Minor League Game Summaries 4/12

[weams]

Alex Murphy continues to swing a hot bat for the Shorebirds. He hit his first home run of the season tonight, a crucial two-run shot that accounted for both of Delmarva's runs in their 2-1 victory. Murphy is hittin .409 so far on the young season and is the Hangout Milb Player of the Night!

Tides [AAA]

Postponed

Baysox [AA] Lost 10 to 2

Jason Garcia made his first start of the year and struggled with his control (4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K).

Julio Borbon went 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBI.

Trey Mancini went 2-for-3 and drew a walk. He's batting .333 with three home runs already, picking up where he left off last season.

Chance Sisco also went 2-for-3 and drew a walk.

Keys [A+] Won 6 to 4

Mitch Horacek struggled with his control but managed to complete five innings of work and pick up a win (5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K).

Jay Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with two walks and stolen base.

Jomar Reyes went 2-for-5 with a double.

Shorebirds [A] Won 2 to 1

Lucas Long built off his strong opening day outing with another solid performance tonight (5 IP, 4 H, ER, 0 BB, 4 K).

Shorebirds closer Ryan Meisinger struck out four over two perfect innings.

Cedric Mullins went 2-for-5 and stole a base.

Alejandro Juvier had a 3-for-4 night, all singles.

Matt Wilson

Another slow start and trouble on the pitching mound doomed the Baysox as they lost in blow-out fashion, 10-2, Tuesday evening versus the Erie SeaWolves. The Baysox issued a season-high 10 walks in the contest as they fell to 1-4 on the season.

Erie, for the second game in a row, got off to a hot start in the top of the first inning against Baysox starter RHP Jason Garcia. With two outs, Jeff McVaney walked and eventually scored on a Dean Green double to give the SeaWolves the early 1-0 advantage.

After SeaWolves starter RHP Austin Kubitza put out the Baysox 1-2-3, the SeaWolves continued the hot start in the top of the second inning. INF Dominic Ficociello hit a lead-off single to left field and advanced to second base courtesy of a base on balls by DH Kody Eaves. No. 9 hitter in the lineup, 2B Harold Castro singled to load the bases. Ficociello scored during the next at bat when SS Gustavo Nunez grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to make the score 2-0 SeaWolves.

Bowie had a potential scoring opportunity in the bottom of the second frame when LF Quincy Latimore walked to begin the inning and was followed by a single line drive by C Chance Sisco. However, the scoring opportunity was squandered after an inning ending 6-3 double play off the bat of DH Corban Joseph.

The SeaWolves did not let up. In the top of the third inning RF Jeff McVaney hit a lead-off double to left field, moved to third on a wild pitch by Garcia and eventually scored when clean up man Dean Green grounded out to give Erie the 3-0 lead. The Baysox got on the board in the bottom half of the frame against Kubitza. Adrian Marin hit a lead-off double on a line drive to left field to extend his hitting streak to four games and eventually scored on a Julio Borbon groundout to cut the Erie lead to 3-1.

After a couple uneventful innings, the SeaWolves blew the game open with four runs in the top of the sixth against Baysox reliever Jon Keller. Catcher Austin Green singled to right field, followed by a Ficociello walk. After Eaves struck out swinging, Green and Ficociello scored on a double off the bat of Nunez. With two outs, McVaney walked to bring Dean Green to the plate and he proceeded to single on a sharply hit ball to left-center field for his third and fourth RBI on the evening to give Erie a 7-1 lead.

Bowie got one run back in the bottom half of the inning. 1B Trey Mancini drew a one-out walk and advanced to second base on a two-out single to center field from Sisco. RHP Kurt Spomer then replaced Kubitza on the mound and surrendered an RBI single from 2B Garabez Rosa to make the score 7-2.

In the top of the 7th inning, Erie kept piling on the runs against Baysox reliever Bobby Bundy. The first three baserunners that reached did so via base on balls prior to a Tyler Bortnick two-out single to score a pair of runs to extend the SeaWolves lead to 9-2.

For extra measure, Erie tacked on their final run of the night in the top of the ninth inning against Baysox reliever RHP Stefan Crichton. Crichton surrendered a couple of one-out singles that was followed by a McVaney two-out double to left field to bring home a run to make the score 10-2.

Garcia, in his 2016 debut, pitched 4.2 innings and allowed three runs on five hits and four walks coupled with two strikeouts in the loss. Keller pitched 1.1 innings and allowed four runs on four hits and four walks while also striking out two batters. Bundy came on in relief and threw one inning, allowed two runs on one hit and four walks. Crichton pitched the final two innings for Bowie and allowed one run on three hits while striking out two batters.

Geoff Arnold

The Salem Red Sox grabbed the lead in the fourth inning, but the Frederick Keys answered with a decisive three-run fifth to defeat their opponent 6-4 on Tuesday night at LewisGale Field. In the game, four different Keys finished with two hits, while Steve Wilkerson and Cam Kneeland had two RBIs apiece. With the victory the orange and black move back to .500 on the young season.

The Keys took the initial lead of the game in the third. Erick Salcedo coaxed a one-out walk, stole second and moved to third on a Jay Gonzalez single. One batter later, the Keys pulled off a double steal, with Salcedo taking home after Gonzalez swiped second. On the play, the Keys leadoff man advanced to third as the throw from Red Sox catcher Ben Moore got into centerfield. Cam Kneeland completed the scoring with a single to right.

One inning later, Salem answered with three of their own. Danny Mars singled with one out off Mitch Horacek, before stealing second. Ben Moore followed with a walk, before Jordan Betts doubled Mars home. The next batter, Mike Meyers, added a triple to make it a 3-2 Salem advantage.

A half-frame later, the Keys would wrestle the lead back for good. Salcedo walked and stole his third base, while Gonzalez also received a free ride from Jamie Callahan. From there, Wilkerson drove home Salcedo with a single, while Gonzalez scored on a misplay in the outfield by Meyers.

Horacek (1-0) closed out his night by pitching a lockdown fifth. Working five innings, he gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked four and struck out four, earning his first win since last August 12.

The Keys added an insurance run in the eighth. With the bases loaded, Wilkerson worked the count full before earning a walk from Austin Maddox to make it 6-3. Salem rallied for a run in the ninth after a double by Longhi and an RBI single by Mars, but Garrett Cortright shut the door from there.

Callahan (0-1) suffered the loss, surrendering three runs on five hits in three innings. He walked three and struck out one. Cortright got five outs for his second save in as many games. He allowed a run on three hits.

In the game, the two sides shredded the bases, combining on 11 steals. Mars and Salcedo each had three apiece. Additionally, Yoan Moncada was the only player to be caught stealing in the game.

Brendan Gulick

On a night where clutch hits were hard to come by, Alex Murphy took advantage of a Kannapolis defensive mistake and blasted an eighth inning, 2-run homer deep into the night to lift the Shorebirds to a 2-1 victory over the Intimidators.

The Shorebirds opened the top of the eighth with a strikeout before Ademar Rifaela singled to left field. D.J. Stewart hit a ground ball to second base, where Danny Mendick fielded the ball and tried to tag Rifaela. Alertly, Rifaela began back-peddling toward first to avoid the tag out. Mendick realized he wouldn?t be able to turn a double-play, so he over-hand flipped the ball to first baseman Corey Zangari for the out. Rifaela, who ducked to avoid the flip, got back on his feet and raced for second base. Zangari started to chase after him and dropped the ball, allowing Rifaela to reach second safely. Two pitches later, Murphy blasted his first homer of the season to give the Shorebirds a come-from-behind lead they wouldn?t relinquish.

?I was looking for a fastball that I could drive somewhere to try and get that run home to tie the game,? Murphy said. ?He threw it over the inner half of the plate and I was able to get a good swing on it.?

Murphy has opened the season hitting .409 (9-22) with four doubles, a home run and nine RBI?s.

Kannapolis scored it?s only run in the bottom of the second inning, when Cody Daily drilled a two out single to center field to playe Seby Zavala. The Intimidators had golden opportunities to score in the sixth and seventh innings, but baserunning miscues proved costly on several occasions tonight. Both teams finished the game with 11 base hits.

Lucas Long turned in another solid start, allowing just one run in five innings of work. Patrick Baker picked up his first win of the season and Ryan Meisinger earned his first save. Collectively, the trio stuck out ten and didn?t issue a single walk all night.

Alejandro Juvier had a nice offensive night, going 3-4 at the plate in his first game of the series.

[weams]