The three affiliates in action all had early leads and they blew them. Only one of them managed to get in the win column. Still, there was one great start turned in and a number of fine offensive performances.
Las Vegas 8 Fresno 6 (11 Innings)
Fresno, CA The 51s put up an unconverted touchdown in the second inning as J.P. Arencibia led things off with a double against Steve Hammond and eventually came in to score on a passed ball. Aaron Matthews had a two-run double and Buck Coats followed with a two-run triple. Coats would come in to score on a Howie Clark groundout for the sixth run of the inning. That looked like it was going to be more than enough as Vegas starter Fabio Castro gave up just one walk over the first three innings. The diminutive lefty did load up the bases on a walk, single and hit by pitch in the fourth but he managed to get out of it unscathed. It was then a return to scheduled programming as Castro then retired the side in the fifth and sixth innings and only allowed a two-out single in a shutout seventh. In all, Castro gave up just two hits and two walks while plunking a man and striking out three.
It looked like Castro was in line to pick up his first win in a Vegas uniform as Jonah Bayliss brought in his 0.00 ERA in 10 appearances for the start of the eighth. So, what could possibly happen? You guessed it, he was torched for six runs! By the time Bayliss left, his ERA was up to 3.12 as he allowed six runs on five hits and a walk in just a third of an inning as the Giants affiliate rallied to tie the game at 6-6. Adam Witter chased Bayliss with a three-run bomb to complete the comeback after an RBI single by Kevin Fransden and a two-run knock by Matt Downs. Jeremy Accardo came in and allowed a single and walk but managed to get a strikeout and groundout to keep the Grizzlies off the scoreboard.
Accardo worked a one-hit ninth and Dirk Hayhurst retired the side in order in the tenth to give the 51s another shot to win it. After getting the potential go-ahead run on third in the previous two innings, Las Vegas finally broke through in the eleventh with a big two-out rally. Clark singled home Matthews for the tie-breaking run while Randy Ruiz scored Clark with a double. Hayhurst slammed the door shut with another three-up, three down inning to preserve his own victory.
Every starter except Brett Harper had a hit for Las Vegas as they collected 13 safeties and four walks. Clark, Ruiz, Matthews, Jason Lane and Kyle Phillips all had two-hit nights.
New Hampshire @ New Britain Postponed Due To Rain, Doubleheader Today at 4:05 p.m. EDT.
Lakeland, FL It was the Darin Mastroianni show in the first as he drew a walk, stole second and third and came home on a John Tolisano groundout to give Dunedin a 1-0 lead. The D-Jays added three more in the second on a Jesus Gonzalez homer, a Chris Emanuele triple and a Jonathan Jaspe single.
Dunedin starter Andrew Liebel gave three of those runs back to the Tigers affiliate in the bottom of the second when they put together three singles, a double and a sac fly. Jaspe ended the inning by throwing out a runner trying to steal second. Liebel appeared to have settled down when he struck out a pair of batters in a clean third inning but the Tigers affiliate roared ahead in the fourth with a double, two singles and a Luis Fernandez error which resulted in the go-ahead run scoring. The damage would have been worse but Jaspe threw out another runner at second to erase a leadoff single in the inning.
Liebel issued a leadoff walk in the fifth but he left on a positive note by getting the next two hitters before giving way to lefty Tim Collins. It took him a while to find his groove as he allowed a stolen base, issued a walk and uncorked a wild pitch but he got the final out of the fifth with a strikeout. Collins had an adventurous sixth as well after allowing a two-out single and walk but he did strike out a pair to keep Lakeland off the board.
Tryston Magnuson wasnt so lucky in the seventh as he was victimized by a two-run blast by Michael Bertram that put Lakeland up by three. Jaspe did throw out another runner trying to steal second, going 3-for-4 in that department. Dunedin got to within two in the top of the eighth as Eric Thames got a two-out single to score Mastroianni but Moises Sierra was thrown out trying to steal second earlier in the inning. Lakeland scored the final run of the game in their half of the eighth as they got to Magnuson with a double and single.
It was an ugly outing for Liebel as he gave five runs (four earned) in 4 2/3 innings on eight hits and two walks while striking out three. He drops to 0-4 with an ERA of 5.97.
Thames and Manny Rodriguez had two-hit nights for Dunedin while Mastroianni had a hit, two walks and three stolen bases to up his total to 22 on the season.
Lansing, MI The Lugnuts took a 2-0 lead after one as Johermyn Chavez connected for his sixth homer of the season to score a Mark Sobolewski single with two out. The Cubs affiliate tied it in the second with two runs on three singles off Lugnuts lefty Charles Huggins. Jon Del Campo helped put Lansing in the lead again with a leadoff triple in the home half of the second and he scampered home on a Jonathan Talley sac fly. Del Campo would triple yet again in the fourth and this time, he would score on a wild pitch to put Lansing up by two. Lansing went up by three in the fifth as they got yet another three-bagger, this time by Tyler Pastornicky. He was brought home by a Sobolewski single to make it 5-2 Lansing.
Jonas Cuotto worked a one-hit sixth but gave up a run in the seventh on a single, double and sac fly. Lefty Frank Gailey had to come on to get the final out of the frame with a strikeout. Gailey was burned by a Josh Vitters solo homer in the eighth but the Lugnuts matched that run in the home half of the inning as Talley knocked home Sobolewski to make it a 6-4 game. The Cubs affiliate rallied to take the lead in the ninth as Rebel Yell Ridling took Michael Barbara deep for a three-run homer to put Peoria ahead 7-6. Markus Brisker led off the Lugnuts ninth with a single and stole second but the Lugnuts went down in order after that to suffer a painful one-run loss.
That ruined a decent outing for Huggins, who gave up two runs in five innings on seven hits and two walks while striking out three. Sobolewski and Del Campo accounted for half of the Lugnuts 10 hits with Sobolewski getting three of them and he also stole a base. Balbino Fuenmayor had an 0-for-4 night as his average falls to .177.
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Darin Mastroianni, Dunedin
2. Mark Sobolewski, Lansing
1. Fabio Castro, Las Vegas
Standings/Streaks/Last 10.........
Las Vegas 7-18, 8.0GB 4th place, PCL Pacific South, 2-8 Last 10, W1.
New Hampshire 15-9, 2.5GA 1st place, EL North, 5-5 Last 10, W3.
Dunedin 11-14, 8.0GB 4th place (tie), FSL North, 6-4 Last 10, L2.
Lansing 8-16, 9.5GB 5th place, MWL East, 5-5 Last 10, L1.
Extra Innings..........
The Las Vegas Review Journal has a feature on J.P. Arencibia.
The New Hampshire Union Leader recaps a fine month of April for the Fisher Cats and has a piece on Brian Dopirak.
Baseball America gives some love to the Fisher Cats in its Tuesday Prospects Dish.
The Lansing State Journal shines the spotlight on Johermyn Chavez.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20090506073724220