A rough night for three of the affiliates as their opponents scored the winning runs in their last at-bats but there was an extra-innings win to prevent the sweep.
Durham 9 Buffalo 8
Durham, NC — The Bisons blew leads of 5-3, 7-4 and 8-6 against the Rays affiliate after overcoming a 3-0 deficit after inning number one. A groundball by Ryan Goins plated the first Buffalo run in the second. Moises Sierra would tie it with a two-run homer in the third. Mike McCoy doubled home the go-ahead in the fourth, Ricardo Nanita had an RBI single in the fifth and two more runs came in the sixth on a Luis Jimenez sacrifice fly and a Eugenio Velez bases-loaded walk. Ryan Langerhans knocked one over the wall to start off the seventh. McCoy and Velez drew walks in addition to their two-hit efforts. Sierra had a base on balls and a hit by pitch to go along with his dinger. Nanita and Langerhans had two hits apiece. Jimenez was 1-for-4 with a stolen base. He was also caught stealing along with McCoy.
Justin Germano lasted seven innings but was far from great, allowing six runs on 11 hits, two walks and a hit by pitch to give him a game WHIP of 2.00. He gave up a Wil Myers two-run home run, struck out five and recorded 11 outs on the grass. Michael Schwimer walked the only hitter he faced to begin the eighth inning. Lefty Buddy Carlyle (3-1) entered double whammyville with the blown save and loss as Myers also got to him for a two-run homer. Carlyle allowed three runs on three hits and a walk with one punchout. Bobby Korecky allowed the walk-off single by Tim Beckham, the only hitter he faced in the ninth.
New Hampshire 6 Portland 3 (11 Innings)
Portland, ME — Any worries about whether Sean Nolin would bounce back after his rough major league debut against Baltimore appear to be unfounded. The southpaw lasted five innings against the Red Sox affiliate and yielded two runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out four and all eight of his outs in play did not leave the infield. Scott Gracey could not preserve the lead as the Sea Dogs scored a run on two hits in his two innings of work. He did strike out a batter. Randy Boone (1-0) pitched three nearly flawless innings, walking just one while whiffing two. Boone had a 6-0 groundout/flyout total. Joel Carreno locked it down with a one-hit frame for his seventh save of the season. He struck out a batter and racked up two more groundball outs. That gave the Fisher Cat hurlers a collective 19-2 groundout/flyout mark.
The Fisher Cats was a three-Kevin production with a splash of Adam. They began to battle back from a 2-0 deficit with a run in the fourth on a Kevin Pillar lead off to homer to left. That was followed by a two-run triple Kevin Ahrens in the fifth. Adam Loewen provided the go-ahead run with a lead off homer to left-center in the eleventh. Pillar and Kevin Nolan added more insurance in the form of a RBI triple and RBI single respectively. Pillar had a three-hit night and finished a double short of the cycle. Nolan had two hits while Loewen and Ahrens heard ball four once to go with their big knocks. Ryan Schimpf was 0-for-4 with a walk. Brian Van Kirk, Clint Robinson and Brad Glenn wore the ugly 0-for-5 collars. Sean Ochinko was 0-for-4.
Lakeland 4 Dunedin 2
Lakeland, FL — The D-Jays scored two runs in a most boring fashion as they came on an Andy Burns groundout and a passed ball. K.C. Hobson and Peter Mooney both had two hits apiece with Hobson getting a double. Burns had the other base knock. Marcus Knecht, Pierce Rankin, Jon Berti and Nick Baligod all drew walks. Michael Crouse was 0-for-4.
Austin Bibens-Dirkx permitted just eight baserunners in six innings as the Tigers scored twice on four hits, three walks and a hit by pitch. He struck out seven and began 1-3-6-2 pickoff of a runner at home in the fourth inning. Dayton Marze pitched a one-hit seventh that included a strikeout. Lefthander John Anderson (0-1) began the year with three scoreless appearances and four shutout innings but that came to an end as he surrendered two runs on three hits and a walk with a strikeout in the eighth.
Fort Wayne 6 Lansing 5 (10 Innings)
Fort Wayne, IN — The Lugnuts let leads of 4-1 and 5-4 slip away in this one. Carlos Ramirez put the Lugnuts on the board first with a two-run double and Dalton Pompey brought Ramirez home with a sacrifice fly. Christian Lopes doubled home a run in the third and that was the last Lansing run until the tenth when Lopes scampered home on a fielding error at third. Lopes was 3-for-5 while Ramirez doubled twice and added a walk. Jorge Flores got a hit, a hit by pitch and a walk but was caught stealing twice. Gustavo Pierre and Dwight Smith Jr. also had two-hit nights with Pierre getting a two-bagger.
Ben White deserved a better fate after holding the Tigers affiliate to a single run on five hits and two HBPs over six frames. He struck out two and collected 10 groundball outs. Wil Browning could not hold the lead as he was banged around for three runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings but he did strike out three. Arik Sikula was charged with the blown save as he could only strand one of Browning's two runners. He allowed just one hit and struck out in 1 2/3 scoreless frames. Justin Jackson (0-1) also suffered the double whammy in this one. The converted infielder was charged with two unearned runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Jackson got the first two batters but a Flores error at short, a single and a double gave the Luggies the walk-off loss.
Boxscores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Ben White. Lansing — Went a season-long six innings and has gone at least five over his last three starts, allowing just four runs over 16 2/3 innings.
2. Adam Loewen, New Hampshire — Batting just .214 on the season but has hit .265 with an .875 OPS in his last 10 contests.
1. Kevin Pillar, New Hampshire — Has 21 extra-base hits, 13 stolen bases and is crushing lefties at a .388 clip.
Wednesday's Probable Starters...
New Hampshire — Marcus Stroman (1-0, 2.00) @ Portland, 6:00 pm Eastern.
Dunedin — Scott Copeland (4-1, 2.49) @ Lakeland, 6:30pm Eastern.
Buffalo — Claudio Vargas (3-4, 5.29) @ Durham, 7:05 pm Eastern.
Lansing — Daniel Norris (0-3, 6.82) @ Fort Wayne, 7:05 pm Eastern.
Durham 9 Buffalo 8
Durham, NC — The Bisons blew leads of 5-3, 7-4 and 8-6 against the Rays affiliate after overcoming a 3-0 deficit after inning number one. A groundball by Ryan Goins plated the first Buffalo run in the second. Moises Sierra would tie it with a two-run homer in the third. Mike McCoy doubled home the go-ahead in the fourth, Ricardo Nanita had an RBI single in the fifth and two more runs came in the sixth on a Luis Jimenez sacrifice fly and a Eugenio Velez bases-loaded walk. Ryan Langerhans knocked one over the wall to start off the seventh. McCoy and Velez drew walks in addition to their two-hit efforts. Sierra had a base on balls and a hit by pitch to go along with his dinger. Nanita and Langerhans had two hits apiece. Jimenez was 1-for-4 with a stolen base. He was also caught stealing along with McCoy.
Justin Germano lasted seven innings but was far from great, allowing six runs on 11 hits, two walks and a hit by pitch to give him a game WHIP of 2.00. He gave up a Wil Myers two-run home run, struck out five and recorded 11 outs on the grass. Michael Schwimer walked the only hitter he faced to begin the eighth inning. Lefty Buddy Carlyle (3-1) entered double whammyville with the blown save and loss as Myers also got to him for a two-run homer. Carlyle allowed three runs on three hits and a walk with one punchout. Bobby Korecky allowed the walk-off single by Tim Beckham, the only hitter he faced in the ninth.
New Hampshire 6 Portland 3 (11 Innings)
Portland, ME — Any worries about whether Sean Nolin would bounce back after his rough major league debut against Baltimore appear to be unfounded. The southpaw lasted five innings against the Red Sox affiliate and yielded two runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out four and all eight of his outs in play did not leave the infield. Scott Gracey could not preserve the lead as the Sea Dogs scored a run on two hits in his two innings of work. He did strike out a batter. Randy Boone (1-0) pitched three nearly flawless innings, walking just one while whiffing two. Boone had a 6-0 groundout/flyout total. Joel Carreno locked it down with a one-hit frame for his seventh save of the season. He struck out a batter and racked up two more groundball outs. That gave the Fisher Cat hurlers a collective 19-2 groundout/flyout mark.The Fisher Cats was a three-Kevin production with a splash of Adam. They began to battle back from a 2-0 deficit with a run in the fourth on a Kevin Pillar lead off to homer to left. That was followed by a two-run triple Kevin Ahrens in the fifth. Adam Loewen provided the go-ahead run with a lead off homer to left-center in the eleventh. Pillar and Kevin Nolan added more insurance in the form of a RBI triple and RBI single respectively. Pillar had a three-hit night and finished a double short of the cycle. Nolan had two hits while Loewen and Ahrens heard ball four once to go with their big knocks. Ryan Schimpf was 0-for-4 with a walk. Brian Van Kirk, Clint Robinson and Brad Glenn wore the ugly 0-for-5 collars. Sean Ochinko was 0-for-4.
Lakeland 4 Dunedin 2
Lakeland, FL — The D-Jays scored two runs in a most boring fashion as they came on an Andy Burns groundout and a passed ball. K.C. Hobson and Peter Mooney both had two hits apiece with Hobson getting a double. Burns had the other base knock. Marcus Knecht, Pierce Rankin, Jon Berti and Nick Baligod all drew walks. Michael Crouse was 0-for-4.
Austin Bibens-Dirkx permitted just eight baserunners in six innings as the Tigers scored twice on four hits, three walks and a hit by pitch. He struck out seven and began 1-3-6-2 pickoff of a runner at home in the fourth inning. Dayton Marze pitched a one-hit seventh that included a strikeout. Lefthander John Anderson (0-1) began the year with three scoreless appearances and four shutout innings but that came to an end as he surrendered two runs on three hits and a walk with a strikeout in the eighth.
Fort Wayne 6 Lansing 5 (10 Innings)
Fort Wayne, IN — The Lugnuts let leads of 4-1 and 5-4 slip away in this one. Carlos Ramirez put the Lugnuts on the board first with a two-run double and Dalton Pompey brought Ramirez home with a sacrifice fly. Christian Lopes doubled home a run in the third and that was the last Lansing run until the tenth when Lopes scampered home on a fielding error at third. Lopes was 3-for-5 while Ramirez doubled twice and added a walk. Jorge Flores got a hit, a hit by pitch and a walk but was caught stealing twice. Gustavo Pierre and Dwight Smith Jr. also had two-hit nights with Pierre getting a two-bagger.
Ben White deserved a better fate after holding the Tigers affiliate to a single run on five hits and two HBPs over six frames. He struck out two and collected 10 groundball outs. Wil Browning could not hold the lead as he was banged around for three runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings but he did strike out three. Arik Sikula was charged with the blown save as he could only strand one of Browning's two runners. He allowed just one hit and struck out in 1 2/3 scoreless frames. Justin Jackson (0-1) also suffered the double whammy in this one. The converted infielder was charged with two unearned runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Jackson got the first two batters but a Flores error at short, a single and a double gave the Luggies the walk-off loss.
Boxscores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Ben White. Lansing — Went a season-long six innings and has gone at least five over his last three starts, allowing just four runs over 16 2/3 innings.
2. Adam Loewen, New Hampshire — Batting just .214 on the season but has hit .265 with an .875 OPS in his last 10 contests.
1. Kevin Pillar, New Hampshire — Has 21 extra-base hits, 13 stolen bases and is crushing lefties at a .388 clip.
Wednesday's Probable Starters...
New Hampshire — Marcus Stroman (1-0, 2.00) @ Portland, 6:00 pm Eastern.
Dunedin — Scott Copeland (4-1, 2.49) @ Lakeland, 6:30pm Eastern.
Buffalo — Claudio Vargas (3-4, 5.29) @ Durham, 7:05 pm Eastern.
Lansing — Daniel Norris (0-3, 6.82) @ Fort Wayne, 7:05 pm Eastern.
