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They went 11 innings in Syracuse, and it was wild from the get-go. 7-2 lead for the SkyChiefs after one and a half, then 9-8 for Buffalo after four. Chad Mottola hit his 20th homer (one of three hits on the night) in the top of the seventh to give Syracuse a brief lead, but it was tied quickly thereafter and remained so until 11th, when Buffalo pushed across a run against Adrian Burnside. The Bisons' Kaz Tadano was there for the top of the climactic 11th inning, picking up his fourth win of the year.
Justin Singleton had a three-run shot in the first, while Gabe Gross singled, scored, walked twice and struck out twice.
Presented without comment:
Gross, 2003 AAA: .264/.380/.456
Gross, 2004 AAA: .294/.381/.454
Gross, 2005 AAA: .297/.382/.445 (before last night's game)
(This is not a comment; just a confirmation of my keyboarding skills: the OBP and SLG values are not typos.)
The game probably put to rest any playoff hopes Syracuse had, and Rochester hero of the night Dusty Wathan (son of former Royals catcher and manager John) had the following to tell the Syracuse Post-Standard: "A lot of people in Rochester and a lot of people in Syracuse were counting on a win for them tonight the way this started. It's huge for us to demoralize people who are watching the scoreboard." If I was more of a Syracuse fan, I might not find that funny. But I do.
New Hampshire won 4-0. Rob Cosby brought home one run on a single, Miguel Negron somehow homered and brought in three more (some hot streak, eh?), Vince Perkins had a terrific Game Score of 75 over seven innings and the wind was 2 miles per hour.
8-1 was the score for Dunedin over Lakeland. It wasn't as close as the score indicated, as Kyle Yates flirted with a no-hitter until the second. I kid, I kid -- he had a very good night, pitching six innings -- in three of them, he didn't allow a runner to reach second -- giving up only one run and striking out six.
Vito Chiaravalloti had a homerun, a single and a couple of walks. Robinzon Diaz doubled in the third, then was removed for a defensive replacement. I wonder if he had an injury -- and if so, how serious it was.
Lansing did not play. Auburn did, but...uh...you see, Scott Mitchinson showed up. Who is Mitchinson? Well, he had a 7.71 ERA entering the game and it was at 6.04 after the game. You all remember the Dave Stieb near-misses? Well, Mitchinson nearly had a no-hitter here. If you don't count the sixth inning, he was perfect. I guess this will forever be known in Batavia as the "Josh Bell-Sean Shoffitt-Guy Who Reached on Catcher's Interference Game."(If you're wondering, Bell doubled and Shoffitt singled.) There's no real point in linking to the boxscore, is there?
And finally, Pulaski. Another shutout! For the other team. Lee Soto had what the experts call a non-good night. Two strikeouts, a popout, a double play ground ball, and his 22nd error of the year. To be fair, nobody really had a good night aside from 2005 draftee Jacob Butler, who had a couple of singles and walked. Jesus Gonzalez went 0-for-4, but he's shown some really nice power this season.
Three-Star Selection:
3. Chad Mottola
2. Kyle Yates
1. Vince Perkins
