Sunday Notes

[weams]

 

Ian Locke

Chris Dickerson and Chance Sisco continued their hot hitting and Norfolk got a strong effort from its pitching staff in a 4-2 win over the Durham Bulls Saturday night at Harbor Park.

One night after Dickerson and Sisco combined to register each of Norfolk’s five hits in a Friday night setback, the duo continued their hot hitting to help Norfolk draw even in the four-game set. Dickerson singled twice, walked, scored a run and drove in another in the contest, while Sisco added a double, two singles, a run scored and an RBI as part of a three-hit night.

Over his last three games, Dickerson has now hit .667 (8-12) with two walks and two runs scored, and he’s now batted .378 (14-37) with five multi-hit games over his last 12 contests.

Sisco’s three-hit night matched his season-high, and the 22-year-old has now batted .341 (28-82) in 23 games since June 1^st. Sisco, the #1 prospect in the Orioles system according to both Baseball America and MLB.com, is slated to play in both the MLB Futures Game and the Triple-A All-Star Game later this month.

Norfolk used five different pitchers in the contest, with the quintet combining to allow one earned run on seven hits while striking out 11. Tides starter Jayson Aquino allowed one run on three hits over 2.2 innings of work before he was pulled after throwing 53 pitches, and four relievers followed by allowing just four hits over the final 6.1 innings. Scott McGough (2-1) earned the victory, while Richard Rodriguez recorded the final three outs to earn his first save of the season.

Johnny Giavotella and David Washington each had RBI singles in the win, with Washington’s single extending his on-base run to 27 consecutive games.

 

Joseph Fitzhenry

 

 LHP John Means tossed eight shutout innings and the Bowie Baysox (41-39) plated 11 runs on 14 hits en route to an 11-0 shutout victory over the Akron RubberDucks (39-36) on Saturday night at Canal Park in Akron.

 

Means (5-7) surrendered six hits to go along with two walks and four strikeouts in his eight innings of work. The 8.0 IP is a new career-high for the southpaw.

 

The Baysox jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first as a double and a walk started the inning before Austin Hays cleared the bases with a three-run blast to left, his second home run in as many games.

 

On a major league rehab assignment, RubberDucks RHP Danny Salazar (0-1) allowed the three runs on three hits while walking two and fanning three in 1.2 IP.

 

DJ Stewart’s solo shot in the top half of the fourth inning extended the Baysox lead to 4-0. The home run was Stewart’s ninth of the year and his first since May 27 at Akron.

 

 delivered a two-run shot to dead center and Stewart plated a run via Mike Yastrzemski knocked home a pair with a two-run double in the inning, Garabez RosaA five-run fourth broke the game open for Bowie and stretched the lead to 9-0. an RBI single.

 

All five runs in the inning were charged to Akron LHP Luis Lugo (6.0 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 K).

Yastrzemski struck again with a solo shot as part of a two-run seventh to make it a 11-0 game in favor of the visitors. The home run was Yastrzemski’s third of the season.

 

This marks the fourth multi-homer game of Yastrzemski’s career and his first since April 21, 2016.

 

Four different Baysox had multi-hit games: Hays (2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R), Cedric Mullins (3-5, 2 2B, 2 R), Stewart (3-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) and Yastrzemski (2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R).

 

RHP Bobby Bundy (1.0 IP, K) had a scoreless outing in relief for manager Gary Kendall’s squad.

 

Kyle Huson

 

Shane Hoelscher delivered a walk-off grand slam in the 10^th inning of Saturday night’s game to give the Frederick Keys (35-44) a 9-7 victory over the Lynchburg Hillcats (47-32) at Nymeo Field. It was the Keys third walk-off hit, and second walk-off home run on the season.

After the Hillcats took a 7-5 lead in the top of the 10^th inning, the Keys had the middle of the lineup coming to bat against Argenis Angulo. Ryan Mountcastle drew a leadoff walk, and Ademar Rifaela followed with a single to right field. A Randolph Gassaway walk loaded the bases with no outs, and set the stage for Hoelscher. That is when he launched a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall, giving the Keys a 9-7 victory. It was Hoelscher’s fourth home run of the year, and the first one Angulo had given up all season.

The Hillcats got out to an early lead thanks to a Sicnarf Loopstok RBI double in the second off of Reid Love. Lynchburg added a pair in the third. Connor Marabell singled, and scored on a Claudio Bautista RBI double. Bautista advanced to third on a throwing error, and came around to score on an Ivan Castillo single, making it a 3-0 game.

Frederick answered with a run in the top of the fourth. Mountcastle reached on an error, and scored on a Hoelscher single. Hoelscher would finish the night with three hits and tied a career-high with five RBIs.

The sixth inning brought the Keys thei r first lead of the series. Glynn Davis and Mountcastle singled to lead off the frame. Rifaela reached on a fielder’s choice that got Mountcastle out, making it first and third with one out. Gassaway then extended his hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI single to left. Two batters later, Yermin Mercedes launched a three-run blast to left field, giving the Keys a 5-3 lead.

Lynchburg got a run back in the seventh by way of a Ka’ai Tom solo home run, and they would tie up the game in the eighth. Martin Cervenka blasted a solo shot of his own off of Luis Gonzalez, making it 5-5.

It would remain that way through regulation, and the two teams would need extra innings. In the top of the tenth, Loopstok reached on a walk. Cervenka then gave the Hillcats the lead with a double to left center field, scoring Loopstok. Cervenka would score on a Marabell single, and the score moved to 7-5 to the bottom of the frame.

Karl Triana (2-0) earned the win for the Keys. He earned the final three outs of the 10^th, maneuvering his way out of a second and third jam with nobody out. Angulo (3-2) took the loss for the Hillcats, working two innings and allowing the grand slam to Hoelscher.

 

Will Deboer

 Alejandro Juvier's two-out RBI single in a rainy top of the 12th broke the tie and the Delmarva Shorebirds added another to outlast the Kannapolis Intimidators 4-2 on Saturday night at Intimidators Stadium.

With one out in the 12th, Chris Clare stroked a double to left and moved up to third on a groundout. Juvier came up and rolled a grounder past second and into center to bring home Clare for the go-ahead single. Ryan McKenna then belted a long flyball that bounced on the warning track in left for a triple, chasing home Juvier to make it 4-2.

That was more than enough for Francisco Jimenez, who pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 12th to lock up the win and end the Shorebirds' (6-4, 35-43) longest game of the year at 4:19.

Jiménez (4-1) pitched three scoreless no-hit in extras for the wins, walking one and striking out three. Ben Wright (1-7) took the loss for the Intimidators (4-6, 43-35) after faltering for two runs on three hits in the 12th.

The Shorebirds first broke through in the top of the fourth. Preston Palmeiro took a one-out walk and Collin Woody was hit by a pitch to put two on. Clare then cracked a double that split the gap in left center and two-hopped to the wall, plating both runners to make it 2-0.

Daniel Gonzalez worked a two-out walk in the bottom of the fifth, and Sam Dexter slashed a flyball to deep right. Jake Ring caught up to it in a dead sprint but it glanced off the webbing of his glove. Gonzalez raced around to score and Dexter ended up at third with an RBI triple, cutting the Shorebird lead to 2-1.

The Intimidators drew even in the bottom of the seventh. Grant Massey led off with a single and moved up to second on a Tyler Sullivan sac bunt. Daniel Gonzalez walked and Dexter struck out, then Luis Gonzalez walked to load the bases. Up came Mitch Roman, who worked out a five-pitch walk of his own, forcing in a run to tie it at 2-2.

Delmarva got two men in scoring position in the eighth but couldn't come through with a run. The Shorebirds had ample chances in extras as well, taking advantage of a wild Kannapolis bullpen but never getting the breakthrough. Delmarva stranded a season-high 14 runners on base on the night.

Clare paced the Shorebird attack, going 2-for-6 with two doubles, two RBIs, and the game-winning run. Juvier and McKenna each had multi-hit games to go along with their 12th-inning rib-eye steaks.

Kannapolis had just five hits on the night. Dexter finished 2-for-5 with the RBI triple, while Luis Gonzalez had two hits and two walks.

Neither starter factored into the decision. Lucas Humpal battled through five innings for the Shorebirds, allowing one run on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts. The Intimidators' Luis Martinez lasted 6.2 innings in a quality start, giving up two runs on four hits while walking three and striking out seven.

The game featured 15 walks and 25 strikeouts between the two sides. Delmarva's two longest games this year have come against Kannapolis. The Shorebirds won a 13-inning game 5-4 in 3:40 at Perdue Stadium on June 12.

Aberdeen Staff

Coming back from three runs down in the seventh, the Aberdeen IronBirds stole game one of three in Hudson Valley, 9-4 on Saturday night. The IronBirds scored three in the seventh, one in the eighth, and four in the ninth to earn a series opening victory.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS: After a 50-minute delay to the start of the game because of rain, Aberdeen fell behind 4-1 in the first six innings. Hudson Valley scored two in the first, one in the fourth, and one more in the sixth to threaten the IronBIrds' three-game win streak.

BIG INNINGS: Down three in the seventh, Aberdeen tied the game with three two-out RBIs. First, Jean Carrillo plated two with a double to bring the IronBirds within one, then Mason McCoy tied the game with a double of his own.

T.J. Nichting gave the IronBirds their first lead in the eighth when he singled, stole second, took third on an errant pickoff attempt, and scored on a wild pitch.

In the ninth, Aberdeen piled on four more to end any double. With the bases loaded, Nichting was hit by a breaking ball, down 0-2 in the count, before Seamus Curran tripled to centerfield to score three more and give the IronBirds a 9-4 win.

'BIRD WATCHING: Starting pitcher Nick Gruener went 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs in his second start of the year after allowing seven runs in one inning in his last outing against Hudson Valley … John Keller pitched the final three innings, earning the win … Keller allowed one baserunner … Aberdeen's three-run comeback win is their largest of the season … They had previously only come back from one run down.

[Luke-OH]

9 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Three attempted steals against Carrillo in Aberdeen game.  Three caught stealing.  Just turned 20.  If he can hit, we might have something with the Panamanian. 

The swing is a mess, really long. I don't think he will hit without major changes.  In the games I've seen, he's made some good blocks but also let some stoppable balls get to the backstop.

[Luke-OH]

5 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I enjoy your analysis.   You sound like you know what you are talking about without telling everyone that you know what you are talking about.  

What's your take on Rifaela and Gassaway?

I watch a lot of minor league baseball, and I played enough baseball to have an idea what I'm looking at, but that's all it is, an idea.

I wrote a post on Rifaela yesterday, it's pretty detailed, check it out.

I haven't took a long look at Gassaway yet, but the swing looks sound, like he'll make good contact going forward, right now he's not hitting for power, and I'm not sure if he's good enough defensively to profile in an outfield corner if the power doesn't come along.