innings while the Bison bullpen gave it away as the Chiefs won, 6-1. Voth let in the one Buffalo run on six hits and three walks while striking out four for his sixth “W.” Matt Grace and Rafael Martin both turned in a scoreless inning to close it out. Steve Lombardozzi reached base four times with a single and three walks while Caleb Ramsey and Matt Skole both homered. Beers were on Christopher Bostick as the only Syracuse batter not to get a hit.
Harrisburg 6 Binghamton 1
• Valdez (W, 4-2) 7IP, 6H, R, ER, 2BB, 2K
• Runion 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Marmolejos 3-5, R, 2B
• Stevenson 2-5, RBI
• Ward 1-2, R, HR, 2RBI, 3BB
Harrisburg dropped a four-spot with on Binghamton in the 2nd then added two runs in the 4th as they cruised to a 6-1 win. Phillips Valdez remains on track with his third straight outing of seven innings, allowing the B-Mets run on six hits and two walks while setting down two on strikes. Sam Runion tossed two scoreless innings to close it out. Drew Ward singled, homered, and drew three walks while Jose “Orange” Marmolejos went 3-for-5 with a double to lead the Senators offense.
Potomac 4 Lynchburg 1
• Whiting (W, 9-2) 6⅓ IP, 7H, R, ER, 0BB, 5K
• Holland (H, 1) 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K, 2-0 IR-S
• Reistetter 1-3, R, SF, RBI
• Carey 1-2, R, RBI, 2BB
The P-Nats rallied for two runs twice and got solid pitching from veteran Boone Whiting as they declawed the Hillcats, 4-1 to split the four-game series. Whiting pitched into the 7th, giving up Lynchburg’s sole run on seven hits with nary a walk and five whiffs. Neil Holland stranded two in the 7th and pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for the hold while Ryan Brinley worked around a two-out double in the 9th to earn his 11th save. The bottom half of the P-Nats lineup got the job done with all four walks and three of the team’s six hits, including Matt Reistetter (8th) with a single, run, and a sac fly and Dale Carey (9th) with a single, run, and two walks.
Hagerstown 7 West Virginia 1
• Bourque (W, 4-4) 5IP, 6H, R, ER, 0BB, 3K
• Rivera (H, 3) 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K, WP
• Gutierrez 3-5, R, 2B, 3B
• DeBruin 3-5, 2B, SB
• Encarnacion 2-5, 2R, HR, 2RBI
Hagerstown scored once in the 1st, twice in the 2nd and never looked back as they took the game, 7-1, and the series, 2-1 from West Virginia. James Bourque turned in his best outing with five innings of one-run ball on six hits, with no walks and three strikeouts to even up his won-loss record at 4-4. Mariano Rivera III (2IP), Philip Walby (1IP), and Tommy Peterson (1IP) combined for four scoreless innings of relief. The Suns collected 14 hits total, with Kelvin Gutierrez and Grant DeBruin both going 3-for-5, and Randy Encarnacion and Rhett Wiseman each hitting a two-run HR.
State College 8 Auburn 3
• Mills 5IP, 3H, R, ER, BB, 2K
• Bogucki (L, 0-4) 2IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 2K
• Banks 2-4, 2B, 2RBI
• Sundberg 2-4, R
The Doubledays firemen brought the gasoline instead of the water as the Spikes torched them for seven runs over the final four innings for an 8-3 loss. McKenzie Mills went the first five for Auburn with one run allowed on three hits and a walk and two strikeouts. The loss went to A.J. Bogucki with three runs let in over his two innings. Nick Banks singled and doubled and drove in two while Ryan Ripken and Jack Sundberg both went 2-for-4 to lead the Doubledays attack. Roster move: LHP Hector Silvestre assigned from Potomac for MiLB rehab.
Wow, I call for more power from Ward, and he delivers the same day. Must be reading the blog . . . Anyway, looks like he, Stevenson, and Orange are intent on finishing strong at AA and perhaps getting invites to the big-league camp next spring.
It’s good to see Michael Taylor have another two-hit game. He arrived in Syracuse in a terrible funk but seems to be finding his footing.
Even though Auburn lost McKenzie Mills had another solid outing: 5IP 3H 1BB 2Ks. Mills was drafted out of HS two years ago, and is playing mostly against guys drafted out of college. He is a year younger than NY-Penn League average, and has played well against older competition. Also, got to love a lefty with his frame (6-4 205). Definitely a player to keep an eye on.
Also, after missing only two weeks (not sure what his injury was), Carter Kieboom has played in 3 of the last 4 games for the GCL Nats. Among other things, he needs to work on making contact as the Nats’ first pick has 27Ks in his first 76 professional ABs. That said, it’s a huge adjustment from playing HS baseball to even the GCL.
Yes, Auburn seems to have three very good, very young lefty starters in Mills, Watson, and Ramirez. I laughed when people said the Nats were giving up their “only” good lefty prospect in Hearn.
Yes, KW, let’s give credit where it’s due, it’s obvious the F.O. decided to go full bore on getting a lot more left handed pitchers in the system. These things take time, unfortunately as we may not see these guys in even AA for a couple of years.
The Nats must not be the only ones with this issue, as the big trades have involved giving up a lefthander. Remember Travis Ott? That trade got us Trea Turner & Joe Ross.
Also, good job you did motivating Drew Ward. He’s on his way now! 🙂
Yeah, most of the loading up on LH arms has been the last couple of drafts — including Hearn — so it’s going to take time for all of them. The last generation of lefty starters was supposed to be Purke, Solis, and Rivero. Well, they all made the majors, but none as starters. I guess Robbie Ray did, although he hasn’t exactly thrived.
The good news with the big club is that there’s not a great need for starters, and in fact a log jam now with the ready/nearly ready righties. There’s plenty of time for the 19-year-old cavalry.
Thanks for pointing out Mills to me, hadn’t noticed.
Re: Carter Kieboom, just remember it takes about 600 AB’s to get the aluminum out of their swing.