Wednesday’s News & Notes

Syracuse 4 Buffalo 3 (12 inn.)
• Wang 5⅔ IP, 7H, 3ER, BB, 4K, HR, HBP
• Balester 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Wilkie 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Mandel (W, 2-3) 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Marrero 1-2, R, 4BB
• Bynum 2-4, 2R, 2B

Syracuse outlasted Buffalo in a 4-3 win last night. Chien-Ming Wang made his first start for the Chiefs and was rudely greeted by a solo home run from the second batter of the game. Syracuse came back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second when Carlos Maldonado hit a 2-RBI double to score Chris Marrero and Tug Hulett. Buffalo scored two more runs on Wang in the third on two singles, a double, and a sacrifice fly. Wang did not yield any more runs, and he was his usual groundball self, registering nine groundouts to two flyouts. He also pounded the zone, throwing 62 of his 91 pitches for strikes. The Syracuse bullpen was the true hero of the game as Atahualpa Severino, Collin Balester, Josh Wilkie and Jeff Mandel combined for six and 1/3rd innings of scoreless relief. Down 3-2 in the seventh, Syracuse loaded the bases and scored on a Jesus Valdez sacrifice fly. From there the teams traded zeroes until the bottom of the twelfth, when Brian Bixler sent the Syracuse faithful home happy with a walkoff sacrifice fly to score Seth Bynum after he doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With the win, Syracuse improves to fourth place in the IL North, one game up over Buffalo and 13½ games behind Lehigh Valley.

Harrisburg 5 Bowie 4
• Martis 5⅔ IP, 8H, 4ER, 2BB, 6K, GS HR
• Martin (W, 2-1) 1.1IP, 0H, 0ER, 0BB, 4K
• Pahuta 3-3, R, 2RBI
• Rahl 2-4, 2R, 2B
Harrisburg mustered enough offense to squeak by Bowie in a 5-4 win last night. Harrisburg had 13 hits with Bill Rhinehart, Chris Rahl, Tim Pahuta, Stephen King, and Chris McConnell all registering at least two hits and every starter reaching base except the slumping Bryce Harper (1-25 over his last 7G). Harrisburg scored two in the second on four singles and two in the third on Tyler Moore’s league-leading 21st homer followed by a Rahl double and a Pahuta RBI single. Starter Shairon Martis almost held the lead, but gave up a two-out grand slam to Pedro Florimon in the top of the 6th. Cory VanAllen and Rafael Martin combined to pitch three and 1/3rd innings of scoreless relief to keep the game tied. In the bottom of the 8th, Bill “The Godfather” Rhinehart hit the game-winning RBI single after Josh Johnson and Derek Norris walked. Harrisburg’s win over second place Bowie extends their lead to 4½ games and improves their record to 56-39.

Potomac 1 Lynchburg 0
• Olbrychowski (W, 3-5) 5⅓ IP, 3H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Smoker (S, 1) 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Hood 3-4, RBI
• Perez 1-3, R

For the second straight game, the Potomac pitchers combined for a 1-0 shutout of the Lynchburg Hillcats. Unlike Monday night, the story was not keeping them off base but how the P-Nats pitchers bore down and denied the Hillcats the clutch hit. Lynchburg put 11 baserunners on but went 0-for-13 when they got into scoring position, including a one-out triple in the first and leadoff double in the second. Adam Olbrychowski pitched into the sixth, allowing three hits and two walks. Neil Holland, Joe Testa, and Josh Smoker each inherited two runners; the trio combined to strand six, pitching three and 2/3rds scoreless innings of relief. Offensively, Destin Hood led the nine-hit Potomac offensive effort, triple Monday’s output, with a 3-for-3 game and the game’s lone RBI. The win puts Potomac to 16-9, keeping pace with the Frederick Keys, who are currently on a six-game win streak.

Hagerstown Suns — OFF DAY
The Suns kick off an eight-game homestand against with four against the Augusta Greenjackets, winners of 10 straight, then four against the Greenville Drive.

Williamsport 3 Auburn 2
• Karns (L, 0-1) 4IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 5BB, 3K
• Barrett 3IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 1K
• Ramsey 3-4, R
• J Miller 1-3, RBI

The Doubledays loaded ’em up with nobody out in the 9th, but could only get two runners in as the Crosscutters held on for the 3-2 win. Nathan Karns was tagged for the loss in his New York-Penn League debut, coughing up three first-inning runs and walking five over four innings while giving up six hits. David Hill pitched one scoreless inning and Aaron Barrett threw three to keep Auburn in it. Caleb Ramsey was the only Doubleday to collect multiple hits (3-for-4) as the Williamsport pitchers held the rest of the lineup to just three hits. The loss drops Auburn back to .500 at 16-16, but still just two games out of first place.

GCL Nationals 6 GCL Astros
• Mieses 3IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, K
• Hawkins (S, 1) 2⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 5K
• Schill 3-5, R
• E Martinez 3-4, 2R, 2B, RBI

The long summer of discontent is finally over with the G-Nats 6-4 win over the G-Astros. Well, no, not really, but the eight-game losing streak is over, thanks to strong relief work from Pat Arnold and Ben Hawkins, who combined for four and 2/3rds scoreless innings and eight strikeouts to earn the win and save respectively. Wes Schill and Estarlin Martinez paced the offense with three hits apiece as the G-Nats pounded out 12 hits and committed just one (1) error. The G-Nats win, no. 9, was the first since July 9, as the 9-16 record trails the G-Marlins by 8½ games in the GCL East.

DSL Nationals 4 DSL Cubs2 1 (6 inn.)
• Silvestre (W, 2-1) 5IP, 2H, 1R, 0ER, 3BB, 2K
• Guzman 0IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 0K
• Marmolejos-Diaz 2-3, 2B, RBI
• Mejia 2-3, R, 3B

The D-Nats scored in both of the first two innings, building a 3-1 lead and extended it to 4-1 before the game was called in the bottom of the sixth. Hector Silvestre got his second win in his second start, allowing an unearned run on two hits and three walks over five innings. Jose Marmolejos-Diaz and Bryan Mejia each had two hits to pace the D-Nats offense. The win puts the D-Nats at 21-22, 5½ games off the pace in the B.C. South Division of the DSL.