Salt Lake 8 @ Las Vegas 11 – Boxscore
Kyle Drabek threw what might have been four of the best innings he’s thrown at Triple-A this year. He retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced, only allowing a single to open up the third. However, the fifth saw Salt Lake put up five singles and, combined with a wild pitch, that led to five runs. Drabek settled down and had a 1-2-3 sixth inning and the seventh inning wasn’t particularly eventful aside from a solo home run. If you want to focus on the negatives, Drabek showed his trademark inconsistency and allowed six runs over 7 innings. If you want to look at the noticeable positives, he didn’t walk a batter, threw 70 of his 103 pitches for strikes and didn’t allow an extra-base hit. Sean Henn allowed two runs over 2 innings to raise his ERA to 2.79.
Before the game, Chris Woodward was told his contract was being purchased by the Blue Jays and he’d be joining the team on Sunday, as one Bauxite predicted repeatedly. Perhaps Woodward’s promotion motivated Jayson Nix, as he led the offensive attack with a four-hit night. Nix finished a triple shy of the cycle and contributed 4 RBIs while scoring twice. A trio of 51s had three-hit evenings: Darin Mastroianni, Adeiny Hechavarria and Ricardo Nanita. Nanita had two singles and a two-run homer and Mastorianni had three singles, a walk and stole two bases, playing the role of leadoff hitter perfectly. Nevertheless, all eyes are on Hechavarria and he was 3-for-6 with two doubles, a pair of RBIs and struck out twice. He is now hitting .394/.434/.535 at Triple-A. Ryan Shealy and Manny Mayorson each went 1-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI and a walk. Ryan Budde added a single and, unusually, David Cooper was the only 51 held hitless, although he drew a pair of free passes.
New Hampshire 11 @ Portland 0 – Boxscore
New Hampshire outhit Portland 11-4 as Nestor Molina was part of a tandem of pitchers who put on a dominating performance on the mound. Molina went 3 innings, allowed one hit and no walks and struck out four. He then turned the ball over to B.J. LaMura who also hurled 3 frames and didn’t allow a run. LaMura surrendered two hits and a walk. Evan Crawford, Wes Etheridge and Ronald Uviedo each threw one inning of scoreless relief, with Crawford striking out two in the seventh.
Moises Sierra went 3-for-5, all singles, with a run scored. Anthony Gose only put up one single against three strikeouts, but he also added an RBI. Kevin Howard was 2-for-4 with a walk, but he hit his first home run for New Hampshire in the first and also drove in a run later in the game. Travis d’Arnaud and Yan Gomes were each 1-for-5 with a solo homer. Mike McDade had a pair of singles and Jonathan Diaz was hitless with a walk and stolen base. Mark Sobolewski had a double and single and scored two runs. However, the offensive star was left-fielder John Tolisano, who was 2-for-5 with a pair of home runs and 5 RBI.
Clearwater 2 @ Dunedin 6 – Boxscore
A rehabbing Rajai Davis got the start at DH and went 1-for-3 with a solo homer before Kevin Ahrens pinch-hit during his last at-bat and drew a walk and scored a run. Ivan Contreras had three singles in four at-bats. Jon Talley and Ryan Schimpf were held hitless. Kevin Nolan contributed with a single, a double and 2 RBI and Ryan Goins had a pair of singles and a pair of RBI. A.J. Jimenez was 1-for-4 with a run scored, while Justin Jackson was also kept off the bases and Brad McElroy drew a couple of free passes.
With the end of the season approaching, it looked like it was a game of “get everyone some innings” for Dunedin, as four pitchers each hurled 2 innings and a fifth pitched the ninth. Scott Gracey wasn’t touched in his 2 innings and struck out two. Justin Phillabaum gave up two hits and a walk, but no one scored off him and he picked up the win. Harold Mozingo gave up a hit over 2 strong innings. Matt Daly didn’t allow a hit, but walked two and a run came across against him. Steve Turnbull surrendered an unearned run in the ninth on his own throwing error.
Lansing 2 @ Dayton 3 – Boxscore
Last night, the Lugnuts turned to Justin Nicolino who made an abbreviated start of 1.2 innings. He allowed a run on two hits, striking out three. Lansing then called upon Tyler Powell who gave them 4.1 innings out of the bullpen. Powell allowed five hits, three runs, two earned, and retired two batters on strikes. UBC’s Eric Brown didn’t allow a hit in his 2 innings of relief and struck out a pair. Billy Hamilton stole three bases off Powell (2) and Nicolino to become the first major leaguer to steal 100 bases in a decade.
Lansing only had five hits. Two of those came from Jake Marisnick who was 2-for-4 with a single and double. Carlos Perez was 1-for-4 with a both of the team’s RBIs. Small Peter Mooney was 1-for-3 with a walk and, at his third level of the year, continues to hit the ball well. K.C. Hobson waited until the end of the season to pick up his second triple of the year and he came around to score both of Lansing’s runs. Marcus Knecht was among the Lugnuts who were held hitless, but he also drew a pair of walks.
Vancouver 2 @ Boise 8 – Boxscore
A four-run first inning doomed the Canadians and presented them with a deficit they couldn’t surmount given a lack of clutch hitting. Starter Ben White was hit hard, surrendering 11 hits over 5 innings. He allowed seven runs, all earned, while striking out two. Brandon Kaye pitched two scoreless innings and Venezuelan Aleson Escalante allowed the eighth run. The Canadians stranded 11 runners and went 0-for-8 when hitting with runners in scoring position. Roan Salas went 2-for-4 with a double, which was the Canadians’ only extra-base hit of the game. Nicholas Baligod was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Yonder Aponte and Shane Optiz were each 1-for-3 with a walk. Optiz only has six extra-base hits (all doubles) this year in 239 at-bats. Jonathan Berti stole his 23rd base of the season and Randy Schwartz went 1-for-5.
However, while the Canadians lost the game, they won the war and will be bringing playoff baseball to Canada. Game one is Monday afternoon at Vancouver’s Nat Bailey Stadium.
Bluefield 3 @ Johnson City 4 – Boxscore
The Bluefield Blue Jays lost a hard-fought contest by one run in the opening game of the Appalachian League Championship. Game two is tonight and, if necessary, game three is on Monday evening. Actually, hard-fought may be a charitable description of Bluefield’s performance, as they were outhit by Johnson City 12-2. Nevertheless, they hung around the game the entire evening thanks to their first inning. Daniel Arcila walked and, after Dalton Pompey and Andy Fermin were retired, Art Charles also drew a walk to bring up Kevin Pillar. With some fantastically timely hitting, Pillar knocked a ball over the left-field fence for a 3-0 lead and things looked bright for the Blue Jays. However, after Dalton Pompey’s single in the third, Bluefield didn’t get another hit all game. The best scoring opportunity came in the eighth inning when Arcila walked and Fermin was hit by a pitch. After Charles struck out for the second out of the inning, Pillar drew a walk to load the bases. Unfortunately, Christopher Hawkins grounded out to second.
Ajax, Ontario’s Nicholas Purdy started for Bluefield and went 3.1 innings without giving up a run. He allowed five hits and a pair of walks, but struck out five. He turned the ball over to another Canadian, Les Williams, who stranded both of the inherited runners. Williams went on to throw an additional 2 innings and allowed two runs on three hits. After six innings, Bluefield still had a one-run lead and Andrew Sikula brought them to the ninth with 2 innings of hitless relief with four strikeouts. The call went out for Jonathan Lucas and, unfortunately, Lucas couldn’t bring the lead home and on three hits and a walk, he allowed Johnson City the walk-off victory.
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Adeiny Hechavarria, 3-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 5 TB
2nd Star – John Tolisano, 2-for-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 8 TB
1st Star – Jayson Nix, 4-for-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 8 TB
