The affiliates won three out of seven Monday night. Buffalo and Lansing took a step back in their playoff drives while Vancouver took a step forward. Bluefield's playoff hopes are dashed. Dunedin nearly gave one away but hung on while the boys on the Gulf Coast got a win on the road.
Pawtucket 6 Buffalo 3
Buffalo, NY - The Bisons now trail the Paw Sox by a full game in the International League wild card race. The Red Sox affiliate mauled Brad Mills (1-1) for four runs in five innings on six hits and a walk. His strikeout and groundout totals were five. Rob Rasmussen was responsible for the other two runs over 1.2 innings on one hit and a walk. The unearned run was the result of a George Kottaras passed ball. Kyle Drabek retired just one hitter while giving up a hit and a walk and allowing two inherited runners to score. Colt Hynes worked two perfect innings to finish up.
Jonathan Diaz scored a little league home run with a triple and an error by the second baseman in the sixth inning. That was followed by Brett Wallace singling home Dalton Pompey, who walked and stole second base. Wallace had two hits while Kottaras and Ryan Schimpf accounted for the other base raps. Kottaras, Diaz and Cole Gillespie all heard ball four once with Gillespie getting his in a pinch-hitting role. Anthony Gose, Kevin Pillar, Matt Hague and Dan Johnson were all 0-for-4.
Harrisburg 5 New Hampshire 3
Manchester, NH - P.J. Walters (2-2) was punked for five runs but only one of them was earned in seven innings. Errors by Jorge Flores at second and Kevin Nolan at shortstop helped grease the skids for Walters, who did give up a three-run homer among his seven hits and three walks. He collected six strikeouts and 10 groundouts. Justin Jackson pitched a two-hitter over two scoreless innings with two K's.
The Fisher Cats scored all three runs in the seventh inning. The first run came home on an error before Michael Crouse launched a two-run homer to make it a two-run game. Andy Burns and Gustavo Pierre had doubles. Flores, Jon Berti and Brad Glenn all put one in the hit column with Flores getting hit by a pitch.
Before this game, New Hampshire and Harrisburg completed a game that was started in Harrisburg July 27. Richard Bleier needed just three pitches to finish off a 9-7 victory over the Nationals affiliate in a 12-inning affair.
Dunedin 8 Daytona 7
Dunedin, FL - The Jays almost let a 7-1 lead slip away to the Cubs. Dwight Smith Jr. and Jorge Saez started Dunedin off with solo home runs in the first and third innings. Saez doubled home two more runs in the fourth and that was followed by a Christian Lopes RBI double. Kevin Patterson doubled home another run in the fifth and he scored on a Peter Mooney single. Lopes drove in what turned out to be the winning run with a single in the seventh. Smith Jr. had three hits - finishing a triple shy of the circle - and a stolen base. Saez had two walks to go with his two extra-base hits. Lopez and L.B. Dantzler rounded out the two-hit brigade with Dantzler adding a base on balls. Mitch Nay singled and walked and Emilio Guerrero doubled. Marcus Knecht was 0-for-5.
Miguel Castro (1-0) won his Dunedin debut by pitching 5.2 innings of two-run ball on three hits and three walks. He struck out three and racked up eight ground ball outs. Griffin Murphy stranded two runners for Castro by retiring the only hitter he faced in the sixth. However, he could not get any of the three hitters he faced in the seventh as he was charged with two runs on two hits and a walk. Danny Barnes had one of his two inherited runners come in to score and gave up one of his own on a hit, a walk and a hit by pitch in 1.1 innings to go along with 2 K's. Chad Girodo was also 1-for-2 in stranding runners and allowed a solo homer among two hits in 0.2 innings. Arik Sikula walked three and hit a batter but struck out the final batter to leave the bases loaded and pick up his 31st save.
Lake County 9 Lansing 7
Lansing, MI - The Lugnuts playoff hopes took a hit against the Indians affiliate, who scored three runs in the top of the 10th to win it. Roberto Espinosa (2-2) was rocked for four runs (three earned after a D.J. Davis error in center field) on five hits over 2.1 innings. He allowed an inherited run to score, walked two and struck out three. Jason Leblebijian, normally a position player, was summoned to get the final out of the 10th. Starter Matt Dermody was dinged for two unearned runs (after a Rowdy Tellez error at first ) in three innings on five hits and a walk but he whiffed four. Joe Lovecchio was jolted for two runs in 2.2 innings after stranding an inherited runner. He allowed four hits while walking two and striking out two. Jimmy Cordero coughed up a run on two hits and a walk with one K over one frame. He permitted one of his two inherited runners to score.
The Lugnuts used two long balls by Davis and Chris Schaeffer to sandwich a David Harris double to jump out to a 3-2 lead in the second inning. Tellez knocked one over the fence for his first Midwest League home run to make it 4-2 in the fourth. Down 6-4, Dawel Lugo singled home a run in the eighth before Chaz Frank sent the game into extra innings with an RBI single in the ninth. Dickie Joe Thon was a hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 10th but Frank grounded out to end the game. Tellez, Harris and Schaefer all had two-hit efforts with Harris stealing a base. Dawel Lugo doubled and walked while Davis added a base on balls to go along with his homer. Matt Dean doubled in five trips to the plate and Justin Atkinson had a single in his lone at-bat. Derrick Loveless and Ian Parmley had a walk and a stolen base while Frank also swiped a bag.
Vancouver 3 Eugene 1
Roemon Fields set the tone with his speed, scoring two of the three Vancouver runs and stealing three bases in Eugene Monday night.
Eugene, OR - The Canadians are back in a first-place tie with Tri-City after winning their series opener in Eugene. The C's took the lead with two runs in the first inning. Tim Locastro singled home Roemon Fields, who reached on an error and stole second. Locastro came in to score on a Ryan McBroom double. Fields and Locastro teamed up again in the ninth with Fields getting a two-out single, followed by a stolen base and an advance to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Fields would come home on a Locastro infield single. Locastro had a three-hit night and Fields had two, including a double. They each stole three bases with Fields up to 46 on the season and Locastro now at 29. McBroom had two hits while Franklin Barreto, Chris Carlson and Alexis Maldonado had one apiece. Richard Urena walked once in four plate appearances.
Jairo Labourt pitched six innings of one-run ball to lower his ERA to 1.90.
Jairo Labourt (5-3) limited the Padres affiliate to one run on five hits over six innings. His K-BB total was 5-0 and six of his 10 outs in play were on the ground. Andrew Case gave up two hits but had two K's over two scoreless frames. Phil Kish had a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save.
Greeneville 3 Bluefield 1
Greeneville, TN - Jesus Tinoco (1-9) blanked the Astros for the first four innings but an Aaron Attaway error in center field and a miscue by Tinoco himself saw the Astros score two unearned runs in the fifth. Tinoco went six innings and yielded just four hits and a walk while striking out four. Jordan Romano gave up the other run in two innings on two hits and a walk while getting one K.
Gabriel Cenas gave Bluefield a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first inning. Rolando Segovia had the only extra-base hit with a double. Angel Rojas and Josh Almonte singled and walked. Rojas stole a base and score the only run. Andres Sotillo had the other base hit. Lane Thomas was 0-for-4.
GCL Blue Jays 4 GCL Pirates 3
Bradenton, FL - The Blue Jays battled back from a 3-0 deficit with three runs in the fourth inning. Andres De Aza lifted a sacrifice fly to score the first run, an errant pickoff throw by the pitcher plated the second run and a Trey Pascazi lifted a pop fly single to second base to bring in the tying run. The winning run came in the seventh when Cliff Brantley tripled home a Javier Hernandez single. Pascazi had three of the Jays seven hits. Juan Kelly and Juan Tejada had the others. Nathan DeSouza had the lone walk.
Daniel Rodriguez was roughed up for three runs on seven hits over three innings but posted a 4-0 K-BB total. Francisco Rodriguez managed to get through 2.2 innings without a run charged to him despite a hit and six walks. He struck out three but needed Sean Ratcliffe (1-2) to bail him out of a bases-loaded situation. Ratcliffe went 2.1 innings of shutout ball with two hits and a walk. Francis Eduardo struck out two in a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
Monday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Tim Locastro, Vancouver - His stolen base and hit by pitch totals are at 29.
2. Jorge Saez, Dunedin - A .905 OPS and six extra-base hits in 56 at-bats for the month of August.
1. Dwight Smith Jr., Dunedin - 47 extra-base hits and 54 walks in 460 at-bats on the season.
3 Stars images from MiLB.com.
Tuesday's Schedule & Probable Starters
Matt Smoral gets the start for Vancouver as the Canadians play the second game of their five-game series Tuesday.
GCL Pirates @ GCL Blue Jays, 12:00 pm ET - TBA.
Pawtucket @ Buffalo, 6:05 pm ET - Daniel Norris (3-0, 1.08).
Daytona @ Dunedin, 6:30 pm ET - Roberto Osuna (0-2, 7.47).
Harrisburg @ New Hampshire, 6:35 pm ET - Scott Copeland (8-8, 3.74).
Bluefield @ Greeneville, 7:00 pm ET - Oscar Cabrera (2-1, 3.18)
Lake County @ Lansing, 7:05 pm ET - Jeremy Gabryszwski (6-5, 4.31).
Vancouver @ Eugene, 10:05 pm ET - Matt Smoral (1-0, 2.79).
Extra Innings...
Pawtucket 6 Buffalo 3
Buffalo, NY - The Bisons now trail the Paw Sox by a full game in the International League wild card race. The Red Sox affiliate mauled Brad Mills (1-1) for four runs in five innings on six hits and a walk. His strikeout and groundout totals were five. Rob Rasmussen was responsible for the other two runs over 1.2 innings on one hit and a walk. The unearned run was the result of a George Kottaras passed ball. Kyle Drabek retired just one hitter while giving up a hit and a walk and allowing two inherited runners to score. Colt Hynes worked two perfect innings to finish up.
Jonathan Diaz scored a little league home run with a triple and an error by the second baseman in the sixth inning. That was followed by Brett Wallace singling home Dalton Pompey, who walked and stole second base. Wallace had two hits while Kottaras and Ryan Schimpf accounted for the other base raps. Kottaras, Diaz and Cole Gillespie all heard ball four once with Gillespie getting his in a pinch-hitting role. Anthony Gose, Kevin Pillar, Matt Hague and Dan Johnson were all 0-for-4.
Harrisburg 5 New Hampshire 3
Manchester, NH - P.J. Walters (2-2) was punked for five runs but only one of them was earned in seven innings. Errors by Jorge Flores at second and Kevin Nolan at shortstop helped grease the skids for Walters, who did give up a three-run homer among his seven hits and three walks. He collected six strikeouts and 10 groundouts. Justin Jackson pitched a two-hitter over two scoreless innings with two K's.
The Fisher Cats scored all three runs in the seventh inning. The first run came home on an error before Michael Crouse launched a two-run homer to make it a two-run game. Andy Burns and Gustavo Pierre had doubles. Flores, Jon Berti and Brad Glenn all put one in the hit column with Flores getting hit by a pitch.
Before this game, New Hampshire and Harrisburg completed a game that was started in Harrisburg July 27. Richard Bleier needed just three pitches to finish off a 9-7 victory over the Nationals affiliate in a 12-inning affair.
Dunedin 8 Daytona 7
Dunedin, FL - The Jays almost let a 7-1 lead slip away to the Cubs. Dwight Smith Jr. and Jorge Saez started Dunedin off with solo home runs in the first and third innings. Saez doubled home two more runs in the fourth and that was followed by a Christian Lopes RBI double. Kevin Patterson doubled home another run in the fifth and he scored on a Peter Mooney single. Lopes drove in what turned out to be the winning run with a single in the seventh. Smith Jr. had three hits - finishing a triple shy of the circle - and a stolen base. Saez had two walks to go with his two extra-base hits. Lopez and L.B. Dantzler rounded out the two-hit brigade with Dantzler adding a base on balls. Mitch Nay singled and walked and Emilio Guerrero doubled. Marcus Knecht was 0-for-5.Miguel Castro (1-0) won his Dunedin debut by pitching 5.2 innings of two-run ball on three hits and three walks. He struck out three and racked up eight ground ball outs. Griffin Murphy stranded two runners for Castro by retiring the only hitter he faced in the sixth. However, he could not get any of the three hitters he faced in the seventh as he was charged with two runs on two hits and a walk. Danny Barnes had one of his two inherited runners come in to score and gave up one of his own on a hit, a walk and a hit by pitch in 1.1 innings to go along with 2 K's. Chad Girodo was also 1-for-2 in stranding runners and allowed a solo homer among two hits in 0.2 innings. Arik Sikula walked three and hit a batter but struck out the final batter to leave the bases loaded and pick up his 31st save.
Lake County 9 Lansing 7
Lansing, MI - The Lugnuts playoff hopes took a hit against the Indians affiliate, who scored three runs in the top of the 10th to win it. Roberto Espinosa (2-2) was rocked for four runs (three earned after a D.J. Davis error in center field) on five hits over 2.1 innings. He allowed an inherited run to score, walked two and struck out three. Jason Leblebijian, normally a position player, was summoned to get the final out of the 10th. Starter Matt Dermody was dinged for two unearned runs (after a Rowdy Tellez error at first ) in three innings on five hits and a walk but he whiffed four. Joe Lovecchio was jolted for two runs in 2.2 innings after stranding an inherited runner. He allowed four hits while walking two and striking out two. Jimmy Cordero coughed up a run on two hits and a walk with one K over one frame. He permitted one of his two inherited runners to score.
The Lugnuts used two long balls by Davis and Chris Schaeffer to sandwich a David Harris double to jump out to a 3-2 lead in the second inning. Tellez knocked one over the fence for his first Midwest League home run to make it 4-2 in the fourth. Down 6-4, Dawel Lugo singled home a run in the eighth before Chaz Frank sent the game into extra innings with an RBI single in the ninth. Dickie Joe Thon was a hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 10th but Frank grounded out to end the game. Tellez, Harris and Schaefer all had two-hit efforts with Harris stealing a base. Dawel Lugo doubled and walked while Davis added a base on balls to go along with his homer. Matt Dean doubled in five trips to the plate and Justin Atkinson had a single in his lone at-bat. Derrick Loveless and Ian Parmley had a walk and a stolen base while Frank also swiped a bag.
Vancouver 3 Eugene 1
Roemon Fields set the tone with his speed, scoring two of the three Vancouver runs and stealing three bases in Eugene Monday night.
Eugene, OR - The Canadians are back in a first-place tie with Tri-City after winning their series opener in Eugene. The C's took the lead with two runs in the first inning. Tim Locastro singled home Roemon Fields, who reached on an error and stole second. Locastro came in to score on a Ryan McBroom double. Fields and Locastro teamed up again in the ninth with Fields getting a two-out single, followed by a stolen base and an advance to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Fields would come home on a Locastro infield single. Locastro had a three-hit night and Fields had two, including a double. They each stole three bases with Fields up to 46 on the season and Locastro now at 29. McBroom had two hits while Franklin Barreto, Chris Carlson and Alexis Maldonado had one apiece. Richard Urena walked once in four plate appearances.Jairo Labourt pitched six innings of one-run ball to lower his ERA to 1.90.
Jairo Labourt (5-3) limited the Padres affiliate to one run on five hits over six innings. His K-BB total was 5-0 and six of his 10 outs in play were on the ground. Andrew Case gave up two hits but had two K's over two scoreless frames. Phil Kish had a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save.
Greeneville 3 Bluefield 1
Greeneville, TN - Jesus Tinoco (1-9) blanked the Astros for the first four innings but an Aaron Attaway error in center field and a miscue by Tinoco himself saw the Astros score two unearned runs in the fifth. Tinoco went six innings and yielded just four hits and a walk while striking out four. Jordan Romano gave up the other run in two innings on two hits and a walk while getting one K.
Gabriel Cenas gave Bluefield a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first inning. Rolando Segovia had the only extra-base hit with a double. Angel Rojas and Josh Almonte singled and walked. Rojas stole a base and score the only run. Andres Sotillo had the other base hit. Lane Thomas was 0-for-4.
GCL Blue Jays 4 GCL Pirates 3
Bradenton, FL - The Blue Jays battled back from a 3-0 deficit with three runs in the fourth inning. Andres De Aza lifted a sacrifice fly to score the first run, an errant pickoff throw by the pitcher plated the second run and a Trey Pascazi lifted a pop fly single to second base to bring in the tying run. The winning run came in the seventh when Cliff Brantley tripled home a Javier Hernandez single. Pascazi had three of the Jays seven hits. Juan Kelly and Juan Tejada had the others. Nathan DeSouza had the lone walk.Daniel Rodriguez was roughed up for three runs on seven hits over three innings but posted a 4-0 K-BB total. Francisco Rodriguez managed to get through 2.2 innings without a run charged to him despite a hit and six walks. He struck out three but needed Sean Ratcliffe (1-2) to bail him out of a bases-loaded situation. Ratcliffe went 2.1 innings of shutout ball with two hits and a walk. Francis Eduardo struck out two in a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
Monday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Tim Locastro, Vancouver - His stolen base and hit by pitch totals are at 29.
2. Jorge Saez, Dunedin - A .905 OPS and six extra-base hits in 56 at-bats for the month of August.
1. Dwight Smith Jr., Dunedin - 47 extra-base hits and 54 walks in 460 at-bats on the season.
3 Stars images from MiLB.com.
Tuesday's Schedule & Probable Starters
Matt Smoral gets the start for Vancouver as the Canadians play the second game of their five-game series Tuesday.
GCL Pirates @ GCL Blue Jays, 12:00 pm ET - TBA.
Pawtucket @ Buffalo, 6:05 pm ET - Daniel Norris (3-0, 1.08).
Daytona @ Dunedin, 6:30 pm ET - Roberto Osuna (0-2, 7.47).
Harrisburg @ New Hampshire, 6:35 pm ET - Scott Copeland (8-8, 3.74).
Bluefield @ Greeneville, 7:00 pm ET - Oscar Cabrera (2-1, 3.18)
Lake County @ Lansing, 7:05 pm ET - Jeremy Gabryszwski (6-5, 4.31).
Vancouver @ Eugene, 10:05 pm ET - Matt Smoral (1-0, 2.79).
Extra Innings...
- Congratulations to Mitch Nay, who has been named a Midwest League Post-Season All-Star according to LansingLugnuts.com, and to pitcher Matt Smoral and shortstop Richard Urena, who were selected to the Appalachian League All-Star squad.
- WKBW in Buffalo reports the Bisons will upgrade some seats at Coca-Cola Field after the season.
- MiLB.com has a story on Bluefield hurler Conner Greene.
- The Bluefield Daily Telegraph talks to manager Dennis Holmberg about the final week of the season.
- The Vancouver Province has a feature on Canadians closer Phil Kish and a story on starter Ryan Borucki.
