The road was a kind place to the parent club and its top affiliate last night. However, the home cooking didn't help the other affiliates as they looked lost.
Charlotte, NC - Southpaw Davis Romero cruised in the early part of this game by allowing just one single in the first three innings and a double play ball helped him face the minimum 10 batters with one out in the fourth. It was at that point when Romero gave up a solo homer to Chris Getz to give Charlotte a 1-0 lead. The Chiefs responded in the next half-inning as Adam Lind hit a bases-clearing double off knuckleballer Charlie Haeger, scoring a Curtis Thigpen single and walks to Chip Cannon and Wayne Lydon, to give Syracuse a 3-1 advantage.
Romero stranded a single and a walk in the fifth and turned things over to Brandon League, who punched out two batters in a three-up, three-down sixth inning. In the 7th, League was also victimized by the long ball as Thomas Collaro connected for a solo shot to cut the Syracuse lead to 3-2. Adam Russell, who got to throw in the visitor's bullpen at Rogers Centre but never appearing in a game, and Ray King held down the Chiefs for innings six to eight. That changed in the ninth when Pedro Lopez connected for a two-run homer off King, plating a Wayne Lydon single, to restore the Chiefs' three-run cushion. Lefty Mike Gosling worked a one-hit frame to get the save.
Boxscore Notes - Davis Romero worked a season-high five innings, throwing 63 pitches to get his first win of the year. He gave up one homer and two singles with a 5-1 K/BB mark. Overall, his K/BB is 30-10 in 26 frames and hitters are batting just .204 against him. However, he has surrendered 5 HR's...........Brandon League surrendered his first long ball of the year as a Chief but that was his only blemish in three frames of relief. He sports a groundout/airout ratio of 4.8 to 1......Hector Luna is swinging the hot twig with a 11 game hitting streak, pushing his average to .299 after a 2-for-4 night....Adam Lind and Curtis Thigpen also had two hits each. Lind is now hitting .333 while Thigpen is at .190.
Manchester, NH - The good news came in the first five innings, the bad news arrived in the last four. Brandon Magee allowed just two singles and struck out four in the first five innings to Luke Danes' favourite team (for those who didn't watch "The Gilmore Girls", actor/former minor league pitcher Scott Patterson wore the Defenders road cap during the final season!). The F-Cats got on the board first in their half of inning five when Aaron Matthews delivered a two-out, two-run double off Defenders starter Garrett Broshuis to grab a 2-0 lead. However, Magee gave it back and then some as the Giants farm club hit for the cycle and scored six times, with the key blows being a David Maroul homer and a two-run triple by Simon Klink. Jamie Vermilyea gave up a run scoring triple before getting the final out of the inning. Maroul would homer again in the ninth, this time off Vermilyea, who pitched the final 3 1/3 innings for New Hampshire.
Boxscore Notes - Brandon Magee is now 0-6 in his AA career. After a strong first five innings, Magee appeared to run out of gas as he wound up allowing 7 hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings. Overall, he has allowed 57 hits in 43.1 innings, which translates to a .315 opponents batting average and his K/BB ratio is just 22-17.........Aaron Matthews had half of New Hampshire's hit total with a 2-for-4 night and has pushed his average to .302. Jacob Butler and Ryan Patterson had the other hits......And, of course, Brian "B.B" Jeroloman drew another walk so the BJWM is now at 19.
Dunedin, FL - The Threshers got to D-Jays starter Robert Ray in the first when a Jesus Gonzalez error at third allowed the leadoff man to reach. A stolen base and a two-out single allowed Clearwater to cross the plate first. Dunedin responded in their half of the first with a pair of two-out run scoring singles by J.P. Arencibia and Paul Franko, cashing in Brad Emaus and Brian Dopirak walks, to take a 2-1 advantage. Franko drove in the third Dunedin run by driving home a Emaus double in the fifth.
Robert Ray set down 8 of 9 hitters during one stretch but a leadoff walk in the sixth came back to haunt him when Gus Milner connected for a two-run bomb to tie the game at 3-3. Chad Blackwell came out of the pen and he struck out four of the five batters he faced. However, he made one mistake to Adrian Cardenas, the Phils supplemental first round pick two years ago, as he went deep in the seventh to give Clearwater the lead. Brandon Camardese and Connor Falkenbach worked a clean frame each to give the offence a chance to rally but they left the bases loaded in the eighth and two men on in the ninth to come up, as the late Tom Cheek liked to say, a day late and a dollar short.
Boxscore Notes - Robert Ray had a mixed outing by allowing four hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. Two of the three runs he allowed were earned and he only struck out two. Of the 14 outs in play, 8 were on the ground. Overall, his 35-14 K/BB ratio in 36 innings isn't bad but hitters are batting over .300 against him........Brandon Camardese's ERA is 0.54 after his scoreless inning. He has allowed just a solo homer among his 9 hits in 16.2 IP with a 13-4 K/BB ratio....J.P. Arencibia is hitting .375 over his last 10 games after a 3-for-5 performance. His average is up to .288....Brian Dopirak and Brad Emaus each had a hit and two walks to get aboard thrice and Paul Franko was 2-for-5 with 2 RBI but Dunedin's 11 hits were not enough as they left 12 men on base.
Lansing, MI - Lugnuts lefty Marc Rzepczynski set down the first five in a row on 3 K's and 2 groundouts but a two-out double and single in the second gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead. The Lugnuts tied it in the third when a throwing error at short allowed Moises Sierra to score after he doubled with two out. The inning might have been bigger for Lansing but Yohermyn Chavez was doubled off first after Raul Barron lined to right.
Rzepcynski scattered two hits and a walk over the next two innings before turning the ball over to fellow lefty Cody Crowell, who struck out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect fifth. Ross Buckwalter worked a clean sixth but back to back doubles in the seventh gave the Reds affiliate a 2-1 lead. After being held in check by Dayton starter Enerio Del Rosario, the Lugnuts got to reliever Tyler Rhoden in the seventh as Yohermyn Chavez singled home Manny Rodriguez to tie the game at 2-2. However, Chavez made yet another baserunning blunder as he was doubled off on a pop up to first. He may have forgotten how many outs there were. So much for learning from previous mistakes!
Edgar Estanga came on in the eighth and stuffwise, he was about as sharp as a bowling ball. A leadoff walk, a sac bunt and a single gave Dayton a 3-2 lead. Estanga then loaded up the bases on a double, single and intentional walk but Moises Sierra showed off his gun in right field by throwing out a runner at the plate for an inning-ending double play. Sierra tried to start a rally in the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff double and Justin Jackson followed with a walk to put runners at first and second. However, Dayton reliever Terrell Young relieved Tyler Rhoden and set down the last six batters to get the save.
Boxscore Notes - Marc Rzepczynksi allowed four hits and a walk in four frames with a 5-1 K/BB mark and a 5-1 groundball/flyball ratio.......Despite allowing five hits and three walks in two innings, Edgar Estanga gave up just one run with his ERA only jumping from 0.42 to 0.76. However, he took the loss to fall to 3-1 on the year........Moises Sierra, Kevin Ahrens and Yohermyn Chavez had two hits apiece with Sierra collecting two doubles........Manny Rodriguez had the other Lansing hit and Justin Jackson drew the lone walk but Jackson is just 7-for-36 in his last 10 games to see his average fall to .275.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Moises Sierra, Lansing - 2/3, 2 2B, R, Outfield Assist.
2. Adam Lind, Syracuse - 2/5, 2B, 3 RBI (GWRBI).
1. Davis Romero, Syracuse - 5IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER (HR), 1BB, 5K, 6 GO, 63 pitches/47 strikes = W
Honourable Mentions.........
Syracuse - Brandon League, Mike Gosling, Pedro Lopez, Hector Luna, Wayne Lydon, Curtis Thigpen.
New Hampshire - Aaron Matthews, Ryan Patterson.
Dunedin - Robert Ray, Chad Blackwell, Brandon Camardese, Connor Falkenbach, Paul Franko, J.P. Arencibia, Brad Emaus, Brian Dopirak.
Lansing - Marc Rzepczynski, Cody Crowell, Kevin Ahrens, Manny Rodriguez.
Standings.......
Syracuse - 23-16 - 2nd place - IL North, 4.5 GB of Scranton/WB, W1, 5-5 Last 10.
New Hampshire - 13-24, 6th place - EL North, 10.5 GB of Trenton, L1, 4-6 Last 10.
Dunedin - 20-18, 4th place (tied w/Lakeland) - FSL West, 4.0 GB of Fort Myers, W1, 5-5 Last 10.
Lansing - 17-19, 3rd place (tied w/Great Lakes) - MWL East, 4.5 GB of Dayton, L3, 2-8 Last 10.
Today's Schedule/Probable Starters......
Connecticut @ New Hampshire, 6:35 p.m. - RHP Dave McKae, CON (3-1, 4.21) vs. LHP Ricky Romero, NH (1-2, 6.23).
Clearwater @ Dunedin, 7:00 p.m. EDT - TBA vs. RHP Kenny Rodriguez, DUN (1-4, 4.63).
Dayton @ Lansing, 7:05 p.m. - RHP Matt Klinker, DAY (2-1, 3.38) vs. LHP Nate Starner, LAN (1-4, 1.85).
Syracuse @ Charlotte, 7:15 p.m. EDT - LHP John Parrish, SYR (5-0, 3.03) vs. RHP Jack Egbert, CHA (0-1, 6.19).
Bonus Material........
The New Hampshire Union Leader has a recap of last night's game and additional info.
A recap and audio highlights of yesterday's Lugnuts game are provided by www.lansinglugnuts.com.
A story on Nate Starner and Kyle Ginley courtesy of lansinglugnuts.com
