Sunday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 6-5 | vs. Lehigh Valley, 1:05 p.m. |
Latos (0-0, 1.80) vs. Vasquez (3-0, 2.73) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 8-5 | @ Richmond, 12:05 p.m. |
Fedde (1-1, 6.35) vs. Molina (1-0, 0.00) |
| Potomac | Lost, 7-6 | vs. Frederick, 6:05 p.m. |
TBD vs. Long (6-6, 4.47) |
| Hagerstown | Postponed | @ Lexington, 1:05 p.m. |
Rodriguez (7-9, 4.80) and Guilbeau (2-2, 4.12) vs. Puckett (0-2, 3.49) and Watson (2-10, 8.11) |
| Auburn | Lost, 4-3 | @ Williamsport, 5:05 p.m. |
TBD vs. Suarez (5-2, 3.27) |
Syracuse 6 Lehigh Valley 5
• Voth 6IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 7K
• DeFratus (W, 1-1) 2IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 3K, 2HR
• Grace (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Soto 2-2, BB, RBI
• Martinson 1-3, 2R, BB, HR, RBI
• Bostick 1-3, R, 2B, BB
Jason Martinson homered in the bottom of the 8th to end the see-saw battle of the bullpens, with Syracuse proving to less inept for a 6-5 win. It was 2-2 after six innings with Austin Voth spinning a quality start of two runs on six hits and three walks while striking out seven. The “W” was credited to Justin DeFratus despite giving up three runs on two home runs in the 7th and 8th innings. Matt Grace worked around a walk in the 9th to earn his first save for the Chiefs. Neftali Soto reached base three times with two singles and a walk to lead the eight-hit, five-walk offense. Roster moves: RHP A.J. Cole, C Pedro Severino optioned from Washington.
Harrisburg 8 Richmond 5
• Mayberry 4IP, 5H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, K, HR
• Self (W, 4-2) 3IP, 1H, 0R, 3BB, 4K
• Lee (SV, 2) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 3BB, 3K
• Bautista 3-5, R, 2RBI, SB(45)
• Ward 2-4, R, 2B, BB, RBI
• Stevenson 2-5, 2R, RBI
The Senators got three-spots twice in the middle innings to rally from a 5-2 deficit and end a five-game losing streak with an 8-5 win. Whit Mayberry was sent down I-95 from Woodbridge to make the spot start and was lit up for all five Richmond runs on five hits and two walks. Derek Self (3IP) and Nick Lee (2IP) combined for five scoreless innings despite six walks for the win and save respectively. Rafael Bautista swiped his 45th base while going 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI while Drew Ward singled, doubled, and walked in five PA’s to lead the Harrisburg attack. Roster moves: RHP Whit Mayberry reassigned from Potomac.
Frederick 7 Potomac 6
• Whiting 5⅓ IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 2K, 2HR, WP
• Orlan (BS, 5; L, 5-5) ⅔ IP, 1H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 1K, 2-1 IR-S
• Thomas 1⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, BB, K, 3-3 IR-S
• Schrock 3-5, R
• Davidson 1-2, 2R, 2B, 2BB
• Robles 1-3, R, 2BB, RBI
Potomac’s tailspin continued with a seventh straight loss, 7-6, which dropped the team into second place and sliced the lead over third-place Frederick to just 4½ games. Boone Whiting allowed three runs on four hits, including two home runs over five and a 1/3rd innings. He walked one and struck out two. R.C. Orlan blew his fifth save in 14 chances, with a little “help” from Justin Thomas, who let in all three runners he inherited from Orlan in the Frederick’s three-run 8th inning that snapped a 4-4 tie. Max “For Those About To” Schrock singled three times while Austin Davidson and Victor both walked twice to pace the Potomac offense, which scored single runs in the 8th and 9th innings but did not get the tying run into scoring position in either frame.
Hagerstown vs. Lexington – PPD
The Suns and Legends were washed on Saturday night. They’ll shoot to make it up this afternoon with a doubleheader. Roster moves: RHP Samuel Held promoted from Auburn; RHP Jake Johansen placed on the 7-Day DL.
Hudson Valley 4 Auburn 3
• Mills (L, 3-4) 4IP, 2H, 3R, 2ER, 5BB, 4K
• Howard 3IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, K, HR
• Ortiz 2-4, RBI
• Kerian 2-4, R
Auburn lost its ninth straight and saw its tragic number reduced to one with a 4-3 loss to Williamsport. McKenzie Mills lost for the fourth time with three runs charged to him on two hits and five walks over four innings. The Doubledays collected ten hits, with Andres Martinez, Oliver Ortiz, and David Kerian each having two hits, but just two came in 12 chances with RISP.
GCL Update
With a 5-1 mark, the G-Nats are now one game behind the G-Cards with a chance to tie with a win today. As noted in the comments, 17-y.o. Juan Soto is living up to the hype, batting .345 (second-best in the GCL) with 77 total bases (third-best) in 39 games. 24th Rd. pick Joseph Waltrip is leading the team in appearances with 15 and has a 2-1 record with four saves.
DSL Update
The D-Nats enter their final week of play with pair of games against D-Cards, D-Angels, and the D-Braves. Nineteen-y.o. Angel Guillen leads the age-appropriate pitchers with a 4-1, 1.67/2.52/0.94 mark while Jose Cabello, also 19, is leading the hitters with a .279/ .390/.339 line.
I was at the Potomac game last night, and a couple of thoughts in no particular order.
(1) Schrock is a hitting machine. I don’t know if that will play at upper levels, but he does put the bat on the ball. His hit & run with Robles on first to set the table for the PNats was a thing of beauty. In other news, Robles is really fast – it was fun to watch him run.
(2) Whiting was incredibly fortunate; the Keys barrelled up a bunch of baseballs and not just the two (LONG) HRs. There were lineouts to both corner infielders and hard grounders as well. He did not impress me at all.
(3) The Keys can HIT. It seemed like their entire lineup was hitting .280 or better, and they had a handful of guys with double digit HRs. They don’t pitch much, though. Their starter was terrible, walking the bases loaded, walking in a run and wild pitching in another run. The PNats had many opportunities, but couldn’t take advantage.
(4) Orlan is, ah, “hefty.” Not quite Mickey Lolich like, but suffice it to say he’s not a skinny guy.
Cole gets sent back down without being used. It was particularly baffling that Dusty elected to use Kelley and Melancon on Thursday night for the 8th and 9th with an 8-2 lead, when Cole had been brought up for the specific purpose of eating innings in case Lopez exited early. The Nats’ middle relievers were awful in the Atlanta series, but Dusty’s management of the bullpen (not using Cole, using Petit once in a blue moon) has been pretty bad as well.
A veteran manager who refuses to use rookies? I’m *shocked*
FWIW, I think that Baker’s presumed reluctance to use rookies is wildly overstated. See, e.g., Trea Turner, Koda Glover, Wilmer Difo and now Pedro Severino. He’s much more interested in using Severino than Lobaton, IMHO. If anything, he uses Difo a bit more than I’m really happy about.
Is Baker more reluctant to use the rookie than the average fan on the street? Hell, yes. Likely because he knows more than the average fan about the adjustment from the minor leagues to the majors and how often players. And also that “hasn’t failed yet” at the big league level doesn’t mean “will be better than other options.”