Las Vegas 11 @ Tacoma 4 – Boxscore
The David Purcey mystery continues, as the southpaw turned in another poor start and did absolutely nothing to show that he’s close to ready to reclaim a spot in a Toronto rotation that currently includes three rookies, a pitcher with five career starts before this season and a converted reliever. Purcey went 2.1 innings and put up 3’s across the scoreboard, allowing a trio of runs on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Purcey turned the ball over to TJ Beam who went 5.2 innings of solid relief. Beam allowed three hits himself, but he only allowed one run. This was in large part due to much better control than Purcey, as Beam didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. Jonah Bayliss pitched a scoreless ninth.
After falling behind 3-0 the 51s rallied for nine runs over the fourth and fifth innings and grabbed a big lead that they would not relinquish. Buck Coats was hitless out of the leadoff spot, but Joe Inglett was 1-for-4 with a walk and a pair of runs scored in the 2-hole. David Delucci hit his first home run for Las Vegas and drove in a pair of runs. Randy Ruiz reached base three times on a couple of a doubles and a walk. Bryan Harper and JP Arencibia each added doubles and a pair of RBI, while Aaron Mathews and Kevin Howard each had three hits and drove in five runs between the two of them.
New Hampshire 3 @ Reading 9 – Boxscore
The game was closer than it looked, as Reading scored four in the bottom of the 8th off Leon Boyd to triple their two-run lead. Boyd struggled with his control, walking three batters, and his Double-A ERA is 9.88 compared to 1.54 for Dunedin. Two of the four runs came around to score off Edgar Estanga. This came after Brandon Magee gave up five runs over 6 innings. He gave up six hits and a pair of walks while striking out three. All of the runs were earned, except for one that scored on Al Quintana’s 11th error of the year.
New Hampshire only managed seven hits on the evening and Scott Campbell was the only player to have a multi-hit game. Campbell had a triple and two of New Hampshire’s three RBI. Darin Mastroianni had a double for his first extra-base hit for the Fisher Cats. Todd Donovan was productive in the leadoff spot, going 1 for 3 with New Hampshire’s only walk of the game, while Brian Dopirak had a single and Luis Sanchez had a double.
Charlotte 3 @ Dunedin 6 – Boxscore
Charles Huggins went 5.1 innings and didn’t factor into the decision as he left with a 3-0 deficit. Huggins allowed eight hits and a walk while striking out four. He left the mound with the bases loaded and turned the ball over to Dumas Garcia. Garcia allowed the runner on third to score, but he otherwise got out of the inning unscathed and went on to pitch another inning. Robert Bell notched his sixth hold with a scoreless inning before Zach Dials picked up his seventh save of the year.
Dunedin left the bases loaded with none out in the second inning and for a while it looked like they may have blown their only opportunity to score. However, Dunedin struck with a vengeance in the bottom of the sixth. After a Moises Sierra singled Eric Thames hit a ground ball for a force out, but an error by Charlotte’s second baseman left both runners on base. Kevin Ahrens singled to score Sierra, but then Matt Liuzza and Jesus Gonzalez both struck out swinging. With two out both Adam Loewen and Justin Jackson singled and Thames and Ahrens both came around to count. With the game sitting tied at 3 and two out in the bottom of the sixth, Sean Shoffit came to the plate and deposited a three run homer to right centrefield to end the night of Charlotte’s starter Darin Downs. Shoffit and Ahrens were the only two Dunedin players with multi-hit games, as Shoffit went 2-for-4 and Ahrens was 3-for-3 with a walk.
Dayton 5 @ Lansing 6 – Boxscore
This was probably the most exciting game on the farm yesterday as Dayton and Lansing traded multirun innings until Lansing took the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth. Tyler Pastornicky, Yohermyn Chavez and Jon Talley each had a pair of hits and provided the bulk of the Lugnut offence. Chavez was 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBI, while Pastornicky and Talley were each 2-for-3 with a walk. Talley also drove home two runs. Balbino Fuenmayor and Chris Emanuele each contributed hits and Mark Sobolewski added a double and two runs scored. Sobolewski scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth to break a 5-5 tie with a two-out double which was followed by a Talley single.
Lansing starter John Anderson didn’t factor into the decision after leaving the ballgame with a 5-3 lead. Lansing’s two-run bottom of the fifth had given the Lugnuts the lead, but Dayton struck twice against Jason Roenicke in the top of the seventh to tie the game. Neither Anderson nor Roenicke was particularly effective, combining to allow ten hits and a pair of walks over 6.2 innings. Boomer Potts came into the game with a runner on base in the seventh and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings for the win and then Matt Daly struck out three of the four batters he faced to pick up the save.
State College 1 @ Auburn 4 – Boxscore
Joel Carreno had a fine second start for Auburn. He went 7 innings and allowed two hits. Carreno didn’t allow an earned run, although one came around to score on a play that involved errors by both catcher Jack Murphy and centrefielder Eric Eiland. Carrreno struck out six and didn’t issue a walk. Zach Anderson and Casey Beck combined to pitch the last two innings and Beck recorded his second save of the year.
Every batter for the Doubledays in the first through seven spots in the lineup got one and only one hit, while Kevin Nolan and Kyle Gilligan were held hitless. Nolan did draw a walk and scored one of Auburn’s four runs. Jonathan Fernandez scored two of the other three runs while Eric Eiland went 1-for-3 with a walk, a double and RBI. Wellinton Ramirez had Auburn’s other RBI, as the team capitalized on a trio of State College errors to score some insurance runs. Jack Murphy also went 1-for-3 with a walk, while Bradey Glenn, Randy Schwartz and Lance Durham all added hits.
GCL Blue Jays 4 @ GCL Braves 6 – Boxscore
Ryan Shropshire started for the GCL Blue Jays and took the loss. Shropshire threw 4 innings and gave up four runs on five hits and a walk. Shropshire struck out six, but was victimized by a poor beginning to the game. Three consecutive singles to begin the game loaded the bases and then Alberto Odreman hit a grand slam to give the Braves a 4-0 lead before Shropshire had retired a batter. Alex Pepe, Tyler Ybarra, Leandro Mella and Felix Moreno each pitched an inning of relief, with the first two each allowing a run.
Yan Gomes, Matthew Nuzzo and Gari Pena each went 2 for 4 for the Blue Jays. Kenny Wilson was 1 for 1 with a double, a hit by pitch and a walk, but he had a poor afternoon on the bases as he was picked off first and also caught stealing second. John Roberts was 0 for 5 but drove in half of the team’s runs while Kevin Denis-Fortier was 0 for 3 with a pair of strikeouts.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Sean Shoffit, 2-4, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, SB, 6 TB
2nd Star – TJ Beam, 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
1st Star – Joel Carreno, 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
