This would be a better headline at another time of the year, as right now it immediately conjure up images of a fortnight-long losing streak and Brendan Ryan’s facial hair. Aside from the GCL Blue Jays, the affiliates scored 15 runs over 6 games, doing their best impersonation of the Seattle Mariners offence. Although that’s 2.5 runs per games, keep in mind that includes a game in the friendly confines of Las Vegas. While there wasn’t much to write home about offensively, the night feature several fine pitching performances.
Tucson 6 @ Las Vegas 4 – Boxscore
Luis Perez started for the 51’s, but only made it through 3.1 innings as he was ejected by the home plate umpire in the fourth. Maybe his time in the big leagues has gone to his head. Perez struck out five and allowed two runs on two hits and two walks. He was victimized by a Jarrett Hoffpauir solo shot before leaving the game. Mike MacDonald and Sean Henn each gave up two runs over 1.1 innings before exiting the contest. Winston Abreu had 1.2 scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts and Rommie Lewis finished it off with 1.1 scoreless frames.
Las Vegas had seven hits off John Van Benschoten and two relievers. Three of them came from Adam Loewen, who was 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a pair of runs. Darin Mastroianni and Jayson Nix each had an extra-base hit and a run. Mastroianni had a double and a walk and Nix had a triple. Dan Perales had a double, a sacrifice fly and 2 RBIs, while David Cooper drove in a run, but was held hitless. Brett Lawrie had a single in four trips to the plate.
Portland 3 @ New Hampshire 2 – Boxscore
Joel Carreno started and gave up a run over 6 innings. He struck out six and walked two, as his strong season in New Hampshire continues. Even Crawford had a scoreless inning, but with one on and one out Jason Middlebrooks hit a two-run homer off Yohan Pino to give the Sea Dogs the lead. Clint Everts pitched a scoreless ninth.
New Hampshire scored a run in the 7th inning on a home run by Yan Gomes to tie the game. In the bottom of the eighth, Jonathan Diaz came around to count on a Craig Stanberry double, but the Fisher Cats couldn’t push any others across the plate. Anthony Gose, Adeiny Hechavarria and John Tolisano were all held hitless, although the latter drew three of New Hampshire’s four walks in the contest. Moises Sierra was 2-for-4 with a triple and Gomes was 2-for-3 with the team’s other walk. Travis d’Arnaud and Mike McDade were both 1-for-4.
Dunedin 2 @ Charlotte 3 – Boxscore
Five Dunedin batters accounted for the team’s five hits, which were all singles. Kevin Ahrens, Sean Ochinko, Kevin Nolan, Ryan Goins and Ivan Contreras each went 1-for-4, except for Ochinko who was 1-for-3 with a walk. Ahrens and Goins picked up the RBIs and Ochinko and Contreras scored the team’s runs. Bradley Glenn was 0-for-2 with two walks.
Drew Hutchison’s emergence continued as he struck out twice as many hitters as he allowed hits. Hutchison threw 6 innings of one-run baseball. He allowed four hits and two walks, but struck out eight. However, despite striking out four over 2 innings, Steve Turnbull surrendered the lead and the game by allowing two runs on three hits.
Beloit 1 @ Lansing 3 – Boxscore
Casey Lawrence turned in a fine performance for the Lugnuts. Although he walked three, Lawrence only surrendered two hits over 7 innings. Lawrence struck out four and retired 12 of the 16 batters on balls in play on groundouts. He didn’t allow a run while picking up his 8th victory of the year. Dustin Antolin allowed a run in the 8th inning, while Danny Barnes struck out the side in the ninth for his 8th save.
Marcus Brisker hit a solo homer in the first to give the Lugnuts a 1-0 lead. He walked in the bottom of the third with two out and Gari Pena on third. Then, he and Pena executed a successful double steal, as Brisker pilfered second for his 19th base of the year and Pena rushed home to give the Lugnuts a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, Bryson Namba doubled and advanced to third on a Pena single. With one out, Brisker grounded out, scoring Namba with an insurance run. The Lugnuts only managed five hits on the afternoon and Pena was the only Lansing batter with a multi-hit game.
Vancouver 1 @ Eugene 2 – Boxscore
The Canadians only managed four hits on the afternoon. Matt Newman, batting ninth, was 1-for-2 with a double, a walk and the team’s only run. Balbino Fuenmayor, Nicholas Baligod and Shane Optiz all added singles, with Baligod working the team’s other walk. Jonathan Jones had the only RBI, while Stephen McQuail and Randy Schwartz combined to go 0-for-7 with seven strikeouts. Zack Breault struck out five over 5 innings. He walked a pair and allowed four hits and a run scored. Travis Garrett and Alesone Escalante combined to give up two hits and an unearned run over 3 innings of relief.
Bluefield 2 @ Pulaski 3 (10 innings) – Boxscore
Mitchell Taylor went 5 innings and earned a no decision. He struck out four and walked a batter. Taylor also allowed one run on four hits. Tyler Ybarra struck out three and allowed three hits over 3.1 innings. Ybarra allowed a run and took the blown save. Ian Kadish took the loss after allowing a run in the 10th inning with one out. Both of Bluefield’s runs scored on a two-run shot by Kevin Pillar, who went 2-for-4. Daniel Arcila was 1-for-3 with a walk. Gustavo Pierre and Melvin Garcia each added singles and Art Charles drew two walks.
GCL Phillies 7 @ GCL Blue Jays 14 (Game 1) – Boxscore
Griffin Murphy only lasted an inning and allowed two runs on a pair of walks and four hits. Nicholas Purdy lasted 2.2 innings in relief and only allowed a run. He picked up the victory and his ERA rose to 1.42. Kramer Chaplin gave up three hits on six hits over 1.1 innings, but Randal Thompson provided 3 solid innings of one-run relief. Santiago Nessy went 3-for-4. Jorge Vega-Rosado hit a three-run homer with two out in the second and Dickie Thon followed up with a homer of his own. Eric Arce, Angel Gomez, Matt Abraham, George Carroll and Chris Peters, who entered in the middle of the game for Thon, each had two hits.
GCL Blue Jays 5 @ GCL Phillies 3 (Game 2) (7 innings) – Boxscore
Eric Arce hit a three-run homer in the Jays’ five-run 5th inning. He went 2-for-3 with a walk. Vega-Rosado went 2-for-5 with a run scored. Seth Conner and Sony Javier each had two hits and Christian Frias worked three walks. Tucker Jensen had a fine start in the second game of a doubleheader. He went 5 innings and didn’t allow a run. Jensen surrendered five hits and a walk, but struck out seven. Julio Carmona gave up three hits without recording an out and then Colby Broussard provided 2 innings of hitless relief.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Joel Carreno, 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
2nd Star – Drew Hutchison, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
1st Star – Casey Lawrence, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K
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