The teams whose cities begin with "L" get the "W's" Tuesday night. Go figure! The 51's get the big inning twice, the Lugnuts are on the right side of a split against their Tigers counterparts and a strange injury in Auburn sidelines the Doubledays best hitter in a 2-4 night for the affiliates.
Salt Lake City, UT - The 51's went all haywire and gave the Bees the buzz to the tune of five runs in the fourth inning. J.P. Arencibia took Bees starter Brad Knox to the school of hard knocks by clubbing a two-run homer to score a Brian Dopirak single. Kevin Howard then doubled home an Aaron Matthews double and Kyle Phillips belted a two-run dong to give Vegas a 5-1 lead.
David Purcey gave up the game's first run in the second inning on two walks and a single but he struck out the last two hitters to end the threat. The big lefty gave up another run in the fifth on two singles, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly and allowed another run in the sixth on a walk and a double after getting the first two men out. Sean Stidfole was able to get the final out of the frame without any further damage.
Kyle Phillips connected for his second homer of the game to give Vegas a 6-3 advantage in the seventh but the Bees just wouldn't buzz off. A double and two singles led to Salt Lake's fourth run and Stidfole's exit. Bubbie Buzachero got all three outs in the seventh but not before he allowed a run to score on a walk and a sac fly. Salt Lake would tie it in the seventh off Buzachero when Chris Pettit tripled and came in to score on a Howie Clark throwing error from second.
The 51's offence bailed out Buzachero with another five-run inning in the ninth. The big blow was Buck Coats' bases-loaded double to give the good guys a 9-6 lead. "Mighty/Voodoo" Joe "King of" Inglett capped off the scoring by going deep to score Bucky Badger. That would be a better nickname for Coats if he was from Wisconsin but he's from Fort Benning, Georgia. Oh well! Lefty Bill Murphy finished up the game without incident in the ninth by striking out the final batter.
Purcey allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings on five hits and three walks but he did strike out five. He threw 110 pitches and threw 66 of them for strikes and his ground out/fly out total was 3-11. Every Vegas starter at the plate got on base at least once with Inglett getting three hits, Phillips had two homers and Dopirak put two in the hit column.
Manchester, NH - Did the Fisher Cats have a chance in this one when they had to face Howie Mandel, Erik Estrada and Buck Martinez? Actually, it was Jeff, Jesse and Carlos respectively but they held New Hampshire to four hits, four walks and a hit batter. Lefty Luis Perez gave up just one single in the first two innings but he ran into a bases-loaded jam in the third on a walk, a single and a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt by catcher Brian Jeroloman. Though Scott Campbell cut down a runner at the plate from third base, Campbell could not make it two in a row on the next play as he had to settle for the out at first for the game's first run. The Nationals affiliate tacked on two more runs in the fourth when Luke Montz took Perez deep for a two-run shot that scored a Chris Marrero walk.
New Hampshire scored their lone run in the half of the fourth when Nick Gorneault singled, went to second on a Darin Mastroianni bunt and was singled home by Jeroloman. Jonathan Diaz reached on a throwing error at third and Todd Donovan drew a walk to load up the bases but Campbell grounded out to end the inning.
The Senators put together a two-out rally in the seventh for the game's final run. Perez was pulled after walking Freddie Bynum and in came sidearmer Leon Boyd. Bynum was able to run wild by stealing second and third base before scoring on a single. Boyd saw that runner steal second by snaring a liner to the mound to end the inning. He issued a leadoff walk in the eighth but got a double play ball to erase the runner. Lefty Tim Collins went a perfect 1 1/3 innings and struck out two.
Perez lasted 6 2/3 innings and gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks while uncorking a wild pitch. However, 13 of his 18 outs in play were recorded on the ground. David Cooper and Brad Emaus were the only Fisher Cats to get on base twice as Cooper had a hit and a walk while Emaus doubled and took one for the team.
Dunedin, FL - Moises Sierra put the D-Jays in flight with a sac fly to score a Brad McElroy leadoff walk in the first. The Yankees fought back with single runs against Bobby Bell in the second and third but Dunedin regained the lead when Jonathan Jaspe singled home a run with the bases loaded and Kevin Ahrens followed with an RBI groundout. Tampa tied it in the sixth when Bell got into a bases-loaded jam. Tyler Pastornicky threw out a runner at the plate from short but the Yankees did get the tying run across with a run-scoring fly ball. Dunedin took the lead again when Jaspe connected for a solo homer to give them a 4-3 lead.
Daniel DeLucia went through a pretty wild eighth inning as an error by Pastornicky, a walk and an intentional walk loaded up the bases before a 1-2-3 double play got the lefty out of the inning. Alan Farina wasn't as lucky in the ninth when he issued a leadoff walk and surrendered the tying run on a double. A two-base throwing error by Sierra in right led to the go-ahead run and Austin Romine chased Farina from the game with a two-run bomb. Lefty Boomer Potts got the final out of the inning. The D-Jays went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.
Bell lasted seven innings and gave up three runs on eight hits and no walks while striking out four. He did throw a pair of wild pitches and his ground out/fly out total was 8-7. Jaspe had the lone two-hit game for Dunedin while McElroy had a hit and a walk.
Lansing, MI - This game was scoreless after three innings as West Michigan was unable to convert a double, a wild pitch and two walks against Chad Beck in the third. In the fourth, the Tigers affiliate did break through for the game's first run with a single and a double. A Billy Nowlin homer in the sixth gave the Whitecaps a 2-0 lead after six. Ryan Koch relieved Beck and worked a clean seventh and that's when the Lugnuts went nuts at the plate. Justin McClanahan doubled and scampered all the way home after an A.J. Jimenez bunt single and a throwing error at second. Chris Emanuele doubled home Jimenez and a Kenneth Wilson single to put the Lugnuts ahead 3-2 but he was cut down at third to kill the rally. Koch worked a one-hit eighth and was in line for the win when he gave the ball to Yorman Mayora for the ninth. However, the ball then went over the fence as Luis Salas homered to tie the game at 3-3.
The Lugnuts were able to pull it out in the bottom of the ninth when Ryan Goins doubled home a Jimenez leadoff walk to make a winner of Mayora. Beck yielded two runs on six hits and four walks over six innings and uncorked a wild pitch. Just six of his 16 outs in play were on the ground. Emanuele had three hits and stole his 20th base of the season. McClanahan and Welinton Ramirez had two hits apiece and they combined for three stolen bases with Ramirez getting two of them. Jimenez had a hit and a walk and Johermyn Chavez stole a base as Lansing was 5-for-5 in the stolen base department.
Auburn, NY - It was not a good night for Scott Gracey and the Doubledays against the Phillies affiliate. Sebastien Valle hit a two-run poke off Gracey in the first to give the Crosscutters a quick 2-0 lead. The D-Days got one run back in their half of the first when Sean Ochinko singled home a Chris Hopkins double. However, Ochinko had to leave the game when an errant pickoff throw from the pitcher hit him in the head. Karim Turkamani had to take over on the basepaths and behind the plate. Gracey gave up just one hit over the next two innings but he was burned again in the fourth by another two-run long ball by Valle to make it 4-1 Williamsport.
Josh Wells relieved Gracey in the sixth and worked a one-walk frame but he was nicked for a pair of runs in the seventh as a single, a walk, a double steal and a double did the damage. Wells gave up a two-out single in the eighth before lefty Evan Teague came out of the pen. Teague gave up a single and saw another runner get aboard on an error at short by Jimmy Gonzalez. However, Anthony Hewitt got himself tagged out at third on a 3-5 putout to end the inning. Teague worked a clean ninth to give the D-Days a chance to rally. The best they could do a was a Lance Durham RBI single to score a Yan Gomes base knock.
Gracey gave up four runs on six hits but did average a strikeout an inning over five frames. Five of his nine outs in play were worm killers but his record falls to 1-8 on the season. Gomes, Durham and Brad Glenn had two-hit games for Auburn and Glenn also earned an assist by throwing out a runner at second. Also of note, Kevin Nolan was ejected by the home plate umpire after he was called out on strikes. Williamsport wound up striking out the side in the frame. Nolan was replaced by Gonzalez at short.
Dunedin, FL - Dennis Tepera delivered four shutout innings in his outing. He set down the side in order in the second and fourth but had to pitch his way out of trouble in the first and third. He hit a batter in the first and allowed him to steal second before getting out of that jam and stranded runners at second and third in the third after two singles and a wild pitch.
Ross Buckwalter relieved Tepera in the fifth and he gave up the lone run of the game on two singles and a productive ground ball out in between. Lefty Leandro Mella struck out two in a one-hit sixth but a single, two wild pitches and a walk led to his exit with two outs in the sixth. Despite allowing a stolen base, Felix Moreno got the final out of the frame without any runs scoring. Moreno had an interesting eighth when he allowed two singles but he threw out a runner at third on a bunt attempt and got the next two men to keep the Tigers from scoring. Shawn Griffith struck out one in a perfect ninth.
The G-Jays best chance to score was in the third when they loaded up the bases with one out but neither Jon Del Campo or Eric Thames could make contact as they both struck out. Thames did single in the ninth but Nick Zaleski hit into a game-ending double play. Thames, Gustavo Pierre, Michael Crouse and Gari Pena accounted for all the G-Jays hits, all singles, while Zaleski, Jack Murphy and Yudelmis Hernandez all drew walks.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Jonathan Jaspe, Dunedin
2. Chris Emanuele, Lansing
1. Kyle Phillips, Las Vegas
Honourable Mentions - Joe Inglett, Buck Coats, David Purcey, Luis Perez, David Cooper, Brad Emaus, Bobby Bell, Welinton Ramirez, Justin McClanahan, Chad Beck, Dennis Tepera.
Extra Innings......
* The New Hampshire Union Leader speaks with Nick Gorneault and has the game story on Tuesday's loss to Harrisburg.
* The Auburn Citizen has the game story on Tuesday's loss to Williamsport.
* Baseball America updates the transactions column.
