Toronto’s affiliates had two on walk-off victories last night. One of those came on the always-exciting walk-off balk. New Hampshire also swept their doubleheader with a pair of one-run victories. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so rosy everywhere else, as Vancouver was shut out and Las Vegas lost by 11 runs and not one, but two, position players pitched in relief for the 51’s.
Las Vegas 1 @ Tucson 12 – Boxscore
It was not a good night for the offence of the 51’s. David Cooper went 2-for-4 with the team’s only extra-base hit and RBI. He cashed Manny Mayorson with a run in the third inning. Mayorson was 1-for-3 with a walk. Brett Lawrie and Jason Lane were each 1-for-4. Kevin Howard and Chris Woodward each added singles and Woodward also drew a walk. Darin Mastroianni and Adam Loewen were 0-for-9 with five strikeouts.
Scott Richmond did not have a good day on the mound, surrendering nine earned runs over 4 innings. Richmond struck out one, but gave up eleven hits. Three of those eleven hits were home runs, as Canadian Michael Saunders took him deep twice and Wily Mo Pena also added a blast. The 51’s then turned to their position players to soak up the damage and they did an admirable job. Jason Lane went 3 innings. He gave up three runs on six hits and a walk, but he also struck out five batters. Danny Perales struck out two over his inning of scoreless relief.
Reading 3 @ New Hampshire 4 (Game 1) (7 innings) – Boxscore
New Hampshire won the first game of a doubleheader on a pair of homers. Travis d’Arnaud struck a two-run shot in the first inning with two out. Justin Jackson added a solo shot in the fifth. Later in the inning, Anthony Gose, who came in on d’Arnaud’s shot, doubled in Jonathan Diaz. Gose added a walk and d’Arnaud added a single. Adeiny Hechavarria and Moises Sierra were each 1-for-3.
Chad Jenkins turned in a quality start, going 6 innings and allowing the maximum three runs. He struck out five and walked two, while surrendering six hits. Bobby Korecky picked up his tenth save with a scoreless seventh inning.
Reading 2 @ New Hampshire 3 (Game 2) (7 innings) – Boxscore
Henderson Alvarez started the second game and was his usual dominant self. Alvarez went all 7 innings, striking out six and surrendering six hits and a walk. Of the nine batters retired on balls in play, Alvarez induced eight of them to ground out. Although he committed his first error of the year, his ERA now sits at 2.82.
New Hampshire scored their first run in the second inning on consecutive doubles by Calix Crabbe and Jackson. The Fisher Cats didn’t strike again until the bottom of the seventh, as Reading’s Justin Friend came in for the save. Crabbe induced a walk, but Jackson struck out. Singles by Craig Stansberry and Adeiny Hechavarria scored Crabbe and put Stansberry on third with the winning run. Then, with Jonathan Diaz up at the plate, New Hampshire got the game-ending play that everyone likes to see at least once, which was the game-ending balk by Friend that scored Stansberry.
St. Lucie 4 @ Dunedin 5 – Boxscore
Dunedin only had five hits, but the D-Jays took advantage of four Mets errors and scored three unearned runs to earn the victory. Sean Ochinko, whose recent hot streak has seen him moved to the third spot in the batting order, went hitless. However, he also drew a pair of walks and stole his first base of the season. A.J. Jimenez had a double and Ryan Goins and Ivan Contreras each had a single and a run scored. Brian Van Kirk had two hits, both solo homers.
Ryan Tepera started for Dunedin and went 6 innings. He walked two, struck out three and allowed six hits. Tepera allowed all four St. Lucie runs. Justin Phillabaum and Matt Wright combined for 2.1 scoreless innings of relief. Steve Turnbull picked up the win with 0.2 innings of relief, striking out both batters and stranding an inherited runner. Dunedin picked up the win when, with two out and none out in the bottom of the ninth, Contreras singled and advanced to second on a missed catch by Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores. The next batter, Kevin Nolan, reached on a second fielding error by Flores and Contreras came around to score for a walk-off victory.
Lake County 7 @ Lansing 5 – Boxscore
Marcus Walden didn’t strike out a batter last night. He surrendered four runs, three earned. Walden allowed four hits and a walk. He retired ten of fourteen batters on balls in play on groundouts. Sam Strickland gave up a run in 2 innings of relief and then Shawn Griffith allowed two runs on three walks and a hit. Danny Barnes struck out two in the ninth.
Michael Crouse went 1-for-4 with a run and a walk and Marcus Brisker had a single, double, a walk and a run scored. Brisker also stole Lansing’s only base. Jake Marisnick was 1-for-3 with an RBI, two walks and a run. Marcus Knecht went 0-for-5 and K.C. Hobson was also 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. Oliver Dominguez was 0-for-1 with three walks. Matt Nuzzo had a double and 2 RBIs and Gari Pena added a single.
Vancouver 0 @ Tri-City 7 – Boxscore
Jesse Hernandez started for the Canadians and gave up 11 hits through 4 innings. Hernandez surrendered all seven runs, although only five were earned. Brandon Kaye, Shane Davis and Drew Permision pitched 4 scoreless innings of one-hit relief. The Canadians had seven hits, with Balbino Fuenmayor and Nicholas Baligod each picking up one. Jonathan Jones went 2-for-4 with a double and Jonathon Berti went 3-for-3. Berti was the only batter to avoid striking out on the afternoon. The Canadians were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Bluefield 6 @ Kingsport 3 – Boxscore
Deivy Estrada went 6 innings and surrendered one run. He won the contest, striking out four and surrendering five hits. Kenllie Santana gave up two runs, one earned, but didn’t allow a hit over an inning. Andrew Sikula picked up his first save with a scoreless ninth. Andy Fermin went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and three walks. Matt Johnson and Kevin Pillar each also had a pair of hits. Pillar scored twice and added a double and Johnson drew a walk and scored a run. Daniel Arcila, Gustavo Pierre and Eli Boike all added hits, with Arcila knocking a solo homer. Art Charles was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.
GCL Tigers 10 @ GCL Blue Jays 8 – Boxscore
Two four-run innings wasn’t enough to propel the Jays to victory. Eric Arce hit a grand slam in the first. Arce was one of two Jays, along with Seth Conner, to have two hits. Peter Mooney and Dickie Thon Jr. both drew a pair of walks, although Thon left the game before it was over. Adaric Kelly started and went 0.2 innings, allowing three runs on three hits and three bases on balls. Joe Musgrove gave up two runs over 3 innings and then Randal Thompson gave up three runs, two earned, over 1.1 innings. Jorge Navaratte also gave up runs and took the loss
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Andy Fermin, 2-for-2, 3 BB, 2 TB
2nd Star – Brian Van Kirk, 2-for-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 8 TB
1st Star – Henderson Alvarez, 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
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