So you understand less
as the pages turn
The Toronto Sun sports section? Maybe. But the lyric applies to these minor league updates in a way too: We can hazard an educated guess as to how a SkyChief might perform were he promoted to The Show next week, but by the time we get down to Pulaski virtually anyone on the roster could be the next Mike Piazza or the next Jeromie Spillman. The results last night: 3 wins and 2 losses, plenty offence but not a lot of pitching.
Ottawa 5 @ Syracuse 7
The unstoppable Kevin Barker was at it again last night, slamming a 3-run homer as well as a single to lead the Chiefs to victory over the Lynx. He was capably assisted by the two-hit efforts of Anton French (including a triple), Bryant Nelson (a stolen base), Julius Matos (a homer) and Joe Depastino (loving life away from the Independent Leagues). John-Ford Griffin got in on the fun too, with his 16th round-tipper of the Triple-A campaign.
Chris Baker was knocked around for 11 hits but managed to limit the damage to 4 runs over his 5-2/3 and chalk up the win. Justin Miller picked up where Baker left off, allowing a solitary run over 2 innings despite 5 hits. He stuck out an impressive 4. Matt Whiteside retired 4 of the 5 Ottawa batters he faced for his 13th save.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
The final score isn’t very complimentary to the D-Jays, but they did make this one close by scoring 6 runs in the bottom half of the 8th to roar back from a 10-3 deficit. Unfortunately, rather than continue the comeback in the 9th they surrendered 3 more runs to the Miracle.
Kurt Isenberg got the start for Dunedin and was hit to the tune of 6 runs (5 earned) over 4 innings. The middle innings saw respite in the person of Justin James, who retired 9 while allowing just 3 hits and striking out 4, but Brad Mumma came on for the 8th and was torched for 4 runs. With the game looking out of hand at that point he was left out there for the entire frame, and came back out for the 9th. He retired one and put two on, who both scored with Milton Tavarez on the bump. Tavarez was also charged an unearned run against his own record.
Brian Patrick led 5 Dunedins with 2-hit nights, as he included a walk with a double and a tater. Also 2-hitting were Jayce Tingler, Robinzon Diaz, Mike Snyder, and, naturally, Chip Cannon. Mr. Can heard rumblings that his HR/2B ratio was looking suspicious, so he added another 2-bagger to his totals. Eric Arnold made the most of his hit, sending it over the wall to drive in two.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
The Lugnuts fared better than the Blue Jays in their matchup with the Devil Rays, plating runners in 5 different innings for a straightforward W. Christian Snavely continue his recent surge with a 2-run dinger. Dave Hicks slapped two singles, Jason Armstrong three, and Eugenio Velez had a double a la carte with his two base knocks.
On the hill, it was Russell Savickas scattering 9 singles over 6 innings. Charge him 3 runs, 2 earned, a walk and three strikeouts, call it his 3rd win of the season. Po-Hsuan Keng hurled two shutout frames, allowing just a single and striking out one, while Jeremy Harper presided over a one-hit ninth.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
CF Ryan Patterson’s 4-hit night wasn’t enough to stop the Doubledays getting jammed by Jamestown. LF Jermy Acey, 1B Joey Metropolous, and 3B Anthony Garibaldi all joined Patterson by hitting doubles, but no other Doubleday had a multi-hit night. Big City was pulled for pinch-runner Josh Celigoy following his hit in the 4th inning, hopefully he’s okay as he comes back from a broken leg suffered in the off-season.
Pitching-wise, Kristian Bell suffered his 2nd loss of the young season as he surrendered 4 runs on 7 hits over 4 innings. On the bright side, he struck out 6 and walked nobody. Sean Stidfole (1 inning) and Paul Phillips (2 innings) each allowed 2 runs in relief before Brian Grant came on to toss the final two and put up zeroes across the rest of the board.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
Three runs in the top of the ninth made it a come-from-behind win for the Blue Jays in Burlington, North Carolina. RF Jorge Sandes got the turnaround started with a leadoff homer. Two walks and two outs later, 1B Paul Franko hit a grounder which the third baseman really threw away as two more scored.
LF Zach Kalter continued his strong work out of the leadoff spot, reaching 4 times on with 3 hits and a walk, and 2B Wes Stone added two more singles to his resume. CF Octavio Cordero joined Sandes in the round-tripper circle, and slapped a single for good measure. Besides inducing the defence to spontaneously combust, Franko hit a double. 3B Lee Soto continued to struggle, wearing the Golden Sombrero and being charged with his 3rd error.
Jesse Litsch pitched a powerful 6 innings, striking out 9 against just 1 free pass, 3 runs on 3 hits (including two jacks). Hector Delgadillo receipted for the win with an impressive 3 innings of relief, 4 Ks and 1 BB, an unearned run and just one hit.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
The Third Star: Zach Kalter, Pulaski, 3 hits and a walk.
The Second Star: Justin James, Dunedin, the calm in the middle of the storm.
The First Star: Ryan Patterson, Auburn, 4-hit night includes a double.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050628090702932