The top two teams in the system had 33 hits between them but only one of them was a winner. A ninth-inning collapse prevented a clean sweep for the affiliates. Meantime, a prominent Jays reliever made his season debut at Knology Park in Dunedin.
Columbus, OH - The Chiefs got the bats going against the Nationals affiliate in the top of the first with four singles and two doubles but only managed two runs. The key blows were an Adam Lind run scoring double and a Russ Adams run scoring single. However, Lind was caught in a rundown after his double to short-circuit a bigger rally. The Chiefs continued their abuse of Clippers starter Bobby Brownlie as Danny Sandoval hit a two-run homer in the second and Kevin Melillo added a solo ding dong in the third to make it 5-0 Chiefs. Erik Kratz also called Dr. Longball in the sixth to put Syracuse ahead by an unconverted touchdown. A Matt Watson RBI single and a Russ Adams sac fly in the ninth capped off the scoring for Syracuse.
Meantime, lefty David Purcey scattered three hits in his first five innings but he ran into trouble in the sixth, surrendering two runs on three singles and two walks, before striking out former Angel Tommy Murphy to end the frame. Brandon League worked a one-hit seventh and Mike MacDonald set down all six hitters he faced to end the game.
Boxscore Notes - The Chiefs had 16 hits in this one and only Chip Cannon was hitless on the night. Danny Sandoval was 4-for-4 with a walk (.393 BA with the Chiefs!) while Adam Lind and Matt Watson had three hits apiece.......David Purcey allowed two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out eight in six innings of work. He also recorded eight groundouts to improve to 6-4 on the season.
Akron, OH - For the first eight-and-a-half innings, it looked like the Fisher Cats were going to complete the Ohio sweep. New Hampshire broke a scoreless tie with four runs in the fourth on a run scoring single by Chris Gutierrez, a two-run knock by Brian Jeroloman and another RBI single by Ryan Klosterman. Gutierrez picked up his second RBI of the night with another base hit to make it 5-0 Fisher Cats in the fifth.
Brandon Magee kept the Aeros off the board for the first four innings, swerving in and out of trouble except for a clean fourth. Brian Jeroloman helped Magee out by throwing out a runner at second in the first, a double play bailed him out in the second and he survived a bases loaded situation in the third. His luck ran out in the fifth when he gave up a run on a double and a single. Magee finished up strong by retiring the side in order in the sixth.
The F-Cats added another run in the seventh when Travis Snider delivered with (take a wild guess!) a run scoring single to make it 6-1. The Aeros got that run back against Seth Overbey in the seventh on a run-scoring groundout and they scored another run in the eighth with a sac fly against Jamie Vermilyea to cut the New Hampshire lead to 6-3. Zach Dials tried to save it in the ninth but he just didn't have it as Akron completed the comeback with four singles and the kill shot, a walk-off three-run jack by Ryan Goleski to give the F-Cats a come from ahead loss.
Boxscore Notes - The Fisher Cats outhit the Chiefs 17-16 but still lose, go figure! A trio of players had three hits in Travis Snider, Eric Nielsen and Brian "No Walks" Jeroloman as the BJWM remains at 31. Jeroloman and Snider are neck and neck in OBP with Snider in at .373 and Jeroloman at .372.....Brandon Magee only gave up one run in six innings but his WHIP was almost two as he gave up seven hits and four walks. On the bright side, he did get 11 groundouts.
Dunedin, FL - It was not an easy start for Adrian Martin as he gave up three singles in the first but he was able to keep the D-Cubs off the board. He plunked a hitter in the second but avoided trouble once again. He tried the three singles formula again in the third but this time, Daytona used that to jump-start a three-run rally. Dunedin responded with a run in their half of the third inning when J.P. Arencibia came up with a two-out RBI single to cut Daytona's advantage to 3-1.
Adrian Martin kept Daytona in check by retiring 10 batters in a row after his shaky third inning and that gave the D-Jays a chance to rally as Sean Shoffit led off the fifth with a home run and J.P. Arencibia belted a solo jack of his own in the sixth to tie the game at 3-3. Daytona grabbed the lead again when Ryan Harvey took Martin deep to lead off the seventh but Dunedin showed their resiliency by scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh. The menacing bat of J.P. Arencibia allowed the home side to tie the game when Cubs catcher Mark Reed allowed two passed balls to plate the tying run. Cory Patton then knocked in the go-ahead run with a base knock to put Dunedin up 5-4.
A promising prospect by the name of Jeremy Accardo relieved Adrian Martin in the eighth and he gave up a double before using his major league mound presence to get the next three hitters in order. Dunedin added some insurance in the eighth when Brad Emaus launched a three run tater to put Dunedin up 8-4. Ryan Harvey hammered his second HR of the night off Edward Rodriguez to draw Dayton to within a pair in the ninth but Connor Falkenbach came in to end the nonsense by getting the final three outs to pick up the save.
Boxscore Notes - Dunedin "only" managed a dozen hits in this one. Brad Emaus and Luis Sanchez had three hits apiece and J.P. Arencibia had two hits and two RBI (three if you count the two passed balls that led to a run while he was at the dish). Arencibia also drew a walk to get on base three times and also threw out a runner at second....An interesting line for Adrian Martin as he hung around long enough to improve his record to 3-2. He gave up four runs on eight hits in seven innings of work but his K/BB ratio was 9-0 while his GO/AO mark was 10-1....Jeremy Accardo picked up his first hold in his Dunedin debut. I'm sure he's waiting to tell the grandkids about this one!
Comstock Park, MI - Here's where someone turned off the fawcett as the offence dried up for the majority of this one. Lugnuts lefty Brad "General" Mills and Whitecaps righty Brandon "Don't Call Me Joey" Hamilton matched goose eggs through the first six innings. The Lugnuts got a runner as far as third base in the second but could not bring him home and they went hitless in the third through fifth innings. Eric Eiland led off the Lugnut sixth with a double but was promptly erased on an 8-6-3 putout.
Mills only gave up a hit in the first three innings and erased that base knock with a pickoff in the second. Innings four through sixth were more adventurous as Mills scattered five singles but still kept the Tigers affiliate off the board. Mills navigated his way around a single, a sac bunt and an intentional walk in the seventh to keep the game scoreless. Lansing finally got on the board in the eighth when a wild pitch from Whitecaps reliever Matt Hoffman scored a Moises Sierra leadoff single. Edgar Estanga relieved Mills in the eighth and gave up a leadoff single but catcher Matt Liuzza helped end the inning by nailing the runner trying to steal second. Liuzza then delivered with the bat in the ninth when he doubled home a Kevin Ahrens single to give Lansing an insurance run. Estanga worked a perfect ninth to collect the save.
Boxscore Notes - Brad Mills scattered seven hits and an intentional walk over seven scoreless frames to improve to 5-3 on the year. He struck out a half-dozen and got nine groundball outs. On the campaign, his K/BB mark is 78-26 over 69 1/3 innings and hitters are batting just .237 against him. His ERA is 2.47......Moises Sierra and Kevin Ahrens accounted for 66.6 percent of Lansing's six hits with a couple apiece.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Brad Mills, Lansing - 7IP, 7H, 0R, 0ER, 1IBB, 6K, 9GO = W
2. J.P Arencibia, Dunedin - 2/4, BB, R, HR, 2RBI & threw out a runner at second.
1. Danny Sandoval, Syracuse - 4/4, BB, 3R, HR, 2RBI (GWRBI).
Honourable Mentions......
Syracuse - David Purcey, Brandon League, Mike MacDonald, Adam Lind, Russ Adams, Matt Watson, Kevin Melillo, Erik Kratz, David Smith, Buck Coats.
New Hampshire - Brandon Magee, Travis Snider, Eric Nielsen, Brian Jeroloman, Chris Gutierrez, Ryan Klosterman, Josh Kreuzer, Jacob Butler.
Dunedin - Adrian Martin, Jeremy Accardo, Connor Falkenbach, Sean Shoffit, Cory Patton, Brad Emaus, Luis Sanchez.
Lansing - Moises Sierra, Kevin Ahrens, Matt Liuzza, Eric Eiland, Edgar Estanga.
Standings/Streaks......
Syracuse - 39-27, 2nd place - IL North, 0.5 GB of Scranton W/B, W2, 6-4 Last 10.
New Hampshire - 23-40, 6th place - EL North, 18.0 GB of Trenton, L1, 4-6 Last 10.
Dunedin - 35-30, 2nd place - FSL West, 8.0 GB of Fort Myers, W1, 5-5 Last 10.
Lansing - 37-28, 1st place - MWL East, 2.0 GA of Fort Wayne, W1, 7-3 Last 10.
Today's Schedule/Probable Starters......
Daytona @ Dunedin, 7:00 p.m. EDT - TBA vs. Kyle Ginley, DUN (5-1, 2.35).
Lansing @ West Michigan, 7:00 p.m. EDT - RHP Trystan Magnuson, LAN (0-6, 7.30) vs. RHP Alfredo Figaro, WM (7-2, 1.22).
Syracuse @ Columbus, 7:05 p.m. EDT - LHP Bill Murphy, SYR (4-2, 4.35) vs. LHP Mike O'Connor, COL (3-1, 2.33).
New Hampshire @ Akron, 7:05 p.m. EDT - LHP Ricky Romero, NH (2-3, 3.60) vs. RHP Kevin Dixon, AKR (2-4, 4.75).
Bonus Material.....
Syracuse lefty John Parrish gets some love from milb.com.
The New Hampshire Union Leader has a feature on Scott Campbell.
The Lansing State Journal has a piece on Eric Eiland.
Lansinglugnuts.com has a game summary and audio highlights of last night's game.
