Saturday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup (’21 Stats at the Level) |
| Rochester | Won, 7-4 | @ Toledo, 5:05 p.m. | J. Rodriguez (2-1, 4.86) vs. Brieske (3-1, 2.66 @ AA) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 9-6 | @ Altoona, 4 p.m. | Guasch (1-5, 4.26) vs. Burrows (2-2, 2.20 @ A+) |
| Wilmington | Postponed | vs. Brooklyn, 5 p.m. | TBD and TBD vs. Santos (6-6, 4.59 @ A-) and Chacin (3-1, 3.57) |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 9-6 | @ Delmarva, 7:05 p.m. | Saenz (1-0, 4.76) vs. Grady (1-0, 4.97) |
Rochester 7 Toledo 4
• Reyes 2⅔ IP, 4H, 3R, 2ER, 4BB, 3K, HBP
• Braymer (W, 1-0) 2⅓ IP, 2H, 0R, ER, BB, K, 1-0 IR-S
• Stevenson 4-5, 2R, 2B, 3B
• Banks 3-4, R, BB, RBI’
• Noll 2-5, R, RBI
• García E(3)
Rule 5 pickup Andrew Young’s three-run HR in the 5th broke a 3-3 deadlock as the Red Wings won their third straight game, 7-4 over the Mud Hens. Luis Reyes was knocked from the box with two outs in the 3rd after three runs let in on four hits, four walks, and a Victor Robles. Ben Braymer stranded the go-ahead runner and pitched two more scoreless innings to get credit for the win. Andrew Stevenson racked up seven total bases on four hits to lead the Rochester hit column, followed by three singles by Nick Banks and two from Jake Noll.
Roster moves: LHP Ben Braymer reassigned from FCL; RHP Logan Verrett, placed on 7-Day I.L.
Harrisburg 9 Altoona 6
• Ro. Herrera (W, 1-0) 5IP, 5H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 6K, 2HR
• B. Gonzalez (H, 1) 2IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Brill (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, K
• Harrison 3-3, 3R, BB, 2HR, 4RBI
• Connell 2-4, 2R, RBI
• Gushue 2-4, R
Harrisburg went deep four times as they took the season opener from Altoona, 9-6. Ronald Herrera wobbled through five innings with four runs let in on five hits (two HR) to get the Jack Morris win. Bryan Gonzalez added two scoreless to get the hold while Matt Brill cordero’d through the 9th with two walks to get the save. K.J. Harrison went deep twice while reaching base four times and driving in four to lead the Senators’ 10-hit parade. Justin Connell and Taylor Gushue both singled twice.
Wilmington vs. Brooklyn – PPD
Rain spoiled the home opener for the Blue Rocks. They’ll shoot to make it up with a twi-night doubleheader tonight.
Delmarva 9 Fredericksburg 6
• Theophile 4IP, 3H, 0R, 2BB, 8K
• Schoff (L, 0-1) ⅓ IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 0K, 2WP
• House 2-4, R
• Infante 2-5, R, HR, 3RBI
• Boissiere 2-5, 2RBI
A 5-1 lead evaporated in the bottom of the 7th as Delmarva pounded out five runs to take a 6-5 lead and got three more in the 8th as they took this one, 9-6 from Fredericksburg. Rodney Theophile struck out a career-best eight batters in four shutout innings, giving three hits and two walks. The loss went to Tyler Schoff with the aforementioned five runs allowed on four hits and two walks while retiring one (1) batter. Third baseman Sammy Infante delivered an Earl Weaver special to give the FredNats an early 4-0 lead. Shortstop Brady House singled twice as did Branden Boissiere as Fredericksburg tallied ten hits and three walks total while leaving ten runners on base.
There weren’t many days in 2021 that Nats’ farm teams won twice.
It was a balmy 46 degrees at game time in Altoona last night. Herrera looked great the first three innings. I think he may have tired a little in the 4th and 5th when he gave up a two run homer in each. As Luke noted, the ball was flying out of the park. Lara had a long three run homer.
A lot of positives to take away… Theophile looking like he was very good. Did something click this offseason?
There were reports of Sammy Infante bulking up, and it looks to have paid off. Boissiere and House, too, won’t need time to get up to speed.
I’d also really like it if Stevenson can play himself back into the majors, but that’ll be a lot harder having just removed him from the 40 man roster…
Will the opening night nod to Theo says volumes of his March
– right
Hip hip hooray , Harrison !
Is 3rd base Infante’s new position or was he moved because of House?
Mark, that’s an interesting question. The obvious assumption is that Infante was moved because of House . . . even though everyone and their mother projects House to eventually move to 3B. Related questions up the chain are whether they see Garcia as the SS or 2B of the future with the big club (he’s back at SS but racking up errors), and whether they’re really still holding out hope that Kieboom is going to make it. They’ve got place-holders on one-year contracts at the majors right now at 3B, SS, and 2B, so the field is wide open if/when any of the younger players want to stake a claim.
House wants to stick at SS but he’s 6’5″ and 18 and might grow another inch or two.
Just to clarify, Stevenson had 1 single, 1 double and 2 triples. Hoping he can get back to the majors!
Big nights for K. J. Harrison and Nick Banks. Both of them were excellent college players who have never put it all together in the pros. There could still be an outside chance at opportunities, particularly with the big club in such transition. Guys like Cruz and Bell figure to be traded during the season unless things go much better than expected.