As Mike Green stated in yesterday’s minor league thread, “It was a good night on the farm. Brandon League did his thing (4 batters, 1K, 3 ground outs) again. The Fisher Cats had a cool late rally with Robinson Diaz playing hero, and the A ball squads scored runs in bunches.” It’s as good a summary and introduction as I can give on a 5-1 night for the farm.
Pawtucket 4 @ Syracuse
8 - Boxscore
The bats had a good night against Jon Lester, scoring 5 runs before he was pulled. Wayne Lydon, Chad Mottola and John-Ford Griffin each had a pair of base hits. Mottola scored twice and knocked in two runs. Lydon scored twice, while Griffin had 2 RBIs and a double. All of them walked. Meanwhile, Adam Lind and Russ Adams each went 0-4 on the night and Lind struck out three times. Mike Vento played DH and went 1-4 with a HR and 3 RBI, while Ryan Roberts went 1-2 with 2 walks in a game that was a lesson on bunching hits.
New Hampshire 6 @ Trenton
5 (10) - Boxscore
The first batter, Chip Cannon, crushed his fourteenth homer of the year. Ryan Patterson grounded out and Dustin Majewski struck out around a David Smith walk. With 2 out, a 5-1 score and the tying run in the hole Trenton wasn’t particularly worried. However, Manny Mayorson was hit by a pitch and then Robinzon Diaz unexpectedly hit his third homer of the year. Then, up came Sergio Santos and a single and error later he was stranding on second base. Rob Cosby walked and then Mathews hit a single that allowed the team to tie the game in an improbable comeback. Cannon came up later in the inning and struck out for the third out.
After a four-batter inning by Matt Roney the game was headed to extras. Michael Gardner replaced Lavigne and fared little better. He hit the first batter he faced, Patterson, and gave up a double to the second, Smith, and suddenly New Hampshire had the lead. The rest of the inning was 1-2-3 and Trenton singled to lead off the tenth. Nevertheless, Tracy Thorpe wasn’t rattled and retired 3 batters on groundouts to win the game.
Vero Beach 6 @ Dunedin
5 - Boxscore
In the 2-hole Carlo Cota went 1-5 and in the seventh spot in the lineup Brian Jeroloman went 0-1. Jeroloman managed to only have one official at-bat because he walked and hit two sacrifice flies in his other three plate appearances. He was the only Dunedin player with 2 RBIs. Dunedin’s offence was led by Cory Patton, who went 2-3 with a double and a walk and scored 2 runs. Eric Nielsen and Chris Gutierrez both had two hits, while Jacob Butler had a hit, a walk and a run.
Wisconsin
6 @ Lansing 8 - Boxscore
Jonathan Baksh and Yuber Rodrigez each had a three-hit night. Rodriguez had a double and scored 3 times. Baksh hit a double and a homerun, scored twice and had 3 RBIs. His homer came with two out in the seventh and turned a 6-5 lead into an 8-5 lead, which would prove to be important when Lansing allowed a run in the top of the ninth. Josh Bell hit an RBI double in the 3-run sixth and Sean Shoffit went 2-5 on the night.
Auburn
11 @ Staten Island 3 - Boxscore
The offensive attack was spread out amongst the team as four Doubledays had 2 hits. Carlos Vazquez, JP Arencibia, Manuel Rodriguez and Shawn Scobee each had two base hits. Arencibia had 2 doubles and 2 RBIs, while Vazquez scored 2 runs and added an RBI of his own. Luis Sanchez went 1-2 but also contributed with 2 walks and scored 2 runs and had an RBI. Sweppenhiser went 1-4, but his hit was a two-run homer in Auburn’s 3-run second inning. The game would remain 3-0 through 6, before Auburn exploded for 8 runs off the Staten Island bullpen.
GCL Blue
Jays 12 @ GCL Yankees 3 - Boxscore
The game wasn’t really this lobsided, as the Blue Jays scored 7 in the top of the ninth. It sat 2-2 after 4 and by the middle of the eighth it was 5-2 Blue Jays and even a late run by the Yankees wasn’t a serious threat. For the Blue Jays, Joel Carreno went 5.1 innings and gave up two runs, both unearned. Ryan Bird gave up a run and because he pitched two innings he managed to qualify for the cheap save.
The Blue Jays had 11 hits on the evening, to go alongside their 10 walks. The 2-3-4 batters, Eric Eiland, John Tolisano and Balbino Fuenmayor, each walked twice. The only Blue Jay to get more than two hits was Moises Sierra, who hit the monstrous homer in BP and went 3-6 with three runs and one RBI. Kevin Denis-Fortier went 2-3 with a walk. Kevin Ahrens didn’t play and Justin Jackson went 2-6 in the leadoff spot with 2 runs scored.
3 star selection
3rd star – Moises Sierra, 3-6, 3 R, HR, RBI, 6 TB
2nd star – Robinzon Diaz, 3-6, R, HR, 3 RBI, 6 TB
1st star – Jonathan Baksh, 3-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 7 TB
