Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 7-6 | vs. Pawtucket, 6:35 p.m. |
O’Sullivan (0-0, 3.00) vs. Beeks (1-1, 3.75) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 12-7 | @ Akron, 7:05 p.m. |
Crownover (0-1, 6.00) vs. Lugo (4-3, 4.09) |
| Potomac | Won, 4-2 | @ Carolina, 7:00 p.m. |
Silvestre (6-2, 4.34) vs. Ponce (5-5, 3.70) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 4-1; Lost, 10-1 |
@ Kannapolis, 4:30 p.m. |
Bourque (1-3, 5.05) and Ramirez (0-1, 4.18) vs. Solorzano (1-5, 5.74) and TBD |
Syracuse 7 Pawtucket 6
• Cole 5IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, BB, 3K, HR
• Fedde (W, 1-0) 1IP, 3H, R, ER, 0BB, 1K
• Suero (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Robinson 1-2, R, 3BB
• Stevenson 2-3, 2R, 2B, 3B, BB, 2RBI
• Solano 2-3, R, 2RBI
It took 61 games and a three-run rally in the bottom of the 8th for the Chiefs to secure their 20th win, 7-6 over Pawtucket. A.J. Cole went the first five and gave up five runs on eight hits and a walk. The win went to Erick Fedde despite giving up a run on three hits in his single inning of work. Wander Suero picked up the save as he fanned two and walked on in a scoreless 9th. Syracuse cashed in this time on nine walks as they scored seven times on just seven hits, led by Andrew Stevenson who doubled and tripled and drove in two.
Roster moves: Grant Green released; OF Alejandro de Aza assigned from Washington.
Harrisburg 12 Akron 7
• Hill 5⅔ IP, 9H, 7R, 4ER, 2BB, 2K, HR
• Eitel (W, 2-2) 3⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 4K
• N. Soto 3-5, R, RBI
• Marmolejos 2-4, 2R, 3B, BB, 2RBI
• Keller 3-6, 2R, 2B, RBI
Harrisburg broke out for six runs in the 7th and three in the 8th to turn a 7-3 deficit into a 12-7 win over Akron. Taylor Hill gave up his customary HR and all seven runs (four earned) on nine hits and two walks over five and 2/3rds innings. Derek Eitel picked up the win in relief as he plucked the ‘Ducks over three and a 1/3rd scoreless and hitless innings. Stephen Perez was the beer man in a 14-hit parade that was paced by Alec Keller and Neftali Soto at three hits apiece.
Potomac 4 Buies Creek 2
• Borne (W, 2-2) 7IP, 3H, R, ER, 2BB, 6K, HBP
• Pena (S, 1) 2IP, H, R, ER, BB, 3K, HR
• Gushue 1-1, BB, 2SF, 2RBI
• Masters 2-4, 3B
The P-Nats doubled up the Astros, 4-2 and took the series, 2-1. Grant Borne went seven solid innings and gave up a run on three hits and two walks while striking out six for his second win. Ronald Pena was dinged for a homer in the 9th but preserved the lead for the save. Taylor Gushue singled, walked, and drove in two with a pair of sacrifice flies while David Masters singled and tripled to lead the Potomac offense.
Kannapolis 4 Hagerstown 1 – GAME ONE
• Sharp (L, 3-4) 4IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 0BB, 4K, HR
• Howard 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Neuse 3-3, R, 2B
• Noll 2-3
Kannapolis 10 Hagerstown 1 – GAME TWO
• Bogucki (L, 0-1) 2⅔ IP, 7H, 7R, 7ER, 3BB, 2K, 2HR
• Panaccione 1-2, R, 2B
Kannapolis made up serious ground with a doubleheader sweep of Hagerstown, 4-1 and 10-1. Sterling Sharp wasn’t (4IP, 4R) and A.J. Bogucki did his best imitation of Taylor Hill (2⅔ IP, 2HR) to take the losses. Sheldon Neuse and Jake Noll combined for five of the seven hits in the first game while the Suns were limited to just three in the nightcap. The Intimidators got help from the Crawdads, who swept the Grosshoppers in their doubleheader, while the BlueClaws snuck back into the race with a win.
Hagerstown still leads the division by one game—you might even say they’re in the driver’s seat—but is tied with Kannapolis in the loss column, and ahead of both Greensboro and Lakewood by one game. After tonight, none of these four teams play each other and only the Suns and Intimidators can play the full 70 games. Kannapolis has won three of four games played against Hagerstown, thus a Suns sweep would effectively eliminate the Intimidators, given that the next tiebreaker is divisional record (currently 25-18 vs 20-21).
Grant Borne is really starting to look like something: 1.16 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, .186 avg. against. He’s given up a single run in each of his last three starts.
Orange back in LF, and with two more hits. He’s on the 40-man, so it seems likely he will get a look with the big club this year, in Sept. if not before.
a little early to fire up the bandwagon on Borne but good observation on his success. good ground ball rate too.
would like to see Marmolejos bumped to AAA, I’ve seen enough of the Matt Skole show.
I don’t know that there would be much benefit at the moment to bumping Marmolejos up to AAA, particularly if they truly want him to learn LF. There isn’t a lot of learning that goes on at AAA (or apparently at least not in Syracuse!).
Luke, I got an e-mail from the P-Nats about another hearing with the county next week about the proposed stadium. What’s the latest on that front?
http://www.insidenova.com/news/politics/prince_william/potomac-nationals-stadium-deal-can-t-wait-on-november-referendum/article_02833320-4f80-11e7-a90b-93738296f959.html
This lays it out for the most part. I would certainly prefer that they stay and have expressed my support but I’m not a PWC resident; if the worst case were to happen, it wouldn’t affect me very much.
What’s not clear is how much of this is indeed brinksmanship. Notice that the league isn’t confirming the deadline (or denying it) which is probably the case with the waiver too.
Thanks. Ultimatums are rarely the way to win friends and influence people . . . all the more when they can’t even point to another town and say “we’re moving to Fredericksburg” (the perpetual Hags threat).
*Sigh.*
Auburn starts play Monday, too soon to incorporate 2017 draftees. And their official roster is fairly non-existent. So the beginning of NYPL play always brings surprises. That’s how Rey Lopez busted out a few years back.
Who matriculates early from the Dominican prospects, and who skips up north? There are lots of holdovers from the 2016 draft, and the Nats have not been promoting from the low minors. And, a few players who had been DL.