3-3 on the night for the affiliates but the one you'll really care about was in Syracuse. What are you waiting for?
What a wild one in New York last night. Brett Cecil took the mound for the Chiefs and absolutely dominated the Buffalonians for seven innings. Cecil allowed just two baserunners: A walk in the fourth which was immediately erased via a double play; and a walk in the sixth, sandwiched between three strikeouts. That's it. Everybody else got out. And mostly via groundouts and strikeouts. Cecil punched out five, coaxed twelve groundouts and only four in the air. Meanwhile, the Chiefs didn't put anything on the board themselves until the bottom of the sixth when Curtis Thigpen smacked a three-run homer, his third of the year.
So, Cecil left after seven, trusting the bullpen with a three-run cushion and needing only six outs for a no-hitter. The no-no vanished pretty quickly as Jordan De Jong allowed a one-out single but escaped the eighth otherwise unscathed. Jonah Bayliss entered for the ninth and allowed back-to-back singles before retiring the next two. A walk later the sacks were full for the power-hitting Chris Gimenez. With one homerun already under his belt in 2008, Chris wasted no time doubling his total.
Never fear, though, Chiefs faithful: Buffalo always lets down their sports fans. The Chiefs rallied for two of their own on a bunch of singles and walks to make a winner out of Bayliss. He truly deserved it.
Travis Snider didn't play but probably would've had two hits if he did. Six Chiefs reached safely twice, including Russ Adams and Brian Jeroloman. Oh, and Cecil? After a bit of trouble early in his Triple-A career, he's transitioned quite nicely since. Over his last two starts he has allowed two hits and three walks over 14 innings. That's good for an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.36. Has anyone ever won the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Award, All-Star MVP, and the World Series MVP all in the same year? Because anything less than that from Cecil in 2009 will be a disappointment.
Ugh. I don't even want to write about this one. The boxscore is ugly for the Cats who were never in this one. New Hampshire had only four hits on the night, walked once and struck out ten times. Brian Dopirak had his first Double-A homer, a two-run shot in the fourth, and everyone else should've just stayed home.
On the mound, Jean Machi went two weak, allowing three runs on seven hits. That was all Altoona needed. I'm done with this one.
Despite clinching a playoff spot on Friday, the D-Jays aren't slowing down. Saturday saw them single the Tigers to death with 11 hits, including just one double, from eight starters. Brad Emaus continued his breakout campaign with two RBI, giving him 71 on the year. David Cooper(field) singled and walked twice.
Nathan Starner started for Dunedin and went five shutout frames allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out five. Cody Crowell relieved and blew the save in the sixth but picked up the win to move to 6-0 on the year.
Not a great night for the Lugnuts' offense. Only Jonathan Jaspe and C.J. Ebarb reached more than once and Kevin Ahrens took an 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Manny Rodriguez picked up his 69th RBI of the year. I'm stretching for things here, folks.
Alright, on to the pitchers. Luis Perez started and was ok, I guess. He allowed nine hits and three runs over five before giving way to Joe Wice who threw three perfect innings in relief. John Tolisano and Justin Jackson both had the day off.
Nice night for Leance Soto. Remember him? Well, he had four hits boosting his average to .228 and his OPS to .560. Soto has actually been worse this year than last so, at 23, I think you can safely write him off. If you hadn't already. Which you probably had.
Joel Collins had a nice night himself with three hits to boost his OPS to 1.007. Not bad. Adam Amar had a single, walk, and a run. Usually when I recap games he homered, so I consider last night a disappointment.
Matthew Wright took the mound for Auburn and went 3.2, allowing a run on five hits. Matthew Daly took the loss in relief, dropping his record to 1-2 but with a tidy 1.71 ERA in 21 innings.
The Jays shutout the Yankees on one hit last night. Man, that sounds nice. In any event, Jonnathan Valdez, Kyle Gilligan, and Justin McClanahan went deep for the Jays. The homers were the first professional ones for Valdez and Gilligan. Kenneth Wilson pitched in with a single and his 23rd stolen base. That number is quite impressive when you factor in his .192 batting average.
Jonas Cuotto took the hill for the Jays and was decent. The 21 year-old went six perfect innings striking out nine. Three relievers combined to allow just two baserunners the rest of the way.
Three Stars:
3rd Star: Leance Soto- 4-for-5
2nd Star: Jonas Cuotto- 6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
1st Star: Brett Cecil- 7 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
