Hitting was in short supply for the affiliates yesterday, in five games only two hitters had more than one hit. Sal Fasano had two for the Chiefs and Manny Rodriguez had three for the Doubledays. The affiliates managed to squeeze out two wins, Auburn won 2-1 on a solo home run by Rodriguez and the Cheifs won game two of a twin-bill with Fasano hitting a solo shot in that game. Josh Banks and Ricky Romero had good starts.
Syracuse 2 Buffalo 3 - game 1
John-Ford Griffin and Russ Adams homered for the Chiefs. Fill-in starter Jim Crowell allowed one run in his 2.2 innings. Buffalo's winning runs came off Jordan DeJong in the fourth inning. Robinzon Diaz went 0-3 in his AAA debut but he did throw out a base-stealer at second. The Chiefs were held to five hits.
Syracuse 6 Buffalo 2 - game 2
Josh Banks delivered his second consecutive strong start. If he can finish strong he could earn a September call-up. Banks went six innings and gave up two runs, one earned, on seven hits with one walk. On the negative side Banks had no strikeouts. Last Tuesday Banks gave up one run in eight innings. The Chiefs scored twice on an error in the first inning, they loaded the bases with one out and the catcher threw the ball away trying to complete a 1-2-3 DP. Sal Fasano homered in the second to make it a 3-0 game and Griffin doubled home two more in the fifth. Chad Mottola and Adam Lind doubled in the seventh for an insurance run. Fasano had two hits, the only Chief with more than one.
Ricky Romero pitched very well in this game except for one big mistake. Romero retired the first nine hitters in order, and through five innings was working on a one-hitter. But in the sixth a single and a walk put two on and then a home run, Connecticut's third hit of the day, put the Fishers down 3-2. Romero pitched seven innings and gave up the three runs on five hits. This was a more encouraging start from Romero. Romero has been criticized for not trusting his stuff and for being too fine. This start had Romero being more aggressive.
New Hampshire had scored twice in the top of the sixth, Ryan Patterson singled, Sergio Santos doubled and Rob Cosby singled both home. The Fisher Cats had only two hits in the other eight innings.
Clearwater at Dunedin - postponed
Zach Dials struggled in this start, he pitched five innings but gave up five runs on eight hits. Lansing had only four hits and they needed help from the pitcher for their run, Quad Cities loaded the bases on walks and Raul Barron then singled in a run.
Auburn took the lead in the first inning, JP Arencibia doubled home Victor Santana who had been hit by a pitch. Auburn used five pitchers, Javier Nieves started and shut down Hudson Valley over three innings to run his scoreless inning streak to 13.1 innings. Adam Rogers followed and gave up the tying run. But in the sixth inning Manny Rodriguez hit a solo home run to give Auburn the 2-1 lead. Auburn had four hits in this game, Rodriguez was 3-3.
Gulf Coast Blue Jays - scheduled day off
3 star selection
3rd star - Ricky Romero
2nd star - Josh Banks
1st star - Manny Rodriguez
Team Records
Syracuse 45-54, 5th place, 11 games behind
New Hampshire 51-48, 3rd place, 12 games behind
Dunedin 19-11, 2nd place, 2 games behind
Lansing 17-12, 2nd place, 3.5 games behind
Auburn 19-14, 1st place, 2.5 games ahead
Gulf Coast Jays 16-12, 2nd place, 3.5 games behind
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