There were five wins on the farm yesterday with the losses coming at the ends, in Las Vegas and in the Gulf Coast League. However, the one star earned by a pitcher came in one of those two losses. New Hampshire won a walk-off game despite allowing two runs in the top of the 11th and Lansing had a big bottom of the eighth inning for a late come-from-behind victory.
Tucson 3 @ Las Vegas 1 – Boxscore
Jonathan Diaz reached base in all four of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks. Adeiny Hechavarria was only one worse, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Moises Sierra had a pair of hits and Yan Gomes walked and added a double and an RBI. Anthony Gose was 0-for-5, Travis Snider was 0-for-4 with a run scored and Eric Thames was 0-for-3 with a walk.
Sean O’Sullivan had a strong outing for the 51’s with 8 solid innings. He allowed five hits and walked a pair, while striking out three. O’Sullivan allowed two unearned runs on a pair of Hechavarria errors and retired 13 of 18 batters on balls in play on groundouts. Chad Beck allowed a run on two hits in the top of the ninth.
Portland 10 @ New Hampshire 11 (11 innings) – Boxscore
Chad Jenkins had a rough time on the mound, allowing 13 hits and six runs. Jenkins only walked one and struck out five. Matt Wright pitched 2 hitless innings with two strikeouts. With New Hampshire losing by one, Scott Gracey took the mound and allowed consecutive hits. Matt Daly came in and promptly got a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play. While it looked like the Fisher Cats may escape the inning unscathed, Daly then allowed a two-run homer to give the Sea Dogs a 3-run lead.
However, doubles by Brad McElroy, John Tolisano and Brad Glenn, with a walk mixed up, brought the Fisher Cats within one with two out. Kevin Howard stepped to the plate and hit a grounder to third. But it was booted and Mark Sobolewski raced home to tie the game.
Daly pitched a scoreless tenth, but had to go out for the eleventh after New Hampshire didn’t score. With one out and two on, Tolisano committed a costly error by missing a throw on a pickoff attempt and allowed each runner to advance a base. The next better singled, scoring both of them. Daly retired the next two batters.
New Hampshire quickly got runners on second and third after Brian Bocock singled and Kenen Bailli hit a ground-rule double. Sobolewski singled, scoring Bocock and Bailli, the tying run, perhaps unwisely tried to score with none out and was cut down at the plate. Glenn popped out and Sobolewski was stuck at first with two out. Then came Kevin Howard and he atoned for his what-should-have-been-game-ending-groundout with a two-run walkoff homer.
Sobolewski went 3-for-5 and Tolisano, Bocock, Bailli, Glenn and Brian Van Kirk each had two hits. A rehabbing Jacoby Ellsbury was 1-for-5 and a rehabbing Carl Crawford was 2-for-4; both were replaced before the game went to extra innings.
Daytona 2 @ Dunedin 5 – Boxscore
Dunedin scored five runs on five hits. Four of the runs came home on a pair of two-run homers by Michael Crouse in the third and Koby Clemens in the fourth. Oliver Dominguez went 2-for-4 and Justin Jackson was 1-for-4 with two stolen bases. Jonathan Jones drew a walk, stole two bases and had an outfield assist at home plate.
Ryan Tepera started and went 5 innings to pick up his first win for Dunedin. He struck out six and walked three, while allowing seven hits. Jesse Hernandez threw 3 innings of one-hit belief before Danny Barnes all threw a scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts to pick up his 21st save.
Great Lakes 4 @ Lansing 8 – Boxscore
It wasn’t a particularly strong start by Anthony DeSclafani. He surrendered three earned runs on eight hits over 5 innings. He didn’t walk a batter, struck out two and saw his ERA jump to 3.12. Tyler Ybarra allowed a run over 2 innings and Blake McFarland and Ajay Meyer each had scoreless frames.
Lansing entered the bottom of the 8th losing 4-2, having scored in the first when Chris Hawkins singled home Jon Berti and in the third when Carlos Perez hit a solo homer. Perez walked and then Hawkins was retired. Andy Burns doubled home Hawkins and Kevin Pillar singled home Perez to tie the game. KC Hobson struck out and, although they had two men on, it looked like Lansing may start the 9th tied with the Loons.
However, in an unusual move, Great Lakes decided to intentionally walk Kevin Patterson with runners at first and third to bring up Gustavo Pierre. To the delight of Lugnuts fans, Pierre made him pay with a 2-run double. Kenny Wilson was hit by a pitch before a fielding error led to two more runs and Lansing had come back from being doubled to double the Loons.
Danville 3 @ Bluefield 4 – Boxscore
Daniel Norris had his perhaps best professional start last night (although his best performance was a 4 inning relief appearance), going 3.1 innings for Bluefield, although he struggled with his control. Norris surrendered one run on a solo homer, but he did allow four walks. Norris struck out seven. Tucker Jensen finished the fourth and went on to pitch the fifth and sixth. He didn’t allow a hit and struck out three. The Braves scored two off Brandon Dorsett on a Christian Lopes error. Colby Broussard picked up the save with a hitless ninth with two strikeouts.
Bluefield scored two in the first on a solo homer by Santiago Nessy. The two batters ahead of him, Dwight Smith Jr. and Eric Arce, each had two hits and an RBI. Arce had a double and Smith Jr. drew a walk. Lopes went 2-for-4 and Nico Taylor and Seth Conner added hits. Dickie Thon, Matt Dean and Jacob Anderson all went hitless.
Vancouver 8 @ Salem-Keizer 2 – Boxscore
Colton Turner walked a tightrope during his start, allowing eight hits and five walks over 5 innings. He only walked two but somehow escaped having only surrendered a pair of runs. Matt Johnson, Jonathan Lucas and Tucker Donahue combined for 4 innings of scoreless relief.
Kellen Sweeney had Vancouver’s only multi-hit game and led the offence with a 2-for-4 evening that included a 2-run home run and a walk. Jordan Leyland added a 3-run homer and a pair of walks. Every starter but leadoff hitter Derrick Chung had a hit and Chung got on base with a base on balls. Matt Newman displayed impressive patience in the 9-hole, going 1-for-2 with three walks.
GCL Tigers 5 @ GCL Blue Jays 1 – Boxscore
The GCL Blue Jays were limited to four hits. Dennis Jones was 2-for-2 and John Silviano and Cody Bartlett added hits. Adonys Cardona threw 2.2 innings and allowed two runs on two hits and a pair of walks. Cardona struck out four. Mark Biggs pitched 4 scoreless innings, but Adaric Kelly gave up four unearned runs in an inning and Luis Mendez gave up three earned runs in the next frame.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Kellen Sweeney, 2-for-4, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI, BB, 5 TB
2nd Star – Sean O’Sullivan, 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
1st Star – Gustavo Pierre, 2-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 TB
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