Nationals Farm Authority

Rounding up the weekend action…

Syracuse dropped 2 of 3 this weekend versus the Gwinnett Braves. Friday 5/29 the Chiefs were blanked 6-0 (box/gamer) by Gwinnet starter Charles Morton, who scattered 7 singles in a complete game shutout and never looked threatened.  Jorge Sosa needed 100 pitches to get through five innings in the loss.  Saturday 5/30, The Chiefs dropped an extra-inning nail biter 2-1 (box/gamer).  Mock got the start and dominated for 4 innings as the Chiefs try to get his arm strength back up to “starter” level.  Rivera went another strong 4 before Clippard let in the winning run in the 10th on an error by outfielder Jorge Padilla.  This ruined a fine batting night by Padilla, who went 3-4 from the leadoff spot.  The Chief’s sole run came on a solo HR from Brad Eldred.  Sunday 5/31, the Chiefs’ salvaged one game from the series, winning a come-from-behind game 6-5 (box/gamer).  Syracuse got a quality spot (?) start from Mike O’Connor (6ip, 7hits, 3runs, 2earned) before the bullpen fumbled away the lead in the 8th.  The Chief’s countered again, scoring 2 in the bottom of the frame on a series of miscues by Gwinnett pitching (two HBPs and a WP).  Patterson had a 2-run HR in the 6th, and Pete Orr had a 2-rbi single in the same.

Syracuse now sits at 23-25 on the season, in 4th place in the International “North” division.

Next Game: tonight 6/1/09 at Gwinnett, the series finale.  Syracuse’s JD Martin is the scheduled starter but may be skipped since both he and Balester pitched in 5/27′s doubleheader.

Harrisburg also dropped 2 of 3 this weekend, to Oriole’s affiliate Bowie in the AA version of the “Battle of the Beltways.”  The Senators won friday 5/29′s contest 8-4 (box/gamer) behind Chris Whitney’s 3-5, 5rbi performance.  Starter Adrian Alaniz left after throwing just 13 pitches with an injury (there’s no corresponding transaction, so hopefully its a day-to-day problem).  Harrisburg’s bullpen was called into action, with Segovia pitching 4 shutout innings and Josh Wilkie holding on for the victory.  On Saturday 5/30, Bowie knocked around starter Justin Jones en route to a 7-2 victory (box/gamer).  Jones gave up 6 runs, 10 hits and two homers (including one grand slam from Bowie 3B Mike Costanzo) to take the loss.  Elijah Dukes was 2-4 in a rehab start, and C Jhonatan Solano had a solo HR in the loss.  Sunday 5/31′s finale saw Bowie take the game 7-4 (box/gamer).  Starter Erik Arneson pitched adequately but still took the loss, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits through 6 innings.  The Senators’ big problem on the day was clutch hitting; they went 1-10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.  Daniel, Baez, Castro and Montz each had 2 hits in the losing effort.

Harrisburg now stands at 13-33 on the season, in last place in the “southern” division of the Eastern League.

Next Game: tonight 6/1/09, Harrisburg returns home for a 3 game set against New Hampshire.  Carlos Martinez (0-0, 5.40 era) is the scheduled starter.

As with both their AAA and AA cousins, Potomac managed to lose 2 of 3 this weekend to the Lynchburg Hillcats.  Friday 5/29 the P-Nats wasted a fine starting effort from Brad Meyers in losing 1-0 (box/gamer).  Meyers struck out the side in the first and had 8 Ks in 6 2/3s innings.  His league-leading era is now 1.72 and he may be in Harrisburg within a few weeks.  Potomac managed just three hits off of Lynchburg pitching but had plenty of opportunities to tie the game; they went 0-8 with runners in scoring position in the loss.  Saturday 5/30 Potomac rebounded for a 4-2 win (box/gamer) behind a quality-plus start from Wil Atwood (6IP, 5hits, 2 runs and 6ks).  Carr and Severino held the Cats in check to preserve the victory.   Consecutive doubles by Burgess and Rooney, as well as a 2-run HR from Espinosa, provided all the offense the P-nats needed.  In the series finale, Lynchburg roughed up starter Jeff Mandel for 6 runs on 7 hits through 5 innings to take the game 6-1 (box/gamer).  Mandel had easily his worst start of the season to drop his record to 6-2 and raise his era to 3.00.   SS Danny Espinosa was 2-3 with his second homer in as many days to provide Potomac’s only offensive highlight.

Potomac now stands at 26-21 on the season, in 2nd place, 5 games behind Lynchburg in the Carolina North Division.

Next up: a 3-game set starting tonight 6/1/09 at Salem.  Potomac’s rotation has been thrown all out of kilter with the rain last week; Colten Willems (1-4, 7.36 era) should be the starter but may be skipped after two bad starts for Tom Milone (3-2, 2.98), who hasn’t pitched in 6 days.

Hagerstown reversed the trend of Nationals affiliates, taking 2 of 3 this weekend.  On Friday, the Suns took the series finale against Kannapolis 5-4 in 14 grueling innings (box/gamer).  Luckily the Suns had an early start time because of the travel day; else they’d be in trouble for the weekend series.  Starter Terrence Engles kept the Suns in the game for 6 innings, reliever Phillabaum pitched 4innings of scoreless relief and the Suns battered Kannapolis pitching for 16 hits before finally plating the winner in the bottom of the 14th.  Again lack of clutch hitting hampered their efforts; 2-14 as a team with runners in scoring position and 16 runners left on base for the game.  New acquisition Charlie Fermaint provided the game-winning RBI in the end.  Saturday 5/30 Hagerstown traveled to Hickory and continued the hitting attack, showing no ill effects from the 14-inning game the night before while bashing 17 hits in a 10-3 drubbing over the Crawdads (box/gamer).  Brad Peacock earned the victory with is first quality start since the season opener while Pat Arnold pitched in a 3-inning save.  Fermaint and Lozada each had 3 hits while Stephen Lombardozzi went 4/5 with a double and three runs in the winning effort.  Sunday 5/31 fatigue caught up to the team, losing 7-1 in a listless performance (box/gamer).  Youngster Paul Demny only lasted 4 innings in his start, and reliever Austin Garrett was roughed up for 4 runs in 3 relief innings to put the game out of reach.  1B Tyler Moore was 2-4 in the loss.

Hagerstown now stands at 22-25 on the year, in 7th place in the Sally North division.

Next game: tonight 6/1 7pm, the third game of a 4-game set against Hickory.  Marcos Frias (2-1, 2.66 era) gets the start to try to reverse the Suns’ fortunes.

Finally, there’s still no results posted for any DSL Nationals games.  Perhaps the rainy season persists in the D.R.  The next scheduled DSL Nationals game is today 6/1 versus the DSL White Sox at 10:30am.