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Monday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Matchup
Fresno Lost, 10-6 OFF DAY N/A
Harrisburg Won, 11-8 OFF DAY N/A
Potomac Lost, 6-4 OFF DAY N/A
Hagerstown Won, 5-3 @ Columbia, 7:05 p.m. Alastre (3-10, 6.44) vs Taveras (5-9, 5.44)
Auburn Won, 10-5 OFF DAY N/A
GCL Nationals Lost, 4-3 (8 inn.);
Won, 5-3 (8 inn.)		 vs. GCL Cardinals, 12:00 p.m.

Reno 10 Fresno 6
• Ondrusek (L, 4-5) 4IP, 9H, 8R, 8ER, 3BB, 5K, 2HR, WP
• Guilbeau 1IP, 1H, 0R, BB, K
• Keller 3-4, 2B
• Noll 2-5, 2R, 2HR(9,10), 5RBI
• Snyder 1-3, 2R, 2BB, HR, RBI

Reno completed the sweep of Fresno with a 10-6 win, dropping the Grizzlies below .500 and five games behind the River Cats. Logan Ondrusek took the brunt of the beating with eight runs allowed on nine hits (two HR) and three walks over four innings. He struck out five while losing his fifth game. Jake Noll homered twice and Brandon Snyder once to lead the counterattack.
Roster moves: C Matt Reistetter placed on 7-Day I.L.

Harrisburg 11 Portland 8
• Mapes 5⅔ IP, 9H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 6K
• Boxberger (W, 1-1) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 0K
• Barrett (SV, 23) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• M. Taylor 4-6, R, HR, 4RBI
• Wiseman 2-5, 3R, 2B, 3B, 3RBI
• Sardinas 2-4, 2-2B, BB, RBI

After blowing leads of 3-2 and 5-4, the Sens rallied from 8-5 down in the 8th to take the game, 11-8 and the series, 3-1. Tyler Mapes pitched into the 6th with four runs allowed on nine hits and two walks while striking out six. After a four-run meltdown by Jordan Mills in the 7th, Brad Boxberger worked around a hit in the 8th to earn the win while Aaron Barrett turned in his surrendered neither a hit nor a walk for the 14th time for his 23rd save. Michael Taylor led the 15-hit parade with three singles and homer, followed by Rhett Wiseman with a double and a triple, as every Harrisburg batter had at least one hit.

Frederick 6 Potomac 4
• M. Peña (L, 5-7) 5IP, 8H, 6R, 4ER, 0BB, 1K, 2HR
• F. Peguero 2⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Corredor 3-4, RBI
• Davidson 1-4, 2RBI

Frederick dropped five-spot—two via the HR, nos. 15 and 16—on Malvin Peña in the 1st and cruised to a 6-4 win in the finale to prevent a three-game sweep by Potomac. Peña let in all six Keys runs on eight hits over five frames, with no walks and one (1) strikeout. Francys Peguero and Jorge Pantoja combined fore three scoreless to keep the P-Nats close, but the tying run never came to the plate in the last four innings. Aldrem Corredor singled three times and drove in one while Austin Davidson plated the first and last runs on a single in the 1st and RBI groundout in the 5th.

Hagerstown 5 Columbia 3
• Stoeckinger 6IP, 8H, 3R, 2ER, 1BB, 0K
• Vann (W, 3-2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 0K
• Guillen (SV, 5) 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 5K
• Caulfield 2-3, R, BB, HR, 2RBI
• Vickers 1-3, BB, RBI
• Daily 1-4, R, BB, RBI, SB

The Suns rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take the game, 5-3 and complete the the three-game sweep of the ‘Flies. Jackson Stoeckinger recovered from a three-run 1st to register a quality start, with eight hits, one walk, and no K’s over six innings. Chris “Chevy” Vann got the win with a scoreless 7th while Angel Guillen struck out five of seven batters faced in the last two innings for this save. Phil Caulfield smacked a two-run HR and also singled and walked to lead the Hagerstown offense.

Auburn 10 Mahoning Valley 5
• E. Lee 3IP, 3H, R, ER, 2BB, 4K
• Chu 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Pratt 3-4, HR, 3RBI
• Senior 2-4, 3B, 2RBI
• Mendez 2-3, 2R, BB

Auburn jumped on Mahoning Valley for five runs in the 1st and with just a hiccup in the 9th, cruised to a 10-5 win in the finale to stop a four-game skid. Evan Lee got the start and went the first three innings, letting in a run on four hits and two walks while fanning four. Dylan Beasley got the “W” in his NYPL debut, pitching two scoreless innings. Andrew Pratt hit his first pro HR while going 3-for-4 with 3RBI while Eric Senior tripled, singled, and drove in two to pace the Doubledays offense.
Roster moves: RHP Dylan Beasley reassigned from the GCL.

GCL Mets 4 GCL Nationals 3 – GAME ONE
• Yean 4⅔ IP, 3H, R, ER, 3BB, 5K, HR
• Peguero (L, 0-1) 1⅓ IP, 2H, 3R, 2ER, 0BB, 2K, HR
• Hubbard 2-4, R, 2RBI
• Russo 2-4, 2B, CS

GCL Nationals 5 GCL Mets 3 (8 inn.) – GAME TWO
• P. Gonzalez 4⅓ IP, 5H, 2R, 0ER, 2BB, 3K
• A. Martinez (BS, 1; W, 1-1) 2⅔ IP, 2H, 1R, 0ER, 2BB, 2K, 1-0 IR-S
• Turbi 2-4, RBI
• Hurtado 2-4, 2R, 2B, HR, 4RBI

9 Commments

  1. Jake Noll checks in at a good time, with adjustments to the 40-man likely coming in the next couple of days. After an awful start at AAA he has rebounded decently. It’s going to be interesting to see who they DFA, though, as it could end up being three guys or more (unless some leave in trade). Would they DFA Barraclough? Sure hard to trust him with the big club right now. (As an aside, who brings in a guy just up from the minors in the 8th inning of a tie game?!) Venters sure wasn’t great in his MLB cameos, either.

    I guess Boxberger in next in the line of recycles. What must Barrett think as all of these retreads troop through while he keeps posting better numbers but never gets the call? I have no idea why Barrett, Guilbeau, and even Istler haven’t been tried. They may not be better than the line of recycled stiffs who’ve come through, but they can’t be any work. What in the flip has Blazek ever done in his career that warranted his express trip to the majors?

  2. While he is still striking out an alarming rate, Michael Taylor has an OPS over 1.000 in his last 10 games. He still has the power, speed and defense tools which seduces GMs. Guessing the Nats will do everything they can to include him in a deal this week as, among other things, dealing MAT would save the Nats about $1 million in salary which could be helpful in acquiring bullpen help while staying under the luxury tax threshold which is a priority.

  3. I do hope the Nats can manage to include Taylor in a trade, both so they can get something for him and so that he’ll have an opportunity to start over somewhere. There’s no way the Nats will tender him in the coming offseason (and be on the hook for $4M+), so he’s leaving one way or the other. Maybe he can hire Dusty as his personal hitting coach. Dusty got amazing results from Taylor and Goodwin that no one else has been able to summon.

    It’s very weird how little has happened thus far with the trade deadline just two days away. The biggest deal (Stroman) involves a team that isn’t contending. I think the Giants’ surge threw a wrench into everything, as they had several good relievers plus MadBum who everyone assumed would be available. The rest of the market involves a few guys for whom their teams are asking a premium . . . and a number of stiffs who probably aren’t any better than the retreads the Nats have already been trying.

    1. I have to wonder if that’s a side effect of so few teams being in contention for both the division and the wild card. Given the current one-game play-in, it makes little sense to make significant moves just for roll of the dice.

      2. Alastre going 5 with 7 Ks is progress for his campaign followed by smiley faces for bullpen
        Names. Howell being healthy and hurling is an added plus

  4. The Giants’ surge has played a role, but the vast majority of the moves are consummated at the last minute. Think there will be a flurry of trades over the next 48 hours.

    The Nats plans have to be somewhat impacted by Scherzer’s injury status. If this projects to be a chronic season-long issue, which seems increasingly likely as he has pitched once since July 6, the Nats lack the same incentive to “go for it” in 2019.

  5. Luke, I tend to agree. I also think that’s part of the reason it’s difficult for the Nats to summon the gumption to make a go-for-it bullpen trade. Those trades made sense in ’17 when they were well on the way to winning the division and had a legit shot at advancing . . . even though they didn’t.

    The other reason the Nats can’t make a go-for-it bullpen trade now is that they don’t have the top-prospect capital. I see a lot of buzz that the Nats should go after Yoan Lopez. Um, who do you suggest they give up in return for FIVE years of control of a young closer? Seriously. They’re not trading Kieboom, and Garcia has yet to show the power to vault him up the prospect list. Denaburg? Most teams want guys who can help sooner than he will. I don’t think AZ is trading anyway while only 3.5 back in the wild card.

    I do think the Nats have had a lot of second-tier pitching emerge this year that could be trade fodder for second-tier bullpen guys. But I just don’t see them having a lot of high-end trade chips, or incentive to spend them even if they did.

    (I should add that this doesn’t mean that I’m counting them out at all if they make the postseason. Any team that has a big-3 rotation they have, plus Sanchez available as a bullpen long man, is capable of a big run. But they’re still a streaky team, and Martinez has yet to show real mastery of bullpen usage, so who knows?)

  6. Clarity of mind will return when we get through this 95-99F temp period.
    Barrett pitching in spring should be an indicator that his tires planned on being kicked later this campaign.

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