It wasn't a good night for the Ricky in Toronto or Davis in Las Vegas but it was a good one for New Hampshire and the boys on the Gulf Coast. Also, an Auburn Doubleday was representin' at the New York Penn League All-Star Game, yo! Read on, my peeps!
Las Vegas, NV - A leadoff triple by Reggie Abercrombie was not the way Davis Romero wanted to start this one. The diminutive lefty also didn't want a couple of errors made behind him by the left side of the infield. However, that's what happened as the Astros affiliate scored twice in the top of the first. The 51's also took advantage of some shoddy defence in the second when J.P. Arencibia reached on a clank at third. He would eventually score on an RBI single by Kevin Howard.
Las Vegas would take the lead in the third thanks to back-to-back jacks from Buck "Martinez" Coats and Howie "Do It" Clark off Polin Trinidad (& Tobago) to go up 3-2. However, that lead disappeared as the Express would score twice in the top of the fourth on three singles and a double to take a 4-3 lead. Las Vegas would battle back again in their half of the fourth with another leadoff long ball, this time by Howard to even things up at 4-4.
It appeared Romero had settled down as he retired the side in order in the fifth for the first time after needing a couple of double plays turned behind him in the second and third. However, Chris Johnson helped the Express courier one over the wall in the sixth to retake the lead.
Brian Wolfe had an interesting outing. He worked a clean seventh but managed to survive a triple and walk in the eighth as Howard threw out a runner at the plate. Wolfe also struck out three. Zach Stewart overcame a pair of walks and struck out a batter in a scoreless ninth. However, the offence couldn't push home the tying run despite getting a runner on base over the last three innings as they were held down by Trinidad as well as Casey Daigle (a.k.a. Mr. Jennie Finch) and Chad "Rhymes With Toronto" Paronto.
Romero lasted six innings and gave up five runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks while striking out four. Coats had three hits and Howard had two hits and was plunked by a pitch. Brian Dopirak doubled in five trips to the dish while Arencibia was 0-for-4.
New Hampshire 11 Connecticut 7
Manchester, NH - The big inning really hurt Adrian Martin in this one. He was victimized by a three-run homer in the second and allowed four more runs in the fourth on three singles and two doubles. In total, Martin gave up seven runs on nine hits over four innings with a K-BB mark of 1-1. Fortunately, the Fisher Cats offence kept the game within reach. Al Quintana hit a bases clearing double in the third that tied the game at 3-3 and Manny Mayorson had a two-run double that cut the Defenders lead to 7-5.
The bullpen kept the Giants affiliate in check as lefty Wil Ledezma pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three while giving up just a single and a walk. He also picked off a runner. Vancouver's Leon Boyd overcame a leadoff single to work a scoreless seventh and lefty Tim Collins gave a little "how she goin'" to the AA level with an infield pop up and two swinging K's in the eighth. Collins was the beneficiary of a New Hampshire rally in their half of the eighth as David Cooper singled home the tying run and a wild pitch led to the go-ahead run. The kill shot was a three-run homer by Nick Gorneault to cap off the five-run uprising. Danny Farquhar walked the first two hitters to start the ninth but he struck out the next two men before getting a fly ball out to end the game.
Every New Hampshire starter had a hit save for the "Two Brians", Van Kirk and Jeroloman. However, Jeroloman did draw a walk to put the "BJBB Meter" at 56. Mayorson led the way with three hits while Todd Donovan had two hits and two walks and scored four times. Gorneault and Cooper had two hits and a walk while Quintana had a homer and two walks. Darin Mastroianni stole a base and was also caught once so he's 28-for-33 in that department at AA.
Dunedin, FL - Rehabbing Scott Downs got the start in this one and he was pretty rusty against the Brewers affiliate. The veteran lefty gave up two singles and a Tyler Pastornicky boot at short loaded up the bases. A sac fly would produce the first run of the game and despite Eric Farris stealing his 60th base of the year and Downs hitting the next batter, Dunedin limited the damage to just the one run. Fellow lefty Charles Huggins came in to get the first two batters he faced to end the frame.
A Sean Shoffit homer in the third would tie the game for Dunedin but Brevard County pushed ahead with a single run in the fourth off Huggins with a single, a sac bunt and a double. After that, Huggins allowed only a walk as he set down nine of the last 10 men faced. Matt Daly gave up a single, a double and a walk but managed to escape a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and lefty Boomer Potts worked a clean ninth with a strikeout and two ground outs.
However, the Dunedin bats couldn't save Huggins from getting the loss. They squandered a second-and-third, two-out situation in the fourth and had two singles and a walk in the ninth but a ground ball double play diffused that rally. Pastornicky and Manny Rodriguez had two hits apiece. Adam Loewen had a hit and a walk and Matt Liuzza drew a pair of free passes.
Lansing, MI - The Lugnuts scored first in the first inning as Johermyn Chavez singled home a leadoff walk by Chris Emanuele. Chase Lirette set down the first six Loons in a row but the Dodgers affiliate got a solo homer in the third and a two-run shot in the fifth to grab a 3-1 lead. Lirette gave up three runs in five frames on four hits while striking out three and not walking a man.
Dustin Antolin took over for Lirette and worked two scoreless innings while only giving up a pair of singles. Lansing rallied to tie the game as Kenneth Wilson singled home a run and Emanuele got the other run across with an RBI ground out. The rally could have been bigger had Chris House not been thrown out at third for the first out of the inning. However, that became academic in the eighth when Mark Sobolewksi drew a leadoff walk and scored on a Chavez home run. Lefty Frank Gailey got the win when he relieved Antolin to get the final five outs of the contest. He allowed just one walk while punching out two.
Chavez was a perfect 4-for-4 at the dish and Sobolewski was the other Lugnut with at least two hits. Balbino Fuenmayor had a hit and a walk but his plate discipline remains wanting with a K-BB total of 100-7!
Auburn Doubledays - Scheduled Day Off - All Star Break
New York-Penn League All-Star Game - A.L. All Stars 4 N.L. All Stars 2
State College, PA - Auburn's Welinton Ramirez hit a solo homer and struck out twice while Sean Ochinko was 0-for-2. D-Days lefty Egan Smith gave up a solo homer in his one inning of work but did strike out a batter.
Gulf Coast League Blue Jays 5 Gulf Coast League Pirates 2
Bradenton, FL - The G-Jays took a quick 1-0 lead when Gustavo Pierre led off the game with a double and Eric Thames eventually brought him home with a sacrifice fly. Jack Murphy then hit a big fly in the second to make it 2-0 for the good guys. Matt Fields was outstanding in the early going as he retired the first 10 men he faced before being nicked for a run on back-to-back doubles in the fifth. Still, Fields gave up just one run on three hits and struck out a half-dozen over five innings to lower his ERA to 1.08.
However, Fields' hopes for a win were dashed when the Bucs got to lefty Tyler Ybarra for a double and a single in the sixth to even things up at 2-2. The Jays retook the lead in the seventh when Pierre singled home an Oliver Dominguez double. Dominguez would provide some insurance with a two-run double in the ninth.
Ybarra worked a scoreless seventh despite plunking a man and lefty Aaron "Loop De" Loup preserved Ybarra's win with a two-inning save. Loup surrendered a double and a single but that was offset with a trio of K's.
Pierre, Murphy and Dominguez combined for all of the G-Jays eight hits with Dominguez being "the slacker" with just two. Murphy had a double to go along with his homer while Pierre had a triple and double. Nick Zaleski chipped in with the team's only walk while Bryson Namba added a stolen base.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Matt Fields, GCL Blue Jays
2. Todd Donovan, New Hampshire
1. Johermyn Chavez, Lansing
Honourable Mentions - Buck Coats, Kevin Howard, Nick Gorneault, David Cooper, Al Quintana, Wil Ledezma, Tim Collins, Jack Murphy, Gustavo Pierre, Oliver Dominguez.
Extra Innings........
* The Las Vegas Sun has a feature on Bubbie Buzachero and compares the Dodgers former AAA digs with their current one.
* The New Hampshire Union Leader runs down the Fisher Cats latest roster moves and a game story of their win over Connecticut.
* Baseball America ranks the Lansing Lugnuts in a less than good way.
