Friday’s News & Notes

Buffalo 5 Syracuse 2
• Stammen (L, 8-4) 5⅔ IP, 5H, 4ER, 2BB, 6K, WP
• Balester 2IP, 2H, 1ER, 0BB, K, HR
• J Valdez 1-3, 2B, RBI
• Solano 1-4, 2B, RBI

Craig Stammen took the loss in a 5-2 Buffalo victory over Syracuse. Stammen gave up three runs in the first inning on a walk, a single, a two-RBI double, and an RBI single. The Chiefs offense was limited to just five hits. In the second, Jhonatan Solano doubled in Seth Bynum on a line drive to center. In the fifth, Jesus Valdez doubled in Brian Bixler to close the Buffalo lead to 3-2. Buffalo quickly tacked on an insurance run against Stammen before Lee Hyde came in to provide one and one-third innings of scoreless relief. Collin Balester pitched two innings, yielding a run on a solo shot by Luis Hernandez in the ninth. With the loss, Syracuse falls back to 43-54, 13 games behind Lehigh Valley in the IL North.

Richmond 8 Harrisburg 5
• E Davis (L, 5-5) 4⅔ IP 7H, 8R, 7ER, 3BB, 4K, HR, WP
• Pena 2⅓ IP 0H, 0R, 0BB, 5K
• Moore 2-4, R, HR, RBI, BB
• King 2-4, R, 2R HR, 2RBI

Harrisburg out hit Richmond eleven to seven and outhomered them three to one yet still lost 8-5. Richmond had six two out RBI to Harrisburg’s one by Bill Rhinehart. Every Harrisburg starter except Chris Rahl had at least one hit. Derek Norris tripled and walked to extend his hitting streak to five games as he begins to put some distance between his batting average and the dreaded Mendoza line. Harrisburg had a solo homer from Adam Fox, a solo shot from Tyler Moore, and a two run shot from Stephen King. Erik Davis gave up a run in the third, five runs in the fourth with two outs, and two runs in the fifth. Hassan Pena pitched two and 1/3rd shutout innings of relief, striking out five, and Pat Lehman pitched a scoreless eighth. With the loss, Harrisburg is 4-7 over its last eleven games and the Senators lead has shrunk to 2.5 games over Bowie at 56-41 in the E.L. West.

Potomac — OFF DAY
It’s a seven-game road trip to Winston-Salem for three, then four against Wilmington. The series against the Blue Rocks is a bit of a warmup for next weekend’s clash against Frederick, but arguably more important because it represents a chance to widen the gap between second and third place, as the second-half second-place team gets the playoff bid in the event of a double-half winner, not the team with the second-best overall record.

Hagerstown 4 August 2 — GAME ONE
• Swynenberg (W, 3-0) 5IP, 4H, 2R, ER, 0BB, 3K
• Eusebio (S, 4)
• Freitas 1-3, R, HR, RBI
• Keyes 2-3, 2B
• Nicol 2-3, 2B, RBI
Hagerstown came from 2-0 down to win 4-2 over Augusta in Game 1 of the doubleheader. Matt Swynenberg gave up a solo homer in the second and an unearned run in the third on a two out error by Blake Kelso. In the fourth, David Freitas hit his 11th home run and Sean Nicol had an RBI single, scoring Jason Martinson. The Suns scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two RBI double from Adrian Sanchez. Hagerstown had nine hits in all; only Blake Kelso and Cole Leonida failed to get at least one hit. Wilson Eusebio pitched the last two innings to earn his fourth save.

Hagerstown 3 Augusta 0 — GAME TWO
• Demmin (W, 1-1) 5IP, 2H, 0ER, 2BB, 7K
• Manno (S, 12) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0K
• Sanchez 2-3, SB, CS
• Martinson 1-3, R, 2B, 2RBI
• W Moore 1-3, 2B, RBI
Ryan Demmin, Tyler Hanks, and Chris Manno combined for a two hit, seven inning 3-0 shutout of the Augusta GreenJackets to sweep the doubleheader. Hagerstown was only threatened in the fifth, when Josh Mazzola led off the frame with a double. Demmin quickly pitched out of trouble, inducing a flyout and striking out two batters around a two out walk. Hagerstown did all of its damage in the fourth inning. After a leadoff walk to David Freitas and a one-out walk to Russell Moldenhauer, Hagerstown scored two runs on a Jason Martinson double and tacked on another with a Wade Moore RBI double. With the doubleheader sweep, Hagerstown improves to 15-12, good for a three way tie for second place, three games back of first-half Northern Division winner Hickory.

Auburn 7 Williamsport 2
• Meyers 2⅔ IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 2K
• Estevez (W, 3-2) 5⅓ IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, BB, 2K
• Nieto 3-4, 2R, HR, 2RBI
• Ramsey 2-3, BB

A pair of two-run homers from the Auburn Doubledays took the teeth out of the Williamsport Crosscutters for a 7-2 win. Adrian Nieto (3-for-4) went deep in the third while Matt Skole matched the feat in the fifth. Rehabbing Brad Meyers got the start and went the first two and 2/3rds, giving up a run on three on hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Wirkin “For The Weekend” Estevez followed him out of the ‘pen and put in five and 1/3rd strong innings of relief for the win, which improved the Doubledays to 18-16, just one game out of the division lead.

GCL Nationals 3 GCL Marlins
• Encarnacion 5IP, 3H, 2R, 1ER, 3BB, 5K
• Holder 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• E Martinez 2-4, 2R, 2B
• JC Valdez 1-1, 3BB, SB

Andruth Ramirez’s two-out single in the bottom of the 8th lifted the G-Nats to their third straight victory, a 3-2 win over the G-Marlins. Pedro Encarnacion started and went the first five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks. Trevor Holder pitched for the first time since going on the Potomac DL, giving up a hit and striking out one over two scoreless innings. Estarlin Martinez continued his assault on the GCL with a 2-for-4 game and two runs scored while fellow DSL grad Jean-Carlos Valdez drew three walks to pace the G-Nat offense. The G-Nats gained a game but remain 7½ back of the G-Marlins with an 11-16 mark.

DSL Nationals-DSL Braves
As of 9:30 a.m., the game was not reported on MiLB.com