Saturday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 5-4 | vs. Durham, 7:05 p.m. |
Cole (6-5, 4.84) vs. Marks (2-9, 4.30) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 5-0; Won, 3-2 |
@ Altoona, 6:00 p.m. |
C. Dickson (7-3, 3.69) vs. Valdez (2-2, 7.67) |
| Potomac | Lost, 10-4 | @ Salem, 6:05 p.m. |
Mayberry (1-1, 4.76) vs. McGrath (3-3, 3.99) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 4-1 | @ Greenville, 7:05 p.m. |
Baez (6-6, 4.06) vs. Raudes (8-2, 4.06) |
| Auburn | Lost, 5-3 | @ West Virginia, 7:05 p.m. |
Y. Ramirez (2-1, 5.17) vs. Vieaux (0-1, 3.92) |
Syracuse 5 Durham 4
• Voth (W, 5-5) 7IP, 7H, R, ER, BB, 5K, HBP, WP
• Runion 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, HBP
• den Dekker 2-5, R, HR(GS), 5RBI
• Bostick 2-4, R, 3B, BB, 2RBI
• Ramsey 2-4, R, 2B, SF, RBI
Well, that’s one way to take the Bull(s) by the horns. Syracuse sent 14 men to the plate in the bottom of the first and plated ten of them as they defenestrated Durham, 12-1. Austin Voth evened up his won-loss record with seven strong innings, allowing the one Bulls run on seven hits and a walk while striking out five. Every Chief got a hit, with four getting two, and Matt den Dekker smacking a grand slam for the first four runs of the 1st.
Altoona 5 Harrisburg 0 – GAME ONE
• Brady (L, 2-3) 5⅔ IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, BB, 4K, 2HR
• N. Lee ⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K, 1-1 IR-S
• Stevenson 1-3
• Difo 2-3
The Curve got six strong innings from rehabbing Ryan Vogelsong as they shut out the Senators, 5-0. Michael Brady gave up all five Altoona runs on seven hits, including two solo HRs, over five and 2/3rds innings. He walked one and struck out four to lose his third game. Andrew Stevenson singled once, Wilmer Difo twice, and the other seven Harrisburg batters went 0-for-16 with three walks in the loss.
Harrisburg 3 Altoona 2 – GAME TWO
• Simms (W, 6-4) 5IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 6K
• De Los Santos (H, 2) 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Pleffner 2-3, 2R, HR, 2RBI
• Rickles 2-3, RBI
The Harrisburg bullpen bent but didn’t break as a 3-0 lead proved to be just big enough to hold in a 3-2 win in the nightcap to split the doubleheader. John Simms got his sixth win with a masterful five innings (54 pitches, 40 for strikes) as he struck out six, walked none, and allowed just two hits. Wander Suero was credited with the save despite giving up a single and a two-run homer in the last of the 7th. The Sens offense was powered by Shawn Pleffner and Nick Rickles as both connected for RBI singles in the 4th while Pleffner left the yard with his third HR in the 6th.
Winston-Salem 10 Potomac 4
• Crownover (L, 0-4) 3⅓ IP, 7H, 6R, 2ER, 3BB, 3K, HR
• Lambert 3⅔ IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 0K, HR, 3-3 IR-S
• Vettleson 3-4, 2R, 2HR, 3RBI
• Davidson 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Schrock 0-4 (hit streak ends at 18)
The Dash got eight runs in the 4th to punctuate a 10-4 win over the P-Nats and take the series, 2-1. Matthew Crownover lost for the fourth time in eight starts as he was charged with the first six runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks over three and a 1/3rd innings. He left with the bases drunk and Trey Lambert sobered them up and let in three of his own over the next three and 2/3rds innings. Drew Vettleson homered twice and drove in three while Austin Davidson plated the final Potomac run with an RBI double in the 9th.
Hagerstown 10 Greenville 5
• Rodriguez (W, 7-5) 6IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 8K, HBP, WP
• Rivera (SV, 6) 3IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 2K
• Wiseman 2-3, R, 3B
• Agustin 2-4, R, 2B, CS, OF assist at 2B
Jefry Rodriguez tossed six scoreless innings while the Hagerstown bats remained hot in a 4-1 win over Greenville. Rodriguez gave up just two hits and one walk while striking out eight to win for the seventh time. Mariano Rivera II finished the game, letting in an unearned run on three hits and no walks while fanning two as he got his sixth save. Rhett Wiseman singled and tripled while Telmito Agustin singled and doubled to lead the Suns’ 12-hit parade, with eight of the nine batters reaching base. Roster moves: RHP Jake Johansen demoted from Potomac, 3B Kelvin Rodriguez activated from 7-Day DL (end of MiLB rehab for both).
West Virginia 5 Auburn 2
• Bogucki (L, 0-2) 3IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, BB, K
• Simonds 2⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Noll 3-4, 2RBI
• Neuse 2-3, BB
West Virginia’s three-run 2nd was the difference as Auburn dropped back to .500 with a 5-2 loss, its sixth in the last eight games. A.J. Bogucki lost his second start for the Doubledays as the Black Bears clawed him for three runs on six hits and a walk over three innings. Jake Noll came through in the clutch, driving in both Doubledays runs with a pair of two-out singles in three opportunities and was 3-for-4 overall. The rest of the team? Not so much, as they were 0-for-9 with RISP.
Good to see Voth polishing up his resume ahead of the trade deadline. I’d hate to see him go, but he’s ready and deserves a shot that he isn’t likely to get with the Nats any time soon.
I would also gather that with his demotion Johansen is just about out of chances.
Since this is Johansons 4th year in the organization, you have to figure they see something that’s worth keeping him around.
The light bulb goes on late for some pitchers.
We’re about to lose at least 1 or 2 of our stud pitching prospects, Mr. Rizzo is going to keep us hanging until the end of July.
My guess is Voth and Fedde, but the price for the latter has to be rapidly rising.
I’d second that guess. I think Giolito, Turner, Robles, and Lopez are probably untouchable for much short of a Trout trade, and that Fedde is probably the next guy on the Nat list that teams would want. Voth could be a big-league starter right now for a number of teams, even some that are in contention.
Johansen has actually been in the GCL, technically on rehab, although I’m not sure what part of your body is your “career” that you’re trying to rehab. He wasn’t great in Viera: 4.50 ERA, 1.75 WHIP in 8 IP over 7 games. Anyway, it was curious to see him listed as demoted, which is technically correct, when he’s actually been two levels lower.
I guess they keep him around for a couple of reasons: he was their top pick one year (2d round), and they don’t want to admit the mistake; and, probably more importantly, he apparently works hard to be a good teammate. I remember a comment somewhere, probably in a Kerr piece in the fall, that Johansen was one of the real leaders in the instructional league. Those types of guys probably have a future in baseball, but probably not on the field. (See Josh Johnson getting the GCL managing gig before he turned 30.)