Ottawa, ON - A total of 1,726 supposedly took the time to watch this "Clash of the Titans" between these International League North Division "superpowers". Ryan Roberts' 7th homer of the season put the team formerly known as the SkyChiefs in flight in the 3rd but they were denied a second run in the inning when Kevin Barker was thrown out at home after a Chad Mottola double. Syracuse added another run in the 5th when Russ Adams knocked home Robinzon Diaz with an RBI single but Wayne Lydon was gunned down at 3rd to cut down another potentially big rally. The Chiefs made it for that in the 6th with a big swing of the bat from John-Ford Griffin, who sent his 22nd big fly over the big right wall at Lynx Stadium with Chad Mottola aboard to up their lead to 4-0. An RBI groundout by Kevin Barker and a 2 run single by Sergio Santos put the final nails in the Lynx coffin in the 7th.
After two rough starts to begin his Syracuse career, Jeremy Cummings turned in his 4th quality outing in a row. The former Twins farmhand pitched 5 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, giving up 2 hits and 4 walks while fanning 6 and plunking 1. Also encouraging was the 8 groundouts he induced out of his 11 outs in play. Lefty Scott Sauerbeck went 2/3 of a shutout inning, giving up a hit while Lee Gronkiewicz and Jordan De Jong were touched up for 3 meaningless Lynx runs (one unearned off "Gronk") between them over the final 2 innings. De Jong also uncorked a couple of wild pitches.
Syracuse racked up 16 hits against their Philly counterparts but left 10 men on base. Everyone except for Kevin Barker had a hit but Barker did draw a walk. Russ Adams and Chad Mottola had 3 hits apiece while Wayne Lydon, Mike Vento, Sergio Santos and Robinzon Diaz had 2 apiece. Diaz's average is now up to .343 in 35 at-bats. His K-BB ratio is just 3 to 1.
Altoona, PA - Another game in which the winning team racked up 16 hits. The Curve were not fooled by the offerings of Kyle Yates in this one. The Pirates affiliates got on the board first with 3 runs in the 3rd on 4 singles, a walk and a Manny Mayorson error and another run in the 4th on 3 singles before Yates got a double play ball to end the frame. New Hampshire broke the goose egg in the 5th when Erik Kratz doubled home a Chip Cannon single but Altoona immediately matched that run in the bottom half of the frame when Andrew McCutchen homered to give Altoona a 5-1 lead. After two more singles, Yates was pulled from the game and Matt Roney took over. Dustin Majewski's run scoring single in the 7th gave New Hampshire its second run but Altoona responded with a pair of runs in the 8th as they chased Matt Roney for two runs on two singles that sandwiched a Ryan Klosterman clank. Jean Machi allowed an inherited run to score on a single but got the next three outs to end the frame. Dustin Majewski drove home Rob Cosby with a single in the 9th to cap off the scoring.
Cosby and Majewski accounted for half of the Fisher Cats' 8 hits with 2 each. David Smith's 9th inning double extended his hitting streak to 8 games. He's now just 48 short of tying some guy called Joltin' Joe.
Kyle Yates had a start to forget as he gave up 11 base knocks and 3 walks in 4 2/3 innings, giving up 5 runs (3 earned) and striking out just one. Matt Roney gave up 4 hits in 2 1/3 innings, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) but whiffing 2. Jean Machi worked a scoreless inning with one hit and one K.
Sarasota, FL - The D-Jays had a promising start in this one as a two-out rally in the 1st was started by a Cory Patton single and capped off by a Josh Kreuzer home run, his 18th of the season, to provide Dunedin with a 2-0 lead. However, righty Russ Savickas gave that back plus one more in the bottom half of the 1st by allowing 2 singles, a plunk, a double and a sac fly that gave the S-Reds a 3-2 lead. Savickas was victimized by a solo homer in the 3rd but his offence responded with a pair of runs in the 4th to tie the game at 4-4. The Cory Patton/Josh Kreuzer combination teamed up again as Kreuzer doubled home a Patton walk and Kreuzer would later score on a Luke Hetherington sac fly. Sarasota would break the tie with another solo homer against Russ Savickas but the D-Jays again responded in the top of the 5th on a Kyle Phillips sac fly to knot the game up at 5-5.
However, Sarasota would chase Savickas from the game in the 6th with a single and walk. Aaron Tressler could not put out the fire as he allowed the two inherited runners to score on a single but Luke Hetherington started an 8-3-5 to cut down a runner at 3rd to end the inning. Sarasota would up its lead from 7-5 to 10-5 in the 6th as they sent Aaron Tressler to the showers with 3 singles. Chad Blackwell gave up a single and a fielder's choice to allow an inherited run to score but he got the final 2 outs to end the inning. A Luke Hetherington 3 run bomb in the 8th cut Sarasota's lead to 10-8. Lefty John Zinnicker and Paul Phillips managed to hold the S-Reds off the board in an adventurous bottom of the 8th. Zinnicker gave up a double and walk in 1/3 of an inning while Phillips had to deal with a stolen base and a catcher's interference call before getting out of the inning. In the 9th, Dunedin got the tying run to the plate with 1 out on a Chris Gutierrez single but the Cory Patton/Josh Kreuzer combo could not come through for a third time as they both flied out to end the game.
The big sticks were swung by Josh Kreuzer and Luke Hetherington. Kreuzer, who is just too darn good for the Florida State League, had 3 hits and a walk and drove in 3. Hetherington had a walk to go along with his 3 run homer and sac fly. Brian Jeroloman was hitless on the night but he did add to his walk total. He has now drawn an amazing 74 passes against 46 whiffs. His line is a funky .251/.434/.336.
It was unlucky 7's for Russ Savickas as the one-armed bandit in the boxscore saddled him with 7 hits, 7 runs and 7 earned runs along with a walk and a plunk but he did strike out 3. Aaron Tressler gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in one inning. On the positive side, Chadwick Arthur Blackwell has now pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings with a 6-1 K/BB ratio and has only yielded 4 hits since coming over from the independent Northern League.
Lansing, MI - Over 10,000 people were treated to a pitcher's duel at Oldsmobile Park. Graham Godfrey turned in his best start of the season, holding the Cubs affiliates to just 2 hits and 3 walks in 6 shutout innings. He struck out 5 and induced 7 groundball outs. Despite giving up a single, Godfrey faced the minimum 9 batters through the first 3 frames as shortstop Jonathan Diaz threw out a greedy Peoria runner trying to stretch an infield single into a double. Godfrey was frustrating the Peoria batters, and in particular, Wellington Castillo, who was ejected by the home plate umpire after being called out on strikes. However, the "W" eluded Godfrey as the offence could not produce a run despite getting a least one man aboard in 5 of the first 6 innings.
Lefty Benjamin Harrison took to the mound to begin the 7th and gave up just a walk to keep the game scoreless heading into the stretch. After the final echoes of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", Sean Shoffit sent one towards the berm over the right field wall for a solo shot to give the Lugnuts a 1-0 lead. Benjamin Harrison overcame a 2 out error by Jonathan Diaz to produce a scoreless 8th and fellow southpaw Edgar Estanga worked a 1-2-3 9th by striking out the final batter swinging to punctuate his 1st save as a Lugnut.
Sean Shoffit had the big knock in this one and also came up with a walk and a stolen base. Lost in the shuffle is Scott Campbell's 3-for-4 performance and Yuber Rodriguez drew a pair of walks and also pilfered a base. Travis Snider was 1-for-4.
Auburn, NY - Now back to our regularly scheduled programming as the high scoring insanity continues. Auburn starter Kyle Walter had to be yelling "Stop the world! I want to get off!" as he got just one out, while surrendering 6 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Patrick McGuigan cleaned up the mess by getting the last two outs of the frame. The Doubledays clawed their way back with a Manny Rodriguez RBI single in the 1st and a 3 run homer by Victor Santana in the 3rd to make the score 6-4 State College. However, Patrick McGuigan was unable to hold the fighting Phils affiliates down for long as they started a 2 out rally that produced 2 runs thanks to a 2 doubles, 2 walks and a Wesley Stone error at short in between. Javier Nieves was able to get the final out of the frame. State College would increase their lead to 10-4 as the Auburn defence booted the ball around more than David Beckham, aka Mr. Posh Spice, will today. Clanks by Manny Rodriguez and Wesley Stone along with a bunt single, a pair of stolen bases, a walk and a hit by pitch led to the Spikes scoring the two unearned markers.
Despite staring at their 2nd 6-run deficit in the game, the D-Days, like Twisted Sister, were not going to take it anymore. RBI doubles by Victor Santana and J.P. Arencibia made it a 10-6 game after 5. Shawn Scobee homered and Benjamin Zeskind chauffered home a Wesley Stone double with a ball over the wall to cut the Spikes lead to 10-9 after 6. And, just like the Lugnuts, Auburn grabbed the lead after the 7th inning stretch at Falcon Park thanks to Shawn Scobee's 2nd jack of the night, a 3 run shot, to give the D-Days a 12-10 lead. The beneficiary of this offensive explosion was lefty Joe Wice, who relieved Javier Nieves to start the 7th. Wice gave up a run in the 9th but stranded the potential tying run on first by striking out the final two batters to help Auburn pull one out of the fire. Wice is now 4-0 on the season and his K/BB ratio is a sterling 33/2 and has managed to give up just less than a hit in his 24 2/3 innings of work.
Auburn racked up 16 base knocks on the night. Benjamin Zeskind was 4-for-5, Victor Santana was 3-for-4 with a walk and was just a single short of the cycle, and Shawn Scobee and Wesley Stone were each 2-for-4. Scobee and Santana each knocked home 4 runs apiece. Adam Calderone drew a pinch hit and a walk in his 2 plate appearances.
Dunedin, FL - The D-Days weren't the only ones to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The rehabbing Chi-Hung Cheng made his 2nd appearance on the Gulf Coast and the lefty looked good in his first 2 innings, getting 2 punchouts, 3 groundouts and an infield pop up. Unfortunately, Cheng ran out of the gas in the 3rd as he walked the leadoff man, was victimized by a Balbino Fuenmayor error at 3rd and then gave up 2 run scoring singles before being relieved by fellow southpaw Brian Letko. He proceeded to allow 2 inherited runners to cross the plate on a double and single and the Gulf Bombers were up 4-0. The G-Jays got one back in the 4th as Joel Collins' double was delivered home by a Yohermyn Chavez single. Brian Letko settled things down on the mound, retiring 8 of 9 hitters at one point and allowed just 4 hits and a hit by pitch in 5 shutout innings along with 4 K's.
Once again, the G-Jays followed the Lansing and Auburn lead by starting their comeback after stretch time. Justin Jackson led things off with a strikeout but a wild pitch and a throwing error by the catcher allowed him to get to 2nd base. John Tolisano would eventually bring him home with a sac fly to cut the Yankees lead in half at 4-2. Jason Monti relieved Brian Letko to start the 8th and he gave up what appeared to be a back breaking run as a result of two singles and a stolen base. Ross Buckwalter gave up a single and a plunk but nothing more in the 9th so the G-Jays headed into the final at-bat down by a field goal. Michael McDade reached on an error at 2nd and was pinch ran for by Luis Fernandez. Eric Eiland followed that up with a walk and one out later, Bartolo Nicolas would single home Fernandez to slice the Yankee lead to 5-3. John Tolisano then strode up to the dish and he lifted one over the fence in right for a 3 run, walk off homer to give the GCL Jays the dub-ya.
Bartolo Nicolas and John Tolisano had 3 hits each with Tolisano chipping in a stolen base. Joel Collins was 2-for-4 with a double and upped his average to .344.
*** 3 Stars! ***
3. Graham Godfrey, Lansing 6IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 5K
2. Shawn Scobee, Auburn 2/4, 2HR, 4RBI
1. John Tolisano, GCL Blue Jays 3/4, HR, 4RBI, SF, SB
Honourable Mentions........
Syracuse - Jeremy Cummings, Russ Adams, Chad Mottola, John-Ford Griffin, Ryan Roberts, Mike Vento, Sergio Santos, Robinzon Diaz, Scott Sauerbeck.
New Hampshire - Rob Cosby, Chip Cannon, Dustin Majewski, Erik Kratz, David Smith, Jean Machi.
Dunedin - Josh Kreuzer, Luke Hetherington, Cory Patton, Chris Gutierrez, Kyle Phillips, Jacob Butler, Chad Blackwell, Paul Phillips.
Lansing - Sean Shoffit, Scott Campbell, Yuber Rodriguez, Benjamin Harrison, Edgar Estanga.
Auburn - Benjamin Zeskind, Victor Santana, Wesley Stone, Adam Calderone, Joe Wice
GCL Blue Jays - Bartolo Nicolas, Joel Collins, Eric Eiland, Brian Letko, Ross Buckwalter.
Today's Schedule......
Syracuse at Ottawa, 1:05 p.m.
Peoria at Lansing, 2:05 p.m.
Palm Beach at Dunedin, 5:00 p.m.
New Hampshire at Altoona, 6:05 p.m.
Auburn at Jamestown, 6:05 p.m.
Gulf Coast League Blue Jays - Scheduled Day Off
