JACKALS WIN TWO IN A ROW AS QUEBEC PUSHES THEIR STREAK TO TEN
Tri-City vs New Jersey
The New Jersey Jackals and Tri-City ValleyCats opened a three game series today at Yogi Berra Stadium for the final series before the All-Star Break. This is the second series between the two teams this season. The Jackals won two out of three games in a series against the ValleyCats at Joe Bruno Stadium back in June. This game would end as a 10-3 victory by the Jackals.
The Jackals offense would get off to a hot start in the first inning scoring four runs highlighted by a two run triple by Justin Wylie. However, in the second inning they would leave the bases loaded with no runs scored. The Jackals would get back in the scoring column in the fourth inning as Santiago Chirino would send a home run off the video board for his third of the season. The Jackals would finish the game scoring ten runs on thirteen hits. Todd Isaacs would finish with four of those hits extending his hit streak to thirteen.
Jackals starter Nick DeSalvo got his first win of the season pitching five innings, only giving up three runs on seven hits. The Jackals used four pitchers out of the bullpen who only allowed one hit in four innings including a three up three down inning in the ninth by Dylan Peiffer and Juan Perez.
The ValleyCats offense was carried by Brantley Bell and Tyler Krabbe who each had two hits. Brad Zunica did hit a lead off home run in the second inning for the ValleyCats. Things got heated in the bottom of the first when ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia was ejected for arguing a slide made by Santiago Chirino.
Three ValleyCats pitchers were used in this game and despite giving up 10 runs in the game only five of them were earned. The 'Cats real downfall in this game was their defense that gave up five errors as well as several misplayed balls in the outfield. Ryan Williamson got the loss for the game giving up eight runs in 4.2 innings pitched.
Sussex County vs New York
David Vinsky's three-run, fifth inning home run gave the New York Boulders the lead on their way to an 8-7 win over the visiting Sussex County Miners on Friday at Clover Stadium in Pomona.
Vinsky's home run was one of two on the night for the Boulders and their 19th and 20th homers over the last four games.
Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth, the Boulders struck for four runs, three coming on an inside-the-park home run by Vinsky, his 11th of the season. With Gabriel Garcia on via a single and Jake MacKenzie with a walk, Vinsky lined a drive to the right-center field gap that Miners' right fielder Will Zimmerman and center fielder Jawuan Harris converged on, colliding on the warning track.
As the ball rolled free, Vinsky rounded the bases. Later in the inning, Chris Kwitzer added an RBI single that increased the New York lead to 5-2.
The home run was one of four hits on the night for Vinsky, who also had four RBI.
In the first inning, the Boulders went ahead 2-0 on a run-scoring double by Vinsky and an RBI single by Francisco Del Valle.
Sussex County answered with three runs in the third, one coming on a Kevin Rolon single and two on a home run, the seventh of the year, by David Maberry.
A Rolon RBI double cut the Miners' deficit to 6-5 in the top of the fifth, but the Boulders answered with two in their half of the inning, both coming on MacKenzie's 11th homer of the year,
Carson McCurdy's two-run home run in the seventh for Sussex County got the Miners within a run at 8-7.
July Sosa, who came on to start the fifth inning in relief of starter Dan Wirchansky, picked up the win for New York, his third in as many decisions. Zach Schneider retired all six batters he faced to close out the victory for the Boulders, earning his third save of the year.
Vin Mazzaro was tagged with the loss for the Miners, falling to 3-4 on the season.
Quebec vs Ottawa
In a battle between the Frontier League East Division's top-seeded teams, the Quebec Capitales managed to hold off the Ottawa Titans (35-21) by a 6-4 final on Friday night.
The league's reigning Pitcher of the Week, Evan Grills (loss, 3-3) tossed a shutout first, striking out a pair. Following a pair of walks to start the bottom half, the Titans' offence broke through with a sac fly from Jason Dicochea and RBI double from Jake Sanford.
Leading 2-0 in the early going, the Capitales quickly responded in the second with an RBI single from Yordan Manduley and Yoelkis Guibert bringing homer a run on a fielder's choice to tie the score.
All-Star catcher Jeffry Parra made it 3-0 with an RBI single in the third before the Capitales tagged on three in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Grills plunked Garrett Takamatsu to bring in a run, before another fielder's choice plated one, then a throwing error made it 6-2.
Jacob Talamante stayed red hot, belting a double to the gap in left-centre to plate Tyrus Greene in the fourth. Trailing by three, right-hander Codie Paiva (win, 5-2) served up a leadoff solo homer to Clay Fisher in the bottom of the fifth.
Trailing by two, Grills settled in over his final three innings of work, as the lefty allowed six runs in his ninth start of the season. Nelson Gonzalez and Matt Valin tossed two shutout innings of the bullpen to keep the Titans within striking distance.
It came to the ninth, where Talamante led off the frame with a walk against closer Samuel Adames (save, 12) to turn the lineup over. After a strikeout, Fisher bounced a single to centre to put the tying run aboard. Adames then got Rodrigo Orozco to line out sharply to third for the second out, as Dicochea kept the game alive with a base hit to left. With the bases loaded and two-away, Adames faced Sanford in a full count. The Dominican right-hander got Sanford to ground out to second to end the game.
After stranding the bases loaded, the series-opening loss to the Capitales sees the Titans drop their third straight ballgame. Fisher and Talamante each had two hit nights, while Sanford finished with three knocks.
Empire State vs Trois-Rivières
The Trois-Rivières Aigles defeated the Empire State Greys by a score of 8-7 Friday night at the Stade Quillorama.
The Greys got on the scoreboard first by scoring four runs in the first inning.
Trois-Rivières would get closer to a comeback in the fourth inning by scoring two runs to make it 4-2.
The Aigles would get ahead in the bottom of the fifth when Steve Brown hit a grand slam and made the score 4-6.
The Greys would attempt the comeback and score two more runs but the Aigles would also end up scoring two more runs and would ultimately lead them to their 7-8 win.
Connor Maguire gets the loss for Empire State while Kevin Perez gets the win and Mark Tindall gets the save for the Aigles.
Washington vs Evansville
The Evansville Otters captured a 6-2 series-opening win Friday against the Washington Wild Things behind multi-RBI nights from George Callil and Justin Felix, while also turning four double plays for the second time this week.
Washington jumped ahead in the first inning, scoring on a Chris Eusay double, and taking a 1-0 lead. The Otters used their first double play of the evening to sneak out of the first inning without surrendering another run
Evansville evened the game in the second inning as George Callil brought home Jeffrey Baez on a hard-hit single to the left side.
The 1-1 ballgame lasted into the fourth when Evansville took control of the game. Justin Felix lasered a ball down the left field line for an RBI double. Directly after, a second run scored on an RBI fielder's choice for Andy Armstrong.
Another pair of runs scored for the Otters in the sixth, as Callil brought in his second run of the game with a single. Felix followed with an RBI fielder's choice, bumping the Otters' lead to 5-1.
Another insurance run cashed in for Evansville in the seventh, as Steven Sensley brought in a run with a single to right.
In the ninth, Washington used a pair of one-out singles to put a man on third. Jared Mang brought a final run in with a sacrifice fly, but it was not enough for the Wild Things to complete a comeback.
The win belonged to Brett Adcock, his fourth of the season, allowing just one run on seven hits in 5.2 innings of work. The loss fell to Rob Whalen, just his second of the year. He gave up five runs on eight hits.
Evansville's 6-2 win put them in a tie for first in the Frontier League West Division alongside Washington.
Felix led the way offensively, securing two RBIs on three hits. Armstrong, Callil, Sensley and Baez all recorded two-hit days.
Schaumburg vs Gateway
Shumpei Yoshikawa struck out 11 including the final five batters he faced as the Schaumburg Boomers erased an early deficit to notch a 9-4 win over the Gateway Grizzlies in the opener of the final series before the All-Star break.
Yoshikawa allowed single runs in the first and second, surrendering five hits before facing the minimum over the next six. The Boomers erased the 2-0 hole with five runs in the fourth. Mike Hart led off the inning with a solo homer to right. Nick Oddo tallied a two-run single with two outs to put the Boomers ahead. Alec Craig added an RBI double while another run came in on a balk. Clint Hardy singled home two in the fifth and Hart added another homer in the sixth.
Yoshikawa ended his outing by retiring the final 11 batters, tossing 120 pitches in eight innings to grab his fourth win of the season. The Boomers finished with 13 hits and drew five walks while being hit by a pitch three times and stealing a pair of bases. Craig logged three with Hart scoring three runs. Eight of the nine in the lineup reached base. Luis Perez finished the game on the mound by working the ninth and added the 12th strikeout of the game for the Boomers.
Lake Erie vs Windy City
The ThunderBolts scored four runs in the second inning to take an early lead over the Lake Erie Crushers and held on to win game one of the series 5-3.
Jairus Richards drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second inning and stole second base. He came around to score the first run of the game on a Jake Boone single. Matt Morgan singled home Boone to put the ThunderBolts (23-31) ahead 2-0. Daryl Myers quickly doubled that lead when he hit his fifth home run of the week, a two-run shot.
Kenny Mathews shut down the Lake Erie bats over the first four innings, keeping the lead in place before the Bolts added a run in the bottom of the fourth. Payton Robertson and Brynn Martinez hit back-to-back doubles to make the score 5-0.
Lake Erie (25-30) fought back, chipping away with single runs. Jake Valera homered in the fifth, Sean Cheely hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Jake Gitter did the same in the eighth, cutting the deficit to 5-3. They did not threaten again, though, as Brayden Bonner pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out the last two hitters to pick up his second save.
Kenny Mathews improved to 4-2 with the win. He pitched5.2innings and allowed two runs. Joseph Sgambelluri (5-4) took the loss, allowing five earned runs over five innings.
Joliet vs Florence
The Florence Y'alls (21-34) got exactly what they wanted out of starting pitcher Edgar Martinez: go long and save the bullpen after a doubleheader a day ago. While Martinez delivered, the Florence bats came up short in a 5-1 loss against the Joliet Slammers (27-29) at Thomas More Stadium on Friday.
Joliet struck first in the second inning when Carson Maxwell launched a three-run home run off the scoreboard in left center. The Slammers added a run in the fifth and the sixth. All-star selection Anthony Brocato provided the only Y'alls run, a long solo homer in the sixth inning. Brocato's 16 home runs put him not only in the team lead, but among the Frontier League's best.
The Y'alls had multiple missed opportunities to erase the deficit, though. Florence left multiple runners on base in the fifth, seventh, and ninth innings. The game ended with the tying run at the plate for Florence, who stranded a total of nine men.
A nearly sold-out crowd of 4,058 felt the suspense, as Thomas More Stadium hosted Marvel Superheroes Night.
In his first start on the home mound in over a month, Edgar Martinez pitched into the ninth and pitched well. The right-hander allowed four earned runs while throwing a season-high 113 pitches. Spencer Johnston earns the win for Joliet.
Despite only one run crossing the plate, multiple bats stepped up for the Y'alls. Rodney Tennie singled three times, Craig Massey had two hits, and Justin Gomez drew three walks.
