Catchers Dig the Long Ball

Wednesday, May 15 2019 @ 11:00 PM EDT

Contributed by: Gerry

Alberto Mineo and Gabriel Moreno had big games on Wednesday, both homered leading their teams to wins. Patrick Murphy was dealing. Elsewhere the Bisons pitchers gave up five home runs and Buffalo unsurprisingly lost. Dunedin split a pair as their offense went cold. Ryan Noda ended the second game in the ninth with a walk off grand slam scoring a designated runner and two walks.

Gwinnett 6 Buffalo 2

Gwinnett hit five home runs, three off Jacob Waguespack and one each off Francisco Rios and Dusty Isaacs. Waguespack did pitch seven innings and only conceded five hits, its just that three of them were home runs.

Buffalo just had six hits, one each by six hitters. The two runs came from an Alford single and doubles by Gurriel and Biggio.


Reading 3 New Hampshire 9

Patrick Murphy doesn't need much run support but he got it on Wednesday. Murphy pitched seven innings with just a solo home run on the board. He had ten K's and one walk. In total he allowed three hits. Over his last four starts Murphy has pitched 28 innings, with 32 K and 4 walks. His WHIP in those four games is .57. Despite his injury record Murphy is still 23, until next month. He should see AAA shortly after his birthday. Ty Tice pitched the ninth and his ERA is 1.69. Tice is still just 22 years old until the 4th of July. Tice's WHIP is .88 and he has 17 K's in 16 innings.

The offense was led by Alberto Mineo who had four hits including a home run. Mineo drove in five runs and threw out a runner. Brock Lundquist was 2-4 with a double and had moved his average up to .238. Lundquist was hitting .111 less than a month ago. His promotion to AA to start the season seemed aggressive and it has taken Lunquist some time to find his feet. His OPS in May is 955. If he can keep that going he will be fine. Speaking of slow starts, Kevin Smith who homered and singled. One game does not a season make, here's hoping. Vinny Capra had three hits, including a triple. His was another aggressive promotion but his OPS is now .787, not bad for a 22 year old in AA.


Jupiter 5 Dunedin 1 - game one

Jupiter 4 Dunedin 8 - game two, nine innings

Game one was tied at one until the sixth. Joey Murray didn't take the loss but he didn't pitch well. In 4.1 innings he had nine base runners, six hits and three walks. The loss went to Matt Shannon, he was charged with four runs. On the hitting side, Cal Stevenson and Kevin Vicuna had two hits each out of the total of seven for Dunedin.

In game two, Turner Larkins pitched like Murray in game one, with plenty of base runners. In five innings he had ten men on base. While Murray escaped, Larkins gave up three runs. Dunedin trailed 4-1 headed to the bottom of the seventh when Jupiter let them back into the game. Kacey Clemens doubled, Norberto Obeso singled him home. Then three walks and a hit batter brought in two more runs to tie the game. In the eighth and ninth the Jays bunted the designated runner on second over to third and then the next hitter walked. Jupiter intentionally walked the next hitter to load the bases with one out. In the eighth the Jays could not score the run so in the ninth Ryan Noda took matters into his own hands and hit a grand slam. That made it five RBI for Noda. Clemens had two hits off the friendlier pitching in the FSL.


West Michigan 6 Lansing 7

A four pitch bases loaded walk by Rafael Lantigua gave the Lugnuts a walk off win. Lantigua had a two run, two RBI day and added a triple to his walk. Gabriel Moreno made his debut and homered in his first at-bat. He added a triple and a single and had three RBI. Moreno also threw out two base runners on steal attempts. Ryan Gold, Jake Brodt and Hunter Steinmetz had two hits each. Reggie Pruitt went 0-3 and his batting average is now down to .270.

Troy Miller had a rough start, he walked five in 3.2 innings and added four hits. The bullpen was good until the usually reliable Jackson Rees walked the leadoff hitter in the ninth, followed by a bunt single. After the runners moved up on an out a run scored on a sac fly and a second run scored on the same play on a throwing error by Reggie Pruitt. Rees "vultured" the win when Lantigua walked.


3 Stars

3rd star: Gabriel Moreno

2nd star: Patrick Murphy

1st star: Alberto Mineo


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