We had a bit of everything on the farm last night: all the home teams won and Syracuse won it on an infield "single" while all the other teams either scored 10+, gave up 10+ or shut out the opposition.
Syracuse 5 @ Buffalo 6
Dustin McGowan got the start but lasted just two innings after throwing 59 pitches to 12 batters, including four walks. None of the other pitchers were particuarly "on" yesterday afternoon, and Ben Weber (whose error led to the tying run) was saved from further damage when Wayne Lydon made a diving catch in the seventh and doubled the runner off first base. No defense could save Ryan Houston in the bottom of the ninth, however, as he walked Andy Marte to load the bases and a hard grounder went off his calf. His throw to the plate was not in time and the Bisons had their victory.
A four-run fourth put the Chiefs on top temporarily, and it mostly started with two outs after a double and two flyouts. Overall, Kevin Barker had two hits, Mike Mahoney drove in two and Rob Cosby drove in another...and played right field. Has he done that before?
New Hampshire 5 @ Portland 12
Believe it or not, this wasn't the laugher it appears to be. Portland scored 11 -- eleven! -- runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. No sign of Frank Menechino on the mound, however. I don't even know where to start with describing that inning, so I won't. In what seemed to be enough at the time, Jason Arnold and Danny Hill kept the Sea Dogs at bay through six; the only run coming in the first when Portland went double-single with two outs.
Curtis Thigpen hit a double, a home run and walked. Chip Cannon drove in two runs, both with two outs. Manny Mayorson scored twice, but it wasn't nearly enough, especially when David Murphy drove in just as many as the entire Fisher Cat team.
Jupiter 0 @ Dunedin 6
You'd expect, with a shutout, that the starter went more than four innings. Not so, eh, Danny Core? He still pitched very well, striking out six over 3.2 and, obviously, not allowing a run. T.J. Gornati and Brad Mumma followed, adding six K's of their own against a mere two hits and no walks to shut down the Hammerhead offense.
David Corrente got things started for the Dunedins, hitting a two-run shot with two out in the bottom of the second. The next four runs came courtesy of a Ryan Patterson walk, a Ryan Klosterman single, a Dustin Majewski single, and a three-run homer by John Schneider.
Fort Wayne 8 @ Lansing 11
Chi-Hung Cheng didn't fare so well (five walks, three hits in four frames), but Po-Hsuan Keng continued his fine, fine season by being the only pitcher who did not allow a run yesterday on either team. He's now thrown 23 relief innings, striking out 19 and walking just 6. Add his ERA and WHIP together and you barely crack 1.8.
A bunch of hits for the Lugnuts led to the 11 runs, but we'll focus on the bottom of the eighth, when it was 8-7 Fort Wayne before two runs came in, then two more on a Jacob Butler single. But here's where it gets interesting: Brian Pettway (who homered earlier) and Luke Hetherington both scored, then Sean Shoffit was thrown out at home 7-4-5-2-5. I guess he sped around second and couldn't get the brakes on fast enough around third. Josh Bell drove in three as well, and that's about all she wrote.
Three-Star Selection:
3. Po-Hsuan Keng
2. Curtis Thigpen
1. John Schneider
Standings:
Syracuse: 20-23, fifth place in the North division, six games behind Rochester.
New Hampshire: 15-25, last place in the Northern division, nine games back of Connecticut.
Dunedin: 25-18, first place in the West, tied with Lakeland and one game up on Fort Myers.
Lansing: 25-17, second place in the Eastern division, 0.5 games behind West Michigan.
Ricky Romero goes tonight for the D-Jays, if anyone's interested. Jupiter does have an Internet radio broadcast, so if you can tear yourself away from 24, the game starts at 7.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20060522102953201