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Toronto’s highest and lowest level affiliates lost, but the four teams in between all won Friday night. On a night of no jaw-dropping performances or outstanding pitching lines it was a mixture of solid and well-timed hits and strong relief pitching that were the main factors in many of the victories.



Syracuse 1 @ Scranton Wilkes-Barre 6 - Boxscore

Six in the sixth ruined Josh Banks’s night and doomed Syracuse’s chance of a victory. Prior to that inning he had gone five strong, surrendering four hits and striking out five. However, eight hits later and Scranton had scored six runs. A streak of five consecutive singles and Eric Duncan’s two-run triple were responsible for most of the damage. Banks only gave up one extra-base hit in the inning, so it doesn’t seem like Scranton was hitting killing the ball, but it’s hard to argue with eight hits in eleven batters. Ryan Houston pitched two scoreless innings in relief.

The Chiefs scored their run on a solo shot by John Ford-Griffin off Jeff Karstens. Later in the same inning they loaded the bases on a Sal Fasano single, a Sergio Santos double and a Wayne Lydon walk. However, Ryan Roberts, struggling through what is sure to be a disappointing season, struck out. That inning accounted for both of Syracuse’s extra-base hits on the night.

New Hampshire 8 @ Binghamton 5 - Boxscore

Ty Taubenheim struggled through a night where he didn’t have his best control and picked up his first win at Double-A this year. Despite walking five batters in 5.2 innings, Taubenheim struck out seven and gave up only two runs. Jean Machi gave up three runs in his one inning of relief, but Jesse Carlson and Tracy Thorpe pitched the last 2.2 without any problems. Thorpe lowered his ERA under 4 and now has 52 strikeouts in 52 innings.

New Hampshire scored their eight runs between the second and the fourth innings, as they got out to an early lead and then pounded out seven runs in the next two innings. Every starter got a hit and nearly every player but Ryan Patterson and Ryan Klosterman had either a hit or an RBI. Rob Cosby went 3-5 with an RBI and Dustin Majewski was 2-4 and also added an RBI. Juan Peralta went 3-5 with a double and two runs scored, but the real stars of the night were David Smith and Aaron Mathews. Mathews wanted to duplicate everything he did last night and chipped in two hits, both of which were doubles, scored two runs and added four RBI. Smith was 2-5 with a double, a homer, two runs and 2 RBI.

Tampa 3 @ Dunedin 4 - Boxscore

Bradley University product Brandon Magee improved to 7-7 on the season after giving up one run in six innings. Magee gave up five hits and three walks. Tampa scored twice off reliever Billy Carnline before Connor Falkenbach picked up his 28th save of the season with a hitless 1.1 innings.

Dunedin’s seven hits were evenly distributed throughout the lineup, with every starter but two picking up one and only one. However, Jacob Butler and Luke Hetherington both contributed to the win with walks. Dunedin’s 2-3-4 hitters, Anthony Hatch, Josh Kreuzer and Cory Patton, each scored a run and drove one in. Leadoff hitter Carlo Cota scored the remaining run. Cory Patton hit a solo homer in the second inning and Dunedin’s other three runs were scored in the fifth, when Cota, Hatch and Kreuzer hit three consecutive doubles and then Kyle Phillips singled home Kreuzer.

Fort Wayne 2 @ Lansing 7 - Boxscore

Cuban Reidier Gonzalez improved to 7-6 on the season with a strong effort against Fort Wayne. Gonzalez gave up two runs, only one earned, over 5.2 innings. His control wasn’t as good as it has been before as he gave up three walks and struck out four, but Gonzalez managed to minimize the damage. Pittsburgh’s Ron Lowe pitched 3.1 innings of hitless relief to help Lansing cruise to a victory.

Taking a page away from the road Blue Jays, Lansing’s 4-5-6 hitters went 0-11 with a walk. However, the team didn’t struggle to score as the parent club often does because seven-hole hitter Matthew Lane was 3-3 and the lineup turned itself over nicely with 9 hitter Jonathan Baksh and leadoff hitter Scott Campbell both going 2-4. Lane and Campbell each added a walk and a run while Baksh scored once and drove in a run. Travis Snider and Jonathan Diaz each had a hit and 2 RBI.

Auburn 8 @ Batavia 4 - Boxscore

Auburn totalled 13 hits on the evening, but not one went for extra bases, demonstrating the organization’s commitment to small ball in the low minors. Ben Zeskind went 4-5 with two runs scored and JP Arencibia was 3-5 with an RBI. Every other starter but Victor Santana had one hit. Shortstop Carlos Vazquez also scored two runs. Manny Rodriguez and Adam Calderone were the big run producers on the night with five RBI between them.

Marc Rzepczynski didn’t last four innings for the first time since July 20. Rzepczynski gave up five hits and two walks over three innings and surrendered three runs, two earned, over that span. Four relievers combined to pitch the next six innings and only surrender one run. Most notable was Ryan Bird, who came in after Rzepczynski and picked up his first win of the season. Don’t accuse him of not deserving it though, as Bird struck out five batters in two innings.

GCL Yankees 5 @ GCL Blue Jays 2 - Box Score

Brad Cuthbertson suffered the loss after surrendering three runs, two earned, in four innings. Cuthbertson gave up six hits and also struck out six batters. Ross Buckwalter pitched two scoreless innings of relief, but the Yankees scored on both subsequent relievers, Tim Collins and John Zinnicker. Errors by Moises Sierra, Balbino Fuenmayor and Justin Jackson led to two unearned runs on the evening.

The Blue Jays only managed four hits in the game. Yohermyn Chavez had the team’s only double and scored one of the team’s two runs. The other run was scored by Bartolo Nicolas, who scored on a John Tolisano single. Tolisano was 1-2 with an RBI and a pair of walks. Joel Collins was 0-4 but picked two runners off base in the game, one at first and the other at second.

3 star selection

3rd star – Aaron Mathews, 2-5, 2 R, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 4 TB

2nd star – Matthew Lane, 3-3, 2 R, 2B, BB, 4 TB

1st star – David Smith, 2-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 6 TB

Trouble at the Ends | 3 comments | Create New Account
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Pistol - Saturday, August 18 2007 @ 12:26 PM EDT (#173281) #
Arencibia has heated up recently - he's 14-37 in his last 10 with 6 XBHs.
ramone - Saturday, August 18 2007 @ 06:47 PM EDT (#173298) #
Anyone know why Diaz hasn't been playing recently?  I noticed he had two at bats several days ago in a game and was replaced by Fasano and hasn't played since.  I thought he was ejected that game, is he serving a suspension?
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