The Yankees spoiled an otherwise great day for the organization as their comeback mojo also worked on the Gulf Coast. However, the good news was three solid starting pitching performances and the best one wasn't even turned in by the big club's number 2 starter. Also, the Peoria Chiefs and the Palm Beach Cardinals will have trouble sitting down today because they got their asses kicked in a 4-1 night for the affiliates.
Syracuse 5 Ottawa 4 (13 Innings)
Ottawa, ON - A.J. Burnett made his return to Canadian soil in front of only 3,000 fans at Lynx Stadium (they love their baseball in Ottawa!). Though the Lynx aren't exactly the '27 Yankees (more like the 1899 Cleveland Spiders!), Burnett dominated early by striking out 6 of the first 7 hitters he faced (4 swinging, 2 looking). The Phillies affiliates got their first baserunner on in the 3rd courtesy of a Russ Adams error. Burrnett would give up another single but he kept the Lynx off the board through the first 3 innings. The Chiefs used the long ball to break out on top as John-Ford Griffin connected for a solo shot, his 23rd, and Chad Mottola would bang a 2 run homer, his 15th, to score a Mike Vento bloop single to make the score 3-0. Burnett delivered another scoreless inning in the 4th by getting a groundball double play to erase a leadoff walk but he proved to be human in the 5th. He struck out the first batter he faced but a double, single and a groundball out led to the first Ottawa run. All in all, it was a solid outing for the big righthander as he yielded one run on just 3 hits and a walk and struck out 7. He threw 44 of his 65 pitches for strikes and induced 6 groundball outs. I'm sure he'll get back to the show one day!
Justin James worked a clean 6th in relief of Burnett and the Chiefs tacked on another run in the 7th as Robinzon Diaz cashed in Sergio Santos with an RBI groundout to the mound. In the 7th, James gave up a double and uncorked a wild pitch for strike 3. That set up runners on the corners but James got a groundball out to end the threat. Ryan Houston relieved James in the 8th but he gave up a 3 run bomb to former Syracuse farmhand Gary Burnham knotted up the game at 4-4. Jordan De Jong got the final out of the inning. He also survived a nervous 9th by stranding a couple of singles that advanced into scoring position and that sent the game into overtime.
Blaine Neal gave up a double an inning as well as a walk but he kept Ottawa off the board through the 11th. The Chiefs had runners on from innings 10 to 12. Lee Gronkiewicz relieved Neal in the 12th and gave up a two out single. The runner would advance into scoring position on a Robinzon Diaz passed ball but Neal got an infield pop up to end the frame. Finally, inning number 13 was a lucky one for the Chiefs as Sergio Santos got the key 2 out hit by singling home a Mike Vento double for a 5-4 lead. "Game Over Gronk" essentially saved his own victory by setting down the Lynx 1-2-3.
Three Chiefs had three hits on the day with Russ Adams going 3-for-7 while Robinzon Diaz and Mike Vento went 3-for-6. Kevin Barker had nothing to do with the Chiefs 16 hit attack as he wore the ugly 0-for-6 collar.
** New Hampshire - Scheduled Day Off **
Dunedin, FL - Brandon Magee set the tone early in this one by getting 3 groundball outs to start the game. He got the first 5 batters of the game before allowing a pair of singles, neither of which scored. Then the Dunedin batters decided they wanted to hear Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" (prefer their version with RUN DMC by the way!), Dire Straits "Walk Of Life", Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'" and Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line". This is my long way of saying that the D-Jays drew 4 consecutive walks to produce the first run of the game as Jacob Butler brought home Eric Nielsen. Brian "BB" Jeroloman did not get a piece of this action as he sat this one out so the Brian Jeroloman Walk Meter (the "BJWM") remains at 74! Back to the game, Jesus Gonzalez recorded the first Dunedin hit by singling home Josh Kreuzer to give them a 2-0 lead after two. The only hiccup for Brandon Magee through the next 2 innings was a 3rd inning single but catcher Kyle Phillips threw him out trying to steal 2nd.
The D-Jays salted this one away in the 3rd as Jesus Gonzalez lost one over the fence for a 3 run shot (his 6th of the year) and Anthony Hatch made it back to back jacks for his 12th of the campaign to make it 6-donut Dunedin. Palm Beach responded with a solo homer off Magee in the 5th but the D-Jays answered that with 3 runs in the bottom half as Jacob Butler connected for a 3 run bomb, his 18th, to make it a 9-1 ball game. Palm Beach got a double and single off Magee for a single run in the 6th and that insolence prompted Dunedin to stomp the Cards with 2 more runs on a Kyle Phillips double to make it 11-2.
Chad Blackwell relieved Magee in the 7th and retired the first 5 men he faced to extend his scoreless innings streak to 9 1/3 but those pesky Cardinals ended the string with a single and double to produce the final run of the game. Lefty John Zinnicker would finish up by getting the last 4 outs but not before plunking a batter. Brandon Magee evened his record to 6-6 with 6 solid frames of 2 run, 7 hit ball. He didn't walk a batter, struck out 2 and recorded 10 of the 15 groundball outs by Dunedin hurlers.
Jacob Butler is continuing his fine season in the Florida State League with a .270/.356/.483 line and has 18 jacks on the year. He's improved his batting average by almost 20 points from last season's mark in Lansing. Also enjoying the Dunedin from Lansing improvement is Jesus Gonzalez, who is now batting .279, up from last season's .239 mark with the Lugnuts.
Lansing, MI - This game was a taut thriller.........until the bottom of the 3rd when the Lugnuts scored 5 times. Scott Campbell started the onslaught with 7th dinger of the year, Jonathan Jaspe followed with a 2 run double and Paul Franko drove home Jaspe with a big fly to left for his 2nd HR. In the 4th, Raul Barron put one over the wall for his 2nd of the year to make it 6-0 Lugnuts.
Let's compare and contrast the starting pitching in this one, shall we? Jeremy Papelbon, brother of Bosox closer Jonathan, was punked to the total of 6 runs on 9 hits (including 3 HR's) and 3 walks while whiffing 4. Meantime, the Peoria batters were the grass and Lansing starter Reidier Gonzalez was the lawnmower as he mowed down the first 12 batters before a leadoff single in the 5th. That runner was erased on a double play so Gonzalez still faced the minimum through 5.
The Lugnuts doubled their run total to date with a 6 spot in the 5th off a new pitcher. Raul Barron and Jonathan Jaspe drew bases loaded walks and Kevin Nelson took one for the team to bring home another. A wild pitch, a Scott Campbell sac fly and a Chris Emanuele single accounted for the other 3 runs. The only negative of the half-inning was Travis Snider striking out twice.
Peoria broke the goose egg with a triple and groundout off Reidier Gonzalez in the 6th but a wild pitch and a Raul Barron RBI single capped the scoring for Lansing in the bottom half of the frame. Gonzalez went 7 strong innings, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and a walk and struck out 3. However, his most impressive stat was his groundout/flyout ratio of 16-2! A lot of worms died in this one! Adam Rogers gave up 2 hits and struck out one in his one inning of work while southpaw Ron Lowe gave up a hit and whiffed one to mop up in the 9th.
Paul Franko had 4 of the 15 Lugnut hits on the night while Raul Barron, Chris Emmanuele, Travis Snider and Sean Shoffit had two knocks each. Each Lugnut hitter scored at least a run and everyone reached base with a hit except for Kevin Nelson, who got aboard by being a hit batsmen.
Jamestown, NY - Okay, this game was more of a taut thriller... until the 9th! The D-Days took the early lead on a Manny Rodriguez RBI single to drive home an Adam Calderone base knock but the Marlins affiliates answered back with a 2 run bottom of the 1st against Brett Cecil with a walk, a triple, another walk and an error by shorstop Carlos Vasquez. A C.J. Ebarb run scoring single scored a Darin Mastroianni walk to even the proceedings at 2-2 in the 2nd.
Brett Cecil was replaced by Nathan Melek in the bottom of the 2nd. A second error by Carlos Vasquez gave the Jammers a baserunner but C.J. Ebarb gunned him down on the back end of a strike 'em out/throw 'em out double play to end the inning. However, Jamestown broke through in the 3rd against Melek, who hurt his cause with an errant pickoff throw at 1st after giving up a leadoff single. The baserunner made it to 3rd and came home on a sac fly. Despite a double and passed ball by C.J. Ebarb, Melek didn't allow another run in the inning. Southpaw Brad Mills took over in the 4th and gave up just a walk over the next 2 frames. The D-Days would regain the lead in the 6th as Brad Emaus would single and score as the result of errors by the center fielder and second baseman that came about after a J.P. Arencibia base knock. Darin Mastroianni would plate Arencibia with a sac fly for the go-ahead run to make the score 4-3.
Brad Mills struck out the lone batter he faced in the bottom of the 6th, his 4th K of the night, before he was relieved by John Tritz. He would load the bases on a pair of singles and a walk but he did not allow anyone to score. In the 7th, Tritz gave up a single and a walk before getting a punchout. Lefty Cody Crowell replaced Tritz but he gave up a game tying single. However, the D-Days would grab the lead for good in the top of the 8th as Darin Mastroianni tripled home a J.P. Arencibia single and C.J. Ebarb scored Arencibia with a one bagger to give Auburn a 6-4 lead. Manny Rodriguez added a 3 run moonshot in the 9th, his 7th of '07, to put the game away. Cody Crowell strruck out the side in the 8th and finished up with a one-hit 9th to get the "W".
Benjamin Zeskind, Adam Calderone, Manny Rodriguez, Brad Emaus, and C.J. Ebarb had 2 hits each and Ebarb drew 2 walks and drove in 2 to cap off a perfect 2-for-2 night. "Man-Rod" drove in 4 while Ebarb and Darin Mastroianni each drove in a pair.
Tampa, FL - The big club wasn't the only team in the system to blow a lead to the damn Yankees! Brad Cuthbertson of Sherwood Park, Alberta (hometown of former Jays draft pick, former Expo/Oriole and current Edmonton Cracker-Cats hurler Mike Johnson) got the starting assignment in this one. He survived a double and wild pitch in the 1st as well as a hit batsmen in the 2nd but he gave up a pair in the 3rd by plunking another batter before giving up a 2 run homer. Cuthbertson would give up another single and walk later in the frame but he would not give up another run. He would only give up a walk an inning over the next 2 frames before leaving. Then the G-Jays finally got their offence into gear. Joel Collins walked and eventually came around to score on a throwing error at 1st. Kevin Denis-Fortier would single home Yohermyn Chavez to tie the game at 2-2 and Chris House drew a bases loaded walk to plate Kevin Ahrens to put the G-Jays ahead. However, much like the parent club, the G-Jays left some potential add-on runs on the table as they went down 1-2-3 afterwards to leave the bases drunk.
Ted Serro took over for Brad Cuthbertson in the 6th and got into trouble immediately by walking his first two batters and they were bunted over into scoring position. However, Serro bounced back by getting the next two batters swinging to preserve the G-Jays one run lead. That lead would expand to two as Joel Collins hit his 6th ding-dong of the campaign to start off the 7th. Kevin Ahrens drew a walk and somehow managed to score all the way from 1st after a throwing error at 3rd that saw Moises Sierra get to 2nd.
The 5-2 G-Jays lead would be cut down to one in the 7th when lefty Frank Gailey took to the mound. He recorded two punchouts but he gave up 2 singles, 2 doubles and a walk before Ross Buckwalter came on to get the 3rd out of the frame. Buckwalter got a pair of groundouts to start the 8th but then all hell broke loose in the form of two triples, two singles and a double. That resulted in four Gulf Bombers crossing the plate to give them an 8-5 lead. Yohermyn Chavez singled and Kevin Ahrens walked to get the tying run up to the dish in the 9th with one out but Kevin Denis-Fortier struck out and Moises Sierra grounded out to end the game.
On the bright side, Joel Collins is just 11 points away from Ted Williams territory as he's batting .389 on the campaign thanks to 3 hits, including a double and walk to go along with his tater.
Brad Cuthbertson went a workman-like 5 innings by giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks and striking out 5 to lower his ERA to an even 3.00.
*** 3 Stars! ***
3. Joel Collins, GCL Blue Jays - 3/4, HR, 2B, BB, .389 BA
2. Brandon Magee, Dunedin - 6IP, 7H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 2K, 10 groundball outs!
1. Reidier Gonzalez, Lansing - 7IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 3K, 16 groundball outs!
Honourable Mentions......
Syracuse - A.J. Burnett, Justin James, Jordan De Jong, Blaine Neal, Lee Gronkiewicz, Russ Adams, Robinzon Diaz, John-Ford Griffin, Mike Vento, Chad Mottola, Sergio Santos, Wayne Lydon.
Dunedin - Anthony Hatch, Josh Kreuzer, Kyle Phillips, Jacob Butler, Carlo Cota, Jesus Gonzalez, John Zinnicker.
Lansing - Paul Franko, Raul Barron, Scott Campbell, Jonathan Diaz, Jonathan Jaspe, Chris Emanuele, Travis Snider, Adam Rogers, Ron Lowe.
Auburn - Manny Rodriguez, Benjamin Zeskind, Adam Calderone, Brad Emaus, J.P. Arencibia, Darin Mastroianni, C.J. Ebarb, Nathan Melek, Brad Mills, Cody Crowell.
GCL Blue Jays - Brad Cuthbertson, Ted Serro, Kevin Ahrens, Eric Eiland, Kevin-Denis Fortier, Chris House.
Standings/Streaks......
Syracuse - 53-62, 11.5 games behind Scranton, 1W
New Hampshire - 58-56, 8.5 games behind Trenton, 1W
Dunedin - 28-16, 1.5 games behind Tampa, 2W
Lansing - 26-17, 1 game behind West Michigan, 3W
Auburn - 28-19, 2.5 games ahead of Mahoning Valley, 3W
GCL Blue Jays - 22-18, 5.5 games behind GCL Yankees, 1L
Today's Schedule.......
GCL Blue Jays at GCL Braves, 12:00 p.m.
Lansing at Kane County, 6:30 p.m.
Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00 p.m.
Palm Beach at Dunedin, 7:00 p.m.
Harrisburg at New Hampshire, 7:05 p.m.
Oneonta at Auburn, 7:05 p.m.
