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Monday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Matchup
Fresno Won, 7-6
(10 inn.)		 vs. Albuquerque, 4:05 p.m. Hoover (5-6, 8.63) vs. Meyer (0-0, 6.75)
Harrisburg Won, 3-0 vs. Altoona, 12:00 p.m. McGowan (1-3, 5.06) vs. Brady (5-12, 4.32)
Potomac Won, 2-0 @ Frederick, 12:00 p.m. F. Peguero (0-1, 3.66) vs. Peralta (3-2, 4.84)
Hagerstown Won, 4-3 vs. Lakewood, 2:05 p.m. N. Gomez (Low-A Debut) vs. Silva (6-6, 3.66)
Auburn Won, 3-1 vs. Batavia, 1:00 p.m. TBD vs. TBD

Fresno 7 Albuquerque 6 (10 inn.)
• Crowe 6IP, 5H, R, ER, 3BB, 4K
• Blazek (BS, 3) 1IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 3K, 3HR
• Lucas (W, 1-0) 1IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K
• C. Kieboom 2-4, R, RBI
• Y. Hernandez 1-2, 2R, 3BB, HR, 2RBI
• Reynolds 1-3, R, 2BB, HR, RBI

Michael Blazek did all he could to blow a 4-2 lead in the 9th, giving up three solo HRs, but the Grizzlies managed to tie it on Matt Reynolds’s 16th HR and send it into extras. After Josh Lucas let in the free runner in the top of the 10th, the Grizzlies got a single from Chuck Taylor and a two-run double from Wilmer Difo in the bottom half to secure their fifth straight win, 7-6. Blazek’s torch job spoiled Wil Crowe’s stellar start of six innings of one-run ball on five hits and three walks. Yadiel Hernandez also went deep and walked three times while Carter Kieboom went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Fresno offense.
Roster moves: C Raudy Read recalled to Washington; C Matt Reistetter activated from the 7-Day I.L.

Harrisburg 3 Altoona 0
• M. Sanchez (W, 10-5) 7IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 10K, 91-65 PIT-K
• A. Lee (H, 2) ⅔ IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Istler (SV, 2) 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K, 2-0 IR-S
• Masters 2-3, RBI
• Barrera 1-4, 2RBI

Harrisburg flirted with a no-no for seven innings, but Mario and the Andrews combined for a two-hit shutout and a 3-0 win over Altoona. Sanchez struck out ten and walked two over those seven frames and gave way to Andrew Lee, who lost the no-hitter with a lead off single then gave up a two-out single to push the tying run into scoring position. Andrew Istler was summoned from the Sens ‘pen to face a pinch hitter and he delivered a crucial K to strand both runners. The Curve coughed up two unearned runs in the last of the 8th on an error and Tres Barrera’s two-out, two-run single. Istler nailed it down with a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save and Sanchez’s 10th win.
Roster moves: UT Adrián Sanchez, OF Andrew Stevenson recalled to Washington.

Potomac 2 Frederick 0
• Raquet (W, 11-9) 6IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 11K
• Klobosits (H, 3) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 1K
• Sundberg 2-4, R
• Davidson 1-3, BB

Nick Raquet struck out 11 while winning his 11th as the P-Nats shut out the Keys, 2-0. Raquet pulled into a three-way tie with Joan Adon and Tim Cate for the most W’s in the minors as he stymied Frederick for six shutout innings, allowing four hits and no walks. Gabe Klobosits added two goose eggs for his third hold while Jorge Pantoja worked around two singles in the 9th (both erased on groundouts) for his first save. Jack Sundberg singled twice and scored a run while Austin Davidson also reached base twice with a single and a walk as te Potomac offense was limited to five singles and three walks. Salem won before the game to eliminate Potomac, but the win secured a .500+ season with a 69-67 mark going ito today’s game (H/T Potomac PR).

Hagerstown 4 Lakewood 3
• Schaller 3IP, 5H, R, ER, BB, 3K, HR
• A. Hernandez (W, 1-2) 3IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 2K
• Cronin (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Daily 2-4, R, 2B, RBI, SB
• Marinconz 1-3, R, 2B, BB, RBI
• Perkins 1-3, R, 2B, BB

Hagerstown scored single runs in the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th and held off Lakewood for a 4-3 win, their third straight. Reid Schaller was the opener with three innings of one-run ball on a homer and five hits total. He walked one and struck out three. Alfonso Hernandez was awarded the win for three innings pitched and two runs allowed vs. Pearson McMahan’s two scoreless innings, which apparently was less effective. Matt Cronin finished the game with a three-up, three-down 9th for his first save. Cole Daily singled, doubled, scored a run, drove in a run, and stole a base while Kyle Marinconz and Nic Perkins both doubled and walked to pace the Suns offense.

Auburn 3 Batavia 1
• P. Gonzalez (W, 1-4) 5IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 6K, WP
• Segura (SV, 3) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• W. Perez 3-4, R, 2-2B, RBI
• Jo. Sanchez 1-3, 2B, BB, RBI

The last-place Doubledays continued to play spoiler as they beat the first-place Muckdogs, 3-1. Pedro Gonzalez made his first NYPL start since his demotion in July and came back with five no-hit and scoreless innings with two walks issued and six K’s. Jordan Bocko lost both the no-hitter and the shutout with a run on a hit and two walks over two innings before Fausto Segura settled things down with two perfect frames for his third save. Wilme Perez singled once, doubled twice, scored once and drove in a run to lead the Auburn hit column.

12 Commments

  1. Wow! This makes it 3 days in a row with a clean sweep of wins throughout the system. Finishing strong.

    The big story is Mario Sanchez, a no-no thru 7 innings to force the f.o. to pay attention. This is his 8th year in the minors and He’s still only 24. Traded to the Phillies, this is his 2nd stint with the Nats after electing free agency over the winter. His numbers are 2.85 ERA and a tiny WHIP of 0.98. The light bulb has indeed turned on.

  2. Wow! Our last loss was way back on Thursday night. That’s now 16 straight wins (17 if you count Fresno’s win on Thursday night PST/Friday morning EST). Way to finish strongly!

    In the midst of this winning streak, there’s been some incredible pitching performances, none more impressive than Mario Sanchez’s hitless outing against the Curve. In a summer of under-the-radar prospects putting up huge seasons, Sanchez is yet another. Can any Harrisbugers give a scouting report on him? His strikeout numbers have exploded this season. What’s he doing differently? Did he find 5 mph on his fastball or something?

    Very nearly as impressive was Pedro Gonzalez in Auburn. He scuffled hard to start the season (15.75 ERA) and got a demotion for it, but it seemed to works wonders. He put up a solid 3.81 ERA in GCL, then in his first start back in Auburn lowered his ERA by 6 runs in just one start. Hope he can keep it up!

    I’d be remiss not to mention Raquet too. He’s had a disappointing season. I’d have expected him to get a promotion pretty quickly to AA, but started the season poorly. He’s rebounded nicely, putting up a 3.22 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 69 K in 67 IP in the second half. Maybe we will have something to show for that 3rd round pick.

    Finally, it’s not half as impressive as the other outings I’ve mentioned, but relative to the league, it might be even more notable; Crowe’s 1 ER outing to hopefully forever forget his terrible month of August (10.64 ERA in 5 starts).

    1. Many of the young arms are ending up the season landing on their feet with some achieving ten plus wins. Bravo. Pitching gurus must be smiling.
      Curious to see Peguero start result today in FRED

  3. On the hitting side, I don’t know how many more time I need to say it, but Free Yadiel.

    He’s now batting .323/.406/.604 with 33 HR. Even in the homer-happy PCL, that’s 7th most HR. It would be a shame if he weren’t able to get at least a cup of coffee with another team. I’d love to see him get some ABs in a utility OF, PH role with the Nats, but that window seems to have closed with Eaton re-discovering his bat and Kendrick getting healthy again. Yadi turns 32 in a month, so it’s only fair if we let him go to a rebuilding team in need of a corner OF bat, since we passed up a dozen opportunities to use him the past two years. I think he’ll be very similar to Nick Markakis with a little more pop in his bat.

    1. Will now that the season ‘s curtain drops today except for BURG. Time to start praying for the Dodgers to abandon OKC for a shorter flight to LAX from Fresno. Lol!

  4. I’m not sure what to say about Mario Sanchez other than he has been very consistent all season long. Hbg fans were disappointed he did not come out for the 8th and really annoyed when the first pitch by Lee went for a single. I have heard the pitchers really like the pitching coach, Michael Tejera.

  5. Tejera seems to have worked wonders with a number of guys at Harrisburg over the last couple of seasons. He should have another interesting crop headed his way next season with Cate, Teel, Raquet, Tetreault, and presumably Sharp and Fuentes returning.

    Milestone alert: Cronin picked up his first save as pro. It won’t be his last. K/9 is a freakish 16.77.

  6. Interesting not to see Yadiel Hernandez in the lineup today for Fresno. He had an outside chance to tie or pass the club’s single-season home run record. Very curious.

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