There were lots of close games on Saturday, Syracuse lost in the bottom of the ninth, New Hampshire lost in the bottom of the eleventh. Dunedin won in ten and Lansing won in the ninth. In the ninth inning of the Lansing game, with the scores tied, Dayton walked Travis Snider with a runner already on first moving the go-ahead run into scoring position. That decision turned out to be a bad one. The bottom two teams also won, Kevin Ahrens hit a three run home run in the GCL while Brett Cecil and Brad Mills pitched well for Auburn.
Michael MacDonald pitched hitless ball through four innings but three hits and two walks in the fifth led to four runs. MacDonald pitched 6.2 innings and gave up four runs on four hits. The Chiefs scored two in the sixth, Sal Fasano was hit by a pitch, Wayne Lydon doubled and both scored on groundouts. Syracuse tied the game in the seventh, Ryan Roberts homered and John Hattig singled and scored on a double play. Jamie Vermilyea, who has generally pitched well since coming off the DL, gave up the winning run in the ninth when his control deserted him. Vermilyea walked two and hit a batter to load the bases, then Joe McEwing singled to win the game for the PawSox.
New Hampshire 6 Binghamton 7 - 11 innings
Binghamton racked up 19 hits in this game. Kurt Isenberg started and did not pitch well, 10 hits allowed in 4 innings. He was lucky to only give up three runs. Sean Stidfole followed and gave up five hits and three runs in two innings. New Hampshire scored five of their runs on home runs, Eric Kratz hit a three run shot and David Smith hit a two run home run.
Tampa 4 Dunedin 5 - 10 innings
Dunedin won with a run in the tenth, Luke Hetherington walked, stole second and moved to third on a single. Tampa loaded the bases with a walk which looked to be a good move when Carlo Cota hit into a 5-2-3 double play. But Anthony Hatch saved the day with an RBI single. Dunedin had seven hits, no player had two. Eric Fowler started and gave up four runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. The bullpen of Orlando Trias, Aaron Tressler and Chad Blackwell pitched 6.1 shutout innings.
Nate Starner gave up all five runs in the second inning but none were earned. Two errors went with four hits to dig a big hole for the Lugnuts. Edward Rodriguez pitched three shutout innings and Ben Harrison pitched the last two to give the Lugnuts a chance to win. Chris Emanuele tripled and scored the first run. Later he singled in the tying run in the eighth. Scott Campbell also tripled in a run as part of his two hits. The game was tied heading to the ninth and Jon Baksh led off with a single. With two outs Travis Snider came to the plate and Dayton walked him to move Baksh into scoring position. Matt Liuzza walked to load the bases and Matt Lane singled in two runs.
Brett Cecil started and pitched two innings allowing one unearned run on one hit. Brad Mills followed and pitched five shutout innings allowing two hits. Cecil has pitched very well and all his numbers look good. Mills spent over a month on the DL but his numbers look even better, although it is a much smaller sample size. Mills has allowed six hits in 13.1 innings. His walk:strikeout ratio is 4:17 in those 13 innings. CJ Ebarb doubled in both runs for Auburn.
Jays took a 5-0 lead before hanging on for the win. James Dougher had another good start, 4.2 shutout innings, two hits and seven K's. Kevin Ahrens hit a three run home run and Bartolo Nicolas went 4-4 including a home run.
3 star selection
3rd star - Chris Emanuele
2nd star - Brad Mills
1st star - Kevin Ahrens
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