New Hampshire lost due to a bullpen blowup. But the story was Nate Pearson who threw 5.2 hitless innings and Kevin Smith, who brought his batting average over .200. Buffalo came from behind to win. Lansing, Vancouver and Bluefield all lost. Lansing managed to lose on a catchers interference call that brought home the winning run. It was just the Lugnuts third error of the inning. The rains in Florida sidelined the two Florida teams.
Buffalo 8 Charlotte 4
Harrisburg 5 New Hampshire 3
Fort Myers at Dunedin - Postponed
Lansing 3 West Michigan 4
Everett 5 Vancouver 3
Pulaski 4 Bluefield 2
GCL Yankees at GCL Jays - Postponed
DSL Blue Jays 4 DSL Orioles 7
Here are some things I noted from Wednesdays games. There are not a lot of notes as it was a quiet night on the farm:
It rains a lot on Florida this time of year. Both the Dunedin and GCL games were rained out. The Dunedin team is also disadvantaged by playing at the Phillies old stadium while Dunedin is being renovated. The drainage there is not up to snuff so rainouts will be more likely for them.
I thought this would be a good time to check on playoff possibilities. Dunedin are in the playoffs off their first half performance. They also lead their division in the second half. Buffalo are five games out of the division lead and the wild card race. The trade deadline could either help or hurt their chances and those of their competitors. Lansing are two games back of a playoff spot. The Midwest League has the most playoff spots so lansing have a chance if they can play better. Vancouver were nowhere near the playoffs in the first half, the second half started on Tuesday. Bluefield are a game and a half out of the playoffs. The GCL Jays are, like several affiliates, five games out of first and four out of the wildcard. They are back of several teams so they need a win streak to climb up the table.
New Hampshire and the DSL Jays have little chance of making the playoffs.
Reece McGuire had three hits on Wednesday. While McGuire is not expected to set any offensive records, is he worse than Luke Maile. Maile is unlikely to be traded this week and if he isn't why not call up McGuire anyway?
Patrick Kivlehan hit a three run home run in the ninth to break a tied game. Kivlehan has cooled off some since his hot streak after his promotion and at this stage is unlikely to be called up.
Jonathan Davis hit two home runs on Tuesday. He added a double and a triple on Wednesday.
Richard Urena had three hits, his second three hit game in his last three.
TJ Zeuch had a rough start, ten hits and five walks in six innings.
Kevin Smith had two hits, and finally his average is over .200, for the first time since April.
Nate Pearson threw 74 pitches without allowing a hit. He struck out eight in 5.2 innings.
Juan De Paula pitched his best game of the season for Lansing. He went 5.2 innings, four hits, three walks, two K's, one run, zero earned.
Otto Lopez picked up two hits, his average is just shy of 300 at .298.
Philip Clarke's bat has cooled off, and with it the C's have cooled too. His average is down to .288.
Juan Diaz conceded two runs in six innings. His ERA is reasonable at 3.89 but his WHIP is good at 1.11. he doesn't allow many hits, doesn;t walk too many but doesn't have a lot of K's. He does get a lot of ground balls.
Griffin Conine had three K's, he has ten K's, and no hits, in his last three games.
3 Stars
3rd star: Reece McGuire
2nd star: Patrick Kivlehan
1st star: Nate Pearson
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