It was a 2-2 night for the affiliates as the Lugnuts and D-Jays put one in the win column.
Las Vegas, NV - Brad Mills' hopes of picking up his first win of the season were dealt a blow pretty early in this one. Drew Macias led off the game with a single and Will Venable belted one over the wall in left-center to give the Padres affiliate a 2-0 lead. Mills did wind up striking out two in the inning. The 51's responded with a run in the first when Randy Ruiz sent a rope over the fence in right-center for his ninth tater of the season off former Jay Josh Banks.
Mills held off Portland off the board over the next two innings. He gave up a single and walk in the second but got a strikeout and double play ball. In the third, the lefty erased a leadoff walk by picking off the runner and got a pair of strikeouts to sandwich a single.
A couple of indications this would be not be Las Vegas' night came in the second when Kyle Phillips was doubled off first on a fly ball to right to the end the inning. Then the 51's loaded up the bases in the third with nobody out but the meat of the order - Ruiz, Brett Harper and J.P. Arencibia - all struck out swinging against Banks. Portland went on to score twice in the fourth with three singles and a double off Mills with one of the runs coming in on a sac bunt by Matt Antonelli.
Mills was able to strand a one-out triple by Kyle Blanks in the fifth but he plunked a man and gave up a hit in the sixth after getting the first two outs. Jonah Bayliss came out of the pen and served up another dinger to Venable that put the Beavers ahead 7-1. The 51's cut the Portland lead in their half of the sixth when a Jonathan Diaz ground out scored a run and Aaron Matthews drilled a two-run triple to make the score 7-4. Bayliss worked a clean seventh and a one-walk eighth to hold Portland down but lefty Bill Murphy gave up Portland's final run by giving up a double and three walks. Las Vegas got a single and walk in the eighth and a walk in the ninth but they couldn't push any runs across.
Mills gave up six runs on 10 hits, three walks and hit a man in 5 2/3 innings while punching out seven batters and getting seven ground ball outs. Bayliss gave up a run in two innings with a 2-2 K/BB mark while Murphy gave up a run with a K/BB total of 2-3. At the dish, Phillips had two hits and a walk, Ruiz had a homer and two walks, Matthews had two hits, Jason Lane had a hit and a walk and Diaz drew a pair of bases on balls. Arencibia was 0-for-5 and is hitting just .146 over his last 10 games.
Harrisburg, PA - Brandon Magee was dealing in this one in the early going by retiring eight straight hitters after a leadoff single, striking out three along the way. He erased a single in the fourth with a ground ball double play and set down the side in order in the fifth. The sixth inning was a different story. A walk, a single, a wild pitch and a triple led to the first two runs of the game and a second wild pitch led to the other run for the Nationals affiliate.
Adrian Martin put together a nice seventh inning by striking out the side looking and overcame a Luis Sanchez error at short and a walk to pitch a shutout eighth. The Fisher Cat offence did nothing in the first two innings and in the eighth but they had runners on in every other inning. They wasted a Nick Gorneault leadoff double in the seventh as Adam Calderone, Al Quintana and Cody Haerther all went down swinging. In the ninth, Brad Emaus and Brian Dopirak led off the ninth with doubles but somehow, Emaus only got to third. Emaus would be thrown out at the plate on a fielder's choice ground ball by Gorneault and the F-Cats laid another goose egg on the line score to end the game.
Magee put together a quality start by allowing three runs on five hits and a walk in six innings but did uncork two wild pitches. He struck out three and recorded eight ground ball outs. Dopirak and Gorneault had two hits apiece and Todd Donovan drew two walks but was caught stealing. Haerther was also picked off at first so it wasn't a good day on the base paths for New Hampshire.
Dunedin, FL - Kenny Rodriguez set the tone with a 1-2-3 first inning and the offence responded with the game's first run on four first inning singles. Darin Mastroianni came home on a Jesus Gonzalez base knock but Matt Liuzza would hit into an inning-ending double play. He would definitely make up for that later! Rodriguez would strand a single in the second and a hit by pitch in the fourth to hold down the Marlins affiliate and the D-Jays responded with a three-spot in their half of the fourth. Liuzza led off with a home run to left and Sean Shoffit followed with a two-run blast to right after Justin Jackson got aboard on an error at third by Matt Dominguez.
Jupiter got two runs back in the fifth on two singles, a walk and a throwing error by Rodriguez as he tried to pick off Dominguez at second. Ken-Rod recovered by getting a strikeout and a double play ball to limit the damage. However, he loaded up the bases in the sixth inning with one out on a single and two walks. Dumas Garcia relieved Rodriguez and got out of the inning by getting Dominguez to line out into an inning-ending 6-4 double play to double off Mike Stanton at second. Garcia struck out a pair in a clean seventh inning and Dunedin would add another run in their half of an eventful seventh. Mastroianni walked and stole his 28th base of the season just before John Tolisano struck out and was ejected for arguing ball and strikes. Manny Rodriguez picked up Tolisano by doubling home Mastroianni to give the D-Jays a 5-2 lead. Liuzza would go deep in the eighth to give Dunedin a 6-2 cushion. Tim Collins worked a shutout eighth but surrendered two runs in the ninth on two singles and a double before picking up his first save of the season. He did manage to pick up a couple of strikeouts in his two-inning stint.
Rodriguez got the win by allowing two unearned runs (thanks to his own error!) on four hits, three walks and a hit batter in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out three and got 10 outs on the ground. Garcia was perfect over 1 2/3 innings while whiffing a pair.
Liuzza was the only D-Jay with a two-hit game thanks to his second and third homers of the year and Shoffit had a homer and a walk. Mastroianni and Adam Loewen also got aboard twice with a single and a walk each. Loewen is hitting just .198 on the season. Justin Jackson was the only Dunedin starter without a hit or a walk as he went 0-for-4.
Fort Wayne, IN - The Lugnuts were down 2-0 after two after a walk and a two-run homer by James Darnell against Josh Wells in the second. Lansing roared back with three runs in the third when A.J. Jimenez knocked home a Justin McClanahan double and Tyler Pastornicky singled home Jimenez after he stole second. Pastornicky then stole second and he would score the go-ahead run on a throwing error by Darnell at third after a Chris Emanuele ground ball. The Padres affiliate would tie the game in their half of the third when Blake Tekotte took Wells deep for a solo shot. Wells wound bounce back to get the next nine hitters in a row to get through five innings.
Lansing would grab the lead again in the sixth when Johermyn Chavez connected for his eighth homer of the season by sending the ball over the wall in left to make it 4-3 Lugnuts. It was a timely homer because the Lugnuts did nothing over the last three innings. Dustin Antolin scattered two walks and a single to pitch a scoreless sixth and seventh and lefty Frank Gailey set down the side in order in the eighth. Matthew Daly came on in the ninth to try to collect the save and the defence almost did him in. He got the first two hitters on a ground out and strike out but a throwing error by McClanahan at second allowed Allan Dykstra to reach second. Jimenez tried to pick off the pinch runner at second from behind the dish but Pastornicky couldn't catch the ball and his error allowed the runner to get to third. However, Daly rung up Darnell with a called strike three to end the ball game.
Wells allowed two solo homers and a walk in five innings while striking out three but only two of his other ten outs were on the ground. Chavez had two of the Lugnuts six hits in the game.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Sean Shoffit, Dunedin
2. Johermyn Chavez, Lansing
1. Matt Liuzza, Dunedin
Extra Innings........
* The Las Vegas Sun has articles on Travis Snider and Brett Cecil.
* The Las Vegas Review-Journal shines the spotlight on Buck Coats and now current Jay Dirk Hayhurst. They also have pieces on Travis Snider and the 51's all-lefty rotation.
* Baseball America's Prospect Chat has a brief mention of Justin Jackson. They have have the latest transactions list and a blurb on John Tolisano. BA lists Darin Mastroianni as one of the fastest players in the minors. They also report where international signees Gustavo Pierre and Carlos Perez will wind up.
