Only one win on the farm Wednesday and unusually it is the Chiefs who record it. Jorge Velandia's two run home run in the eighth was the winning blow. Davis Romero and John Parish pitched well in the win. New Hampshire and Dunedin were easily beaten as starters Brandon Magee and Reidier Gonzalez took the losses. Lansing lost although Justin Jackson had four hits.
The Chiefs took the lead against Jeremy Sowers in the second inning, Hector Luna led off with a single and Robinzon Diaz tripled him home. After Russ Adams walked and Sergio Santos popped out Matt Watson singled Diaz home before Pedro Lopez hit into a double play. Davis Romero retired the first seven hitters he faced before allowing a soft single and a walk in the third. Romero was done after three innings and fifty pitches with another good start to his credit. Syracuse had another chance to score in the fourth when Luna walked and Adams singled with one out but Santos popped out and Watson grounded out.
John Parish replaced Romero and recorded the first two outs before Adams made an error. That was followed by a walk and a two run double as the two unearned runs tied the game. The game settled down with fifteen straight batters retired from the bottom of the fifth through the seventh before the Chiefs got to Scott Elarton in the eighth. Wayne Lydon led off with a triple and Jorge Velandia followed with a home run, his first of the year. With two outs in the eighth Parish walked the hitter ending a run of fifteen straight outs. Brandon League got the last out in the eighth and all three in the ninth with one walk allowed. Parish got the win having pitched 4.2 innings allowing only the one hit that scored the two unearned runs. Buffalo had two hits in the game one off Romero and one off Parish.
Syracuse had six hits, no-one had two. Lind and Diaz are the only hitters with averages above .250.
Brandon Magee has struggled this season and this start was an improvement although not great. Magee allowed a walk in the first and a lead-off double in the second but with no runs allowed. However in the third Magee put two on with walks then a double scored them both. Magee gave up another run in the fifth on a couple of singles and through five it was 3-0 New Britain and to that point New Hampshire had only one base runner, a single by Aaron Mathews. Magee gave up a two out double in the sixth and was pulled having pitched 5.2 innings and gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks. Magee had only one strikeout.
Brian Jeroloman and Chris Gutierrez singled to start the sixth but never moved as the next three hitters went in order. New Britain added a run in the ninth off Daryl Harang and the Fisher Cats broke the shutout in the ninth on singles by Kyle Phillips, Eric Nielsen and Ryan Patterson.
Mathews was the only player with two hits for the Fisher Cats. Anthony Swarzak, the starter for New Britain, is Minnesota's #5 prospect and pitched six shutout innings in this game with 10 k's, no walks, and only three hits allowed.
Tampa scored first in the third inning, Reidier Gonzalez gave up two singles and a double with one out to put Dunedin down 2-0. Tampa tacked on three more in the fourth with a two run home run being the big blow. Gonzalez was gone after four innings having struggled on this night, five runs allowed in four innings on nine hits. Chris Emanuele had singled to start the game for Dunedin and their next hit didn't come until Matt Liuzza doubled in the fifth. Singles by Emanuele and Jesus Gonzalez scored Dunedin's only run. Conor Falkenbach pitched three innings and dodged trouble having given up three runs and two walks. Zach Dials allowed a run in the ninth which could have been two but Emanuele threw out a runner at home.
The Jays had six hits, Emanuele had two.
Nate Starner retired nine of the first ten hitters he saw in this game, the only blemish a hit batter, before a walk and a home run put Burlington up 2-0 in the fourth. Yohermyn Chavez solo home run in the fifth halved the deficit but Burlington got that back in the bottom of the fifth. In the top of the sixth Justin Jackson singled, Darin Mastroianni singled and Jackson scored on a ground ball from Manny Rodriguez. Alan Farina replaced Starner in the sixth and promptly walked the first two hitters, one of whom scored on a sac fly to restore the two run lead.
Raul Barron manufactured a run in the seventh, he singled, went to second on a passed ball, stole third base and scored when the pitcher threw the ball away. Farina gave up a lead-off triple in the bottom of the seventh but retired the next two hitters and it looked like he could escape but the next three hitters singled and just like that Farina had given up four runs and Burlington led 7-3 after seven. Mastroianni and Rodriguez singled to lead off the eighth but the Lugnuts just scored once on a ground out. Jackson finished his day by tripling with two out in the ninth.
Jackson went 4-5 with a double and a triple, Mastroianni and Barron had two hits each.
3 star selection
3rd star - John Parish
2nd star - Justin Jackson
1st star - Jorge Velandia
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