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Monday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 6-2 OFF DAY N/A
Harrisburg Won, 6-5 (11 inn.); Lost, 5-1 OFF DAY N/A
Wilmington Lost, 9-4 OFF DAY N/A
Fredericksburg Won, 6-2 OFF DAY N/A
FCL Nationals OFF DAY vs. FCL Marlins, 12 p.m.
DSL Nationals OFF DAY @ DSL Phillies Red, 10:30 a.m.

Rochester 6 Syracuse 2
• Nolin (W, 3-2) 5⅓ IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 6K, HR
• Goody (H, 4) 1⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, 2-0 IR-S
• Noll 3-4, R, 2B, 2RBI, SB
• Castillo 2-5, 2R, RBI, SB
• Tocci 0-1, R, 3BB

Rochester got three in the 7th to break as they tripled up Syracuse, 6-2 to break a three-game losing streak. Sean Nolin picked up his third win while pitching into the 6th for the first time this summer. He allowed both Mets runs on eight hits (one HR) while walking one and striking out six. Nick Goody lived up to his surname as he stranded two in the 6th and pitched a scoreless 7th for his fourth hold. Jake Noll singled twice and doubled once and drove in two to lead the Red Wings’ offense. Roster moves: OF Andrew Stevenson recalled to, optioned from Washington.

Harrisburg 6 Akron 5 (11 inn.) – COMP.
• Guerra 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Schlabach 2IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 0K
• Barrett (W, 1-1) 2IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 4K
• Alu 2-4, R, 3B, BB, 2RBI, E(2)
• Lara 2-5, 2R, 2B
• Corredor 2-5, 2B

Picking up where they left off on Saturday night, The Sens relievers mostly did their part while the offense confused the fans at FNB Field by rallying in the late innings to tie, then scoring in both extra frames for a 6-5 win in 11 innings. Four of five relievers pitched multiple innings with Aaron Barrett picking up the win with four whiffs over the final two innings, though he let in the free inning in the 10th. Jake Alu singled and tripled to extend his hitting streak to 12 games while Gilbert Lara and Aldrem Corredor both singled and doubled to lead the Harrisburg hit parade.

Akron 5 Harrisburg 1 – GM. 2
• Cavalli (L, 0-3) 2⅓ IP, 5H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 3K
• Dobzanski 2⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K, WP, 1-0 IR-S
• Cluff 2-3, R, 2B
• Lara 1-2, RBI

Cade Cavalli lost for the third time in five AA starts as the RubberDucks took the nightcap, 5-1. Cavalli kept the ball in the yard but was charged with all five Akron runs on five hits and two walks (19 in 23⅔ IP at AA) while fanning three over two and 1/3rd innings. Brian Dobzanksi and Malvin Peña combined for four and 2/3rds scoreless innings, but the Harrisburg offense managed just one run in response. Jackson Cluff singled, doubled, and scored on Gilbert Lara’s RBI single as the Senators collected seven hits and no walks. Roster moves: RHP Pearson McMahan reassigned from Rochester; LHP Matt Cronin placed on the 7-Day I.L.

Hudson Valley 9 Wilmington 4
• Tetreault (L, 0-2) 5IP, 6H, 4R, 4ER, 0BB, 5K, 2HR
• Mendoza 1-1, R, HR, 2BB, SF, 3RBI
• Upshaw 2-4, R, HR, 2B, RBI, E(5)
• 9BB, 0-8 RISP, 8LOB

Wilmington led this one 1-0 before Hudson Valley broke out for four in the 4th and cruised to a 9-4 win, sending the Blue Rocks to their third straight loss. Jackson Tetreault took the loss, giving up four runs on six hits (two HR) over five innings. Neither reliever who followed was any more effective as Davis Moore and Zach Brzykcy combined to allow five runs over the last four innings. Drew Mendoza drove in three with a sac fly in the 1st and a two-run HR in the 6th while Armond Upshaw doubled and homered. Andrew Pratt’s double rounded out the Wilmington barrage of four hits, none of which came with runners in scoring position as the Renegades were able to keep seven of nine men walked from scoring.

Lynchburg 6 Fredericksburg 2
• Seijas 4IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 6K, HR
• Turner (W, 1-0) 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• V. Peña 4-5, 2R, RBI, CS
• Méndez 1-4, RBI, SB (16G hit streak)

The F-Nats got five goose eggs from the ‘pen while the offense cranked out ten hits as they took the finale, 6-2 to earn a series split with the Hillcats. Karlo Seijas hit the showers after 71 pitches and four innings, as he gave up both Lynchburg runs on six hits (one HR) and a walk. He struck out six. “OT” Turner led a quartet of relievers with two scoreless innings while walking just one and fanning two for his first win of 2021. Viandel Peña singled four times in five trips to the plate while Paul Witt, Onix Vega, and Jake Randa each had a double to power the Fredericksburg offense.

FCL Nationals – OFF DAY
The FCL Nationals host each of their divisional foes today through Thursday before an off day on Friday and a road game in Jupiter against the FCL Marlins.
Roster moves: .

DSL Nationals (4-1, T1st South Division, 1GA)
If it seems like there are a lot of new names in the DSL, it’s because there are – just nine holdovers from 2019 (three position players, six pitchers) despite the 2019 edition being one of the youngest in recent memory. This week, it’s home-and-home against the Phillies Red today and tomorrow, Yankees1 on Thursday and Friday, then a single game against the Twins on Saturday.

9 Commments

  1. You know who Jake Alu reminds me a lot of? Jake Noll. Besides the name, they’ve got very similar batting profiles. Guess who is who:

    MILB career stats:
    Player A: .295/.335/.436, 20.5% K%, 4.9% BB%, majority of play split between 2B and 3B
    Player B: .285/.331/.432, 15.7% K%, 5.6% BB%, majority of play split between 2B and 3B

    Or even look at their 2021 stats:
    Player A: .322/.367/.505, 6 HR, 11 BB, 44 K
    Player B: .332/.370/.558, 9 HR, 13 BB, 33 K

    A is Alu. B is Noll.

    The only difference here is that Noll is 3 years older, and in his advanced age has lost his mobility. While Noll was predominantly a 2B in his early years in the minors, he’s now exclusively a corner infielder. Alu hasn’t yet graduated off 2B, though is playing almost exclusively there in Harrisburg, which might be a sign of things to come. Noll used to be a SB threat, stealing 12 bases in 2017 (compared to Alu’s 11 so far this season), but Noll’s base threat has largely disappeared since then. Alu isn’t quite as big as Noll, so perhaps he’ll keep that mobility longer into his career.

    In any case, it’s been a very pleasant surprise to see Alu come out of nowhere this season to potentially put himself in the mix for a cup of coffee, especially with the Nats’ pretty dire options at both 2B and 3B right now. However, Noll is probably blocking that path right now, as perhaps the only other batter in the Nationals farm system with a hotter bat than Alu.

    1. Except for Ricardo Mendez. Did you see that Noll started the game in CF yesterday? Granted that was out of necessity (see transactions ;), but still…

  3. I watched the Harrisburg games and Alu played 3rd base. His hitting streak is now 12 games but his OPS has plummeted to .937.

    In Rochester, Noll & Palka have OPS’s of .925 and .928.

  4. Do we have any reports, either from those in person in Harrisburg or watching online, about Cavalli’s issues at AA? Is it just the step up in league? Perhaps he’s also tiring in a long pro season? Of course sometimes it’s just little things that become bigger things — if the league is hitting your stuff a little better, then you try to get a little finer on the corners, and suddenly you’ve got control issues that are getting you into bigger jams.

    All in all, it’s great that he’s been able to make it to AA in his first full pro season. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes him to make adjustments to the higher level of competition.

    1. KW, watching his start was interesting. His 1st batter he made two perfect pitches, fastballs that painted the black. And the umpire called them both balls. He was clearly rattled by that and proceeded to walk him and the next batter while nibbling all the while.
      He then gave up two hits with pitches right down the middle. His stuff is there, no doubt. I got the feeling he’s not faced hitters this good before.

      I would not be surprised if he is dominating AA down the road. Whether sooner or later I don’t know.

  5. I was at the HBG game that Cavalli pitched. He thought he had a strike 3 because he even started to walk behind the mound. That seemed to rattle him. It seemed liked the Akron players were really pumped up to face him. No doubt he’ll figure it out.

  6. Thanks guys. Good feedback on Cavalli. Hope you’re right that his stuff will soon play at AA.

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