Yesterday both New Hampshire and Vancouver had walk-off wins. On Friday both were rained out. That left Buffalo and Dunedin who both lost to a walk-off in the ninth. Buffalo had to face Stephen Strasburg while bad pitching and defense cost Dunedin.
Buffalo 1 Rochester 2
Portland at New Hampshire - postponed
Spokane at Vancouver - postponed
Dunedin 4 Clearwater 5
This is what I noted from yesterday's games.
All the Buffalo major league hopefuls got to prove themselves against a major league pitcher on Friday, one Stephen Strasburg. None of them passed the test, Nate Lukes got the only hit off Strasburg with a sixth inning single.
Meanwhile Maximo Castillo nearly matched Strasburg. Maximo went 6.1 innings with two hits allowed. One was a home run, the other was erased on a double play. Maximo also walked the first hitter of the game but Gabriel Moreno threw him out attempting to steal. He had five strikeouts and now has a 0.50 ERA in AAA.
The Bisons got their run in the eighth, Chavez Young singled and scored on a double play. That led to the ninth with Matt Gage on the mound. Gage has been reliable this season but a lead off single started the trouble. With one out a high hopper to third was ruled a single and Eric Stamets throw bounced in front of Zach Collins for an error to put runners at second and third. A walk then loaded the bases. Joe Biagini was summoned but another high hopper to third was enough to get the runner home.
One of the Rochester pitchers was Patrick Murphy who has a 2.31 ERA in 12 games.
Dahian Santos was on the mound for the Jays and when Damiano Palmegiani hit a three run home run in the fifth inning, it looked like a win for the Jays. The Jays added another run in the seventh to make it 4-0. But the Phillies got back in the game when the Jays third baseman, Francisco Fajardo, made two errors in the bottom of the seventh. The second error came with runners on second and third with two outs. It would turn out to be critical as the Phillies now trailed by two runs.
Geison Urbaez came in to get the final out of the eighth. But in the ninth he waled the second hitter and hit the third. The next hitter singled to load the bases. Urbaez then induced a ground out that scored a run but made it a 4-3 game. Another single made it a 4-4 game and another hit batter re-loaded the bases. A final single provided the final blow.
That relief appearance ruined a good start from Dahian Santos. Santos pitched just four innings, allowing one hit while striking out seven. However he did need 77 pitches, 46 strikes and 31 balls. Estiven Machado was the top hitter going 3-4. After a slow start Machado hit .299 in May, a good month for the 19 year old.
Three Stars
Third Star - Estiven Machado
Second Star - Damiano Palmegiani
First Star - Maximo Castillo
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