Another whitewash of the affiliates. Syracuse batted around in the first inning but didn't have a baserunner after the fourth inning. New Hampshire received five straight walks in the ninth inning but it was too little too late. Michael MacDonald and Brandon Magee had ground ball to fly ball ratio's of 16-1 and 17-3 respectively. Syracuse and Dunedin could not get timely hitting that would have turned their losses into wins.
The Chiefs batted around in the first inning and scored the minimum three runs. Rey Olmedo led off with a single and Curtis Thigpen reached on an error. Kevin Barker delivered an RBI single, Howie Clark walked to load the bases and Chad Mottola walked to make it 2-0. John-Ford Griffin and John Hattig could not score a runner but Eric Kratz walked to make it 3-0. Unfortunately for the Chiefs they only had two more hits in the rest of the game. Michael MacDonald pitched his usual game, he had a 16-1 ground ball, fly ball ratio and allowed seven hits and three walks with four K's in his seven innings. Unfortunately for him several of the ground balls that became hits, and a couple of the walks were bunched in one inning. In the fifth MacDonald gave up a lead off triple but retired the next two hitters while allowing the run to score and make it a 3-1 game. Then came three ground ball hits and two walks to score three more runs and put Indy up 4-3. The Chiefs did not have a runner after Indy went ahead.
New Hampshire scored three in the ninth to make the score look half decent. Kyle Yates struggled in this game, he gave up two runs in the third inning on a home run and a walk/double, and a three run home run in the fifth. Yates was pulled after 4.0 innings having given up five runs on seven hits and three walks. Yates has a 6.04 ERA this season and he hasn't found last seasons form yet. Aaron Mathews hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot, in the second inning. In the ninth the Fisher Cats drew five walks, followed by a Manny Mayorson single, to score three runs but Sergio Santos grounded into a double play to end the game. The Fishers had nine hits, Aaron Mathews, David Smith and Juan Peralta had two hits each.
Brandon Magee started for Dunedin and gave up a lead-off home run in the second inning. Jacob Butler answered with a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the second to tie the game. Magee retired Tampa 3 up and 3 down in the third, fourth and fifth innings. However the first two batters in the sixth singled and two groundouts later the Yankees led 2-1. Dunedin had a chance to do major damage in the seventh, Josh Kreuzer led off with a double, Kyle Philips singled him home and Jacob Butler followed with another single to put two runners on with none out. But the next three hitters were unable to get a run home. Magee gave up singles to the first three hitters of the eighth and left with the bases loaded. Daryl Harang came on and Tampa registered a sac fly and a ground out to go up 4-2. Dunedin again had their chance in the bottom of the ninth, Kreuzer led off with another double, and with one out Butler singled him home and Luke Hetherington reached on an error. However once again the Jays were unable to get the runners home.
Kreuzer went 3-4 with 3 doubles and Butler was 3-4 with a home run. Magee gave up four runs on eight hits but three of the hits and two runs came in his last inning. Magee had a 17-3 ground ball to fly ball ratio and has pitched much better since his rough start.
Lansing - scheduled day off
3 star selection
3rd star - tie - Michael MacDonald and Brandon Magee
2nd star - Jacob Butler
1st star - Josh Kreuzer
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