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Wednesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Won, 3-2 vs. Toledo,
1:05 p.m.		 J. Turner (0-0, 3.12) vs.
C. Bell (0-1, 1.69)
Harrisburg Won, 9-2 @ Hartford,
7:05 p.m.		 Fedde (1-0, 0.00)
Almonte (0-0, 2.53)
Potomac Lost, 3-0;
Won, 6-0		 vs. Down East,
10:35 a.m.		 Silvestre (1-0, 6.30) vs.
Payano (0-0, 2.79)
Hagerstown Won, 6-4 @ Lakewood,
11:05 a.m.		 M. Mills (1-1, 3.60)
S. Sanchez (0-1, 4.66)

Syracuse 3 Toledo 2
• Cole 5⅓ IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, BB, K
• Gott (W, 1-0) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Joseph 2-3
• Sanchez 2-3, R, 2B

Adrian Sanchez doubled and scored on an error in the 8th as Syracuse edged Toledo, 3-2 in the series opener. A.J. Cole kept the ball in the yard, scattering eight hits over five and a 1/3rd innings for both Mud Hens runs. He walked one and struck out one. Trevor Gott was the winning pitcher while Rafael Martin earned the save; both pitched a scoreless inning in the 8th and 9th innings, respectively. Sanchez and Corban Joseph both went 2-for-3 to lead the Chiefs’ nine-hit offense, which also struck out 12 times.

Harrisburg 9 Hartford 2
• Long (W, 2-1) 7IP, 5H, R, ER, BB, 5K
• Valdez 2IP, 1H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K
• Stevenson 5-5, 2R, 2-2B, 2RBI
• Lisson 2-5, 2R, HR, 4RBI

The Senators broke out for five in the 3rd then added two-spots in the 4th and 5th as the Senators railroaded the Yard Goats, 9-2. Andrew Stevenson singled three times and doubled twice for his second straight five-hit game, pushing his BA to .447 – second-best in the E.L. Jaron Long won for the second time in three starts, giving up just one run over seven innings on five hits and a walk. Mario Lisson’s grand slam started things off for Harrisburg’s 14-hit attack. Roster move: LHP R.C. Orlan reassigned from Potomac.

Down East 3 Potomac 0 – GAME ONE
• Reyes (L, 1-2) 5IP, 9H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 2K, HR
• Mayberry 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Sagdal 2-3
• Wiseman 1-3, 2B

Potomac twice loaded the bases in the final two innings but came up short both times in a 3-0, five-hit shutout by a trio of Down East pitchers. P-Nats starter and losing pitcher Luis Reyes allowed all three Wood Ducks runs on nine hits and two walks. Whit Mayberry followed with two scoreless. Ian Sagdal went 2-for-3 and was the sole Potomac batter to reach base twice. Victor Robles made his first appearance in five days with two ABs and four defensive innings played. He was not injured nor was his replacement Telmito Agustin, who took over in centerfield and was a hit by pitch.

Potomac 6 Down East 0 – GAME TWO
• Crownover (W, 2-0) 5IP, 7H, 0R, BB, 4K
• R. Pena 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Mejia 2-3, 2B, BB
• Lowery 1-3, R, HR, 3RBI
• Lora 1-2, 2R, 2B, SB

Jake Lowery’s Earl Weaver special in the 2nd was more than enough for the P-Nats to return the favor and blank the Wood Ducks, 6-0 in the nightcap. Matt Crownover (5IP) and Ronald Pena (2IP) combined on the seven-hit shutout, with a walk and five K’s between the two pitchers. Bryan Mejia reached base three times with a double, single, and a walk while Austin Davidson capped off the scoring with a two-run single in the 6th. Roster move: RHP Gilberto Mendez assigned to Potomac from Extended Spring Training.

Hagerstown 6 Lakewood 4
• Sharp 6IP, 4H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 6K
• VanVossen (W, 1-0) 2IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, 4K
• Barrera 2-4, R, 2B, 2K
• Perkins 2-5, 2R, RBI, SB, CS
• C. Kieboom 1-3, R, 2B, 2RBI

Carter Kieboom’s two-run double highlighted a three-run 9th as Hagerstown held on for 6-4 win over Lakewood. Sterling Sharp lived up to his surname with an unearned run on four hits, no walks, and six K’s over six innings. Kyle Simonds lost the 3-1 lead, which made Mick VanVossen the winnings pitcher as he closed out the game with one run allowed over two innings. Tres Barrera and Anderson Franco both went 2-for-4 with a run scored while Blake perkins scored twice on two singles in five trips to the plate to lead the Suns’ 10-hit parade. Roster move: LHP Yonathan Ramirez assigned from Auburn.

9 Commments

  1. Good to see Ramirez show up in Hags. I had wondered why he had not joined the other three young starters there. Perhaps he will take the spot in the rotation with Weston Davis going on the DL.

    And why is it that Crownover isn’t in the regular rotation?

    Jaron Long has pitched in the Eastern League for parts of four seasons now. He didn’t do as well at Syracuse last year as he did at Harrisburg, but considering how bad some of the Syracuse pitching has been, what could it hurt to give him another look there?

    And hey hey, they finally let Austin Davidson play the field, at 2B. He’s hitting a cool .353 for those who haven’t noticed. What could it hurt to give him a look at Harrisburg, where org guys are holding down 2B? Kelvin Gutierrez is hitting .313 but would seem to be blocked upstream by Drew Ward, and by his own lack of power. How can a guy built like that not hit every ball 400 feet?

  2. How long does Stevenson last in AA? Maybe halfway through the season with some potential logjam at Syracuse? I realize this is his first stint there, and we’re still in “SSS” territory, but if he maintains a >.300 batting average would he get a quicker than normal promotion?

    However, he’s got one SB and two CS.

    1. I wouldn’t be that concerned about if/whether Stevenson gets promoted to Syracuse this year. Most of the real “prospects,” who are still “prospect” age, are at Harrisburg and generally are playing at AA.

      My take is that Stevenson shouldn’t be that focused on whether he gets promoted this season. The much bigger prize will be next spring when a starting OF spot will be open with the big club. (Even if they were to re-sign Werth for another year or two, it would have to be with the understanding that he’ll be a part-timer, right?) I would think that the Nats hope that Stevenson and Robles are able to show enough this season to be able to compete with Taylor and Goodwin for a starting spot. (Sorry Bautista fans, but I don’t see him as a starter.)

      Stevenson is already checking one box, as he’s hitting at a much better clip at AA in ’17 than he did in ’16. However, he hasn’t had many extra-base hits (two doubles last night raised his total to four of his 21 hits). He’s never going to be a big HR guy, but he needs that “gap power” to be seen as more than a “singles hitter.” It was the 2B/3B/HRs in AZ that really got people excited about him. He also needs to keep the Ks down and try to work a few more walks. I’m not that concerned about his SBs. He’s proven he can run. (He does need to cut down on the CSs, though.)

      That’s my 0.02 from the peanut gallery. My guess would be that the Nats will bring back Werth in the Heisey role, which will leave a starting and another reserve OF spot to be decided among Stevenson, Robles, Taylor, Goodwin, and Bautista.

      1. Or maybe Werth gets suspended for going off on CB Bucknor and someone gets called up now! (But that would only double the travesty, not to mention call more attention to it.)

  3. What an exciting 1-2-3 in Hagerstown. I can’t imagine opposing pitchers are too thrilled to see .360, .378 and .396 AVGs atop the lineup, especially with .467, .462 and .463 OBPs to go with it. Hopefully Perkins can keep this pace up, but I have less doubts about Kieboom and Soto’s ability to do so.

  4. I think Ramierz goes straight into WDavis’ rotation spot in Hagerstown for sure.

    Syracuse will be a starter light as soon as Ross is promoted: perhaps we’ll see a cascading effect upwards. The promotion of Orlan up w/o a corresponding move is an odd one; by my count Harrisburg now has 14 active arms …that seems to be at least 1 or 2 too many. Perhaps (per the note above) Long gets bumped up to the AAA rotation (there’s not really anyone in AAA who profiles as a starter who isn’t already starting).

  5. Dusty said yesterday that Trea will be going on a rehab assignment, but it hasn’t been announced where. The Post says Potomac and Hagerstown are both playing at home and make the most sense. Someone please post if they hear where he’s going to be. Sure would be fun to see Trea and Robles together at the top of the order for a couple of nights!

  6. Mike Rizzo stated that Turner is doing his rehab in West Palm (inter-squad games) because it warm, and Turner can bat multiple times. Also, the Nats promoted Greg Ross from H’burg to Cuse to replace Joe Ross.

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