The affiliates located in New York State ruined what would've been a perfect night on the farm. At least Auburn had an excuse, they had the night off. Syracuse could only wish they had one after getting swept in a doubleheader by Buffalo but at least a rehabbing Venezuelan lefty got some work in. Lansing wound up playing more than a doubleheader's worth of baseball but not by design and New Hampshire picked up an important win in a 4-and-2 night for the affiliates.
Game 1 - Buffalo 3 Syracuse 1 (7 innings)
Buffalo, NY - Our favourite cologne pitch-man got the call in this one. The rehabbing Gustavo Chacin set down the Indians affiliates in order in the first but he gave up a 2 run homer to Andy Marte in the 2nd that put the Herd ahead for good. Chacin was touched up for another run on three singles in his final inning of work but did punch out the last man he faced, Jason Cooper, to end the 3rd. He gave up 3 runs on 5 hits in his 3 innings, striking out 1 but not walking anyone. He induced 3 groundouts, 5 flyouts, and threw 34 of his 53 pitches for strikes. Justin James and Lee Gronkiewicz each gave up a hit an inning and struck out a batter apiece in the final 3 frames, with James handling the 4th and 5th and Gronk taking care of the 6th.
The Chiefs only got 2 hits on the evening. Fortunately for them, one of them was over the wall as Adam Lind went deep to right for his 3rd homer of the season in the 4th inning. Kevin Barker's double in the 1st inning was the only other Syracuse hit. Barker's double pushed a Wayne Lydon walk to 3rd with just one out in the 1st but the Chiefs couldn't push either one of them to cross home plate. Lydon drew 2 walks on the evening. Adam Lind got aboard in the 7th on a Luis Rivas fielding error to bring the tying run to the plate but Sal Fasano and Ryan Roberts were set down in order.
Game 2 - Buffalo 7 Syracuse 1 (7 innings)
Buffalo, NY - The Bills, er, the Bisons put up a converted touchdown in the 3rd inning off Syracuse starter Mike MacDonald. Joe Inglett started the carnage with a 1 out homer followed by a single, a catcher's interference call on Robinzon Diaz, a double, a single, a visit to the mound, a single, a walk and another single. It was 5-0 at that point and that was the end of the night for Mike MacDonald. Scott Sauerbeck came in and allowed a pair of inherited runners to score on a single before stopping the rampaging Herd. Sauerbeck would give up 3 hits and strike out 3 in his 1 2/3 innings of work while Mike Venafro gave up just one hit in 2 scoreless innings and punched out a batter. As for MacDonald, he was torched for 9 hits and 1 walk in 2 1/3 innings and only struck out one batter. The good news is only 4 of his 7 runs were earned. The bad news is his ERA is an even 5.00.
The Chiefs got their lone run in the 7th as John Hattig singled, went to 2nd on a Ryan Roberts base knock, advanced to 3rd on Eric DuBose's 3rd wild pitch of the night (yes, you're reading that correctly!) before Wayne Lydon singled him home. Lydon and Hattig had 2 hits on the night while Robinzon Diaz, Adam Lind, Mike Vento and Ryan Roberts also touched green.
Portland, ME - A big win for New Hampshire as they pull into a tie for 2nd place in the Northern Division of the Eastern League. The signifance of that is the top two teams in the division go to the post-season. The Fisher Cats enjoyed a 2-0 first inning lead as Rob Cosby doubled home Manny Mayorson's leadoff single and Chip Cannon followed with an RBI single to score a Sergio Santos base knock. New Hampshire starter Yusaku Iriki, he of his "famous website", only made the lead stand up for all of one inning. He issued 3 walks and a double in the 2nd as the Red Sox affiliates tied the game at 2-2. The damage would have been worse had catcher Erik Kratz not thrown out a runner at 3rd on the front end of a double steal. However, Iriki would surrender the lead in the 3rd on a leadoff triple and a sac fly.
David Smith would take Iriki off the hook in the top of the 4th with a solo dinger to left for his 10th of the season to tie the game at 3-3. Ryan Patterson would then deliver a 2 run double to score a Dustin Majewski walk and a Manny Mayorson single before being thrown out at 3rd. Regardless, that gave the F-Cats a lead they would not relinquish.
Seth Overbey (pronounced OVER-BEE on the New Hampshire broadcast) had his mojo working to the tune of 4 scoreless innings of 2 hit ball while striking out a pair. However, Overbey left the game after surrendering a leadoff single to start the 9th. Jesse Carlson came in and immediately put the tying run on base by giving up another base knock but he got the next three batters, including a pair of K's, to nail down his 3rd save and hand Overbey a well deserved win as he improves to 2-0. His ERA is now down to 2.70.
The F-Cats had 14 hits on the evening, led by Manny Mayorson, Aaron Matthews and David Smith, who had 3 hits apiece. Mayorson also drew a walk to get on base 4 times. The only players not to get a hit were Dustin Majewski and Erik Kratz.
Dunedin, FL - The S-Reds got to Mississauga lefty A.J. Wideman early with a run in the top of the 1st as their leadoff batter was plunked and he came around on a single and groundout. Wideman settled down by retiring the next 8 batters but ran into problems in the 4th by loading up the bases on a walk, a single, and a bunt single. However, Wideman picked off the runner at 1st and got the next two hitters in order to end the Sarasota threat. That was the Batter's Box turning point as Cory Patton unloaded for a leadoff homer to right field in the 4th to tie the game at 1-1 and then Carlo Cota singled home a Josh Kreuzer walk to give Dunedin a 2-1 lead. Patton added another solo shot to right field to start off the 6th for his 9th homer of the season.
That would be more enough for Wideman, who delivered 7 innings of 1 run, 4 hit ball. He walked two, plunked one and struck out a half-dozen to improve to 8-3. Combine that with his 3-0 stint in Lansing, Wideman has 11 victories so far in 2007. Aaron Tressler got his 6th hold and Connor Falkenbach racked up his 22nd save. They each gave up a hit in one scoreless inning.
Auburn - Scheduled Day Off
Lansing 11 Quad Cities 10 (16 Innings)
Davenport, IA - After a total of 10 errors (6 by Lansing!), did someone really deserve to win this ballgame? Nathan Starner's struggles continue in the Midwest League. Coming into the game, opposing hitters were batting just over .300 and that average would go up as he gave up 4 runs in the first 3 innings, including a pair of home runs, as the Cardinals affiliates grabbed a 4-0 lead. The Lugnuts would respond with runs of their own in the 4th and 5th as Matthew Liuzza doubled home a Chris Emanuele single and Sean Shoffit smacked one over the fence in right-center to chop the Swing's lead to 4-2. After a walk and single in the 5th, Starner was pulled in favour of Ted Serro but a throwing error by 3rd baseman Sean Shoffit allowed another Quad Cities run to make it 5-2. The Lugnuts would cut the lead to 5-4 in the 6th on a 2 run double by Scott Campbell but the Swing would match that pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame as they got to Ted Serro for two walks and two singles. Po Hsuan Keng got the final out in the 6th. He held down the fort long enough for the Lugnuts to stage a 3 run rally in the 8th to tie the game at 7-7. Yuber Rodriguez connected for his 7th jack of the year by putting over the fence in left-center, Scott Campbell singled home a Matthew Liuzza double and Campbell would come home on a fielding error by the shortstop.
It was a battle of the bullpens as Keng worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings allowing just 2 baserunners on a walk and hit by pitch and stranded the two runners he inherited. Lefty Benjamin Harrison contributed 2 scoreless innings by allowing just one walk and punching out a batter. Julio Pinto took over in the 12th and struck out 5 batters over two scoreless frames.
The Lugnut offence finally responded with 3 runs in the top of the 14th as Scott Campbell's fielder's choice brought in a Yuber Rodriguez walk and Travis Snider followed with a 2 run single. Would that be enough? Incredibly, no!! Quad Cities staged a 3 run rally of their own to tie the game. With runners at 2nd and 3rd and 2 away, Chris Reddout relieved Pinto and induced a routine groundball to short, according to the Lansing broadcast, but Jonathan Diaz booted it to allow the tying run to score. However, Diaz recovered to start a 6-3-2-5 rundown to cut down the go ahead run at the dish.
The 'Nuts loaded the bases with 1 out in the 15th but came up empty but Raul Barron finally elevated one over the fence in right with 2 out in the 16th to give Lansing the 11-10 lead. Chris Reddout gave up a 2 out single but he induced a fielder's choice grounder to end the ball game to get the victory to improve to 4-1.
The Lugnuts had 17 hits in this one, including a 5-for-8 performance from Travis Snider, who also had a walk and 2 RBI. Matt Liuzza had 3 hits, including a pair of doubles, while Scott Campbell and Raul Barron had 2 apiece.
Lakeland, FL - Two, four, six, eight - who do we appreciate? G-Jays! G-Jays! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay, G-Jays! The Jays from the Gulf scored single runs in innings 2, 4, 6 and 8 to get the victory. Michael McDade brought home the first three runs of the game. His groundout scored a Yohermyn Chavez double in the 2nd, his single plated a John Tolisano base knock in the 4th, and his sac fly scored Tolisano again in the 6th. Chavez provided the other run by jacking one out to right field in the 8th inning, his 4th of the season. The 18 year-old Venezuelan also contributed with the leather by throwing out a runner at 2nd from left field in support of starter and winner Brian Letko. The righty delivered 5 shut-out innings and only surrendered a couple of hits and a walk while striking out 4. He also uncorked a wild pitch. The holds went to Patrick McGuigan and Jason Monti. McGuigan got through a hit and a walk to pitch a scoreless 6th inning and Monti issued two walks but nothing else in 2 shutout frames. Robert Leffler got the honour of putting one in the Game Finished column but he gave up a solo homer among his 2 hits allowed to wrap things up.
Despite a record of 2-2, Letko still has an ERA of 0.00 as the 4 runs he's allowed to this point were all unearned. He's only given up 21 hits in 28 2/3 innings and his K/BB ratio is an impressive 31-4.
*** 3 Stars! ***
1. A.J. Wideman, Dunedin - 7IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 2W, 6K, HBP (W)
2. Travis Snider, Lansing - 5/8, BB, 2RBI
3. Cory Patton, Dunedin - 2/4, 2HR
Honourable Mentions............
Syracuse - Wayne Lydon, Kevin Barker, Adam Lind, Justin James, Lee Gronkiewicz, John Hattig, Mike Venafro.
New Hampshire - Manny Mayorson, Ryan Patterson, Rob Cosby, Aaron Matthews, David Smith, Seth Overbey, Jesse Carlson.
Dunedin - Carlo Cota, Josh Kreuzer, Aaron Tressler, Connor Falkenbach.
Lansing - Scott Campbell, Raul Barron, Matthew Liuzza, Po-Hsuan Keng, Benjamin Harrison, Julio Pinto, Chris Reddout.
Gulf Coast - John Tolisano, Yohermyn Chavez, Michael McDade, Brian Letko, Patrick McGuigan, Jason Monti.
Standings/Streaks.........
Syracuse 45-56, 5th place - IL North, 12.0 games behind Buffalo, 2L
New Hampshire 52-48, tied for 2nd place - EL Northern, 11.0 games behind Trenton, 1W
Dunedin 20-11, 2nd place - FSL West - 1.5 games behind Tampa, 3W
Lansing 18-12, 2nd place - MWL East - 2.0 games behind West Michigan, 1W
Auburn 19-14, 1st place - NYP Pinckney - 1.5 games ahead of State College, 2W
Gulf Coast League Blue Jays 17-12, 2nd place - GCL North - 2.5 games behind GCL Yankees, 5W
Today's Schedule............
Lansing at Quad Cities, 12:00 p.m. (if both teams are able to wake up!)
GCL Blue Jays at GCL Yankees, 12:00 p.m.
New Hampshire at Portland, 7:00 p.m.
Sarasota at Dunedin, 7:00 p.m.
Auburn at Tri-City, 7:00 p.m.
Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05 p.m.
