New Hampshire 0 @ Trenton 2 – Boxscore
It was a good pitching matchup in the opener of the series between the Jays and Yankees affiliates in Double-A. Kyle Drabek, leader of the Eastern League in wins and centerpiece of the Roy Halladay trade, faced off against Dellin Betances, highly-touted Yankees draft pick. Neither pitcher disappointed, as they combined for 11.1 innings of one-run ball. Drabek went 6 innings, striking out five and walking a pair. He allowed one run on three hits. Betances struck out 8 over 5.1 innings. He didn’t allow a run on a walk and two hits.
The Fisher Cats started out well, as Darin Mastroianni singled to leadoff the game and stole second after Adeiny Hechavarria struck out. However, neither Eric Thames nor Shawn Bowman could bring him home. After a 1-2-3 inning, David Cooper singled to being the second and promptly advanced to second when Betances threw away a pickoff attempt. However, a pair of Adams – Calderone and Loewen – struck out and although Cooper advanced to third on a passed ball, Matt Liuzza wasn’t able to bring him home. New Hampshire continued to get runners on base, as after another 1-2-3 inning by Drabek, Jonathan Diaz reached and went to second on a throwing error. Mastroianni bunted him to third. Hechavarria reached on a fielder’s choice, although the runner wasn’t retired, but Thames and Bowman were unable to bring the run home again.
The teams flipped 1-2-3 innings and then Trenton scraped across a run in the bottom of the fourth, as Austin Krum walked, advanced to second on a ground out, stole third and then scored on a single. Liuzza picked a runner off first that inning to prevent further damage, but the Fisher Cats wasted another opportunity as they got the first two runners on in the fifth when Liuzza walked and Diaz reached on an error for the second time. Mastroianni delivered another sac bunt, but Hechavarria struck out looking and Thames flew out.
New Hampshire was not able to do much when Trenton’s bullpen entered the game and in the bottom of the seventh Rene Rivera hit a solo homer of Trystan Magnuson to double the Thunder’s lead. Magnuson registered two strikeouts in his frame. Hechavarria singled to begin the eighth, but after a strike out and a line out, he was still there. Cooper walked to bring up Calderone with a runner in scoring position, but JB Cox struck him out to end the danger. Danny Farquhar had a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout to keep the Fisher Cats within two. Adam Loewen singled to begin the ninth and after Liuzza struck out, Ricardo Nanita hit for Diaz and singled Loewen to third. With the tying run on first and one out, Mastroianni hit the ball on the nose, but straight to the third baseman, who caught it and promptly doubled Loewen off third to end the game.
Tampa 7 @ Dunedin 0 – Boxscore
Dunedin’s bats stayed in the team’s lockers as they suffered a shutout loss to the Tampa Yankees. Joel Carreno started and only went 2.1 innings. Carreno struck out three, but surrendered a run on 5 hits and also threw two wild pitches. He turned the ball over to Frank Gailey, who struck out a batter every time he retired an out. Unfortunately, he didn’t retire those outs before allowing runs. Gailey also gave up 5 hits, but four runs came around to score on his watch. Gailey struck out four over 1.1 innings. Evan Crawford retired the only batter he faced and stranded one of Gailey’s runners on base. Nestor Molina and Daniel DeLucia combined for 4 shutout innings of relief. Molina gave up four hits over 2.2 frames, while DeLucia didn’t allow a baserunner. Ross Buckwalter gave up two runs on a pair of hits and a pair of walks in the top of the ninth.
Dunedin only managed five hits off four Tampa pitchers. Ryan Schimpf went 1-for-3 with a walk, but Ryan Goins and Brian Van Kirk, who followed him, were both held hitless. Mike McDade reached base three times by going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Jon Talley was 1-for-4, while Mark Sobolewski and Kenny Wilson were each 1-for-3, with Sobolewski knocking a double for the team’s only extra-base hit. Yan Gomes and Moises Sierra were also held without a hit.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Michael McDade, 1-2, 2 BB, 1 TB
2nd Star – David Cooper, 2-3, BB, 2 TB
1st Star – Kyle Drabek, 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
