Monday’s News & Notes

Lehigh Valley 5 Syracuse 3
• Poveda (L, 1-4) 4⅓ IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 6K, HBP
• Mattheus 1⅔ IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, K, 2-1 IR-S
• Kobernus 1-3, BB, 2SB
• Burriss 1-3, 2R, BB

Jason Marquis and his Lehigh Valley IronPigs exacted token revenge on the Washington Nationals by defeating their AAA Syracuse Chiefs 5-3 yesterday. Following a Nate Spears RBI triple, Marquis demonstrated his adeptness with the bat by singling him home for a 2-0 Iron Pigs lead. Syracuse came back to tie the game in the 4th when Emmanuel “Manny” Burriss scored on third baseman Brandon Laird’s 16th homer. Omar Poveda took the loss in the 4th, however, when Ryan Mattheus allowed inherited runner and red-hot prospect Mikael Franco to score on a two-out single past Burriss at shortstop. Russ Canzler’s 13th homer in the 7th off of Xavier Cedeno and Tyler Henson’s 8th homer off Manny Delcarmen in the 8th provided enough insurance for Lehigh Valley. Destin Hood’s RBI double in the 9th prevented Luis Garcia from a clean 9th during his 20th save. The Chiefs’ magic number to clinch the I.L. North remains stuck at six, thanks to a resurgent Bisons, who have won five straight, including the last two vs. the PawSox to take over 2nd place and the lead in the I.L. Wild Card race.

Trenton 7 Harrisburg 3
• Voth (L, 1-3) 1+ IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 0K, HR
• Simmons 3IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 0K
• Ramsey 2-5, RBI
• Leonida 1-3, R, 2B, BB, RBI

Starter and loser Austin Voth did not record an out in the 2nd inning during the Trenton Thunder’s 7-3 victory over the Harrisburg Senators in the 2014 home finale at Metro Bank Park. Following a solo shot by Jake Cave in the top of the 1st against Voth, rumor has it that Ric Flair was seen angrily leaving the park when the Thunder struck Voth for two singles, a double, and two walks before manager Brian Daubach mercifully pulled the 22-y.o. Reliever Brian Dupra walked in two inherited runners and Voth was charged with all four runs and a 5-0 deficit. Following a Jake Cave RBI double in the 3rd, Harrisburg broke up the shutout with a Jason Martinson RBI single that scored Quincy Latimore. Rob Segedin homered off Dupra in the 4th before Harrisburg closed the gap a little bit with two 9th-inning runs on a triple by Oscar Tejeda, a double by Cole Leonida, and an RBI single from Caleb Ramsey off James Pazos in the 9th.
Roster moves: RHP John Simms, IF Cutter Dykstra placed on 7-Day DL; C Mitch Canham activated from 7-Day DL.

Frederick 4 Potomac 3 — GAME ONE
• Silvestre (L, 1-2) 1⅔ IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, K, HR
• Henke 3⅓ IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, 2K, 2-0 IR-S
• Renda 1-2, R, 3B, RBI
• McQuillan 1-3, R, HR, RBI

Potomac’s seven-game win streak went to the dogs with a 4-3 loss to Frederick in Game One. Hector Silvestre was knocked for five of the six hits he gave up in the Keys’s three-run 2nd. Travis Henke was called on in a hurry and stranded two more and kept the P-Nats in the game, giving up one run over three and a 1/3rd innings. The P-Nats bats were largely silent (four hits), aside from Mike McQuillan taking a shot at the clearing all three levels of signage with his sixth HR and Tony Renda tripling one in the right-center gap, scoring himself on a Steve Souza RBI groundout.

Potomac 12 Frederick 1 — GAME TWO
• Dickson (W, 5-8) 6IP, 0H, 0R, 5BB, 5K
• Walsh 1IP, 1H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K, HR
• S. Perez 2-3, 3R 2B, BB, 2RBI
• Wooten 2-3, R, 2B, BB 2RBI
• Miller 1-2, R, HR, 2BB, RBI

Ian Dickson no-hit the Keys for six innings while the offense scored in five of six innings to take the nightcap, 12-1. Dickson walked five and struck out five, which pushed his pitch count too high to go for the no-no. Jake Walsh lost the no-hitter and the shutout bid to the first batter he faced with a solo HR by Frederick’s Chih-Hsien Chiang. Keys promoters pitchers handed out ten free passes to enable the P-Nats to score a dozen runs on just nine hits, led by Stephen Perez and John Wooten, who both went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, and two RBI. With wins by the Hillcats and Blue Rocks, the P-Nats magic number is now five and six, respectively over the next two teams in the C.L. North 2nd-Half title race (the Keys are down to four).

Hagerstown 7 Hickory 2
• R. Lopez (W, 4-1) 5⅔ IP, 3H, R, ER, BB, 4K, HR
• M. Rodriguez (SV, 2) 3IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K, 3-0 IR-S
• Difo 4-5, 2R, HR, 2RBI, 2SB
• C. Lopez 2-3, R, 2-2B, RBI
• W. Rodriguez 2-4, 2R, SB

The Suns took another 7-2 decision from the Crawdads, reducing their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one, the division title to six. Reynaldo Lopez gave up an earned run for the first time since July 3rd with a HR surrendered to Zach Cone in the 2nd that tied the game at 1-1, then clamped down for just three hits and one walk total over five and 2/3rds innings for his fourth win. He struck out four. Hagerstown put up three in 5th, one in the 6th, and two in the 7th to go up 7-1. David Napoli, who imploded for six runs on Thursday, struggled again with run allowed on three hits and two walks over 1/3rd-plus innings. Manny Rodriguez worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation without further damage and finished the game for his second, three-inning save for the Suns. Wilmer Difo was one-man wrecking crew, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored, two runs driven in, and two bases stolen to lead the Hagerstown hit parade of 12 hits.

Auburn 8 Williamsport 0
• A. Williams (W, 3-3) 5IP, 5H, 0R, BB, 3K
• D. Williams 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Medina 2-3, R, BB
• Davidson 2-4, 2R, 2-2B, RBI
• Page 2-4, R, 2B, 3B, 3RBI

Three Doubledays pitchers combined on a seven-hit shutout while the offense put up a seven-spot in the 3rd in an 8-0 win over the Crosscutters. Starter Austen Williams got his third win with five hits and a walk kept away from home plate over five innings with three whiffs. Connor Bach and Deion Williams combined for four scoreless innings of relief to complete the shutout bid. Willie Medina and Jose “Orange” Marmolejos both reached base three times to lead the ten-hit Auburn attack, which included a pair of two-run triples in the 3rd by Osvaldo Abreu and Matthew Page.

GCL Nationals — OFF DAY
An 0-6 week put the G-Nats five games under .500 with five games to play, which means the odds are pretty good they’ll turn in a losing season as well. It’s back and forth between Viera and Jupiter in the final week as they play the Marlins today and tomorrow, the Cards on Wednesday and Thursday.