The minor league season opened up on a chilly note, with two
weather-related postponements. The farm affiliates split the
other two.
Syracuse 2 @ Durham 1
John-Ford Griffin singled and scored the tying run in the top of the eighth and then doubled in the winner with two outs in the top of the ninth as the Chiefs rallied for the victory. Dustin McGowan went 5 innings and allowed an unearned run on 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8, with the run scoring on a Rey Olmedo throwing error, a stolen base and a run-scoring single. Meanwhile, Bulls starter Jason Hammel threw 5 perfect innings at the Chiefs. Ismael Ramirez came on in relief in the sixth and gave up a leadoff triple to Jorge Cantu, but got out of it on a strikeout, a tapper to the mound and another groundout, to set the stage for Griffin's heroics. Adam Lind went 1-4, Russ Adams wore the collar and Curtis Thigpen went 1-3 with the bat and 0-2 trying to catch thieves. John Hattig one-upped Adams with a golden sombrero. The Chief relief was outtasite- Matt Roney faced 4 batters and struck out 3 of them for the win while Ryan Houston faced the minimum in the ninth for the save and punched out 2.
Dunedin 3 @ Clearwater 9
Ouch. The D-Jays took it on the chin in their season debut. Orlando Trias started and was hit hard. Brandon Magee came on in relief and was battered- the idea is to have a decimal place after the first digit in the ERA, not the third. He's on pace for...oh, never mind. Freddy Garcia made a rehab start for the Threshers and blew away the Baby Jays in 3.1 innings. Eric Nielsen bagged 2 hits, and that was about it.
3 stars!
3- Matt Roney
2- John-ford Griffin
1- Dustin McGowan
Syracuse 2 @ Durham 1
John-Ford Griffin singled and scored the tying run in the top of the eighth and then doubled in the winner with two outs in the top of the ninth as the Chiefs rallied for the victory. Dustin McGowan went 5 innings and allowed an unearned run on 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8, with the run scoring on a Rey Olmedo throwing error, a stolen base and a run-scoring single. Meanwhile, Bulls starter Jason Hammel threw 5 perfect innings at the Chiefs. Ismael Ramirez came on in relief in the sixth and gave up a leadoff triple to Jorge Cantu, but got out of it on a strikeout, a tapper to the mound and another groundout, to set the stage for Griffin's heroics. Adam Lind went 1-4, Russ Adams wore the collar and Curtis Thigpen went 1-3 with the bat and 0-2 trying to catch thieves. John Hattig one-upped Adams with a golden sombrero. The Chief relief was outtasite- Matt Roney faced 4 batters and struck out 3 of them for the win while Ryan Houston faced the minimum in the ninth for the save and punched out 2.
Dunedin 3 @ Clearwater 9
Ouch. The D-Jays took it on the chin in their season debut. Orlando Trias started and was hit hard. Brandon Magee came on in relief and was battered- the idea is to have a decimal place after the first digit in the ERA, not the third. He's on pace for...oh, never mind. Freddy Garcia made a rehab start for the Threshers and blew away the Baby Jays in 3.1 innings. Eric Nielsen bagged 2 hits, and that was about it.
3 stars!
3- Matt Roney
2- John-ford Griffin
1- Dustin McGowan
