Las Vegas 3 @ Sacramento 6 – Boxscore
Despite outhitting Sacramento, Las Vegas lost to the River Cats and their veterans on the mound. A couple of familiar names pitched for Sacramento, as Brett Tomko got the start and turned in a solid effort, allowing 2 runs over 6 innings. After he turned the ball over to Fernando Hernandez for a pair, John Halama surrendered a run in the 9th. As refreshing as it is to see veterans still playing in the minos, the 51s will probably walk away thinking they should scored more than 3 runs on 11 hits. Manny Mayorson and Jonathan Diaz each went 2-for-5 with a run scored and Mayorson hit a pair of doubles. Mike Jacobs went 1-for-4 with an RBI on a sacricie fly and Jason Lane went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Chris Lubanski was held hitless, while Aaron Mathews added a multi-hit game. Dan Perales and Brad Emaus each added a sigle in 4 at-bats.
Brad Mills continued his recent struggles, surrendering 6 runs over 5.1 innings. He gave up 8 hits and walked 3. Mills’ ERA now stands at 4.99. Willie Collazo pitched 2.2 scoreless innings to finish the game.
Harrisburg 2 @ New Hampshire 1 - Boxscore
The game was tied 1 apiece after 2 innings and stood that way through 8 innings. BJ LaMura didn’t allow an earned run over 6 innings, although it was his error on a pickoff that allowed the Senators’ first run to score. He struck out 5, while only walking one. Tanner Roark was nearly as good for Harrisburg, as he allowed only one run over 6.1 innings. A couple of relievers got through the next 1.2 innings for the Senators while Vincent Bongiovanni kept the Harrisburg hitters in check. Bongiovanni came back out for the 9th and he allowed a run during his third inning of walk. Harrisburg then turned to Cole Kimball, who picked up his 11th save to preserve the victory.
New Hampshire only managed five hits off Senators pitchers, although the team did draw four free passes. David Cooper was the only player with a multi-hit game, as he went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Darin Mastroianni and new free agent signing Ricardo Nanita added singles, while Matt Liuzza wrapped out a double. Mastroianni, Liuzza, Adam Loewen and Luis Sanchez drew the walks for the Fisher Cats. Adeiny Hechavarria was held hitless in 4 at-bats.
Dunedin 1 @ Lakeland 2 (17 innings) – Boxscore
This game was scoreless after 5 innings. And after 9. And after 12. And after 15. The 16th inning also ended scoreless. Dunedin broke through with a run in the top of the 17th inning and only had to retire 3 more batters, after retiring 48 throughout the game without a run scoring. But, this task proved too much for the bullpen and the Flying Tigers scored 2 runs to end a marathon that lasted 4 and a half hours in front of a lucky 649 fans who came an inning short of getting two games for the price of one.
Dunedin used 7 pitchers during the game. Chad Jenkins began and left after 5 innings. It’s safe to say the coaching staff didn’t imagine that he would leave before one-third of the game was completed. Jenkins had bouts of wildness, walking four, but he only allowed 3 hits and struck out 3. Henderson Alvarez came out of the bullpen for 2 innings and struck out a batter.
Jenkins and Alvarez combined to pitch the first 7 frames and Frank Gailey and Ross Buckwalter combined for the next 7, taking the game through 14 innings scoreless. Gailey threw 3 hitless innings, striking out 2. Buckwalter pitched 4 innings of one-hit ball, striking out four and walking a batter.
Daniel DeLucia had the roughest inning for a Dunedin pitcher to that point in the 15th, allowing two hits and a walk, but he struck out a pair. Jon Talley pitched the 16th and turned the ball over Matt Daly, bound for the Arizona Fall League, came in to protect the lead. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hold on to the monumental victory for Dunedin. He retired two batters, but allowed a walk and three hits, which led to a pair of runs and a walk-off victory for Lakeland. Daly had runners on first and second with none in when he struck out a batter for the second out of the frame, but a pair of singles each scored a run and ended the 17 inning affair.
It was not a game to remember for many Dunedin batters, as the team totaled 4 hits over 17 innings. Many D-Jays probably lost nearly 10 points on their batting average last night. Dunedin had runners reach in the 4th and 5th on fielding errors by Lakeland. Brian Van Kirk walked in the 7th and Justin Jackson drew a free pass in the 9th inning, but Dunedin did not notch a hit through the first 9 innings.
Van Kirk drew a walk to begin the 10th and Kenny Wilson walked to begin the next inning, but the D-Jays were obviously unable to cash either of the runners. Dunedin didn’t have a runner reach in the next two innings and were still being no-hit after 13 innings. Justin Jackson broke this goose egg with a single in the 14th and Michael McDade also singled during the inning, but Welinton Ramirez was retired with two on and two out.
Ramirez came up with two runners on and none out in the 17th after Moises Sierra singled and McDade walked. Ramirez sacrificed the runners and Mark Sobolewski was intentionally walked to load the bases. Kevin Ahrens singled and each runner moved up a base, but Ryan Goins and Wilson both struck out with the bases full.
There were some ugly lines up and down the Dunedin lineup. Sobolewski, Goins and Wilson combined to go 0-for-18. Ahrens and Sierra were each 1-for-7 and AJ Jimenez was 0-for-5 before he was spelled by Yan Gomes, who went 0-for-2 himself. Jackson and McDade were each 0-for-6 and Van Kirk and Ramirez were each 0-for-2.
West Michigan 1 @ Lansing 3 – Boxscore
Balbino Fuenmayor was the star of the Lansing attack last night, scoring a run and driving home the team’s other two runs. Fuenmayor was 3-for-4 with a double. He was the hitting star of the night on the farm, but it was a day dominated by pitching. Oliver Dominguez and Jonathan Del Campo, the Lugnuts 1 and 2 hitters, each had a double, with Del Campo also drawing a walk and Dominguez driving home Fuenmayor. Sean Ochinko and Bradley Glenn were each held hitless, but they scored the team’s other two runs. Ochinko drew a pair of free passes. Michael Crouse had a single and a base on balls, while Randy Schwartz also singled and Eric Eiland also walked.
Drew Hutchison’s strong performance in Lansing continues. With today’s victory, his record only stands at 1-2, but Hutchison’s ERA sits at 1.52 through 5 starts and 23.2 innings. With 7 strikeouts today, Hutchison has now struck out 19 over that period. He gave up a pair of hits and a pair of walks over 5 innings against West Michigan today. Casey Lawrence picked up the rare 4 inning save. He allowed an earned run on 4 hits, while retiring two batters on strikes.
Auburn 1 @ State College 0 – Boxscore
As the time winds down with Toronto’s affiliation with Auburn, the Doubledays won a nailbiter with State College in the team’s fifth-last game of the year. The Doubledays scored in the second when Yudelmis Hernandez drove in Stephen McQuail. Matt Johnson and Gustavo Pierre added singles for Auburn, who only had four hits during the game. Carlos Perez added two walks, but among the Doubledays held hitless were Marcus Brisker and Lance Durham.
It was a team effort on the mound for Auburn, as four pitchers combined for a shutout of the Spikes. Sean Nolin started and struggled with his control, walking 3 batters over 3 innings. However, Nolin struck out four and only allowed one hit and escaped his wildness unscathed. Brandon Berl came next and struck out 3 over 3 innings. Berl allowed a walk and a hit. Old friend Sean Shoffit continued his transition to the mound with 2 hitless innings. Drew Permision picked up his 7th save despite allowing two walks in the 9th.
In a related note, one of my favourite non-Toronto prospects in the minors, Rinku Singh, was promoted a couple of days ago from Pittsburgh’s GCL affiliate to State College. The southpaw is in the bullpen and has yet to appear for the Spikes.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – BJ LaMura, 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
2nd Star – Drew Hutchison, 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
1st Star – Frank Gailey and Ross Buckwalter, 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
