Kyle Ginley's first start in the Florida State League was one to remember, Marc Rzepczynski's Midwest League debut wasn't too shabby either and Kane Davis had nothing to be ashamed of. However, the affiliates only managed to win just one of four on the evening.
Syracuse, NY - Former Indian Kane Davis took the ball for Syracuse against lefty Jeremy Sowers in the latest round of the Thruway Series. Both pitchers traded goose eggs in the first five innings as Davis scattered a pair of singles and walks while Sowers allowed just 3 base knocks and a pair of BB's.
The Indians farm club broke the goose egg first in the sixth by using two singles, a wild pitch and a sac fly to grab a 1-0 lead. Davis rebounded in the seventh by getting an inning-ending double play to finish his night on a strong note. Lefty Mike Gosling took over in the eighth and he allowed three straight singles to load up the bases. A fielder's choice and a wild pitch led to two more runs and a 3-0 Buffalo lead. With the bases still loaded and nobody out, Bubba Nelson tried to limit the damage but he gave up a bases-clearing double to Brad Snyder that put the Herd ahead by two field goals, 6-0.
The Syracuse offence impersonated the parent club's as Jeremy Sowers and reliever Edward Mujica combined to retire 11 consecutive Chiefs in order before Joe Inglett drew a two-out walk in the eighth. The bats finally got going in the ninth off Bisons reliever Reid Santos when Hector Luna doubled home a Russ Adams single to make the score 6-1. Buck Coats singled Luna to third and he came home on a double play grounder off the bat of Pedro Lopez. Erik Kratz and Sergio Santos hit back to back doubles to cut Buffalo's lead in half but the rally died when Wayne Lydon watched strike three go by to end the game.
Boxscore Notes - Kane Davis deserved a better fate in this one, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks over seven innings while striking out two. At least the wind wasn't blowing out at Alliance Bank Stadium as 10 of his 18 outs in play were of the flyball variety. His record drops to 2-4........Sergio Santos and Erik Kratz had two hits each, including a double and an RBI. Santos is 11 points away from reaching the Mendoza Line.......Joe Inglett was also on base twice with a single and a walk to push his average to .407.
Portland, ME - A.J. Wideman knew just one batter in that this wasn't going to be his night. The Mississauga lefty gave up a leadoff homer to Bubba Bell and the worst was yet to come. The Boston affiliate ran Wideman out of the game and probably out of town by putting up five runs each in the second and third innings to jump out to a whopping 11-0 lead. Aaron Bates and Iggy "Pop" Suarez belted homers off Wideman before Julio Pinto came on in relief with two out in the third. Pinto was also nicked for a run before he finally stopped the bleeding.
The Fisher Cats offence was held hitless through the first four innings by Sea Dogs starter Michael Goodson but Ryan Patterson changed all that with a leadoff homer in the fifth to cut Portland's lead to 11-1. The F-Cats "chopped" the deficit to a single digit with another run in the sixth when David Smith doubled home a Scott Campbell single.
Southpaw Daryl Harang restored some order by throwing three scoreless innings out of the pen but Portland erupted again off lefty Mike Gallo in the eighth by draining a "3" with an Iggy Suarez homer, a single and a walk figuring into the scoring. Anthony Hatch connected for a leadoff homer in the ninth for New Hampshire.
Boxscore Notes - Half of the six hits A.J. Wideman gave up wound up over the fence. He also walked four in giving 10 runs (all earned) without striking anybody out in 2 2/3 innings. He is now 1-4 with an ERA of 7.18..........Daryl Harang gave up a hit and two walks but struck out two over three scoreless frames to drop his ERA to 3.71........Ryan Patterson launched his second homer of the year and he is now batting .293 and slugging .485..........David Smith, Travis Snider and Anthony Hatch reached base twice with a hit and a walk. Hatch belted his fourth dinger of the year but is only hitting .216. Snider is now batting a buck-forty eight....Brian Jeroloman did draw a walk in the ninth so the BJWM is now at 14.
Vero Beach, FL - Kyle Ginley made his Dunedin debut after his call up from Lansing and he went up against Vero Beach lefty Brandon Mann.
Ginley got off to a good start by ringing up his first Florida State League batter with a called strike three on the way to a three-up, three-down inning. The D-Jays offence responded in the top of the second when Sean Shoffit delivered a two-out, two-run triple to score a Brian Dopirak single and an Al Quintana walk to take a 2-0 lead. Ginley got the Dunedin offence back on the field with another three-up, three down frame - ending it with his second punchout of the night.
Dunedin would support Ginley with three more runs in the third. Chris Emanuele drew a walk, moved up to second on an Adam Calderone bunt and was driven home by a Brandon Mann throwing error and a wild pitch. J.P. Arencibia was credited with an RBI as he reached on an error at third to score a Brad Emaus walk for the second run of the inning. Another error at short kept the inning going for Al Quintana, who singled home the third run of the frame and the fifth Dunedin marker on the evening.
Ginley, meantime, retired his first seven hitters and 9 out of 10 after issuing just a walk in the third. He encountered problems in the fourth. He wound up plunking two VB Rays hitters and gave up a pair of singles which resulted in a single run. After a leadoff walk in the fifth, Ginley recovered to set down the side in order to end a pretty solid debut at the High Class A level.
Reidier Gonzalez took the ball from Ginley and only gave up a double in two scoreless innings of relief. Edward Rodriguez gave up Vero Beach's second run of the game in the eighth when a single was pushed into scoring position on a groundout to first. Another single resulted in the run being scored. Connor Falkenbach worked a one-hit ninth to collect the save.
Boxscore Notes - Kyle Ginley earned his first Florida Stae League win with a solid debut. He allowed just one run on two hits, two walks and two HBP's while whiffing four over five innings........The D-Jays were outhit 6-5 in this one but three of the five hits were for extra bases (two doubles, one triple). The hit men were Chris Emanuele, Brad Emaus, Brian Dopirak, Sean Shoffit and Al Quintana. Every member of the "Fab Five" except for Shoffit also drew a walk. Shoffit reached on an error in the sixth and stole second base but was thrown out trying to steal third. He is 6-for-9 in the stolen base department.
Lansing, MI - Lefty Marc Rzepczynski made his debut for the Lugnuts after starting the year in extended spring training. He went up against David Bromberg of the Snappers.
Rzepczynski surrended a leadoff double to 2007 Twins first rounder Ben Revere. A sac bunt and a groundout later, Revere crossed home plate to give the Angry Turtles a 1-0 lead. The Lugnuts would get their leadoff man aboard when Raul Barron singled but he would be picked off. However, Justin Jackson drew a two-out walk and he would scamper home on a Matt Liuzza double to knot up the game at 1-1.
Rzepczynski settled down nicely by retiring 11 of the last 12 batters he faced, including his last six in a row. He had to leave the game with two outs in the fourth because he had reached his pitch count, according to Lansing play-by-play man Brad Tillery. Tim Collins took care of business for Rzepczynski by striking out his only batter to end the fifth.
The Lugnuts offence had trouble making contact, let alone getting any hits, in innings two through six. They whiffed six times with only Manny Rodriguez reaching base via a single in the second and a hit by pitch in the 5th.
Alan Farina handled the sixth and seventh innings for the Lugnuts and he wiggled his way out of trouble in both innings. His real Houdini act came in the seventh when he loaded up the bases with one out on two singles and a walk but he struck out the last two hitters to keep the game tied. Lansing was primed to take the lead in the seventh when Matt Liuzza and John Tolisano drew walks to start the inning. Unfortunately for the Lugnuts, Steven Hirschfeld came out of the bullpen to get the next three hitters to preserve the 1-1 tie.
Brad Cuthbertson worked the eighth and ninth innings for Lansing. The Sherwood Park, Alberta native yielded a Ben Revere single in the eighth but Revere was thrown out by Matt Liuzza behind the plate. However, the ninth inning was a horror story. Twins 2006 first rounder Chris Parmalee reached second on a fielding error by first baseman Manny Rodriguez. A bunt single advanced Parmalee to third on a play that was butchered by third baseman Wesley Stone, according to the Lansing broadcast. The next batter would single home Parmalee to give the ill-tempered Turtles a 2-1 lead. After a sac bunt advanced a pair of runners to second and third, Manny Rodriguez dropped a pop up in foul territory and more carnage followed. A wild pitch, a double and a Marc Dolenc homer later, Beloit increased their lead to 6-1. The Lugnuts got one run back against Steven Hirschfeld as Matt Liuzza drew a walk and he was tripled home by John Tolisano but that was all Lansing would get.
Boxscore Notes - Marc Rzepczynski allowed just one run on 2 hits in 4 2/3 innings with a K/BB ratio of 4-0........Tim Collins struck out the lone batter he faced to extend his scoreless innings streak to three........Alan Farina struck out three batters in his two frames and Brad Cuthbertson added one to give Lansing hurlers 9 punchouts on the day. Cuthbertson did give up five runs in the ninth but his ERA remains at 0.00 as all five runs were unearned........On the other side of the coin, Lugnut batters struck out 14 times in this one. The only batter not to strike out was Joel Collins but he was 0-for-3 with a GIDP and is now batting just 19 nickels......Matt Liuzza and John Tolisano were the "productive Lugnuts", amassing half of the Lugnuts four hits. They had the only extra base hits of the day and Liuzza drew two of the three walks between them....Manny Rodriguez also got aboard twice with a hit and a hit by pitch but they were offset by his two errors in the ninth, two of three on the day for Lansing. Still, Man-Rod is batting .418 with an OPS north of 1.100. It's all the more amazing when you consider he's drawn just two free passes in 76 at-bats.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Kane Davis, SYR - 7IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 2K
2. Marc Rzepczynski, LAN - 4 2/3 IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 4K
1. Kyle Ginley, DUN - 5IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 2K, 2HBP = W
Honourable Mentions.........
Syracuse - Erik Kratz, Sergio Santos, Joe Inglett, Russ Adams.
New Hampshire - Ryan Patterson, Anthony Hatch, David Smith, Daryl Harang.
Dunedin - Sean Shoffit, Brian Dopirak, Chris Emanuele, Al Quintana, Brad Emaus, Reidier Gonzalez, Connor Falkenbach.
Lansing - Marc Rzepcynski, Tim Collins, Alan Farina, Matt Liuzza, John Tolisano.
Standings.........
Syracuse - 20-13, 2nd place - 3.0 GB of Scranton/WB in IL North, 1L, 6-4 in Last 10.
New Hampshire 10-20, 6th place - 9.5 GB of Trenton in EL North, 1L, 5-5 in Last 10.
Dunedin - 17-15, Tied for 2nd place w/ Sarasota - 2.0 GB of Fort Myers & Tampa in FSL West, 2W, 4-6 in Last 10.
Lansing - 16-15, 3rd place - 2.5 GB of Dayton in MWL East, 2L, 3-7 in Last 10.
Today's Schedule.........
New Hampshire @ New Britain, 6:00 p.m. EDT - RHP Scott Richmond, NH (2-2, 6.68) vs RHP Michael Bowden, NB (1-3, 3.26).
Buffalo @ Syracuse, 7:00 p.m. EDT. - RHP Brian Slocum, BUF (2-2, 4.39) vs LHP Davis Romero, SYR (0-1, 1.45).
Dunedin @ Palm Beach, 7:05 p.m. EDT - TBA vs. TBA
Lansing - Scheduled Day Off. Next Game - Thursday vs West Michigan, 7:05 p.m. EDT.
Bonus Material.........
The Chiefs are enjoying playing on the new grass at Alliance Bank Stadium according to the Syracuse Post-Standard.
There was not one but two franchise records set in the Fisher Cats loss according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
Lugnut Notes on suspended catcher Jonathan Jaspe and their barnstorming tour of Iowa from the Lansing State Journal.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20080506120144305