Well, Lansing can rest their regulars for, oh, the next two or so months as they clinched the First Half Division Title in the Midwest League.
The first four Syracuse hitters combined to go 8-for-14 today in helping John Parrish move to 10-0 on the year. Parrish actually relieved starter Michael MacDonald who went two innings allowing one hit. No rain delays, so I can't be sure why MacDonald started. Parrish worked five innings and struck out seven while allowing three runs on six hits and two walks. His ERA now rests at 2.83.
Buck Coats drove in two on a day where Adam Lind took a rest. Pedro Lopez had three hits and scored twice in the victory. To be honest, there isn't really much else worth mentioning. Syracuse has quite the irrelevant lineup when Lind, Robinzon Diaz, and even Russ Adams aren't in action.
While John Parrish was improving to 10-0 on the season, Brandon Magee saw his record slide to 0-9 as he allowed six runs (five earned) in four innings. Magee was, as is most often the case, terrible in allowing 8 hits and walking three in raising his ERA to 5.84.
Offensively, the Fisher Cats showed some power, even without Travis Snider in the lineup. Ryan Patterson (11), Jacob Butler (9), and Ryan Klosterman (6) all homered for New Hampshire. Patterson may be looking at a call-up to Syracuse at some point this summer. He's now slugging .521 and hitting .293. Unfortunately, he refuses to walk, which leads to the .333 OBP.
Five Fisher Cats, including the three who homered, had two hits apiece. The other four starters put up 0-fers.
Dunedin- All-Star Break
Wow. Lots to say here. The Lugnuts scored single runs in each of the first four innings and two more in the six but found themselves tied at 6-6 through seven innings. And then things got wacky. Lansing scored 11 times in the 8th to pretty much seal their playoff fate.
I've given up on trying to recap the fateful 8th so I'll just let MiLB.com's play-by-play feature tell the story:
All told, eight hits and four walks for the visitors, highlighted by Matthew Liuzza's second homer of the day. They added an insurance run in the ninth on Moises Sierra's fifth homer of the year. When all was said and done, the Lugnuts finished with 22 hits (3 doubles, 5 homers) and seven walks on the day. To go along with Liuzza and Sierra, John Tolisano and Mike McDade each hit their second homers of the year.
Eric Eiland found himself in the leadoff spot today and didn't disappoint in reaching base all six times with three hits, three walks and five runs scored. He also stole two bases. Tolisano and Liuzza each drove in five runs while Raul Barron knocked in four of his own. Seriously, there were some other good performances. You might as well just check out the boxscore.
Brad Mills started and went six striking out seven but allowing four runs on six hits. Edgar Estanga relieved him and vultured the hell out of a win by pitching the seventh and allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits. Cody Crowell finished things off with two fairly easy innings of relief.
Three Stars:
3rd Star: (tie) Raul Barron, John Tolisano, Kevin Ahrens, Moises Sierra
2nd Star: Eric Eiland- 3-for-3, 3BB, 5R, 2SB
1st Star: Matthew Liuzza- 4-for-6, 2HR, 5RBI
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20080615231822352