"Dayton", with or without an "a" , were too much for the two Jays affiliates last night. The "always exciting" sacrifice fly turned out to be difference in each case. A rainout and a scheduled day off at the upper levels of the farm system prevented last night from being a total disaster.
Columbus at Syracuse - Postponed, Rain
The game will be made up this Saturday, June 9th in Columbus at 5:05 p.m. as part of a doubleheader.
Meantime, the Syracuse-Post Standard blog has some facts and figures on the Chiefs 9 game winning streak.
New Hampshire - Scheduled Day Off
The New Hampshire Union Leader has a piece on Sergio Santos and what he and his other high profile teammates did with their signing bonuses.
Daytona 7 Dunedin 6 (11 innings)
Daytona, FL - D-Jays starter Kristian Bell was gonged around pretty good in this one. Dunedin had a chance to score first after Luke Hetherington took one for the team to lead off the game and stole 2nd base but he would be stranded. Daytona would draw first blood as Chris Amador took Bell over the wall to give the Cubbies a 1-0 lead.
The D-Jays offence would get on the board in the top of the 3rd. Luke Hetherington got on base again with a leadoff single, stole 2nd, and came home on a Carlo Cota double to tie the game at 1-1. Hetherington got some company in the HBP department as Eric Nielsen was plunked by a pitch. After a passed ball, Nielsen and Cota would eventually score on a Kyle Phillips single to give Dunedin a 3-1 lead.
The D-Cubs didn't take long to respond as Chris Amador led off the 3rd with his 2nd dinger of the night off Kristian Bell to cut Dunedin's margin to 3-2. The D-Jays got a long ball of their own in the top of the 4th as Cory Patton connected for his 5th homer of the year to bring home a Luke Hetherington walk. That restored Dunedin's 3 run lead at 5-2.
Bell looked like he was going to hold the fort down after getting the first two batters in the bottom of the 4th but a 2 out walk set the stage for an Alan Rick home run to cut the Dunedin lead down to a run again at 5-4. Bell was starting to unravel as he gave up a single, uncorked a wild pitch, and made sure Chris Amador would not take him deep for a third time as he plunked him to put runners at 1st and 2nd. However, Bell got the next batter to ground out to end the inning.
Bell would not be so lucky in the 5th as as Tyler Colvin, the Cubs 1st round pick from 2006, was singled home after he started the inning with a double. Another double led to Daytona re-taking the lead at 6-5. That was the end of the night for Bell, who was relieved by Yesson Berroa. He ended the frame by getting a strikeout and a tapper back to the mound.
Bell was taken off the hook for a loss as his mates rallied for the tying run in the 6th. Chris Gutierrez collected a one out double and eventually came home on a Carlo Cota ground out to even up the game at 6-6.
It was a battle of the bullpens as Yesson Berroa and Sean Stidfole kept the game scoreless into the 9th inning. Dunedin had a chance to win in the 9th as Cory Patton doubled with one out but he would remain 180 feet away from home plate. D-Jays reliever Seth Overbey had to survive a double and intentional walk to send the game into extras.
Kyle Phillips tried to get something going for the visitors in the 10th but pulled a Jason Phillips as he was thrown out at 2nd, trying to stretch a single into a double. The bottom of the 10th saw Dunedin 2nd baseman Carlo Cota get ejected. Seth Overbey plunked the first hitter of the inning but fielded the attempted sacrifice bunt and threw to shortstop Chris Gutierrez to get the lead runner but that was all. It was at that point Cota was ejected by the first base umpire, presumably for disagreeing about the runner at first being safe. However, Overbey got the next two hitters to send the game into the 11th.
Luke Hetherington tried again to get the D-Jays offence going as he got aboard on a fielder's choice with 2 outs. He would steal 2nd for a third time and Anthony Garibaldi, who came into the game at short after Cota was ejected, drew a walk but Cory Patton grounded out to end the frame.
Daryl Harang relieved Seth Overbey for the D-Jays in the bottom half of inning 11. Harang gave up a single and a bunt single to start the frame. Daytona bunted into an out as Anthony Hatch fired to shortstop Anthony Garibaldi covering 3rd to cut down the lead runner. However, Garibaldi made an throwing error on the next hitter to load up the bases and Daytona delivered the winning run with a sac fly to get the victory.
At the plate, Carlo Cota was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, a pair of runs, a pair of RBI's, and an ejection to boot! Luke Hetherington was aboard 3 times with a single, a walk, and plunk and also stole 3 bases. He's now batting .311. Chris Gutierrez and Kyle Phillips enjoyed 2-for-5 evenings with Gutierrez collecting a double and Phillips driving in a pair. Canadian David Corrente was 0-for-3 with 2 K's but also drew a couple of walks. Cory Patton's 5th homer of the year was his only hit of the night as he went 1-for-6.
On the mound, Kristian Bell was rung up for 3 long balls, giving up 6 runs (all earned) on 9 hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out 3. Yesson Berroa struck out 4 and only surrendered 1 hit in 2 2/3 scoreless innnings. Sean Stidfole worked around a single and walk in his shut-out inning of work and Seth Overbey did the same in 2 scoreless frames. He also struck out a pair of batters to drop his ERA to 1.23. Daryl Harang took the loss by giving up an unearned run in his 2/3 innings of work to fall to 1-2.
Dayton, OH - An early indication it would not be the Lugnuts night against the Cincinnati afflilate came in the first when Sean Shoffit drew a leadoff walk but he would promptly get picked off at 1st. That would hurt as Travis Snider came up with a 2 out double but that was as far as Snider was get. The Dragons would get the key out 2 out hit as a single off Lansing starter Kyle Ginley scored a double to make it 1-0 Dayton.
Ginley encountered control problems in the 2nd as he gave up a single and plunked a pair of batters but a double play helped him escape with no runners crossing the plate.
The Lugnuts tied the game in the 5th as Scott Campbell drove one over the fence for his 2nd homer of the season. Meantime, Kyle Ginley was cruising, setting down 10 of 11 hitters but the good times ended with 1 out in the 6th as he gave up a double, a walk, and another double and that resulted in the Dragons regaining the lead at 2-1. Brian Pettway did his part to limit the damage by throwing out a runner at 3rd from left field. That was the end for Ginley, who gave way to Po-Hsuan Keng and he gave up a double to the first batter he faced, producing another Dayton run to make it 3-1.
Lansing would get Ginley off the hook in the 7th as Brian Pettway got aboard on a fielding error and Matthew Lane would drive in not only Pettway but himself as he homered for the first time this season to knot up this affair at 3-3.
The bottom of the 7th saw Dayton manager Donnie Scott get ejected by the home plate umpire. According to the Lansing Lugnuts website, Reds prospect Chris Valaika apparently did not call for time at the plate and was automatically called out on strikes to end the inning.
The Dragons would get a single and double to start the 8th and Po-Hsuan Keng would intentionally walk to next hitter to load up the bases. The strategy worked for one batter but not a second as the Dragons delivered a sac fly with one out to plate the go-ahead run. The Lugnuts Brian Pettway singled to lead off the 9th and Raul Barron pinch ran for him but it didn't matter. Matthew Lane rapped into a 4-6-3 double play and Joey Metropoulos struck out swinging to end the ball game.
With the bats, Scott Campbell and Sean Shoffit were the only Lugnuts to get on base twice. Campbell homered and walked while Shoffit singled and walked. Travis Snider (double), Matthew Lane (home run), and Brian Pettway (single) accounted for the other Lansing hits. Jonathan Diaz drew a walk in his 3 plate appearances. On the negative side, Yuber Rodriguez went 0-for-4 but his batting average is just above .260. It wasn't that long ago he was well below the Mendoza Line.
Kyle Ginley struggled early and late in his 5 2/3 innings of work. He surrendered 3 runs (all earned) on 6 hits and one walk while striking out 3. The line is made worse by Ginley plunking a pair of batters. Po-Hsuan Keng took the loss in relief to fall to 0-2. He went 2 1/3 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits, 2 walks, and hit a batter while racking up 3 K's.
*** 3 Stars! ***
3. Scott Campbell, Lansing - 1/2, HR, RBI, BB
2. Yesson Berroa, Dunedin - 2.2 IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0W, 4K
1. Luke Hetherington, Dunedin - 1/4, BB, HBP, 2R, 3SB
Honourable Mentions.........
Dunedin - Carlo Cota, Kyle Phillips, Chris Gutierrez, Sean Stidfole, Seth Overbey.
Lansing - Matthew Lane, Sean Shoffit, Travis Snider, Brian Pettway.
Standings.............
Syracuse - 27-28, 4.5 GB of Buffalo, International League North Division
New Hampshire - 28-25, 5.5 GB of Trenton, Eastern League Northern Division
Dunedin - 23-32,11.5 GB of Sarasota, Florida State League West Division
Lansing - 30-25, 5GB of Dayton, Midwest League Eastern Division
Today's Schedule/Probable Starters.......
Syracuse at Toledo, 7:00 p.m. RHP John Thomson (2-1, 2.38) vs. TBA
New Hampshire at Akron, 7:05 p.m. RHP Yusaku Iriki (0-2, 6.46) vs. LHP Reid Santos (2-1, 1.84)
Dunedin at Daytona, 7:05 p.m. RHP Orlando Trias (3-4, 3.29) vs. TBA
Dayton at Lansing, 7:05 p.m. RHP Ray Gonzalez (2-0, 2.95) vs. LHP Travis Webb (3-3, 3.33)
