The first lefty had a great time, the second one had a blast, the third one fell in love and now he hopes it lasts. The fourth lefty? Well anyway, it was a 2-for-4 night for the affiliates with three of the games decided in extra innings.
Syracuse 3 Rochester 2 (10 Innings)
Syracuse, NY - It was David Purcey squaring off against rehabbing lefty Francisco Liriano in a morning/afternoon affair. Purcey was starting on three days rest after the "Friday Philly flustercuck". Despite not working a clean inning, he pitched six shutout frames thanks to inning-ending double play balls in the third, fifth and sixth. Two of the double plays were of the 6-4-3 variety, started by shortstop Chip Cannon (not a typo!) and turned by second baseman Marcos Cabral. Catcher Erik Kratz also helped Purcey by throwing out a runner at second to erase a leaoff walk in the fourth.
Liriano matched Purcey's goose eggs until the sixth when Curtis Thipgen came through with a two-out, two-run single to score a Buck Coats walk and an Adam Lind single. Had Wayne Lydon not been caught stealing second after his leadoff single, the Chiefs would've had an extra run, which would have been handy to have as it turned out.
Brandon League held the Red Wings off the board despite plunking a batter in the seventh and loading the bases with two singles and another hit batsmen in the eighth. In the ninth, League got burned by back to back doubles and a one-out single to allow the Twins affiliate to tie the game at 2-2. Lefty Mike Gosling relieved League to retire his lone batter and Jordan De Jong survived a walk and stolen base to get the final out. De Jong worked a three-up, three-down inning with two K's in the tenth to give the Chiefs another chance for a walk-off win.
Wayne Lydon beat out an infield tapper to the mound by diving head first into the first base bag to avoid the tag from reliever Tim Lahey (not to be confused with this guy). Buck Coats botched a sac bunt attempt to reliever Carmen Cali but Cali topped that botchery by botching the throw to second so both runners were safe. Life's a botch, ain't it? Cali retired Adam Lind on a pop foul to first and got Matt Watson to ground out to first, which pushed Lydon to third and Coats to second. Russ Adams, who came into the game at second base in the ninth, was the hero by laying down a bunt single to third to score Lydon with the winning run. Adams apparently has a sore right hand according to the Syracuse broadcast so that might've played a role in him laying one down as opposed to swinging away.
Boxscore Notes - David Purcey was robbed of a "W" but lowered his ERA to 1.95 after six scoreless innings in which he allowed five hits and three walks while striking out five.. He threw 80 pitches (49 for strikes) and 8 of his 11 outs in play were on the ground. He also uncorked a wild pitch..........Winning pitcher Jordan De Jong picked up his second win of the four game set against the Red Wings, improving to 3-1 after recording his third scoreless appearance of the series, covering 2 2/3 innings......Wayne Lydon extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a 2-for-5 day at the plate. Hitting .389 over that span, his current average is up to .289. His only blemish was a caught stealing but he's still 11-for-14 on the year...Curtis Thigpen reached base three times with two singles and a walk and drove in two runs. Batting .324 over his last 10 games, Thigpen's average, which was as low as .179, is now up to .226.....Buck Coats, Adam Lind and Chip Cannon also had two hits apiece for the Chiefs. Coats also had a walk to reach base three times and stole a base.
Portland 3 New Hampshire 2 (11 Innings)
Manchester, NH - Another all-lefty matchup as Ricky Romero took to the hill for the Fisher Cats against Kris Johnson. Romero struck out two to offset a single and hit batsmen in the first inning but he was nicked for a run in the second on a double, single and double play ball. Romero scattered a single and a pair of walks in the next four innings and faced the minimum nine batters in his last three by inducing a couple of ground ball double plays.
The Fisher Cats tied the game in the fourth when Travis Snider delivered a sac fly with the bases load. They took the lead in the seventh on a solo homer by Kyle Phillips. Seth Overbey scattered three singles in 1 2/3 innings in relief and needed help from lefty Daryl Harang as he stranded a pair of Overbey's runners with a punchout in the eighth. Zachary Dials was asked to close the deal in the ninth but he gave up a two-out single that allowed Portland to plate the tying run after a leadoff single and sac bunt.
The F-Cats survived a scare in the tenth after a single, a stolen base and a Kyle Phillips throwing error put the potential go-ahead run on third for the Red Sox affiliate. Jamie Vermilyea came to Dials' rescue by getting a strikeout to end the frame. However, Vermilyea yielded a pair of doubles in the eleventh that gave the Sea Dogs a 3-2 lead. Scott Campbell drew a pinch-hit leadoff walk for New Hampshire but the F-Cats couldn't do anything with it as they dropped their fourth in a row.
Boxscore Notes - Ricky Romero had a WHIP of one on four hits and two walks, allowing just one run over six innings. He struck out five and 9 of his 13 outs in play were on the shag green carpet..........Ryan Patterson, Jacob Butler and Kyle Phillips had two hits apiece while Aaron Matthews got aboard twice with a hit and a walk........Travis Snider, despite his sac fly RBI, went down swinging for the hat trick to go 0-for-3. Snider's average is two ticks above the Mendoza Line on the season but he has batted .289 in his last 10 contests with two homers, 13 RBI and 7 walks.
Dunedin, FL - It was also "Lefties Night" in Dunedin as Gustavo Chacin faced the Mets' Eric Niesen. Would Chacin follow the lead of David Purcey and Ricky Romero and make it three solid starts in a row? In a word, hellno! Chacin's curveball for the senses seemed to work in the first as he set down the side in order but it was a curveball over the fences in the second as he was burned for two singles and a three-run homer to allow St. Lucie to go up 3-0. Chacin gave up two more runs on a walk, two singles and a sac fly before ending the night with an inning-ending double play ball.
The D-Jays chipped away with a three-run third on RBI singles by Chris Emanuele and J.P. Arencibia, sandwiching a Jonathan Diaz sac fly. However, Reidier Gonzalez could not hold down the fort in relief for Dunedin as he gave up single runs in the fourth and fifth, including a home run. Gonzalez rebounded with two shutout frames and Dunedin got one run back in the seventh as Sean Shoffit singled, stole second and eventually came home on a Jonathan Diaz groundout. Paul Phillips and Edward Rodriguez pitched a scoreless inning each but the D-Jays offence was also held in check the rest of the way.
Boxscore Notes - Gustavo Chacin's final line was five runs on five hits and a walk over three innings to fall to 0-5 on the season. His ERA is an ugly 7.80...........Chris Emanuele had a nice night in the leadoff spot by collecting three hits and a walk in five plate appearances but the Toronto native is only batting .237......J.P. Arencibia, Cory Patton and Sean Shoffit had two hits apiece and Shoffit stole his eighth base in twelve attempts.........Jonathan Diaz was just 1-for-4 but drove in half of Dunedin's four runs.
Lansing 2 Dayton 1 (11 Innings)
Dayton, OH - We were halfway to another all-southpaw match-up. Lefty Brad Mills got the call for the Lugnuts against non-lefty Luis Montano.
The Dragons got to Mills for a run in the first on an RBI double by Brandon Waring but Yohermyn Chavez threw out Waring at third from left field to limit the damage. The Lugnuts tied the game in the third when Kevin Ahrens doubled home Justin Jackson, who was hit by a pitch.
Brad Mills clearly liked the even numbered innings as he was perfect in innings two, four and six while three and five were more adventurous. Mills offset two walks by picking off a runner and getting a double play in the third and he stranded a leadoff triple by Devin Mesoraco in the fifth when Kevin Ahrens threw him out at the plate from third. Alan Farina pitched three perfect frames in relief of Mills, punching out four batters in a row (and six overall!) to send the game into overtime.
Yohermyn Chavez led off the tenth with a double but he was thrown out at third after Michael McDade hit a tapper back to the mound. Alan Farina came back out for the tenth and got the first two outs before issuing a walk. Ross Buckwalter came on to get the final out. The Lugnuts would grab the lead in the eleventh when Manny Rodriguez led off with a single. With Darin Mastroianni pinch-running, Matt Liuzza came through with a double to plate the go-ahead run. Buckwalter preserved his victory by setting down the Reds affiliate in order.
Boxscore Notes - Brad Mills scattered four hits and three walks over six innings, allowing just three runs while striking out five. His K/BB total is 55-19 in 47 1/3 innings, his groundout/airout ratio is just over 2 to 1 and his opponents batting average is just .227.......After 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, Alan Farina's K/BB mark is 34-11 in just 24 1/3 innings and hitters are batting just .187 against him......The Lugnuts had 7 players collect one hit each. Only Michael McDade and Justin Jackson were hitless. Though Jackson was plunked by a pitch and scored a run, he struck out three times and his batting average has tumbled to .247 thanks to a 3-for-35 stretch..........Kevin Ahrens has also scuffled, batting just .216 in his last 10 games.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Brad Mills, Lansing - 6IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 5K, 6GO.
2. Ricky Romero, New Hampshire - 6IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 5K, 9GO.
1. David Purcey, Syracuse - 6IP, 5H, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 5K, 8GO.
Honourable Mentions..............
Syracuse - Russ Adams, Curtis Thigpen, Wayne Lydon, Buck Coats, Adam Lind, Chip Cannon, Jordan De Jong, Mike Gosling.
New Hampshire - Kyle Phillips, Ryan Patterson, Jacob Butler, Aaron Matthews, Travis Snider, Seth Overbey, Daryl Harang.
Dunedin - Chris Emanuele, J.P. Arencibia, Jonathan Diaz, Sean Shoffit, Cory Patton, Paul Phillips, Edward Rodriguez.
Lansing - Alan Farina, Ross Buckwalter, Matt Liuzza, Manny Rodriguez, Darin Mastroianni, Kevin Ahrens, Yohermyn Chavez, Justin Jackson.
Standings............
Syracuse - 28-18, 2nd place - IL North, 1.5 GB of Scranton/WB, W1, 7-3 Last 10.
New Hampshire - 14-28, 6th place - EL North, 13.5 GB of Trenton, L4, 4-6 Last 10.
Dunedin - 24-20, 3rd place (tied w/ Lakeland) - FSL West , 5.0 GB of Fort Myers, L1, 5-5 Last 10.
Lansing - 22-22, 3rd place - MWL East, 1.5 GB of West Michigan, L2, 4-6 Last 10.
Today's Schedule/Probable Starters.........
Portland @ New Hamsphire, 6:35 p.m. EDT - RHP Matt Goodson, POR (2-2, 3.86) vs. LHP Brett Cecil, NH (0-1, 3.18)
St. Lucie @ Dunedin, 7:00 p.m. EDT - RHP Tobi Stoner, STL (1-2, 2.39) vs. RHP Adrian Martin, DUN (0-1, 4.91).
Lansing @ Dayton, 7:00 p.m. EDT - RHP Randy Boone, LAN (4-1, 1.31) vs. RHP Scott Carroll, DAY (1-2, 3.14)
Syracuse - Scheduled Day Off. Next Game - Thursday @ Norfolk, 7:15 p.m. EDT
Bonus Material.......
Syracuse.com has photos of the Chiefs win yesterday over Rochester and the abbreviated Cooperstown Classic.
The Syracuse Post-Standard has an article about Mike MacDonald's recent conversion from starting to the bullpen.
Lansinglugnuts.com has the game story and audio highlights of last night's win over Dayton.
