Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Fresno | Lost, 8-4 | vs. Tacoma, 9:35 p.m. | McGowin (6-2, 4.36) vs. Moore (0-0, 13.50) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 3-1 | @ Bowie, 6:35 p.m. | Mapes (3-4, 4.74) vs. Zimmerman (3-2, 2.75) |
| Potomac | Won, 10-4; Won, 2-1 |
vs. Wilmington, 6:35 p.m. | Teel (3-1, 3.40) vs. Bowlan (2-0, 0.75) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 3-2 (11 inn.) | @ Delmarva, 6:05 p.m. | Schaller (0-0, 4.50) vs. Guance (5-3, 3.90) |
| Auburn | Lost, 2-1 | vs. Batavia, 7:00 p.m. | N. Gomez (1-1, 1.23) vs. Frias (0-1, 3.21) |
| GCL Nationals | Lost, 7-4 | @/vs. GCL Cardinals, 10:00 a.m. |
El Paso 8 Fresno 4
• Ross (L, 2-1) 6IP, 10H, 5R, 5ER, BB, 7K, PO at 1B, WP, HBP; 1-3
• Copeland 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 0K
• Snyder 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• Marmolejos 2-4, R, 2B
• Difo 2-5, CS, E(6)
Fresno answered El Paso’s three in the 1st with four in the 2nd and then went silent as the Chihuahuas doubled up the Grizzlies, 8-4 in the series finale. Joe Ross muddled through six innings, giving up 10 hits but keeping them in the yard for five runs. He walked one and fanned seven while losing his first AAA game. After a goose egg from Scott Copeland, Logan Ondrusek cinched the game with a walk-single-homer sequence to the first three batters he faced in the 8th. Jake Noll and Taylor Gushue both went deep in the 2nd while Brandon Snyder and José “Orange” Marmolejos both went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored to pace the Fresno offense.
Roster moves: C Raudy Read placed on the 3-day T.I.L.; C Matt Reistter activated from the 7-day I.L.
Richmond 3 Harrisburg 1
• Crowe (L, 7-6) 7IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 7K
• R. Peña 2IP, 3H, R, ER, BB, 4K
• Barrera 1-4, 2B
• Sardina 1-3, SB
The Sens’ quest to win three in a row will have to wait until Saturday at the earliest, as the Flying Squirrels took the rubber match, 3-1. Wil Crowe went seven innings and let in two runs on five hits and a walk. His seventh quality start was rewarded with his sixth loss. Harrisburg mustered just four hits and four walks, with no batter reaching base twice. Tres Barrera notched the only extra-base hit, a double, while Tyler Goeddel broke up the shutout with a sac fly in the 4th.
Longtime Nationals farmhand Adrián Sanchez was named the Eastern League Player of the Month.
Potomac 10 Wilmington 4 – COMP.
• Fletcher (W, 2-1) 3⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 5K
• Istler (H, 2) 1⅔ IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 3K
• Harrison 1-3, 2R, 2B, 2BB, RBI
• Meregildo 1-4, R, 2B, 3RBI
In the completion, Potomac piled on runs in the 5th, 7th, and 9th innings while three relievers combined for five scoreless to take the game, 10-4. Aaron Fletcher struck out five of 10 batters faced as he was perfect for three and 1/3rd to pick up the win. Every hitter notched at least one hit, with six batters reaching base multiple times.
Potomac 2 Wilmington 1 – GAME TWO
• Cate (W, 1-1) 7IP, 3H, R, ER, 2BB, 8K
• Corredor 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI
Aldrem Corredor went deep for two in the 3rd, which Wilmington answered with one and that’s how it finished for the de factor doubleheader sweep and a 3-1 series win for Potomac. Tim Cate went the distance for his first High-A win and first complete game. The 21-y.o. walked two and gave up the one run on three hits while striking out eight for the third time this year. Both starting pitchers gave up just three hits and both teams went in order over the final three innings.
Hagerstown 3 Greensboro 2 (11 inn.)
• Alastre 6IP, 4H, R, ER, BB, 8K, HR
• Day (BS, 3) 3IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 3K, HBP
• Vann (W, 1-1) 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 3K
• Cluff 3-6, RBI
• Dailey 2-4, 2R, BB
• Wilson 2-4, BB, RBI
The Suns blew a 2-1 lead in the 9th but prevailed in the 11th to take the game, 3-2, and the series, 2-1. Tomas Alastre turned in his second quality start in 16 chances with six innings of one-run ball on a walk and four hits while striking a season-high of eight. Jackson Cluff put on the tying run with an error to lead off the 9th, which came in on a two-out single off Chandler Day for his third blown save. Cluff got his shot at redemption two innings later when he delivered the game-winner with his third single of the night with two outs in the 11th. Chris “Chevy” Vann got the “W” as he pitched both extra innings, working around an error and a walk in the 11th with a 3-2 putout and back-to-back whiffs with the bases loaded.
West Virginia 2 Auburn 1
• Troop 4IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Willingham (L, 0-1) 2IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, 1K
• Sanfler 2-4, R, HR, RBI, BB, SB
• Randa 2-4, 2B
Caldioli Sanfler homered to lead off the game and that was about it for the Auburn offense, as West Virginia edged them, 2-1 to take the series finale. Alex Troop breezed through four scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks, and fanning three. Amos Willingham and Tyler Yankosky both let in a run over two inning, with Willingham taking the loss. Sanfler also singled, walked, and stole a base while Jack Randa singled, doubled, and was thrown out at home. The Doubledays were just 2-for-13 with RISP and left on nine.
GCL Mets 7 GCL Nationals 4
• Yean (L, 0-1) 1⅔ IP, 3H, 4R, 4ER, 3BB, 1K, HBP
• B. Peña 2⅓ IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 3K, 2-2 IR-S
• Jameson 2IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Doolittle 2-3, R, 2-2B, BB RBI ← No relation
• Sundberg 1-2, R
Jeremy De La Rosa came off the bench to play left field in the 6th. He walked in his first PA and was caught stealing, then struck out looking in his second PA.
Like Fedde, Ross did not help his cause to return to the Nats. Looks like they will have to stick with Voth as their 5th starter.
Luke. Picture from Animsl House or a B film with young Elizabeth Shue headlining ??
Will Mapes stuff dance better than Sanchez stuff is now in DC??
Hey19. Steely Dan.
Guys answer to the dancing stuff question between Sanchez and Mapes. Sanchez. Three taters by Delmarva
Way to go , Jacob Howell vs Shorebirds. 5 Ks in3 frames. The Orange , TX seemingly healthy and firing on all pistons
Finally! A Jeremy de la Rosa sighting! Did I summon him from the rookie ball wilderness yesterday?
Lots to like from our pitching yesterday. What’s Istler still doing in Potomac?! 10 straight games this season of run-less baseball. I sincerely hope we’re not seeing another talented player needlessly overlooked by Nats brass.
Tim Cate had a dominant performance, and Aaron Fletcher after a rocky first game in Potomac has been dazzling. In his past 8 games, he’s thrown 17.1 IP, allowed merely 8 hits, struck out 24 and walked only 4. His WHIP sits at a microscopic 0.69 and a pristine 0.00 ERA. Looking forward to seeing him in a Nats jersey in 2020!
A very good start for Crowe too. With the SP struggles in Fresno, I wonder if Crowe may play himself into contention for the DC rotation and leapfrog Fedde and Ross?
After a dreadful start to the season Ronald Pena has also settled down with some dominant recent numbers. The ER he gave up yesterday was only his second since mid-May. Over his past 13 games, he sports a 0.96 ERA in 18.2 IP, with 23 K and 7 BB and a 1.02 WHIP.
Finally, I didn’t get to comment on it yesterday, but Armond Upshaw was placed on the I.L., but I wonder if that’s just roster management to make space for Bautista. Upshaw has now failed to post an OPS above .609 in his past 4 levels. He’s coming off a line of .156/.240/.178 in Hagerstown after being demoted from Potomac. It’s disappointing that he hasn’t been able to match his very promising stint in the GCL in 2016, but shows that development isn’t always linear.
No, Crowe will not leapfrog Ross and Fedde. I’ve seen all three pitch in person multiple times and he is behind both of them.
Also, Michael a. Taylor has played 3 games since his demotion to Harrisburg. I don’t think he has a hit yet.
LM, the good news in Harrisburg is the pitching. The bad news is there are a lot of players not hitting much for awhile now.
Thanks for the scouting report.
Lara up so you can keep an eye on him , Luke.
Anderson will love rotating Caufeld , Marinconz and Daily.
XST/TBD list growing with pitchers. Infante , Driskilll…,, where did Anderson Franco go ?
Other than Ross’s struggles, there is a heck of a lot of good pitching to celebrate this 4th of July. Crowe, Cate, Fletcher, Alastre, Day, Troop . . . a lot to like. Amos Willingham took the loss at Auburn, but he’s one of the later-round picks I think could be a sleeper. Perhaps he’ll move into the rotation when Troop is promoted. (Troop has only surrendered four hits over 11IP while striking out 15. I think he has mastered the NY-Penn League!)
Troop may move as quick as Fletcher who continues the Houston Cougar alumni irony in Nats farm
July 4 always makes me think baseball with the Bull Durham section where the players are dressed up in Vally Forge parade with the voice of Susan Saradan narrating
The light switch turned in by Alastre ?
About time Nats today with short night with day game . I know that well in business travels.
Less than 8 hours behind the door…
How many more Nats hats will be featured on the sales rack by fall? Still like the spring W cap with capital dome tip.
This Hernandez has some wipe out stuff for Fish wrap
I was concerned to see Alex Troop get the early hook from his game. His pitch count was great. He’s had no shortage of injury issues in the past, so hopefully he’s OK.
Aaron Fletcher and Andrew Istler have been awfully stingy with Potomac. Istler especially is old for the level and should be moving up. Fletcher isn’t young either. It’d be nice to know what we have in those arms at a more age-appropriate level.
Nice to see Mason Doolittle, whom I assume is a distant cousin of some sort, doing well in his first few professional games. Way too early to be saying this, but we could use another out-of-nowhere catching prospect as Israel Pineda seems to have come back down to earth with a mighty thud.
Always nice to see Arias and Fernandez hammer out extra base hits in GCL
I smell a Brady Dragmire bump start in Burg today
Man, I thought the DSL Nats were the lousiest. Well the DSL Twins lost 38-2 yesterday!! Thirty eight! I didn’t know baseball game scores could go that high.
Even so, the Twins are still better than our craptastic Dominican team (8-18 vs 6-20) but we have a slight moral victory of having just beaten them today 2-1 with a 10th inning walk off.
Even now having seen a 38 run win and all those terrible Nats teams off the 2000s and many of those awful Syracuse teams in recent years, I still think the DSL Nats easily take the cake for worst team I’ve ever had the displeasure of following daily. Terrible pitching, terrible hitting, terrible defence, lack of fundamentals. Aside from one or two hitters, there’s nothing positive to take away from this team. Hope Jeremy de la Rosa hits well, because he already appears to be the only hope of our 2018 IFA class.