Deck McGuire started and went 3 innings, allowing two runs. McGuire surrendered four hits and a walk, while striking out three. Anthony Gose committed an error as the first run scored, but it was judged not to have impacted whether the player would have eventually come home. McGuire turned the ball over to Rey Gonzalez for 2.1 innings. Gonzalez allowed three hits and a walk, as well an earned run. The run scored off a hit allowed by Wes Etheridge, who permitted one of Gonzalez’s two inherited runners to score.

The Flying Squirrels and Fisher Cats each had three runs after 6 innings. New Hampshire’s first run came in the second when Mike McDade was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a pair of singles by Danny Perales and Jonathan Diaz. Two innings later, McDade drew a walk and Kevin Howard homered to give New Hampshire a 3-2 lead.

The seventh and eighth passed scorelessly. Evan Crawford and Clint Everts handled the innings for the Fisher Cats, striking out five of the six batters they retired. Everts entered with two on and one out in the eighth and struck out both batters he faced. Travis d’Arnaud doubled to lead off the top of the eighth, but McDade and Howard were both retired and after Danny Perales was intentionally walked, Mark Sobolewski hit into a fielder’s choice.

Diaz popped out to lead off the top of the ninth, but Anthony Gose followed by drawing a walk. With two out, Moises Sierra singled to right, as Gose scampered around the bases, the right fielder misplayed the ball and let Gose raced around with the winning run. Bobby Korecky came in for the bottom of the ninth and retired all three batters he faced.

Kevin Howard on the Most Valuable Player award, going 6-for-15 in the series with 5 RBI. If you’re in the area, Sal Fasano, the Eastern League’s Manager of the Year, will be at a celebration event at Sam Adams Bar & Grill this Monday from 5:30-7:30.

Lansing 3 @ Quad Cities 6 – Boxscore

Marcus Walden started for Lansing and Quad Cities was ahead 3-1 after 2 innings. Walden settled down and pitched two further scoreless innings. However, he was victimized by hits, as Quad Cities got him for seven hits, which is how they accounted for all three of their runs. Walden struck out four and didn’t walk a batter. Brandon Berl allowed a solo homer over 2 innings of relief, before turning the ball over to Dustin Antonlin, who struggled last night. Antonlin allowed two runs on a hit and two walks over one-third of an inning, erasing any hopes of a Lansing comeback. Daniel Webb pitched 1.2 scoreless innings.

Carlos Perez and Oscar Dominguez had the only multi-hit games for the Lugnuts, each going 2-for-4. Perez scored a run and Dominguez had one of the team’s three extra-base hits. Marcus Knecht also reached base twice with a pair of walks, as did Markus Brisker who was 1-for-3 with a free pass. Michael Crouse was 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Jake Marisnick was 1-for-5 with an RBI. Matt Nuzzo struck out three times, but he did contribute offensively with a single that scored a run. He was later driven in by pinch-hitter Jonathan Jones. However, Lansing’s two runs in the seventh were immediately countered by Quad Cities striking back against Antonlin and any hopes for a comeback were dashed quickly.

All in all, it was quite a successful season for the Lugnuts, who made it into the playoffs on the last day, but went on to the Midwest League Championship Series, before encountered a very tough Quad Cities team that put up a .603 winning percentage in the regular season.

Thus concludes the 2011 minor league season for Toronto affiliates.

Three Stars:
3rd Star – Jonathan Diaz, 2-for-4, RBI, 2 TB
2nd Star – Anthony Gose, 1-for-4, R, BB, 1 TB
1st Star – Kevin Howard, 1-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, 4 TB