Sunday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Lost, 7-3 | @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 1:05 p.m. | Adon (1-3, 4.35) vs. Tully (2-1, 4.43) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 1-0 | @ New Hampshire, 1:35 p.m. | Cuevas (1-0, 7.63) vs. TBD |
| Wilmington | Lost, 3-1 | @ Hudson Valley, 2:05 p.m. | Huff (2-1, 5.40) vs. Thorpe (1-0, 2.86) |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 9-4 | vs. Down East, 6:05 p.m. | Denaburg (0-2, 12.71) vs. McCarty (0-1, 0.87) |
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 7 Rochester 3
• Ureña (L, 0-1) 3IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 1K, 2HR
• Baldonado 2IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 2K
• Baker 2-5, R, 2B, HR, 3RBI
• Alu 2-4
José Ureña picked up where he left off with the Rockies in a 7-3 Rochester loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 31-y.o. got hammered for five runs, two homers, eight hits, three walks, and one (1) strikeout over three innings. Darren Baker drove in all three Red Wings runs on a one-run double in the 5th and two-run HR in the 7th while Jake Alu singled twice in four trips to the plate to lead the Rochester offense. Roster moves: José Ureña assigned from Washington.
New Hampshire 1 Harrisburg 0
• Troop 6IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 7K
• Schaller (L, 0-2) 1⅓ IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 1K
• Lee ⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 0K, 1-1 IR-S
• Millas 1-3
• Kieboom 0-3, BB, SB
The Senators were shut out again – this time on one hit – for a 1-0 loss to the Fisher Cats. Alex Troop put up six goose eggs and allowed just three hits while walking one and striking out seven. The loss went to Reid Schaller, who gave up a leadoff double to start the 8th then got a flyout before he was lifted for Evan Lee, who walked the bases loaded, then gave up a sac fly. Joel Peguero struck out the last batter to strand the last two batters. Drew Millas got the sole hit with two out in the 2nd while Carter Kieboom walked and stole second to become the lone runner to get into scoring position.
Hudson Valley 3 Blue Rocks 1
• Luckham 6IP, 5H, 0R, 1BB, 9K
• Zinn (BS, 1; L, 1-1) 1IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 2K, HR
• De La Rosa 2-3, BB, SB
• V. Peña 1-4, R, BB, E
• 0-6 RISP; 9 LOB
Unlike New Hampshire, Wilmington could not throw the shutout needed to make its first-inning run stand up as they dropped a 3-1 decision to Hudson Valley. Kyle Luckham set career highs in strikeouts (9) and innings pitched (6) as he scattered five hits and allowed no runs and one walk, which was good for a no-decision. Jaren Zinn got the blown-save-loss with a three-run HR and four hits total in his lone inning pitched. Jeremy De La Rosa reached base three times on two singles and a walk while Viandel Peña singled, walked, and scored a run to pace the Blue Rocks attack.
Down East 9 Fredericksburg 4
• Atencio (L, 0-3) 4IP, 12H, 7R, 4ER, 1BB, 4K, HR
• M. Gomez 2IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Boisserie 2-4, R
• Suggs 1-3, R, 3B, 2RBI, 3PB
The Wood Ducks put this one away early with four in the 1st and two in the 2nd as they took their fourth straight from the FredNats, 9-4. Jose Atencio was strafed for 12 hits over four innings, allowing seven runs (four earned) and one walk. He struck out four while taking his third loss. Miguel Gomez kept things close with two scoreless. Brad Lord and Juan Abreu did not, as both gave up a run in the late innings. Branden Boisserie (2-1B and Zion Pettigrew (1B, BB) were the only batters to reach base twice while Matt Suggs did his best imitation of Raudy Read with a two-run triple and three passed balls.
Looking hard for that silver lining . . . Alex Troop was great! Considering the struggles of the parade of retread at AAA, his chance has to be coming soon, right?
Darren Baker now hitting .348. Dang. I’m one of many who has said that it’s hard to see a place for him with the big club, but that isn’t stopping his incredible rise. There was nothing in his college career that indicated he could do this. Very interesting to see that they had him playing CF on Saturday.
He started at CF for the first time since his sophomore year of college, which is a great sign that Nats management is paying attention, because we have absolutely nothing of value in the OF in the majors or AAA (or even AA if you exclude Hassell). While Garcia isn’t excelling at 2B, he’s still got way more potential than any of our OFs.
It should be noted that Garcia is actually a year and a third younger than Baker. That said, Garcia will be arb-eligible next season, and it’s really hard to bank on trying to extend a guy who can’t get his OBP over .300 after 875 MLB plate appearances. Baker’s currently is at .416.
The supposed ceiling for Garcia includes power, particularly HR power, but he’s still not showing that much of it. I keep including him in my handful of pillars for the rebuild, but we need to start seeing more growth from him at the plate.
In CF, Robles finally does seem to be maturing at the plate, but with diminished power. He’s another I can’t see trying to extend right now. He’ll actually be a free agent in two seasons.
You know Luckham is the pitching story to talk about so far before the Nats draft much more pitching in amateur draft .
I’m only human .. verified .. lol
Raudy Read
Cordero’d
Some players just repeat Nats history daily
History repeats itself .. lol
Disappointing pitching results coupled with the extensive DL list especially 60 day DL
Time for the amateur draft to reload with promising arms and the occasional few for the TJ list .
Huff and Luckham still worth keeping an eye on even if they have along road ahead for them .
Three Dog Night Celebrate
Happy fans with Alu promotion .
Guessing the next major promotions?
How long will Luckham toil @ Fred,FredMD?