There was lots of free baseball on the farm yesterday, but given how things are currently going I’m not sure how much people really wanted more ball. Of the seven games, four went into extra innings and there was a total of thirteen free innings. It didn’t make much difference to the bottom line and the affiliates only won two of the seven games in an unremarkable day on the farm.
Las Vegas 3 @ Reno 4 (10 innings) – Boxscore
Runs in the top of the ninth and tenth propelled the 51’s to victory over Reno in a rare come-from-behind victory for Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate. Brian Burres started for Las Vegas went 6 innings and gave up all four runs, one unearned on a pair of Kevin Howard errors. Burres gave up 8 hits and walked four, while striking out four. Bill Murphy threw two scoreless innings and then Rommie Lewis pitched a scoreless ninth in his first appearance for Las Vegas. Buzzie Buzachero picked up the save after pitching the tenth.
Buck Coats and Howie Clark went 0 for 9 at the top of the 51’s lineup. Randy Ruiz went for 1 for 4 with a walk and run and Kevin Phillips went 2 for 5 with a run. Brett Harper, Howard and Jason Lane all added three hits, including a home run. Ruiz led off the tenth with a single and was sacrificed to second by Joe Inglett. Aaron Mathews singled him home and was singled to third base by Jason Lane after Reno intentionally walked Howard. However, Kyle Phillips grounded into a double play to end the frame.
New Hampshire 3 @ Trenton 7 – Boxscore
Sevens were wild for Kenny Rodriguez against the Thunder and Rodriguez’s hand couldn’t recover. He lasted 5.2 innings for the Fisher Cats and surrendered seven runs, all earned, on seven hits. Rodriguez walked two and struck out three. Edgar Estanga allowed three hits over 2.1 scoreless innings of relief. Trenton batters were airing the ball out all afternoon long and 14 of the 19 outs on balls in play were through fly balls.
Darin Mastroianni and Brad Emaus were the only two Fisher Cats to knock out an extra-base hit, while Todd Donovan and Emaus were the only visitors to have a multi-hit game. Donovan reached base in four of his five plate appearances with two singles and two walks and added an assist at second base for good measure. Emaus was 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles and a run scored, while Mastroianni was involved in every New Hampshire run. He went 1 for 3 with a double, a run scored and a pair of RBI. Brian Dopirak and David Cooper each added singles with the former scoring the other Fisher Cat run. The bottom three of Bryan Kervin, Al Quintana and Luis Sanchez went 0 for 12 in the loss.
Lakeland 4 @ Dunedin 3 – Boxscore
Two runs in the bottom of the eighth wasn’t enough to propel Dunedin to victory as Lakeland’s last insurance run in the top of the inning ended up being the winning run. London, Ontario’s Brad McElroy was 2 for 4 in the leadoff spot with a run scored and John Tolisano followed him up with a 3 for 4 evening that included a double and two runs scored. Moises Sierra was hitless, but added a pair of RBI and an outfield assist at home. Manny Rodriguez was 2 for 4 with a double and RBI and Kevin Ahrens also added a pair of hits. Jonathan Jaspe and Adam Loewen contributed singles as Dunedin outhit Lakeland 11 to 9, but couldn’t score anyone but McElroy and Tolisano.
Ryan Page went 7.1 innings with eight hits allowed and a pair of walks. Page gave up four runs and struck out one as he took his eighth loss of the year. He got 12 outs on the ground and 7 in the air. Alan Farina came out of the bullpen and struck out two, but also walked a pair and gave up a single.
Lansing 1 @ Quad Cities 2 (Game 1 - 10 innings – Boxscore
Chad Beck went the full 7 innings in what was supposed to be a shortened 7-inning affair to accommodate a scheduled double-header. However, after Beck struck out 6 and allowed 5 hits over the seven frames, he saw the scoreboard was knotted at one. Tyler Pastornicky had two hits and came around to count once on a Quad Cities error.
Boomer Potts came into the game and allowed one hit over 2 innings, but the Lugnuts couldn’t touch the Quad Cities relief. The top of the tenth was no better and Dustin Antolin came in for the bottom of the inning. After getting the first two batters on a fly ball and strikeout, Antonlin gave up a pair of singles. A walk loaded the bases and then Jose Garcia hit a walkoff single to Justin McClanahan at second.
Lansing 3 @ Quad Cities 4 (Game 2 - 10 innings) – Boxscore
Another one-run loss for the Lugnuts ended 21 innings of baseball they may rather forget about. Henderson Alvarez took the loss with 6.2 innings of three-run ball. Alvarez surrendered six hits and a walk, but struck out eight. Yorman Mayora struck out three of the five batters he faced and turned a 3-3 tie over to Ryan Koch. Koch got through the first two innings without incident, but a pair of singles in the bottom of the eleventh put runners on first and third with one out. Koch was unable to induce the grounder and a sacrifice fly drove home the winning run.
Lansing scored a run in the third when Pastornicky singled home Antonio Jiminez. The Lugnuts scored a pair in the fouth on a two-run shot by McClanahan. Luis Fernandez, Brian Van Kirk and Yohermyn Chavez all added hits. Michael McDade was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and Pastornicky was caught stealing twice.
Auburn 3 @ Mahoning Valley 4 (14 innings) – Boxscore
This 14 inning affair only lasted just over 4 hours because Auburn could hardly generate any offence with their bats and only prolonged the game they way they did because of good plate discipline. Dave Sever went 5.1 innings and gave up a pair of runs on four hits and a walk. Austin Armstrong continued his strong work out of the Doubleday pen with 2 scoreless innings and three strikeouts. However, that line was only good enough for a blown save, as he let one of his two inherited runners score. Casey Beck went 1.2 innings and walked a pair, but got Auburn through the ninth tied.
In the top of the tenth Bradley Glenn walked and a Jack Murphy walk pushed him to second with one out. Wellinton Ramirez singled Glenn home to give Auburn the lead. Steven Turnball came out for bottom of the inning to protect the lead, but he couldn’t hold it and the game went to 11 still tied. Willy Mendez got through the twelfth and thirteenth with three strikeouts. However, Josh Wells gave up a couple of hits and took the loss in the fourteenth when Mahoning Valley scored with two out.
It was perhaps surprising the game lasted that long as Auburn only had six hits in 14 innings. Yan Gomes had a double and Ramirez had a pair of singles. Sean Ochinko, Murphy and Jesus Gonzalez all added singles. The Doubledays drew ten walks in the game, including four by Glenn who scored two runs. Leon Durham also walked twice.
GCL Tigers 1 @ GCL Blue Jays 7 – Boxscore
Carlos Pina gave up a hit an inning over 5 strong. He struck out five and walked one batter. The only run for the Tigers came on a solo homer to lead off the fourth inning. Lance Loftin, Evan Teague and Alex Pepe combined for 4 innings of two-hit ball in relief of Pina.
Only four Blue Jay batters had hits on the afternoon, although Yeico Aponte drew two walks and scored a pair of runs in the nine-hole. Gustavo Pierre and Jonnathan Valdez each had a hit and a run, but the bulk of the offence came from the first two batters in the batting order. Michael Crouse went 2 for 3 with a pair of runs scored and Oliver Dominguez went 3 for 3 with a walk, a homer, a run scored and 5 RBI.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Tyler Pastornicky, 4-9, R, RBI, 4 TB, 2 CS
2nd Star – Casey Beck, 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
1st Star – Oliver Dominguez, 3-3, R, HR, 5 RBI, BB, 6 TB
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