4 wins, a rainout, and a second-dip drubbing for the Toronto farm system on Walk-Single-Homer night.
Syracuse 9 @ Toledo 6
This sounds familiar somehow: The SkyChiefs were cruising along through 7-1/2 innings, having built a 6 – 2 lead on the strength of a solo homer from C Guillermo Quiroz, a two-run shot from 1B Howie Clark, and a two-run single from SS Russ Adams. Mike Smith had allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk through 7, but he unraveled in the bottom of the 8th. Adam Peterson came in from the bullpen with 1 out and the bases juiced and promptly unleashed a wild pitch and a tater for 4 runs and a tie ballgame.
Tonight, however, the demons would be defeated. Peterson recorded an out and allowed two more baserunners before Kevin Frederick came on to finish the inning with strikeout. The Chiefs didn’t score in the top of the 9th, but Frederick kept it alive by shutting down the Mud Hens in the bottom of the frame. In the 10th, Syracuse scored three on a GQ double and a Julius Matos sac fly. Aquilino Lopez nailed it down 1-2-3.
Besides the double and homer, Quiroz also drew a walk. LF Gabe Gross went 0 for 4 but drew two walks. Adams had a single to show for 6 trips to the plate. Howie Clark had a single and two walks to go with his homer.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com. Recap - Post-Standard (AP)
New Hampshire 6 @ Binghampton 4
Despite collecting just 6 hits and one walk, the F-Cats defeated the Binghampton Mets 6 to 4. SS Aaron Hill had an interesting night, though not for the best reasons, as he committed two errors and was twice hit by a pitch. DH John-Ford Griffin had the biggest swing of the night, a three-run homer in 7th inning. Am I the only one surprised to see that the Notorious JFG is up to 17 bombs for the season?
Chris Baker started and allowed 4 runs (1 unearned) on 4 hits including a homer. Baker went 6-1/3, striking out 7 and walking just 1. Jordan DeJong pitched a spotless ninth for his 5th save.
Boxscore - NHFisherCats.com. Recap - Union-Leader
Dunedin – Rained Out
The D-Jays were scheduled to play a twinbill against the Daytona Cubs. No makeup date(s) announced at this time.
Hickory 11 @ Charleston 1
The Crawdads crushed the AlleyCats by 10 runs for the second straight night as portsider Brad Mumma was lit up for 7 runs (4 earned) over 5 innings, 7 hits and 4 walks. He did strike out 7 and kept the ball in the yard. Felix Romero and Jordy Templet kept things quiet for the next three innings, but Mark Sopko was torched for 4 runs in his inning of work, 6 hits and a walk.
Curiously for a team that scored just 1 run, every batter in the Charleston lineup collected a hit save for C Robinson Diaz, who was replaced after one at-bat by Joey Wolfe – and Wolfe then collected 2 hits. Team totals of 8 strikeouts and 1 walk didn’t help, nor did the 3 errors on defence. SS Juan Peralta, 1B Clint Johnston, and LF Chris Snavely each garnered two bases on their safeties.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
The Daily Mail has a write-up on good-guy Christian Snavely. Christian is married and his wife’s name is… Christen. Who knew? This could get real interesting if they have children…Christopher? Christina?
Tri-City 6 @ Auburn 8
2B Brian Hall and 1B Dave Hicks each went walk-single-homer as the Doubledays defeated the ValleyCats 8 to 6. C Curtis Thigpen had a double and a walk to show for his 4 plate appearances, while LF Adam Lind settled for just the double. Imitating Aaron Hill from 3 levels below, SS Ryan Klosterman was charged with two errors.
The pitching side of the equation saw 7 effective innings from starter Mike MacDonald, 3 runs on 4 hits (including a homer), 3/1 K/BB. Kristian Bell and Dewon Day were shaky in closing things out. Dewon now boasts 7 saves and a 1.38 ERA for the season.
Speaking of Day, who can tell me where he came from? It seems he was a Draft-and-Follow pick in the 2002 draft, but I can’t find any record of what round he was drafted in.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
Bristol 4 @ Pulaski 7
The bottom of the lineup carried the day as the Pulaskis beat the Bristol White Sox with ease. While hitters 1 through 5 went just 2 for 17 on the night, 6-7-8 banged out 6 hits in 10 at-bats. Specifically, LF Luke Hetherington had 2 singles and a walk; 3B Tony Garibaldi singled, homered, and walked; and SS Emmanuel Sena had 2 base knocks.
Russ Savickas started and went 3 hitless innings, striking out 2 and walking 1. Lefty Ramon Sanchez picked up the Win for his 3 innings of relief, allowing a solo homer and striking out 4. Michael Rider and James Pidutti were surrendered 3 runs over the final 3 frames.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
Three-Star Selection!
I normally prefer making a controversial call to splitting the Stars, but what can you do when three players turn in identical performances?
The Three Third Stars: Brian Hall & David Hicks, Auburn, Anthony Garibaldi, Pulaski. Walk-Single-Homer. Walk-Single-Homer. Walk-Single-Homer.
The Second Star: Howard Clark, Syracuse. Walk-Walk-Single-Homer.
The First Star: Guillermo Quiroz, Syarcuse. Walk-Double-Homer.
Syracuse 9 @ Toledo 6
This sounds familiar somehow: The SkyChiefs were cruising along through 7-1/2 innings, having built a 6 – 2 lead on the strength of a solo homer from C Guillermo Quiroz, a two-run shot from 1B Howie Clark, and a two-run single from SS Russ Adams. Mike Smith had allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk through 7, but he unraveled in the bottom of the 8th. Adam Peterson came in from the bullpen with 1 out and the bases juiced and promptly unleashed a wild pitch and a tater for 4 runs and a tie ballgame.
Tonight, however, the demons would be defeated. Peterson recorded an out and allowed two more baserunners before Kevin Frederick came on to finish the inning with strikeout. The Chiefs didn’t score in the top of the 9th, but Frederick kept it alive by shutting down the Mud Hens in the bottom of the frame. In the 10th, Syracuse scored three on a GQ double and a Julius Matos sac fly. Aquilino Lopez nailed it down 1-2-3.
Besides the double and homer, Quiroz also drew a walk. LF Gabe Gross went 0 for 4 but drew two walks. Adams had a single to show for 6 trips to the plate. Howie Clark had a single and two walks to go with his homer.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com. Recap - Post-Standard (AP)
New Hampshire 6 @ Binghampton 4
Despite collecting just 6 hits and one walk, the F-Cats defeated the Binghampton Mets 6 to 4. SS Aaron Hill had an interesting night, though not for the best reasons, as he committed two errors and was twice hit by a pitch. DH John-Ford Griffin had the biggest swing of the night, a three-run homer in 7th inning. Am I the only one surprised to see that the Notorious JFG is up to 17 bombs for the season?
Chris Baker started and allowed 4 runs (1 unearned) on 4 hits including a homer. Baker went 6-1/3, striking out 7 and walking just 1. Jordan DeJong pitched a spotless ninth for his 5th save.
Boxscore - NHFisherCats.com. Recap - Union-Leader
Dunedin – Rained Out
The D-Jays were scheduled to play a twinbill against the Daytona Cubs. No makeup date(s) announced at this time.
Hickory 11 @ Charleston 1
The Crawdads crushed the AlleyCats by 10 runs for the second straight night as portsider Brad Mumma was lit up for 7 runs (4 earned) over 5 innings, 7 hits and 4 walks. He did strike out 7 and kept the ball in the yard. Felix Romero and Jordy Templet kept things quiet for the next three innings, but Mark Sopko was torched for 4 runs in his inning of work, 6 hits and a walk.
Curiously for a team that scored just 1 run, every batter in the Charleston lineup collected a hit save for C Robinson Diaz, who was replaced after one at-bat by Joey Wolfe – and Wolfe then collected 2 hits. Team totals of 8 strikeouts and 1 walk didn’t help, nor did the 3 errors on defence. SS Juan Peralta, 1B Clint Johnston, and LF Chris Snavely each garnered two bases on their safeties.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
The Daily Mail has a write-up on good-guy Christian Snavely. Christian is married and his wife’s name is… Christen. Who knew? This could get real interesting if they have children…Christopher? Christina?
Tri-City 6 @ Auburn 8
2B Brian Hall and 1B Dave Hicks each went walk-single-homer as the Doubledays defeated the ValleyCats 8 to 6. C Curtis Thigpen had a double and a walk to show for his 4 plate appearances, while LF Adam Lind settled for just the double. Imitating Aaron Hill from 3 levels below, SS Ryan Klosterman was charged with two errors.
The pitching side of the equation saw 7 effective innings from starter Mike MacDonald, 3 runs on 4 hits (including a homer), 3/1 K/BB. Kristian Bell and Dewon Day were shaky in closing things out. Dewon now boasts 7 saves and a 1.38 ERA for the season.
Speaking of Day, who can tell me where he came from? It seems he was a Draft-and-Follow pick in the 2002 draft, but I can’t find any record of what round he was drafted in.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
Bristol 4 @ Pulaski 7
The bottom of the lineup carried the day as the Pulaskis beat the Bristol White Sox with ease. While hitters 1 through 5 went just 2 for 17 on the night, 6-7-8 banged out 6 hits in 10 at-bats. Specifically, LF Luke Hetherington had 2 singles and a walk; 3B Tony Garibaldi singled, homered, and walked; and SS Emmanuel Sena had 2 base knocks.
Russ Savickas started and went 3 hitless innings, striking out 2 and walking 1. Lefty Ramon Sanchez picked up the Win for his 3 innings of relief, allowing a solo homer and striking out 4. Michael Rider and James Pidutti were surrendered 3 runs over the final 3 frames.
Boxscore - MinorLeagueBaseball.com.
Three-Star Selection!
I normally prefer making a controversial call to splitting the Stars, but what can you do when three players turn in identical performances?
The Three Third Stars: Brian Hall & David Hicks, Auburn, Anthony Garibaldi, Pulaski. Walk-Single-Homer. Walk-Single-Homer. Walk-Single-Homer.
The Second Star: Howard Clark, Syracuse. Walk-Walk-Single-Homer.
The First Star: Guillermo Quiroz, Syarcuse. Walk-Double-Homer.
