Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 4-2 | vs. Louisville, 6:35 p.m. |
Long (2-4, 4.61) vs. Garrett (1-2, 7.62) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 5-3 | vs. Portland, 7:00 p.m. |
Voth (1-1, 6.23) vs. Stankiewicz (3-4, 4.52) |
| Potomac | Won, 6-2 | vs. Myrtle Beach, 7:05 p.m. |
Guilbeau (2-2, 4.21) vs. Rucker (3-2, 1.95) |
| Hagerstown | OFF DAY | vs. West Virginia, 7:05 p.m. |
Bourque (4-5, 5.17) vs. M. Wallace (2-4, 3.36) |
| Auburn | OFF DAY | vs. West Virginia, 7:05 p.m. |
B. Hill (0-1, 3.12) vs. G. Wallace (0-2, 4.66) |
| GCL Nationals | OFF DAY | @ GCL Mets, 12:00 p.m. |
Syracuse 4 Louisville 2
• Cole 6IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 6K, HR
Syracuse rallied for four in the bottom of 8th and didn’t blow it in the 9th for a 4-2 win.
Harrisburg 5 Richmond 3
• Estevez 6IP, 7H, 3R, 3R, BB, 4K, HBP
• Lara (W, 1-2) 2IP, 2H, 0R, BB, K
• Hernandez 3-4, R, RBI
• Ward 2-4, R, 2B
• Abreu 2-4, R
Likewise in Richmond as the Sens got four in their final “ups” to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 win. Wirkin “For the Weekend” Estevez turned in a quality start of three runs on seven hits and a walk over six innings. The win went to Braulio Lara, who pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th innings. Brady Dragmire worked around a hit in the 9th to get the save, his second. The heart of the order combined to go 7-for-12 with two runs scored and and RBI by Yadiel Hernandez, who led the way with a 3-for-4 afternoon.
Down East 6 Potomac 2
• Williams (L, 1-3) 4⅓ IP, 14H, 6R, 6ER, BB, 2K, 2WP
• Pantoja 3⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K, 2-0 IR-S
• Carey 2-4, R, HR, RBI
• Davidson 1-3, R, BB
First-inning runs continue to dog Potomac as they coughed up five yesterday morning and never recovered for a 6-2 loss to Down East. Austen Williams was charged with all six runs on 14 hits over four and a 1/3rd innings as he lost for the third time in four starts since his demotion. Jorge Pantoja pitched admirably to finish, stranding two in the 5th and keeping the Ducks off the pond save for one hit over the final three and 2/3rds innings. Daley Carey singled and homered while Austin Davidson singled and walked to lead the P-Nats offense.
Hagerstown – OFF DAY
The Suns return home after their monster road trip in second place, though that’s in large part due to the Shorebirds’ eight-game win streak that’s put Delmarva ahead of Hagerstown by a game and a half. Wonder if they’ll meet to decide 1st place in the next few weeks?
Auburn – OFF DAY
Auburn also returns home, but in 5th place and nine games under .500 as they host West Virginia for three before heading back out to Pennsylvania for three against State College.
GCL Nationals – OFF DAY
In the GCL, where the road trips are roughly every other day, the G-Nats return to action on a four-game win streak and a ½ game up on the G-Astros as the sole affiliate in 1st place.
There were rumors that the Nats had considered giving up Robles for Sonny Gray, based in part that the Nats like the long-term prospects of Soto more than Robles (now, it looks like the Yankees and Astros are the finalists for Gray).
This morning, Nats “sources” advised that they are not “in” on Gray, but are still looking for bullpen help. Could be wrong, but I don’t see an available bullpen arm that would justify giving up Robles (or Soto or Fedde); so, if the most current report is true. Robles is unlikely to be dealt (which is good).
FWIW, Robles was picked-off again last night. Nats need Victor to work with a base-running coach in the off-season.
I wouldn’t include Robles in a trade for Gray. Considering Gray’s struggles last season, that seems like too much. But if Robles isn’t in the package, it’s going to take a greater quantity of players, like the deal that brought Gio . . . from the same team, of course.
The only reliever who might be available (although it hasn’t been mentioned much) who might be worth Robles would be Osuna, who is very good, very young, and very long-controlled. Still, I’d struggle with the thought of giving up a consensus top-10 player for ANY reliever.
Amen
I agree, but Barry Svrluga argues otherwise.
Really can’t see giving up Robles (or Soto) for, at most, one NLDS start out of Sonny Gray (the Nats are making the playoffs with or without any other trades).
Gray has ( I think) 2 more years of control, so he would be the replacement for Ross next year as well as for this year’s playoffs