| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Syracuse | Won, 7-4 | vs. Buffalo, 7:05 p.m. | Joe Ross (MLB Rehab) vs. Stewart (2-0, 4.15) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 4-3 (10 inn.) |
@ Richmond, 6:05 p.m. | Milone (MLB Rehab) vs. Ch. Johnson (2-5, 4.04) |
| Potomac | Postponed | @ Wilmington, 4:35 p.m. | Tetreault (0-1, 6.32) and Johnston (5-1, 3.86) vs. Tillo (3-4, 4.32) and Hope (5-3, 4.90) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 6-3 | vs. Kannapolis, 6:05 p.m. | Held (5-7, 3.61) Portland (0-0, 0.00) |
| Auburn | Won, 6-2 | vs. Batavia, 1:05 p.m. | F. Peguero (4-3, 3.02) vs. Guerrero (3-5, 3.24) |
Syracuse 7 Buffalo 4
• Valdez (W, 6-7) 7IP, 7H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 6K
• Gott (SV, 3) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Gonzalez 3-4, R, HR, 3RBI, 2SB
• Sierra 2-4, R, RBI
• Severino 2-4, R, RBI
The Chiefs’ lead in the loss column was not reduced they handed the Bison their 8th straight loss, 7-4. Phillips Valdez tossed seven innings of two-run ball on seven hits and a walk while striking out six. It was his sixth win. Thanks to Chris Smith coughing up the next two runs in Kelley-esque fashion, Trevor Gott came on in the 9th and got three outs to earn the save, his third. Bengie Gonzalez power the Syracuse offense with three hits and three RBI, followed by Moises Sierra and Pedro Severino, who both went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Roster moves: LHP Sammy Solis recalled to Washington.
Harrisburg 4 Richmond 3
• Vargas 6IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 4K, 2HR
• Self (W, 5-2) 2IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 3K
• Mendez (SV, 11) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Ward 3-4, R, BB
• Keller 2-4, BB, RBI
Harrisburg erased a 3-0 deficit with two in 7th and one in the 8th and completed the comeback with a run in the 10th to defeat Richmond, 4-3. Cesar Vargas went the first six and gave up the aforementioned three runs on six hits, including two HRs, while striking out four. He walked none in the no-decision. The “W” went to Derek Self, who pitched two scoreless in the 8th and 9th innings while the save went to Roman Mendez for keeping the free runner from scoring while retiring the side in the 10th. Alec Keller drove in Daniel Johnson after a Jake Noll sacrifice to plate the game-winner. Drew Ward led the Sens hit column with three singles in four trips to the plate.
Wilmington vs. Potomac – PPD
Rain washed away the first of five scheduled games between the Blue Rocks and the P-Nats to close out the regular season. Meanwhile, the Hillcats shut out the Red Sox, 8-0 to reduce the magic number to two over the former and one over the latter. Officially, last night’s game will be made up tomorrow, but one would hope that if Lynchburg clinches tonight, common sense will prevail and they’ll play just one.
Kannapolis 6 Hagerstown 3
• Alastre (L, 4-8) 6IP, 8H, 5R, 4ER, BB, 3K, HR
• D. Smith 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Franco 3-5, RBI, CS
• Choruby 1-3, R, BB, SB(13)
Kannapolis put up two in the 2nd and three in the 5th en route to doubling up Hagerstown, 6-3. Tomas Alastre lost for the eighth time as he let in five on eight hits and a walk over six innings. Anderson Franco went 3-for-5 to lead the Suns’ 10-hit, six-walk, 14-whiff offense.
Auburn 6 Williamsport 2
• N. Gomez (W, 2-1) 5IP, 4H, R, ER, 2BB, 6K
• Day (H, 1) 3IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Rhinesmith 2-3, 2R, BB, RBI
• O’Connor 2-4, R, HR, 2RBI
• Daily 2-4, R, RBI
The Doubledays tripled up the Crosscutter to take the game, 6-2, the series, 2-1, and a &frac;12; game lead in the NYPL wildcard race. Niomar Gomez won his second game with five innings of one-run ball on four hits and two walks while fanning six. Chandler Day followed with three hitless innings of relieve before David Smith struck out the side in the 9th to close it out. Nic Perkins and Pablo O’Connor both homered while Jacob Rhinesmith, O’Connor, and Cole Daily all had multiple hits to lead the Auburn attack.
Salary Dump Returns
As noted in the comments, the Nats picked up some minor-leaguers in return for trading Ryan Madson and Gio Gonzalez:
• Andrew Istler (Madson)
• KJ Harrison (Gonzalez)
• Gilbert Lara (Gonzalez)
Of the three, only KJ Harrison is current prospect and carries the red flag of splitting time between catcher and first base both this season and last spring with Oregon State. The Brewers were said to be “thin at catcher” when he was drafted, so the natural inference is that his future is probably at first base. Not coincidentally, first base is a (very) soft spot in the Washington system.
Lara was a highly regarded IFA in 2014 and was a Top 30 MLB.com prospect as recently as last season but has lost some luster. Like former farmhand Kelvin Gutierrez, the gap between his size (6’4″ 198) and his power (.353 SLG% this season, .324 career) is troublesome.
Istler turns 26 later this month. He was drafted in the 23rd round in 2015, which means he’s Rule 5 eligible. You should be able to draw the correct conclusion from those three facts, but for the MASN/WaPo commenters lurking here: he’s a roster-filler who will probably replace someone at AA departing via free agency.