Buffalo started the week two games out of first place and this week they got to play the team ahead of them, Scranton. On Thursday they won their third straight to jump into the lead in their division. New Hampshire lost despite Jordan Groshans picking up three hits. Adam Kloffenstein pitched well to get the win for Vancouver. Dunedin achieved the difficult task of winning both ends of a doubleheader.
Buffalo 5 Scranton 3
Portland 3 New Hampshire 1
Vancouver 5 Everett 2
Palm Beach 1 Dunedin 4 - game 1
Palm Beach 1 Dunedin 7 - game 2
This is what I noted from yesterday's games.
The Buffalo game was a close affair until the eighth. Buffalo took a 1-0 lead in the fifth and scored four more in the eighth. Christian Colon hit a two run home run in that inning to add to a double earlier in the game. Josh Palacios also had two hits.
You never know exactly what to expect from Zach Logue but on Thursday he threw five shutout innings with five strikeouts. Of note Ryan Borucki pitched an inning with three K's.
Elvis Luciano came back into the New Hampshire rotation. Perhaps because of his waiver layoff he was limited to 40 pitches and so just went 2.2 innings. Nick Fraze threw three innings and gave up three runs, two earned.
The Fisher Cats had seven hits, all singles. Jordan Groshans had three of them, Samad Taylor two.
Last time out Adam Kloffenstein only lasted two innings. He was much better on Thursday breezing through five scoreless innings. He did give up a solo home run in the sixth and left with a man on second who subsequently scored. His final line was 5.2 2 2 2 3 5.
Phil Clarke had three hits for the C's and scored two runs. After hitting .175 and .205 in the first two months of the season, Clarke has hit better since going .277 in July and .282 in August. He doesn't have much power though, just two home runs for the season. Tanner Morris and Spencer Horwitz extended their hit streaks to 21 games, Morris had two hits.
In Dunedin's first game Dasan Brown was the catalyst. He singled in the first inning and scored on a groundout. In the second inning, with two walks on base, he singled again to load the bases. One run scored on an error then Zach Britton doubled in two more. The Jays had just five hits, Brown was 2-3. On the mound Trent Palmer went five innings with five hits and five K's.
In game two, Michael Dominguez had his best start of the season, nine strikeouts over five innings. He gave up one solo home run. Dominguez came onto the prospect radar when he posted excellent numbers in the GCL last year at age 19. This year pitching at 20 for most of the season he hasn't been as good. Maybe this start is a sign of something better coming. For the offense Addison Bargar was 2-3 with two runs scored and two driven in. Hugo Cardona also had two hits.
Three Stars
Third Star - Jordan Groshans
Second Star - Adam Kloffenstein
First Star - Michael Dominguez
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