The affiliates finished one game from Saturday, didn't finish one that started today, and, all told, managed to win three of four.
Syracuse 2 Scranton/WB 2 (SUSPENDED)
This one has been suspended in the top of the ninth, with the score knotted 2-2. I'll leave the recap for the next report.
Now this is how the Jays' brass must envision things. Brett Cecil went six strong to earn his first Double-A victory. Cecil allowed one run on three hits and struck out six. After wobbling a bit to begin his Eastern League career, Cecil has really settled in. Over his past two starts, Cecil has gone 11 innings, allowing one run on six hits. He has also walked one and struck out thirteen. And he's still a month shy of his 22nd birthday.
Offensively, the Fisher Cats were led by Travis Snider's three hits, which included a double. However, the big blow came courtesy of Aaron Mathews, who launched a three-run homer in the 4th to blow things open at 5-1. The homer was Mathews fourth on the year and gave him a team-leading 37 RBI.
Ryan Patterson also continued his hot play with a 2-for-4 day including an RBI double. Over his past ten games, Patterson is hitting .439 with 4 HR. Interestingly, he has four 0-fers in that stretch. So when he gets a hit, he gets lots of 'em.
Three relievers combined to finish things off for New Hampshire, as Zach Dials picked up his 8th save.
Dunedin 2 Jupiter 3 (13 innings)
The D-Jays managed 4 hits in 13 innings. How could that be, you may ask? The answer's simple: J.P. Arencibia had the day off. In his absence, Cory Patton hit his fifth homer of the year, Jesus Gonzalez had an RBI single and everyone else hit like a bunch of jerks.
On the mound, Kenny Rodriguez was effective through his six innings of work allowing two runs on six hits. He also struck out six and walked one. Nathan Starner and Connor Falkenbach followed with four innings of shutout relief. Then came Celson Polanco and his 33.1 innings of homerless relief. He extended that streak to 35.2 before Vasili Spanos ended things with his first homer of the year.
Fort Wayne 6 Lansing 7 (10 innings- continuation of Saturday's game)
You know how in the NFL a team will 'freeze' a kicker by calling a time-out right before he attempts a game-winning field goal or something? Well, imagine how Fort Wayne closer Jackson Quezada must have felt when, after walking Eric Eiland to lead off the bottom of the ninth of a 6-5 game, the skies opened and forced affairs to be pushed back to Sunday afternoon. Quezada got to spend all night wondering how to keep the speedy Eiland tied to first base. When things picked up on Sunday, Eiland promptly swiped second base, just as Darin Mastroianni struck out. Justin Jackson followed with a walk of his own before Kevin Ahrens singled in the tying run. An inning later, Manny Rodriguez provided the walk-off blast, his fifth longball on the season.
The first eight innings were just as eventful as the two teams went back and forth, with the lead changing hands four times. John Tolisano and Matthew Liuzza both had two hits, including a double each, while Rodriguez chipped in with three hits of his own.
On the mound, Randy Boone started and went four, allowing four runs on nine hits. He was relieved by the one and only Edgar Estanga who, as always, shut down the opposition striking out six in three innings work. He actually did allow an unearned run thanks to an error by Rodriguez. Estanga now sports a 0.98 ERA and has struck out 45 in 46 innings work. Cody Crowell picked up where Estanga left off and struck out five of his own in two innings work. Crowell also allowed a run but holds an equally impressive 1.15 ERA and has a stunning 50 strikeouts in 31 innings of work.
The afternoon cap saw Lansing complete the weekend sweep in a game delayed over two hours by rain. Lansing scored all three of their runs in the fourth on Johermyn Chavez's fifth homer of the year and a two-run single by Matthew Liuzza. John Tolisano, Darin Mastroianni, and Liuzza all had two hits for the Lugnuts.
On the mound, Luis Perez started and went four before rain forced him out. A shame, too as he was pretty effective allowing just one hit and striking out four. Tim Collins picked up the win in relief with two hitless innings. Cody Crowell emerged in the ninth for his second save on the day and ninth of the year.
Three Stars:
3rd Star: Travis Snider- 3-for-4; 2B
2nd Star: Manny Rodriguez- 3-for-5, walk-off HR
1st Star: Brett Cecil- Win; 6IP, 3H, 1ER, 0BB, 6K
