It was a quiet night on the farm with two extra-inning losses, a victory in Double-A and a game where Auburn almost should have left their bats at home. There were a couple of strong starts, but there were some difficulties in the pen and a 3-run ninth inning gave away one of the games. Although he didn’t get a star, Kevin Ahrens hit a homer and drew a pair of walks.
Las Vegas – Scheduled Off-Day
No game played.
New Britain 6 @ Bowie 2 – Boxscore
Five in the first spurred New Hampshire to a 6-2 victory over the Bowie Bay Sox. Luis Perez had a strong start for the Fisher Cats, only allowing 2 hits in 7.2 innings. Both of Bowie’s runs came off Perez who walked four in an uncharacteristically particularly wild outing. Perez didn’t allow any runs in the first 7 innings, but he was pulled with two on and two out in the eighth. Edgar Estanga came into the game and gave up two RBI singles and a walk to load the bases. Danny Farquhar then entered the game and struck out former Blue Jay Eric Crozier to escape the jam. Farquhar struck out two more batters in the ninth and walked one.
New Hampshire got to Bowie’s Timothy Bascom right off the bat with a pair of singles by Todd Donovan and Manny Mayorson. A wild pitch advanced both runners and then Brad Emaus scored Donovan on a sacrifice fly. Walks to David Cooper and Adam Calderone loaded the bases, but Darin Mastroianni was called out on strikes. Brian Jeroloman singled home Mayorson and Cooper and then Nick Gorneault drove home Calderone. Jonathan Diaz singled to score Jeroloman, but was caught out trying to advance to second on the throw. The Fisher Cats added a run when Jeroloman singled home Mastroianni in the third.
Dunedin 4 @ Brevard County 5 (10 innings) – Boxscore
The top of the Dunedin lineup provided the majority of the hits for the D-Jays in their extra-inning defeat to Brevard County. Brad McElroy and John Tolisano each had two hits to total four of Dunedin’s seven on the afternoon. However, they didn’t account for most of the offence, as only McElroy scored a run. Jesus Gonzalez and Kevin Ahrens each hit solo homers and Ahrens drove home Matt Liuzza in the fourth inning with Dunedin’s first run of the game. Ahrens was 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI and a pair of walks.
Charles Huggins had another very strong start, as he struck out seven batters and didn’t walk one. He allowed a solo homer to Martin Maldonado and only allowed one other hit over 6 innings. Wil Ledezma pitched a perfect inning of relief and then Tim Collins got through a scoreless inning despite surrendering two hits. Collins’s struggles continued in the ninth as he gave up two consecutive singles, hit a batter and walked one. Trystan Magnuson replaced Collins and inherited a bases loaded none out situation. Magnuson walked the first batter he faced and then gave up a single to tie the game.
Brevard County had the bases loaded and none out, needing only one run to win the game. The next batter hit a hard liner to short that Raul Barron was able to snare and toss to John Tolisano to double the runner off second. The next batter up hitter a grounder to Ahrens and Dunedin got the force out at second to escape the inning. However, a leadoff walk in the bottom of the tenth gave Brevard an opportunity that the team was able to cash in on. A sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk later and Dumas Garcia came in with two on and one out. A single loaded the bases and a sacrifice fly to centre gave Brevard County an extra-inning win.
Lansing 4 @ South Bend 5 (10 innings) – Boxscore
Chase Lirette only gave up one run through the first 5 innings but ran into trouble in the sixth. With two on and two out he gave up a 3-run homer to Alfredo Marte that knocked him from the game. Yorman Mayora came in and pitched the next 2.1 innings with four strikeouts.
Meanwhile, as Mike Green mentioned, Tyler Pastornicky hit his first professional homer in a 1-for-5 evening. Brian Van Kirk was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and a run scored. Yohermyn Chavez was 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and Mark Sobolewski had 2 RBI and Jon Talley drove in a run. Although he didn’t figure in any runs scored, Michael McDade was 4-for-5.
Jason Roenicke came in for the bottom of the ninth. He gave up back-to-back singles and Kenny Wilson compounded things by making a wild throw trying to get the runner going from first to third. Roenicke backed up the throw and was able to pounce on the loose ball and fire it home in time to catch the runner trying to score and win the game. Roenicke gave up a third consecutive single in the inning but escape unscathed. In the bottom of the tenth a single and a sacrifice put a runner on second with one out and Roenicke intentionally walked the next batter to set up the double play. It didn’t work and a single to left scored the winning run as Lansing was the second affiliate to suffer an extra-inning defeat.
Auburn 0 @ Staten Island 3 – Boxscore
Auburn’s hitting can be summed up in two words: pretty bad. The Doubledays were held to two hits by Staten Island. Ryan Schimpf and Ryan Goins were each 1-for-4 and that was the sum total of the offence. Well, Wellinton Ramirez and Eric Eiland also drew a walk, but the latter was promptly picked off first base. Lance Durham and Bradley Glenn combined to go 0-for-5 with five strikeouts.
Scott Gracey went 5.1 innings and gave up all the runs on a three-run homer in the first inning. Gracey gave up seven hits and a walk while striking out six. Brian Justice pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief, walking two and allowing a hit.
GCL Blue Jays @ GCL Tigers (Postponed)
Postponed.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Michael McDade, 4-5, 2B, 5 TB
2nd Star – Luis Perez, 7.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 4 K
1st Star – Charles Huggins, 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20090813234248278