On a night when the NHL Awards were handed in Las Vegas, the hometown 51s were part of an organizational-wide battle for the Batter’s Box nightly awards. Egan Smith pitched 6 innings and didn’t allow an earned run and it was only the third best start in the minor leagues, while Mike Crouse hit a pair of triples and was shut out, as well. As the affiliates won every game played except in the Gulf Coast League, read on to find out which performances are recognized as the three stars of the night (although will likely only receive cuttlefish instead of shiny trophies).
Sacramento 0 @ Las Vegas 8 – Boxscore
Marc Rzepczynski started for Las Vegas and delivered a very solid effort against Sacramento, making a strong statement that he isn’t far away from being able to rejoin an MLB rotation. In 7.2 innings, he allowed three hits and a walk, while striking out 9. Of his 13 outs on balls in play, 9 of them came on groundballs. Jesse Carlson pitched the last 1.1 innings, walking one.
The 51s touched former Blue Jays farmhand Graham Godfrey for 8 runs over his 5 innings. Jeremy Reed and Brian Dopirak were the only two players held hitless. Leading off, Mike McCoy was 1-for-5 with a solo homer. Brett Wallace was 3-for-5 and JP Arencibia was 1-for-5, each scoring a run. Edwin Encarnacion went 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs and an error and Adam Calderone was 1-for-3 with a sac fly and two RBI. Brad Emaus and Aaron Matthews each went 2-for-4 with a run scored, Emaus adding a double and Matthews a 2-run homer.
New Hampshire 9 @ Harrisburg 4 - Boxscore
New Hampshire scored 9 runs off Yunior Novoa in 1.1 innings, to put a stranglehold on the game in the first two innings and, unfortunately, the team’s bats went to sleep after that, as the Fisher Cats managed only two hits over the next 7.2 innings, although they still worked seven walks. The first three hitters – Darin Mastroianni, Manny Mayorson and Eric Thames – all had two hits and a walk, scoring five runs between them. Shawn Bowman was hitless, but Adam Loewen followed him with a big night, smacking a triple and a home run and adding 6 RBI. David Cooper, Al Quintana and Dan Perales combined to go 1-15 with no walks, while Jonathan Diaz was 1-for-1 with three walks in the nine hole.
Ronald Uviedo started for New Hampshire and picked up the win, to improve to 2-2. He went 6 innings and gave up all four runs, three earned. Uviedo was victimized by the long ball, as he only gave up three hits, but two of them were homers that scored three of the runs. Uviedo struck out three and turned the ball over to Adrian Martin, who pitched two frames of 3-hit relief. Tim Collins pitched the ninth and struck out two.
Tampa 0 @ Dunedin 2 – Boxscore
Joel Carreno had a very solid start for the D-Jays. Pitching 6 strong innings, Carreno surrendered a pair of hits and a walk, while striking out seven. After Dunedin took the lead in the bottom of the sixth, he turned the ball over to the bullpen. Ryan Page and Ross Buckwalter each pitched scoreless innings to set up Dumas Garcia for his first save, which he converted without any real issues.
Dunedin had a very quiet game at the plate, but they took full advantage of an opportunity gifted to them by Tampa’s Bradley Suttle, who made an error with two out in the sixth inning. Tyler Pastornicky took advantage of the extra out and clubbed a home run, to score Justin McClanahan and give Dunedin the lead. Tampa starter Graham Stoneburner only allowed the home run to Pastornicky and the single to Brian Van Kirk, as Dunedin only had two baserunners off Stoneburner and JB Cox in relief.
Lansing
Scheduled off-day at All-Star Break.
Auburn 8 @ Mahoning Valley 3 – Boxscore
Markus Brisker led off and went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a walk. After Jonathan Fernandez went hitless, Carlos Perez followed with a 1-for-5 evening. Matthew Nuzzo, Gustavo Pierre and Yeico Aponte joined Brisker with two-hit games. Each scored at least one run, with Pierre doubling and the other two drawing walks. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts (I bet he’s never heard that) was hitless, but Marcus Knecht had a single, a walk and a pair of RBI. Lance Durham only had one hit, but it was the game’s biggest, as he added a 3-run homer in the 8th inning to put the game out of reach. The Doubledays were 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts, with Brisker swiping two bags.
Egan Smith started and the unearned runs caught up with him, as he allowed three runs, all unearned. The runs came in to count because of two separate errors, one by him and one by Brisker. Otherwise, Smith pitched well, not walking a batter and striking out four over 6 innings. Dayton Marze pitched a scoreless inning of relief and then Juan Hernandez struck out four over the final 2 innings to finish the game.
GCL Blue Jays 6 @ GCL Braves 12 – Boxscore
It wasn’t a night to remember on the mound, as the GCL Braves pounded out 14 hits off GCL Blue Jay pitching on their way to a 12-6 doubling. Deivy Estrada started and gave up 7 hits over 3.1 innings. The GCL Braves scored four runs off him, two earned, as Estrada walked four and struck out two. Milciades Santana pitched 1.2 innings of one-hit ball, striking out three, which was the best pitching performance on the night. Jesse Hernandez gave up four hits and three runs in his inning. Alex Pepe pitched 1.2 innings and gave up three runs, although all were unearned and he only allowed a hit and a walk. Finishing the game was Matthew Morgal, who allowed two runs in 0.1 innings.
There was a better performance from the bats, as the GCL Blue Jays had 10 hits and managed six runs. Michael Crouse had a good night, with a pair of triples in the leadoff spot, 2 RBI and he also drew a walk. Jake Marisnick also had a two-hit night that included a double and a walk. Jonathan Jones, KC Hobson and Moises Sierra were all held hitless. However, Andy Fermin was 2-for-4 with a run and Gari Pena added a double and run, providing some offence from the middle infield. Christopher Hawkins was 2-for-3 with a double and run, while Cody Lassley added a single.
DSL Blue Jays @ DSL Braves
Postponed
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Joel Carreno, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
2nd Star – Adam Loewen, 2-4, 2 R, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, BB, 7 TB
1st Star – Marc Rzepczynski, 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
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