It was a night from hell for the top 4 affiliates but the short-season affiliates saved the day.
Syracuse, NY - In last week's update, I got to summarize a Chiefs doubleheader loss to the Bisons. This week, I only have to bore you with one. See? There's a bright side to everything!
The Bisons grabbed the early 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st when Chiefs starter Jeremy Cummings loaded up the bases on a ground rule double, a hit batsman and a single before walking in a run. Syracuse responded with 2 runs in their half of the 1st when Wayne Lydon led off with a double, moved to 3rd on a Robinzon Diaz sacrifice bunt and came in to score on a Russ Adams RBI groundout. Chad Mottola followed that up with a big fly over the right field wall, his 13th of the campaign, to give the Chiefs a 2-1 lead. Buffalo would tie the game in the 3rd when they loaded up the bases again against Jeremy Cummings and got a sac fly to cash in the tying run. After that, Cummings settled down by retiring the next 10 hitters before giving up a single and a walk in the 6th but he kept the Bisons off the board. He gave up 10 baserunners through 5 hits, 3 walks and 2 plunks but he did strike out 6. Ty Taubenheim came out of the bullpen to start the 7th. He gave up a leadoff double, then struck out the next 2 hitters but he gave up a run scoring single as the Indians affiliates grabbed a 3-2 lead. Jamie Vermilyea worked 2/3 of a scoreless inning but Buffalo put the game away in the 9th with 4 more runs, scoring a pair of runs each off Scott Sauerbeck and Ryan Houston.
The Chiefs "offence" shot blanks in this one. Wayne Lydon had a double, 2 walks and a run scored and was officially 1-for-1 on the evening. Chad Mottola's homer and Ray Olmedo's single were the only other base knocks for the home side. Ryan Roberts was the only other baserunner after drawing a walk.
Manchester, NH - You wouldn't know it from the final score but this game was actually a pitcher's duel in the first 5 innings. Kyle Yates matched up against Twins prospect Anthony Swarzak in the battle of the Cats and it was the Rock Cats who scored the first run on a pair of first inning doubles. The Fisher Cats would battle back on David Smith's RBI single in the 2nd and RBI double in the 4th, scoring Chip Cannon both times to take the lead. It looked like that lead would hold the way Yates was pitching because he mowed down 13 hitters in a row. However, the game quickly turned for Yates in the 6th as he gave up a three run homer to Trevor Plouffe to make it 4-2 Rock Cats. An RBI double by Sergio Santos in the Fisher Cat 6th cut the New Britain lead to one but the Rock Cats would score twice more against Yates in the 7th. Two singles, a sac bunt, and a Yates throwing error led to one run and a sac fly brought in the other to make it 6-3 for the visitors. Yates did strike out 6 and only walked 1 over 7 innings but was burned for 6 runs. The good news for Yates was that only 4 of the runs were earned but it was the result of one of his two throwing errors on the evening that led to the unearned markers.
Regardless, the F-Cats battled back again in the home half of the 7th on an Erik Kratz home run to cut New Britain's advantage to 6-4. They eventually loaded the bases but Manny Mayorson was thrown out at home, trying to score on a wild pitch, but he was thrown out 2-1 on the scorecard to end the inning. However, the F-Cats came up with 3 runs in the 8th as Ryan Patterson's 14th jack of the season scored a Chip Cannon walk and David Smith scored the go-ahead run when Rock Cats shortstop Trevor Plouffe booted a Manny Mayorson ground ball. Seth Overbey came on in relief of Jean Machi, who worked a scoreless 8th, but Overbey served up a 2 run homer to Rashad Eldridge to hand New Britain the lead at 8-7. Sergio Santos led off the bottom of the 9th with a single and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch but he would be stranded as the F-Cats lose a heartbreaker.
David Smith paced New Hampshire's 12 hit attack with a 3-for-5 night while Aaron Matthews and Sergio Santos had 2 hits apiece. Chip Cannon had an interesting line by going 1-for-3 with 2 walks and 3 runs scored. Rob Cosby also had a pinch hit single in the 8th.
Fort Myers, FL - Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea - yay, Pepto Bismol!. It was another Maalox moment on the Jays farm system, thanks again to a Twins affiliate. Dunedin starter Russ Savickas was given some run support in the early going as an Eric Nielsen sac fly in the 1st, a Jesus Gonzalez two-run homer in the 2nd and a Josh Kreuzer RBI single in the 5th lifted Dunedin to a 4-0 lead after 5. Savickas, who set down 8 Fort Myers hitters in a row, got into a jam in the 6th by giving up 3 walks and a single resulting in a pair of runs. Aaron Tressler uncorked a wild pitch and issued a walk but struck out a batter to end the threat. Dunedin would tack on a run in the 7th as Anthony Hatch doubled and made it to 3rd on an error by the center fielder before coming in to score on a Carlo Cota sac fly to up the D-Jays lead to 5-2. Fort Myers tried to rally in the 8th by drawing two leadoff walks off Aaron Tressler but newcomer Chad Blackwell, signed last week from the Gary SouthShore Rail Cats of the independent Northern League, put out the fire with a flyout and 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. Blackwell survived an 8th inning double and turned the ball over to Connor Falkenbach in the 9th and what happened next wasn't pretty! Three singles, a wild pitch, a walk, another single, a sac bunt, and one more single gave Fort Myers a 4 run rally and a come from behind victory.
That spoiled a great night at the dish by Anthony Hatch and Eric Nielsen. Hatch was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk while Nielsen was 4-for-4 and threw in a stolen base to boot.
Lansing, MI - No heart-breaking loss here, just a good ol' fashioned can of whoopass opened up by the Angels affiliates at Oldsmobile Park. It was a nail biter for one inning before Cedar Rapids used a single, homer, triple and sac fly to score 3 times off Lansing starter Graham Godfrey in the 2nd. Godfrey was hurt again by the long ball as Hank Conger took him in the 3rd deep to give the Kernels a 4-0 lead and then served up his 3rd gopher ball of the night in the 5th to make it 5-0. However, Godfrey did finish up strong by getting his last 8 hitters to go 7 innings. After giving up 2 runs on a Matthew Lane error at 1st, a single and double in the 8th, Adam Rogers also suffered from a case of gopher-itis as he served up 2 solo homers for a 9-0 Cedar Rapids lead. However, the Lugnuts managed to score one run in front of the hometown faithful (the few who didn't run for the parking lot, screaming in horror!) in the bottom of the 9th as Chris Emanuele reached on an error and came home to score on a Sean Shoffit triple.
Shoffit had 2 of the 5 Lansing hits and added a stolen base. Scott Campbell and Jonathan Baksh got aboard twice with a hit and a walk while Jonathan Diaz drew a pair of bases on balls. Travis Snider was 1-for-4.
Auburn, NY - If you're still reading this, thank you! Instead of a come from ahead loss, it was a come from behind win for the Abner Doubleday crew. It was an interesting start to this one as both teams struck out the side in the top and bottom half of the first. Auburn starter Kyle Walter made his 3 K's more interesting through his sequence - single, K, single, K, walk, K - to keep the Marilins affiliates off the board. Walter wasn't as lucky in the 2nd as he gave up 2 doubles, 2 singles and a walk and Carlos Vasquez made an error at short but only 2 runners managed to cross home plate.
The D-Days got that pair back in the next half-inning as Darin Mastroianni went deep with his 1st of the season, a two run shot that scored a C.J. Ebarb walk, to knot up the game at 2-2. Jamestown would take another 2 run lead in the 4th, getting to Walter for a single and triple for one run before a Darin Mastroianni error led to the other Jammers marker. Meantime, John Tritz got through the 5th inning by picking off a runner he had walked but he loaded up the bases in the 6th on a double and two walks. A C.J. Ebarb passed ball led to one run and a sac fly brought home another to make it 6-2 Jamestown. Javier Nieves overcame a Benjamin Zeskind clank in foul territory to get the final 2 outs of the frame. The D-Days offence got into gear in the 7th with 5 hits, including a 2 run triple by Carlos Vasquez, a run scoring single by Wesley Stone and a 2 run bomb by Benjamin Zeskind that gave Auburn their first lead at 7-6. Southpaw Cody Crowell would pick Javier Nieves after he issued a leadoff walk in the 8th and though Crowell would walk another batter that inning, he would go on to get the final 5 outs to preserve the victory for Nieves, who delivered 2 scoreless frames.
It's interesting to note that the 3 Auburn errors came from the players who had the biggest hits of the night as Benjamin Zeskind and Darin Mastroianni each went deep in 2-for-4 nights while Carlos Vasquez knocked home a pair of runs with a triple. Wesley Stone had a perfect night at the dish by going 3-for-3. Victor Santana was 2-for-4.
GCL Blue Jays 5 GCL Phillies 4 (10 innings)
Dunedin, FL - I guess things do even out in the end. After New Hampshire and Dunedin snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, the D-Days and G-Jays balance the books by doing the exact opposite.
Rehabbing lefty Chi-Hung Cheng got the starting assignment in this one. He gave up a 2 out walk and a wild pitch in a scoreless 1st but gave up a double and walk to start the 2nd before getting his final batter of the day on a flyout. Brad Cuthbertson would allow an inherited runner to score on a single to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. John Tolisano's RBI single would tie the game for the Jays in the 3rd but Brad Cuthbertson would give up a solo homer in the 5th to make it a 2-1 game for the Phils. Yohermyn Chavez would drive home John Tolisano with a single to tie the game in the 5th but Brad Cuthbertson would allow a walk and a single with 1 out in the 6th before being relieved by Ross Buckwalter. However, Buckwalter couldn't strand his inherited runners as a single led to one run and an error by left fielder Yohermyn Chavez on the play advanced another runner to 3rd. That runner would come home to score on a groundout and it was for 4-2 for the Gulf Phils.
The G-Jays would tie the game after the 7th inning stretch as a Joel Collins grounder scored Eric Eiland and a wild pitch scored John Tolisano, who had stolen 2nd base earlier. Ross Buckwalter kept the Phils in check by retiring 8 of the next 9 hitters but he had an anxious moment in the 9th when he gave up a double in the 9th and advanced the runner to 3rd with a wild pitch. However, that runner would remain stranded at 3rd. Lefty Jacob Cook came on in the 10th and issued a leadoff walk which was moved to 2nd on a sac bunt but he got the next 2 hitters to keep the game tied. Yohermyn Chavez struck out to lead off the bottom half of the 10th but he reached first on a passed ball. He proceeded to steal 2nd and went to 3rd on the errant throw from the catcher. That set the stage for the "Great Balbino", Balbino Fuenmayor, and he delivered with a single to center to score Chavez with the winning run.
The offensive standouts in this one were John Tolisano, who was 4-for-5 with an RBI and stolen base, and Eric Eiland, who had 2 hits and 2 walks. Michael McDade had a hit and 2 bases on balls.
*** 3 Stars! ***
3. Anthony Hatch, Dunedin - 3/4, 2B, BB, 2R
2. John Tolisano, GCL Blue Jays - 4/5, RBI, SB
1. Eric Nielsen, Dunedin - 4/4, 2B, RBI, SB
Honourable Mentions........
Syracuse - Jeremy Cummings, Jamie Vermilyea, Wayne Lydon, Chad Mottola.
New Hampshire - Aaron Matthews, Sergio Santos, Chip Cannon, Ryan Patterson, David Smith, Erik Kratz, Rob Cosby, Jean Machi.
Dunedin - Jesus Gonzalez, Russ Savickas, Chad Blackwell.
Lansing - Sean Shoffit, Scott Campbell, Jonathan Baksh, Jonathan Diaz.
Auburn - Benjamin Zeskind, Darin Mastroianni, Wesley Stone, Victor Santana, Carlos Vasquez, Javier Nieves, Cody Crowell.
GCL - Eric Eiland, Michael McDade, Yohermyn Chavez, Balbino Fuenmayor, Ross Buckwalter, Jacob Cook.
Standings/Streaks..........
Syracuse - 49-59, 5th place, 11.0 games behind Scranton - IL North, 1L
New Hampshire - 55-53, 3rd place, 10.0 games behind Trenton - EL Northern, 1L
Dunedin - 24-13, 2nd place, 0.5 games behind Tampa - FSL West, 1L
Lansing - 21-15, 2nd place, 2.0 games behind West Michigan - MWL Eastern, 1L
Auburn - 23-17, 1st place, 3.5 games ahead of Mahoning Valley, NYP Pinckney, 1W
GCL Blue Jays - 20-15, 2nd place, 4.5 games behind GCL Yankees, GCL North, 1W
Note: It really sucks that 4 of the affiliates are trailing the Yankees for top spot in their respective divisions!!
Today's Schedule............
GCL Blue Jays at GCL Indians, 12:00 p.m.
New Hampshire at Harrisburg, 6:35 p.m.
Buffalo at Syracuse, 7:00 p.m.
Dunedin at Fort Myers, 7:05 p.m.
Cedar Rapids at Lansing, 7:05 p.m.
Jamestown at Auburn, 7:05 p.m.
Bonus Material.......
The Auburn Citizen has a feature on Kelly Sweppenhiser.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20070731000942803