QUEBEC PUSHES WINNING STREAK TO ELEVEN
Ottawa vs Quebec
Following three doubles in the first, the Ottawa Titans (35-22) couldn't claw their way back in a 5-3 loss to the Quebec Capitales on Saturday night.
Left-hander Chris Burica (loss, 5-3) surrendered a trio of doubles to David Glaude, Tristan Pompey, and TJ White in the first, as the Capitales' top portion of the lineup quickly got an early lead at 2-0.
In the third, Jeffry Parra laced a solo homer over the wall in dead centre to extend the lead. Yoelkis Guibert then drove home his second in as many days in the fourth, plating a Kyle Crowl single to make it 4-0.
Ahead early, lefty Joel Huertas (win, 1-0) limited the Titans to just three hits over the first four innings. Looking to get back in the game, Tyrus Greene lined a Huertas offering down the left-field line but was thrown out by Pompey in left trying for a double.
The Titans broke through in the sixth as two reached with one out. AJ Wright got the home side on the board, scoring Jackie Urbaez on a fielder's choice to make it 4-1.
In the seventh, the Titans loaded the bases against Huertas, and Jacob Talamante drew a walk to score a run. As the Capitales made the call to the bullpen for Ian Codina to face the pinch hitter Taylor Wright, the Canadian made it a one-run game, scoring Rodrigo Orozco on a fielder's choice.
The end of the line saw Burica go seven innings on Saturday, allowing four runs on nine hits, walking one, and striking out seven in the loss.
Gavin Sonnier relieved Burica in the eighth and served up an opposite-field solo homer off the bat of White, making it a 5-3 game.
In the ninth, the Titans once again made it interesting against Nick Horvath (save, 2) with a leadoff single from Greene. Following a pair of strikeouts, Urbaez doubled to right to put the potential tying run in scoring position. Horvath managed to strike out a fellow Orioles farmhand in Fisher to retire the side.
Greene finished the game 3-for-4, extending his on-base streak to 20 games, while Jason Dicochea had a multi-hit effort. The Titans' losing streak reaches four, as the Capitales extend their lead to 6.5 in the East Division by winning their eleventh in a row.
Tri-City vs New Jersey
On another beautiful Saturday night at Yogi Berra Stadium, the New Jersey Jackals took on the Tri-City ValleyCats for the second game of the last series before the All-Star Game, winning it 8-1.
The Valleycats leapt to a hot start in the top of the first inning when All-Star outfielder Brantley Bell ripped a double. The following innings moved quite slowly, until the scoreless Jackals tied the game as a result of Dalton Combs's sac fly RBI to drive in Joe Simone.
After a pitching change to Olbis Parra for Tri-City at the bottom of the fourth inning, Trevor Abrams scored on Todd Isaac's RBI fielder's choice. It became quite a lucky night for the Jackals when shortstop Santiago Chirino hit a grand slam to make it 6-1. It was Chirino's second homer in as many days.
At the bottom of the eighth inning, with Joe Simone on first base and Trevor Abrams on third, George Bell Jr. hit an RBI triple to score them both, giving the Jackals the final bit of insurance they would need, 8-1.
In the ninth, the Jackals put in pitcher Jose Ramirez to replace Jefry Valdez. Ramirez would strike out the side, ending the game with the Jackals victorious for the 26th time this year. Manager Brooks Carey also moves into a tie for 11th all time in Frontier League Managerial wins.
Sussex County vs New York
The New York Boulders closed out the first half of the Frontier League season by hanging on for a 6-5 win over the visiting Sussex County Miners on Saturday at Clover Stadium in Pomona.
The victory gave the Boulders a three-game winning streak heading into the All-Star break and pulled them within one game of the Miners in the chase for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Division.
The Miners trailed 6-3 entering the top of the ninth, but, down to their last out, got an RBI single from David Maberry and a run-scoring double by Nick Garland.
Leo Pineda came on and struck out pinch-hitter Carson McCurdy with runners on second and third to save the game for the Boulders. It was Pineda's third save of the year.
With Sussex County leading 2-1, the Boulders took control with a five-run fifth inning, all the runs coming against Miners' starter Mike Mediavilla with two outs. With one out, Gian Martellini and Ray Hernandez walked before Max Smith flied to center for the second out.
Jake MacKenzie's double scored Martellini and knotted the game at 2-2. David Vinsky followed with a single that plated MacKenzie and Hernandez and put New York ahead 4-2.
Austin Dennis then drew a walk before Francisco Del Valle lashed an opposite field double down the left field line that scored both Vinsky and Dennis and gave the Boulders a 6-2 lead.
The Miners went ahead 1-0 in the first inning when New York starter Andy Hammond walked Kevin Rolon with the bases loaded.
The Boulders got that run back in the second when Gabriel Garcia hit his ninth home run of the season.
Sussex County responded with a run in the fifth on a Mikey Reynolds RBI single, but the Boulders answered with their five-run ourburst in the bottom of the frame.
Reynolds had four hits in the game for the Miners.
Empire State vs Trois-Rivières
The Trois-Rivières Aigles defeated the Empire State Greys by a score of 3-13 on Saturday night.
The Aigles wasted no time by scoring seven runs in the first inning.
Willie Estrada would put the Greys on the board in the top of the third inning with a single to center field.
The Aigles would add three runs to their lead in the bottom of the third to make it 1-9.
The Greys would add another run in the top of the fourth as well as the Aigles to make 2-10.
The final Greys run would come in the top of the seventh. The Aigles would continue to score three more runs before the end of the game.
Andres Rodriguez gets the loss for Empire State while Kyle Thomas gets the win for Trois-Rivieres.
Washington vs Evansville
The visiting Washington Wild Things were able to even up the series at one apiece after toppling the Evansville Otters, 3-0. Washington righty Kobe Foster dealt six shutout innings in the victory, punching out four batters and giving up seven hits.
First baseman Andrew Czech kicked off the scoring in the top of the third, lasering a two-run double that brought around Scotty Dubrule and Alex Alvarez, making the lead to 2-0.
Both teams remained scoreless until the top of the eighth, until outfielder Cole Brannen brought around Czech, tacking on another run making it 3-0.
Washington would ride that lead to the end of the contest, and not concede a run, highlighted by two Lukas Young strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth to secure the shutout.
Lake Erie vs Windy City
Lake Erie (26-30) fell in the series opener against the Windy City Thunderbolt (23-32) on Friday night. The Crushers looked to even the series to avoid the possibility of any sweep from occurring.
For the second straight game, Windy City started with an early lead, but the Crushers used two innings to score all of their runs and comeback to win, 6-2.
The Thunderbolt scored one run each in the first and fourth inning. In the first it was a solo homerun from Peyton Isaacson. In the fourth Joshuan Sandavol scored on a wild pitch.
Both starting pitchers dueled throughout the game. Julio Vivas for Lake Erie lasted five innings, allowed two hits, two runs (one earned), four walks, and struck out three. For Windy City, Ryan Miller threw five scoreless innings, two hits, zero runs, and struck out one batter.
The Crushers, searching for their first runs, cracked the board in the sixth inning. Connor Owings continued his impressive season with an RBI double to left field. Kemuel Thomas-Rivera followed with an RBI double of his own to left field. Kenen Irizarry gave Lake Erie the lead with an RBI single to center field.
Lake Erie added insurance in the ninth inning. Ausitn White lined a baseball up the middle for an RBI single. Jake Gitter also hit one up the middle, this time scoring two runs for the Crushers.
Alexis Rivero called out of the bullpen in the ninth inning for a non-save opportunity. Rivero allowed one runner on but that would be all as the closer threw a scoreless ninth innings, giving Lake Erie a chance at a series win on Sunday.
Schaumburg vs Gateway
The Schaumburg Boomers used six different pitchers and hit four homers to notch an 8-4 victory over the Gateway Grizzlies, a fourth consecutive victory.
Thomas Nicoll started on a bullpen day and struck out three over two innings. Clint Hardy hit a two-run homer in the top of the third to give the Boomers a 2-0 lead. Newcomer Kobey Schlotman struck out six in three innings. Gateway tied the game with a two-run homer in the fourth. Mike Hart put the Boomers ahead with a solo homer in the top of the sixth, his third of the weekend. Alec Craigconnected a two-run homer in the seventh to extend the lead to 7-3. Braxton Davidson hit a two-run homer in the eighth as the Boomers countered every Gateway response.
Tanner Shears worked 1.2 innings, striking out three. Jake Joyce recorded a strikeout in the eighth after Juan Pichardo recorded an out in the seventh. All-Star Darrell Thompson struck out the side in the ninth to finish the game. Schlotman earned the win. The Boomers finished with just six hits, four of which were for homers. The four homers marked the most in a game this year. Hardy totaled two hits to extend his on-base streak to 14.
Joliet vs Florence
The Florence Y'alls (22-34) enjoyed the last laugh in a see-saw game, defeating the Joliet Slammers (27-30) 5-3 at Thomas More Stadium on Saturday night.
The ball game was tied at 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 as late as the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth, Anthony Brocato mashed his team-leading 17th home run of the season. The all-star put the Y'alls in front with the big fly, which traveled 437 feet in the air. Brocato is now fourth in the Frontier League in home runs, and in the top ten for runs batted in.
While the Y'alls never trailed throughout the night, the offense still had trouble stringing together productive at-bats. Brocato's home run was Florence's only hit with runners on base, but it got the job done.
Ethan Stern and Bryant Flete also hit home runs in the contest. Ray Zuberer picked up an RBI groundout as well. Brennan Price recorded a two-hit night for Florence.
A pitcher making his professional debut started the game for the Y'alls in righty Jared Flueck. Flueck, signed this morning, allowed only one earned run over four innings. Tommy Simmer, Karl Craigie, Sean Hughes, and Evy Ruibal all came out of the bullpen. Ruibal earned the save with a three-strikeout ninth inning.
