The Auburn Doubledays live to fight another day thanks to a dominating pitching performance from the hardest name to spell in the system. The relief pitching wasn't half bad either and the offence finally showed up in the series. It all boils down to a third and deciding game between Auburn and Oneonta tonight at Falcon Park.
Auburn, NY - Game 1 of this series was a thriller. Game 2........not so much. Lefty Marc Rzepczynski got the ball for the Doubledays against the Tigers Guillermo Moscoso. Rzepczynksi got a groundball out to 3rd to start the proceedings but then allowed a single to Justin Henry. He would be erased on a 6-4-3 double play ball off the bat of Casper "Casper?" Wells, an early sign that the Auburn infielders would not be bored in this one. After being held off the scoresheet for 11 innings, it looked like the D-Days were going to be blanked again in the 1st after Benjamin Zeskind and Adam Calderone struck out. However, the D-Days offence finally reintroduced themselves to the concept of running 360 feet as Darin Mastroianni and Manny Rodriguez singled to put runners on the corners. They would score on RBI singles from Brad Emaus and J.P. Arencibia and Auburn had its first runs of the series for a 2-0 lead. That was more than what Marc Rzepczynski would need as the UC Riverside lefty had his mojo working. He retired Oneonta in order in the 2nd and 3rd innings with a pair of K's and a groundout in each frame. The D-Days added another run in the 3rd, again with 2 outs, as Darin Mastroianni singled and he was doubled home by Manny Rodriguez.
In the 4th, Rzepczynski gave up another 1-out to single Justin Henry. However, just like the 1st inning, he was erased on yet another 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Casper Wells. Rzepczynksi allowed just a walk in the 5th and a infield single in the 6th but had 3 more strikeouts and 3 groundouts in between to finish up with 6 scoreless innings of 3 hit, 1 walk ball while punching out 8 and getting 10 groundball outs. There were no flyball outs! The only times the outfielders saw the ball come their way in the first 6 innings were Adam Calderone fielding a couple of singles in center. Left fielder Benjamin Zeskind and right fielder Victor Santana didn't need to bring the leather with them out on the field. There was no need for them to show up whatsoever. They could've cracked open a couple of cold ones, brought a book with them to read, maybe a newspaper, do a crossword puzzle, a sudoku, listen to their iPods, worry about their Week 2 lineups in their fantasy football league, check out the women in the stands, etc. That's good work if you can find it!!
Meantime, the D-Days added 2 more runs in the 6th as Brad Emaus launched one over the wall to chase Tigers starter Guillermo Moscoso from the game. J.P. Arencibia reached 2nd base on a throwing error by the third baseman and he would score on a Victor Santana single. Aside from warmup tosses, Santana never got to touch the ball defensively on this night so I guess he figured he'd touch one with his bat instead for his only hit of the night.
Alan Farina took over for Marc Rzepczynski in the 7th and the righty from Clemson was just as dominant as he struck out the first 2 hitters before giving Benjamin Zeskind a chance to catch a ball in left for the first and only time of the evening. Auburn added their final run of the night when Zeskind singled, advanced to 3rd on an Adam Calderone base knock and then came home on a balk. In the 8th, Farina gave up his only hit on a double but he finished with a flourish, punching out the final 4 batters he faced, all swinging, to wrap up the victory for the D-Days. Farina picked up the save by punching out 7 batters over 3 scoreless innings and allowing just one baserunner on a double. In total, that's 15 K's from the D-Day hurlers, 11 groundball outs, and one flyout. In the obvious understatement of the year, that's some dominant pitching there, folks!! Oneonta's hit total also matched their error total of four but only one run was unearned. You can get more details of last night's game by reading the milb.com account.
If you had told me that the D-Days would only give up one run in 2 games before writing this report, I thought I'd be giving a preview of the NY Penn League final by now. However, this best-of-3 is down to a best-of-1 with the winner taking on the Brooklyn Cyclones, who finished off the Staten Island Yankees in two straight. The winner of tonight's game will host Game 1 of the league final Thursday night with Games 2 and 3 set for Brooklyn Friday and Saturday. Here's hoping the D-Days get the win in what I'm sure will be an emotional 9-11 night at Falcon Park.
*** 3 Stars! ***
3. Alan Farina - 3IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 7K = SV
2. Brad Emaus - 3/4, HR, 2RBI, incl. GWRBI
1. Marc Rzepczynski - 6IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 8K, 10 groundouts = W
Honourable Mentions - Darin Mastroianni, Manny Rodriguez, J.P. Arencibia, Victor Santana, Benjamin Zeskind.
Tonight's Schedule/Probable Starters.......
Game 3 - Oneonta @ Auburn, 7:00 p.m.
Probable Starters: Oneonta RHP Sendy Vasquez (6-5, 4.23) vs. Auburn LHP Luis Perez (3-3, 3.70).
Bonus Materials.......
Video evidence that the dreaded astroturf will not be at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse next season.
More rumblings that 2008 will be the final one for the Jays affiliation in Syracuse. (Note; the blurb is near the bottom of the page!)
