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Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders: L 0-2 vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs
It was a tough night for Chad Green, and not for any reason related to his performance. The righty starter turned in a terrific outing for the RailRiders, striking out nine batters in 6 2/3 innings while allowing just three hits and one run. His velocity hovered in the 90s all night and the only run to cross home plate was unearned. Green's defense completely failed him, as they infielders Pete Kozma and Donovan Solano lost a pop-up in the lights, allowing it to drop for an infield single. A potential 4-6-4 double play then vanished when Rob Refsnyder made an error at second base. The go-ahead run scored on a sacrifice fly and Green was tagged with the loss; he is now 0-3 with a 1.44 ERA in five starts. Cool story, won/loss stat.
The Scranton offense was held to just four singles by Phillies prospect Zach Eflin (acquired in the December 2014 Jimmy Rollins trade) and the bullpen. Aaron Judge went 0-for-4 and the hits were tallied by Gary Sanchez, Nick Swisher, Ben Gamel, and Refsnyder (Gamel also worked a walk and was caught stealing). The team was held to one hit after the first inning, struck out eight times, and poor Cesar Puello was welcomed back from the DL by getting plunked twice. A solo homer off reliever James Pazos in the ninth inning gave Lehigh Valley an insurance run. They made the 2-0 lead stand.
Double-A Trenton Thunder: W 1-0 vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats
After Tuesday night's no-hitter, the Thunder were back at it again early on Wednesday. This time, it was southpaw Dietrich Enns leading the fun. Enns no-hit the Fisher Cats over the first 5 1/3 innings, extending the Trenton pitching staff's hitless streak to 15 1/3 innings until Ian Parmley broke it up with a bunt infield single. That didn't affect Enns, who stranded the runner and finished with seven innings of two-hit shutout ball, striking out eight batters without allowing a walk. His ERA is 0.00, as he hasn't allowed a single run in 23 2/3 innings for Trenton. In fact, dating back to the end (the Enns?) of last year with High-A Tampa, Enns has thrown 45 consecutive scoreless innings. He last allowed a run on August 19th. Ludicrous!
Opposing pitcher Casey Lawrence was almost as tough for the Thunder offense, who managed just four hits on the day. Their one run only resulted from a misplay on the New Hampshire defense. With two outs in the fifth Sebastian Valle walked, and Cito Culver lifted a drive to right field that deflected off Parmley's glove. It counted as an RBI triple, and that was the only run support Enns received. Tyler Wade went hitless and the only other Trenton players with hits were Dustin Fowler, Jake Cave, and Dan Fiorito (all singles). Daniel Camarena pitched two perfect innings with a strikeout to clinch the win.
High-A Tampa Yankees: W 6-1 vs. Dunedin Blue Jays
Jorge Mateo kept up his hot start with the Tampa Yankees thanks to a 3-for-5 day that saw him score a pair of runs and drive in another. Dating back to his promotion from Charleston late last year, he is hitting .325/.386/.474 with 18 steals in 39 games at that level--pretty good. He did make a couple errors in the field yesterday though, so don't go writing the TRADE DIDI posts yet. Mateo's progress has been superb, but the work continues. Mark Payton and Zack Zehner also matched Mateo with three-hit games, with Payton adding a triple and Zehner with a double. Miguel Andujar had a multi-hit game as well. Abiatal Avelino went hitless, but he did reach on an error and stole a base, his sixth of the year.
On the mound, 2015 17th round pick Brody Koerner looked sharp in his High-A debut. The righty went six innings, giving up just one run on four hits with four strikeouts. On the negative side, Koerner did walk two batters, plunk a pair, and uncork a wild pitch, but he managed to be effectively wild. Fortunately, Tampa scored all six of their runs within the first two innings, granting him a big lead. Relievers Dillon McNamara and Phillip Walby finished the game with a combined three scoreless innings of one-hit ball.
Low-A Charleston RiverDogs: W 3-2 vs. Lakewood BlueClaws
Not to be outdone by Enns, Domingo Acevedo had an even more impressive start in Charleston. Possibly the second best pitching prospect in the system, the big righty threw eight innings and allowed just two hits and one earned run, striking out nine and walking just one. He retired 12 batters in a row to begin the game. One unearned run did score off him in the fifth when an error by second baseman Angel Aguilar let a run score after the BlueClaws' first baserunner of the game, a double. The earned run came on a solo homer with two outs in the eighth, but the fact that Acevedo was pitching that deep into the game is impressive enough. It's just not easy to hit him:
6-foot-7, throws gas, baffles hitters … what’s not to love about @Yankees prospect Domingo Acevedo?https://t.co/K43SGYAucl
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 28, 2016
Yeesh.
Aguilar made up for his error with a game-tying solo homer in the sixth, Charleston's first run. The RiverDogs moved on top in the eighth against reliever and totally-not-Saved-by-the-Bell-character Zach Morris. Radley Haddad hit a two-out double, Jeff Hendrix singled him home, and after he stole second, Thairo Estrada grounded one up the middle to bring Hendrix home with the third run. Estrada had a two-hit game and though he didn't get a hit, Jhalan Jackson worked a pair of walks. Andrew Schwaab closed it out with two strikeouts in the ninth, securing his fourth save of the season and a 3-2 victory.