If you read the headline into a microphone, remember to pop those "P's". Program directors at radio stations just love that! Anyways, as you may have gathered, the bats were working just fine for the visitors in Portlands Maine and Oregon Tuesday night in a 5-3 night for the affiliates. The number two and three stars of the night had big nights at the plate but they were overshadowed by a great pitching performance and he earned star number one. All this and a bag of chips (except for the bag of chips part) in today's edition of the MLU!
Portland, OR - The 51's scored two runs in each of the third and fourth innings but they sent the Beavers fans to the exits with a six-run seventh. Portland scored in the sixth so you can imagine how crushing that next inning was to their comeback hopes.
Batting - J.P. Arencibia, Brad Emaus, Aaron Matthews, Raul Chavez (the DH!) and Dan Perales all had two hit nights. Of that group, only Perales did not record an extra-base hit. Arencibia launched his 22nd dinger of the year, Emaus had a triple and Matthews and Chavez both had two-baggers. Mike McCoy had a single, a walk and an RBI, Brian Dopirak doubled and walked and Manny Mayorson had a pinch-hit single when he hit for McCoy. Jarrett Hoffpauir was hitless but he walked and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Adam Calderone drew a walk and was hit by a pitch so every 51's batter got aboard at least once.
Running - Emaus stole his fourth base of the year.
Pitching - Lefty Brad "General" Mills was in command by allowing an unearned run on two hits and a walk over six innings. He dialed up 6-6-6 in terms of K's, groundouts and flyouts so he must have seemed like Satan to the Padre wannabes! More impressively, Mills threw strikes as 54 of his 69 pitches were not called balls. Bubbie Buzachero allowed just one hit in a scoreless seventh and Lance Broadway scattered three hits over two shutout frames as he struck out one and induced five groundball outs.
Defence - Matthews had trouble fielding one in left field but Perales gunned down a runner at third.
Ejections - Former Padre shortstop Lance Zawadzki and manager Terry Kennedy were given the heave-ho by the home plate umpire in the seventh.
Portland, ME - New Hampshire grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first only to see the Red Sox affiliate respond with three runs in the home half of the inning. However, New Hampshire came back with four runs over the fifth and sixth innings and that held up after a two-run seventh by the Sea Dogs.
Batting - An .800 batting average in the boxscore tends to jump out at you. That's Travis Snider's BA after hammering out three doubles as part of a four-hit night that included an RBI and the obligatory whiff. Shawn Bowman had a huge night by belting a home run among his three hits to drive in four. He also took one for the team. Darin Mastroianni had two hits and Adam Loewen accounted for the other. Adeiny Hechavarria was 0-for-4 but one of his outs was productive as he came up with a sacrifice fly. Eric Thames and Jonathan Diaz drew a walk each but David Cooper failed to reach base in his four trips to the dish. Time now for the BJBBM update. Brian Jeroloman drew not one, not two but three walks to push his season total to 56! Good times!
Running - If three doubles weren't enough, Snider also added a stolen base for good measure. Bowman was picked off at first.
Pitching - B.J. LaMura met the quality start guidelines by giving up three runs over six innings to get the win. He allowed just three hits, walked a man and hit another while striking out three. His groundout/flyout ratio was 3-11. Adrian Martin was credited with a hold but had a rough two-thirds of an inning by yielding two runs on three hits and a walk but his two outs were K's. Canadian Trystan Magnuson was simply nailing it as he pitched a perfect 2 1/3 innings while racking up three punchouts to pick up the save.
Defence - No errors but Portland did steal a base against the LaMura/Jeroloman pairing.
Dunedin 4 Lakeland 3 - Game 1 (7 Innings)
Lakeland, FL - The D-Jays grounded the Flying Tigers with four runs over the last two innings to erase a two-run deficit.
Batting - Leadoff man Tyler Pastornicky set the tone with three hits and two runs batted in. John Tolisano and Justin McClanahan got on base twice with a hit and a walk. Mark Sobolewski, Brian Van Kirk and Welinton Ramirez also increased their hit totals by one. Travis d'Arnaud had an 0-for-4 day at the plate but did drive in a run and scored one as well. Michael McDade and Jonathan Del Campo each wore the collar sized 0-for-3.
Running - Pastornicky was nailed for trying to steal for the seventh time this year.
Pitching - Henderson Alvarez got through the first three innings in good shape but the final line resulted in three runs over 4 2/3 innings thanks to eight hits and two walks. He struck out four and four of his 10 outs in play were on terra firma. Lefty Frank Gailey earned the win by stranding two of Alvarez's runners by retiring the only man he faced on a groundout. Matt Daly navigated around one hit and three walks over two shutout innings and struck out a pair to earn the save.
Defence - The F-Tigers stole two bases against the Alvarez-d'Arnaud tandem but Daly did pick off a runner at first. Pastronicky started a 6-4-3 double play with the "M.C. Boys", McClanahan and McDade.
Dunedin 6 Lakeland 1 - Game 2 (7 Innings)
Lakeland, FL - How sweep it is! The D-Jays didn't let a Lakeland run in the first get them down as they responded with a four-spot in the third and a deuce in the fifth.
Batting - The 3-4-5 hitters did the damage with John Tolisano, Michael McDade and Mark Sobolewski collecting two hits apiece. Tolisano completed the difficult half of the cycle with a homer and a triple to drive in two runs, Sobolewski had a double and an RBI and McDade also reached after being hit by a pitch. Tyler Pastornicky got aboard twice with a double, a walk and a ribbie and Justin McClanahan had a hit and a hit by pitch. Welinton Ramirez had a hit and an RBI, Brian Van Kirk had a walk and a sac fly and Jon Talley saw the home plate ump to call ball four once and took one for the team. That's three HBP's, folks!! Brad McElroy was the only D-Jay not to reach base as he went 0-for-4.
Running - McClanahan stole a base and was caught once while McDade was thrown out at first by the center fielder.
Pitching - Joel Carreno spread out eight hits, two walks and a hit batsman to allow just one run in a complete game effort. He struck out a half a dozen and seven of his 13 outs in play were allergic to high altitudes.
Defence - Lakeland was 2-for-2 in stolen base attempts but Pastornicky and Tolisano completed a 6-4 twin-killing.
Lansing, MI - The Captains outranked the Lugnuts with a run in the ninth after the Lugnuts came back from a 3-1 shortfall with two runs in the seventh.
Batting - Chris Hopkins had two hits, a walk and two runs batted in while Eric Eiland, Karim Turkamani and Ryan Schimpf also joined the two-hit club. Kevin Ahrens had a hit and an RBI while Justin Jackson also had a safety. Kenny Wilson, Kevin Nolan and Randy Schwartz were a combined 0-for-12 with Nolan drawing a walk.
Running - Hopkins nabbed his 12th stolen base of 2010.
Pitching - Ryan Tepera gave up three runs over five innings on four hits and three walks while striking out three. The Indians affiliate got to Nestor Molina for a run on one hit and a walk but he did strike out four and got three groundball outs over his three innings of work. Brian Slover took the loss after giving up a run on two hits and a walk along with one strikeout over his one inning of work. Both Molina and Slover threw one away from the catcher.
Defence - Turkamani was 1-for-3 in throwing out runners trying to steal.
Staten Island 6 Auburn 5 - 10 Innings
Auburn, NY - The Doubledays rallied from a 5-1 deficit with four runs in the final two innings of regulation only to see the Yankees affiliate pull it out in extras.
Batting - Lance Durham had no hits but still got on base three times by getting ball four and Yeico Aponte reached three times with two hits and walk. Carlos Perez also had a two-hit night, Steve McQuail had a double and a walk but it was Joe Bowen who scored the biggest hit of the game with a three-run homer. Andy Fermin had the other hit for the Doubledays. Oliver Dominguez was 0-for-5 and Gustavo Pierre was 0-for-3 but they each drove in a run with Pierre getting his on a sacrifice fly. The D-Days had trouble making contact as they struck out 11 times, Dominguez was the leader with three.
Running - Perez was picked off at first. However, two pinch-runners came around to score in Jonathan Fernandez and Matthew Nuzzo.
Pitching - Sam Strickland surrendered three runs over five innings in which he yielded four hits, including a homer, and two walks. He struck out a batter and five of his 14 outs in play were on the rough. Zach Outman allowed seven baserunners in two innings on five walks and two hits and gave up two runs in the process. He struck out two but also threw one to the backstop. Brandon Berl took the loss on an unearned run on three hits over 2 2/3 innings but his K-BB mark was 2-0. Drew Permison could not strand a runner for Berl as he gave up a hit and struck one out in his one-third inning of work.
Defence - Staten Island was successful in their lone base stealing attempt off the Outman-Bowen battery. Bowen made a throwing error and Aponte kicked one around in right field that led to a three-base clank in the tenth with two outs and that led to the winning run. Fermin also turned an a double play unassisted.
GCL Braves 3 GCL Blue Jays 1 - Game 1 (7 Innings)
Kissimmee, FL - A two-run fourth for the Braves was the difference after both teams traded single runs in the fifth.
Batting - Jake Marisnick was the on-base leader for the G-Jays with an RBI single and two hit by pitches in his three plate appearances. He was the only one to reach base more than once. Ronald Melendez and Carlos Ramirez had doubles while Daniel Arcila, Pierce Rankin, Chris Hawkins and Gari Pena had singles. K.C. Hobson and Bryson Namba each wore the collar by going 0-for-6 combined. No Jay drew a walk but they only struck out four times.
Running - Hawkins stole his first professional base while Rankin was nailed at third after trying to advance from first on Ramirez's double in the second inning.
Pitching - Deivy Estrada took the loss after giving up three runs (two earned) in 4 1/3 innings in which he gave up five hits, two walks and hit a batter. He gave up a homer, only struck out one and just two of his 10 outs in play were on the ground. Milciades Santana allowed an inherited runner to score but did strand two others in two-thirds of an inning in which he issued just one walk. Matthew Morgal walked one in his scoreless inning of work that included a pair of groundball outs.
Defence - The left side of the field was not kind to the pitchers as Hawkins and Pena each booted one at third and short while Melendez mishandled one in left field. On the positive side, Rankin threw out a runner at second from behind the plate.
GCL Blue Jays 3 GCL Braves 0 - Game 2 (7 Innings)
Dunedin, FL - The home cooking proved to be tasty for the home side. The G-Jays scored once in the second and added two insurance runs in the fourth.
Batting - After being held hitless in Game 1, K.C. Hobson and Bryson Namba supplied 75 percent of the hit total in Game 2. Hobson was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored while Namba hit a two-run homer. The only other hit for the Jays came from Jonnathan Valdez as he collected an RBI double. Carlos Ramirez, Gari Pena, Jake Marisnick, Cody Lassley, Matt Abraham and Melvin Garcia were a combined 0-for-14 with Garcia drawing the lone walk.
Running - Garcia was thrown out trying to steal.
Pitching - Tyler "Hosken" Powell threw five shutout innings while allowing just five hits and a walk. He struck out four, threw a wild pitch and all eight of his outs in play were in the air. After a career batting mark of .240 in the Jays system, Sean Shoffit made his pro debut on the mound where he struck out two and induced a groundball out in a perfect frame. Bryan Longpre earned the save by allowing just one hit in a scoreless inning. He had a K and two groundouts.
Defence - Garcia had a fielding error in left but made up for his transgression by throwing out a runner at third.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Shawn Bowman, New Hampshire
2. Travis Snider, New Hampshire
1. Brad Mills, Las Vegas
