Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Won, 7-2 | vs. St. Paul, 11:05 a.m. | Peralta (0-0, 4.35) vs. Varland (1-0, 5.59) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 4-3 | vs. Somerset, 6:30 p.m. | Herrera (1-0, 3.45) vs. Warren (1-0, 4.97) |
| Wilmington | Lost, 9-1 | vs. Aberdeen, 6:35 p.m. | A. Lara (0-1, 2.93) vs. Lyons (0-1, 5.19) |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 7-6 | @ Lynchburg, 6:30 p.m. | Cornelio (0-2, 8.31) vs. Messick (1-0, 0.71) |
Rochester 7 St. Paul 2
• Irvin (W, 2-2) 5⅓ IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 6K, HR
• Machado (H, 2) 1⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 4K
• Mazara 3-5, R
• Pinder 2-4, 2R, 2B, HR, 3RBI
• Barreto 1-3, R, BB, RBI
Rochester rallied for three in the 4th and four in the 7th to end a five-game losing streak and defrock* the Saints, 7-2. Jake Irvin gave up both St. Paul runs on five hits (one HR) and three walks while striking out six to become the first starter to win two games in the minors. Three Red Wings relievers combined on four and 2/3rds shutout innings, led by Andres Machado with one and 2/3rds with one walk and four whiffs. Nomar Mazara led the Rochester hit column with three singles while Chad Pinder doubled, homered, and drove in three to pace the offense. Roster moves: C Francisco Arcia activated from the Development List; RHP Anthony Castro placed on the 7-Day I.L.
* I’ve been waiting two years to make that pun. 2021 was strictly divisional play; last year St. Paul swept Rochester in six games
Somerset 4 Harrisburg 3
• Parker (L, 0-2) 5IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 9K,
• M. Peña 3IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 3K
• Cluff 2-3, R, HR, 3RBI, SB
• Meregildo 2-4
Jackson Cluff’s three-run HR pulled the Senators within one in the bottom of the 9th, but it was too little, too late as the Patriots prevailed, 4-3. Mitchell Parker struck out a season-high nine while pitching five innings of two-run ball on three hits and four walks. He was rewarded with his second loss. Cluff also singled and stole a base while Omar Meregildo and J.T. Arruda both singled twice to power the Harrisburg offense.
Aberdeen 9 Wilmington 1
• Alvarez (L, 1-1) 3IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 4K
• Ale. Hernandez 3IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Wood 1-4, 2B, RBI
• V. Peña 1-4, R, SB(5)
Aberdeen broke open a 2-1 lead with two in the 7th, three in the 8th, and two in the 9th to even up the series with a 9-1 win over Wilmington. Andrew Alvarez labored through three innings, getting nine outs on 69 pitches. He gave up the aforementioned two runs on five hits and three walks while fanning four and took the loss. Todd Peterson took the brunt of the Ironbirds’ assault, with five runs let in over an inning and a 1/3rd. Jacob Young went 0-for-4 but was the only Blue Rock not to strike out as his teammates combined for 16 K’s. James Wood doubled in the sole run in the 1st, cashing Viandel Peña’s one-out single and fifth stolen base. Jordy Barley rounded out Wilmington’s three-hit night with a single in the 8th.
Lynchburg 7 Fredericksburg 6
• B. Sanchez 1⅔ IP, 4H, 3R, 2ER, 5BB, 0K
• M. Gomez (BS, 1; L, 2-2) ⅔ IP, 2H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 1K
• Hassell 2-3, R, 2BB, RBI, SB
• Boisserie 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• Infante 2-4, R, 2B, RBI, SB, E
The FredNats scored in four straight “ups” to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 6-4. Alas, with an unreliable bullpen, Fredericksburg’s lead went up in smoke in the 8th. Miguel Gomez retired just two of seven batters faced and let in three runs for the (dreaded) blown-save-loss. Named starter Jarlin Susana was a late scratch so Bryan Sanchez was the opener. Sanchez dug a 3-0 hole after an inning and 2/3rds with four hits and five walks, getting a huge assist from Pedro González, who stranded three getting out of the 2nd, then tossed two scoreless. Robert Hassell singled twice, walked twice, scored a run, and stole a base while Branden Boisserie and Sammy Infante both went 2-for-4 with run, double, and an RBI to lead the FredNats offense. Naturally, the MiLB.tv audio feed went out when Sanchez was warming up, so whatever chance there was of the Hillcats team mentioning anything about Susana was rendered moot.
Humor is all about timing Luke !
Bravo
And also bravo to Irwin for part of being the defrocking cast .
We all have our days of being klutz’s around the house dropping things , bumping the car into something but that night defensively behind Bennett proves there are six unique planetary actions going on
Yes , FredMD , keeping it positive !!
FredMD you mentioned Lynchburg club had a good collective habit of coaxing walks . Hence 8 walks from two Fred fellas .
Listen to the Doctor ( Doobie Bros ) .
Adios Kilome . Peralta needs work .
Either great timing or somebody read the blog
Welcome to Fred Franklin Marquez
Lend me another lefty
Let’s see what you have !
Once Hassel heads up to Harrisburg
Fred the youthful OF will be a lab experiment to watch over time especially Cox.
Ale. Hernandez consistently fools me into thinking Alf. Hernandez is finally back. It’s now been 31 months since he last threw a pitch. Hope we’ll get a chance to see him again.
Perhaps some signs that Hassell is emerging from his slow start? He’s now batting .429 over his past 3 games, and amassed 8 walks in that period. He’s still displaying no power whatsoever, but that’s not unexpected with hamate injuries.
Some good pitching in Harrisburg too: Parker had his first decent start, but Malvin Pena has been great to start the season. While he gave up his first earned run yesterday, he’s sporting a 0.84 ERA and 0.66 WHIP. He is 25, but he seems to have turned a corner last season. I think he could find himself in the mix for the big league bullpen quite soon (particularly after we trade away our best before the deadline). As this is his 9th season with the Nats, the Nats don’t have much security in having him stick around next season.
Sorry bad math. It’s been 19 months since we last saw Alfonso Hernandez.
Parker was impressive yesterday for the Senators. Lots of swings and misses. The walks followed by a hit resulted in the two runs.
Good to hear that Parker looked good. Walks have always been a thorn in his side. He’s always been able to get the strikeouts with the funk, as he doesn’t have great velocity. We’ve all wondered how the funk would play at AA. I don’t know that his future is as an MLB starter, but even passable lefties can remain in the game forever.
It’s only 15 games, and he is repeating the level, but Sammy Infante seems to have found something, currently slashing .340/.429/.509 with a 163 wRC+. His K rate is down 5% from last season and walk rate is up 3%. He does have some helium from .444 BABIP “luck,” but for a guy who has hit .215 and .210 in his previous pro seasons while striking out 30% of the time, there seems to be some very encouraging improvement here. He seems to be a good bet for one of the first hitters in the system to be promoted, particularly since 2B at A+ isn’t blocked.
Parker came out doing his absolute best Kershaw impression, first seven batters 20 strikes, four balls and six strikeouts. then a four pitch walk, he went into the stretch and the spell was broken. if he has more than two pitches it’s hard to see without a radar gun. he could be a force as a reliever IMO
Franklin Barreto has an OPS of 1.026 after 13 games at AAA (albeit with a 30% K rate). It’s interesting that he’s been playing a lot of OF as most of his experience has been on the dirt, including SS-capable. The Nats apparently are seeing if he can be a super-utility guy.
Is there something there? He was once a consensus top-50 prospect and is only 27. His MLB numbers after 101 games are positively brutal, though: .175/.207/.342 with a 42% K rate. At AAA last year he hit .162. So . . . while he’s an interesting story so far and has quite a pedigree, it seems unlikely that the revitalization will last, but you never know.