Friday’s News & Notes
Three wins and two streaks snaps. Plus, some 18-year-old hits a walkoff in Hagerstown
The Quick Rundown…
| Team | Yesterday’s Result | Today’s Game | Pitching Matchup |
| Syracuse Chiefs | Lost, 5-1 | @ Indianapolis, 7:15 p.m. | J.D. Martin (0-3, 5.70) vs. Brad Lincoln (4-5, 4.71) |
| Harrisburg Senators | Lost, 10-5 | @ Erie, 7:05 p.m. | Erik Davis (2-1, 3.29) vs. Jacob Turner (1-1, 2.69) |
| Potomac Nationals | Won, 8-5 | @ Wilmington, 7:05 p.m. | Cameron Selik (0-4, 6.43) vs. Noel Arguelles (2-2, 2.84) |
| Hagerstown Suns | Won, 9-8 (10 inn.) | @ Greenville, 7:05 p.m. | Matt Grace (5-4, 4.44) vs. Brandon Workman (1-3, 3.63) |
| DSL Nationals | Won, 6-1 vs. DSL Yankees1 | vs. DSL Mets1, 10:30 AM | TBD vs. TBD |
Louisville 5 Syracuse 1
• Stammen (L, 5-3) 6⅔ IP 7H 4R 4ER 2BB 7K 2HR
• Wilkie 1⅓ IP 1H 1R 1ER 0BB 1K 1HR
• Valdez 3-4, SB
• McConnell 1-3, 2B
All five runs came via home runs, as Louisville slugged Syracuse, 5-1 to send the Chiefs to their fifth straight defeat. Craig Stammen pitched into the seventh, giving up seven hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. He left, down 2-1 with two runners on and two outs, and Josh Wilkie couldn’t strand them, instead allowing a three-run blast — his first HR of the 2011 season. Offensively, Jesus Valdez led the Chiefs with a 3-for-4 night but Syracuse managed just seven hits total, going 1-for-10 with RISP and leaving eight men on base.
New Hampshire 10 Harrisburg 5
• Tatusko (L, 1-4) 6+ IP 3H 5R 5ER 4BB 3K
• VanAllen (BS, 1) 1IP 2H 1R 1ER 1BB 1K 2-2 IR-S
• Lombardozzi 2-5, R, RBI
• Moore 2-5, 2B, RBI
• Valdez 2-4, 2R, 2B, 3B, BB
The Sens streak was stopped with a 10-5 loss to New Hampshire. In a classic case of why folks need to look for “Inherited runners-scored” (IR-S above) in the box score, starter Ryan Tatusko left with a 4-3 lead and two runners on and no outs in the seventh. Reliever Cory VanAllen allowed both runners to score, blowing the save and changing what might have been a quality-start win into another loss. The Sens had no problem getting runners on, with five batters collecting multiple hits and every batter reaching base, but left on 12 in the loss. LHP Patrick McCoy was removed from the 7-Day DL, bringing Harrisburg back to a full, 24-man roster.
Potomac 8 Winston-Salem 5
• Demny (W, 2-5) 5⅔ IP 6H 3R 2ER 2BB 5K 2HR
• Bloxom 3-5, 2-2B, 2RBI
• Kobernus 2-5, 2-2B, 2RBI, SB
• Cuevas 2-3, R 2B
A three-run sixth broke a 3-3 tie as the Potomac Nationals snapped an 11-game losing streak with an 8-5 win in Winston-Salem. While aided no doubt by the hitter-friendly confines of BB&T park, the P-Nats bat rapped out 15 hits including seven doubles and a triple, with Justin Bloxom leading the charge with a 3-for-5 night. Starter Paul Demny got the win despite giving up two home runs among his six hits over five and 2/3rds innings, while walking two and striking out five.
Hagerstown 9 Greenville 8 (10 inn.)
• Jordan (ND) 6IP 6H 3R 0ER 0BB 5K
• Harper 4-5, R, HR, BB, 2RBI, CS
• Keyes 3-5, 2R, 2-2B, 3RBI, 2E
• Leonida 2-4, R, 2B, 2RBI
Bryce Harper was the hero with a two-run walkoff blast to dead center to give the Suns an 8-7 win in extra innings. Playing CF, the 18-year-old also went 4-for-5 on the night, raising his average to .346. The heroics however ought not to mask the shoddy defense and bullpen, with four errors and five runs given up respectively. The win lowered the Suns’ magic number to 15, as the 2nd-place and 3rd-place teams also won to keep pace.
DSL Nationals 2 DSL Yankees1 1
• Mendez (W, 1-0) 5IP 4H 1R 1ER 0BB 6K
• Vasquez (S, 1) 1IP 0H 0R 1BB 3K
• Gonzalez, E 1-2, R
• Eusebio 1-2, RBI
• Mercedes 1-2, RBI
The D-Nats struck for two runs in the bottom of the first with RBI singles by Diomedes Eusebio and Yermin Mercedes and the D-Yankees1 squad only managed one run against starter Gilberto Mendez for a 2-1 victory in six innings. Daury Vasquez got the save with with a walk issued and three strikeouts.
Did the mention of a Wilkie blown save creep in by mistake, since he entered the game with the Chiefs down 2-1, or am I missing somethin’?
Coffee hadn’t kicked in yet. Thx for the catch
Here’s what I have to say about your mistake.
@VladiHondo: Looks like the DSL squad is populated with far more players in the 17-20yo range than in years’ past. I’d think that’s a good thing, and turns the Nationals presence in the D.R. into more of a real development squad than we’ve seen in past years.
A dissapointing, yet not unexpected loss for Stammen for Syracuse last night. Happy to see Potomac get off their death spiral, if only for a night; I still have hope that they can get a run going over the upcoming homestand that carries into the 2nd half (with some promotion boosters from HAG).