The full season affiliates went 3-1 on Sunday while Auburn dropped a pair to halve things for the day.
An offensive explosion in Reno last night as the 51s smacked 8 extra base hits, including 3 HR's to outpace the Aces 10-5 despite trailing 4-0 after one inning.
Lots of stars at the plate in this one. Joe Inglett singled, doubled, and tripled while driving in three. Randy Ruiz homered twice, giving him 19 on the year and Travis Snider was 1-for-4 with his 3rd homer of the season.
The 51s sent Davis Romero to the hill in Reno just to watch him die in the first, allowing four runs on two singles, a hit batsman and a Grand Slam. Romero finished with a fairly odd line of 3.2 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Sean Stidfole picked up the win in relief with 2.1 scoreless, hitless innings.
The outburst continued in Portland as the Fisher Cats smacked 12 hits en route to their 11-3 victory. Al Quintana led the way with two doubles and a triple for 2 RBI while Brad Emaus reached base four times on a single and three walks. David Cooper was 1-for-5 with 2 RBI while Scott Campbell went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI.
Randy Boone was the beneficiary of all that run support and managed six innings of six hit, two run (one earned) ball. He walked one and struck out an impressive nine. Nate Starner picked up the three inning save by slamming the door shut on an eight run lead.
The fun ended in Dunedin as the Tampa Yankees scored three times in the 8th to come from behind and win 7-5. Despite the loss there were some nice performances at the plate. John Tolisano continued to show his power by going 3-for-5 with two doubles and his 10th HR. Adam Loewen smacked his second dinger of the year while Justin Jackson was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Charles Huggins started for Dunedin and pitched five mediocre frames. Tim Collins followed him up with two scoreless innings but hit a speedbump in the 8th where a couple of hits and a Jesus Gonzalez error helped lead to three runs. Alan Farina finished things off with 1.2 shutout innings.
The Lugnuts got things back on the winning track with a run in the 8th to take a see-saw affair 6-5. Balbino Fuenmayor was the star of this one going 4-for-4 with a HR and 3 RBI. Fuenmayor's back and forth season is back on the upswing though I'm sure he'd still like to do something about that pesky 4:71 BB:K ratio.
Honestly, none of the pitchers were worth writing home about in this one. Joel Carreno started and was ineffective as was eventual winner Jonas Cuotto. Matthew Daly saved his 16th with a scoreless ninth.
Without many 2009 draftees, this Auburn team is pretty boring to follow. And I got to double that fun as the Doubledays played twice, kinda, on Sunday finishing up Saturday's game before the regularly scheduled Sunday affair.
Two Doubledays stood out in this one as 21 year-old Jack Murphy continued his strong pro debut with a HR and 2 RBI. And Eric Eiland was 3-for-4 with a trio of singles. Eiland's line stands at 215/346/292 in 65 AB with Auburn.
Four pitchers were involved in this one but the only performance worth noting was 23 year-old Brian Justice who struck out five in three innings.
The Doubledays manged two hits in this one, both in the top of the seventh and final frame but lost in walk-off fashion. In the 7th, Yan Gomes walked then moved to third on a Sean Ochinko double before scoring on a Welinton Ramirez single. That was it.
Evan Crawford started this one and went 5.1 innings allowing 7 hits and an unearned run while walking one and striking out four. Casey Beck followed him and took this loss by allowing a walk, stolen base and a single in the bottom of the seventh.
Three Stars:
(Truthfully, we coulda had six stars today. Honourable mention to Joe Inglett, Al Quintana, and Randy Boone)
3rd Star: Balbino Fuenmayor; 4-for-4, HR, RBI
2nd Star: Randy Ruiz; 2-for-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB
1st Star: John Tolisano; 3-for-5, 2 2B, HR
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