Compiled via team press releases:
Syracuse Chiefs (AAA International League): The Syracuse Chiefs fell to the Pawtucket Red Sox, 4-1, Monday night at McCoy Stadium. Sean O’Sullivan threw eight innings for Pawtucket, and Ryan Court tallied three hits to help the PawSox to a series-opening win. Pedro Severino also picked up three hits for the Chiefs in the loss.
Pawtucket (37-33) started the scoring in the second inning. Henry Ramos doubled to lead off the inning against Chiefs starter Paolo Espino. Two batters later, Court hit his first of two RBI singles back up the middle to score Ramos and give the PawSox a 1-0 lead.
The Red Sox struck for two more runs in the fourth. Chris Marrero singled to start the frame and reached second on a wild pitch. After a fly out, Chris Dominguez tripled past a diving attempt by Tony Campana in left field to plate Marrero and extend the lead to 2-0. Court followed with his second RBI single for a 3-0 Pawtucket lead.
Syracuse (31-37) finally cracked O’Sullivan in the sixth. Jason Martinson reached on a bunt single leading off the inning and stole second. Two batters later, Trea Turner singled to put runners on the corners. Steve Lombardozzi then hit a sacrifice fly to center field, bringing in Martinson for the Chiefs first run.
But the PawSox answered back in the eighth against Sam Runion. Court picked up his third hit a game, a two-out triple. Runion then walked Ali Solis and Jose Vinicio singled in Court for a 4-1 advantage.
Syracuse and Pawtucket return to McCoy Stadium for a doubleheader Tuesday, with game one scheduled to begin at 5:35 p.m. A.J. Cole is slated to start game one for the Chiefs opposite Henry Owens for the PawSox. Aaron Laffey expected to start game two for Syracuse with Pawtucket’s second starter still to be announced.
Harrisburg Senators (AA Eastern League): OFF. The Senators return to action tonight at Portland. First pitch is at 7:00.
Potomac Nationals (High-A Carolina League): OFF. Tonight is the Carolina League vs. California League All Star Game which will take place in Lake Elsinore, California.
3B Drew Ward, outfielders Alec Keller and Andrew Stevenson, and pitcher Ryan Brinley will be representing the PNats.
Hagerstown Suns (Low-A South Atlantic League): OFF. South Atlantic League All Star Game tonight.
The Suns will be represented in the field by INF Max Schrock who has a batting average of .316 and a OBP of .376. Also joining Schrock will be INF Kelvin Gutierrez and Victor Robles. Kelvin Gutierrez has an average of .294 and has already plated 31 RBIs. OF Victor Robles has an average of .316, OBP of 4.12 and has already swiped 16 bags.
The Pitchers that will be representing the Suns in the 2016 SAL All-Star Game are starter Jefry Rodriguez and reliever Mariano Rivera III.
Jefry Rodriguez currently has a record of 5-2 and an ERA of 2.67 in his 57.1 innings pitched. Mariano Rivera III currently has a record of 3-0 out of the bullpen for the Suns. In his 27.1 innings pitched he is 4-6 in save opportunities and has struck out 20 batters.
The entire coaching staff for the Suns has also made the 2016 SAL All-Star team.
Manager Patrick Anderson will skipper the Northern Division All-Stars for the second time in three years, having also been named manager in 2014. Anderson will be assisted by hitting coach Amaury Garcia and pitching coach Sam Narron.
Auburn Doubledays (Short Season-A New York Penn League):
June 17:
The Auburn Doubledays, Single-A Short Season affiliate of the Washington Nationals, opened up the 2016 season with a 3-0 win against the Batavia Muckdogs on Friday night at Falcon Park. Doubledays right fielder Randy Encarnacion hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to propel Auburn to the win.
Both starting pitchers dueled to a standoff through five innings. Doubledays left-handed pitcher Tyler Watson threw five innings of three-hit baseball. Watson struck out a career-high five batters to hold the Muckdogs scoreless in his five innings of work. Muckdogs right-handed pitcher Reilly Hovis kept Batavia in the game with five innings of one-hit ball, including four perfect frames of work.
Auburn right-handed reliever Robert Dickey continued the solid pitching performance. The 22-year old pitcher didn’t allow a hit in three innings of work en route to picking up the win.
The Doubledays broke the scoring drought in the seventh inning off right-hander Obed Diaz. Andres Martinez led off the inning by reaching base on an error. Randy Encarnacion followed by taking the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall for a two-run home run to give Auburn a 2-0 lead. The Doubledays weren’t done there though. Ryan Ripken and Oliver Ortiz both singled to put runners on the corners. After a Luis Vilorio pop out to the first baseman, Diaz walked David Kerian to load the bases. Right-hander Jordan Hillyer then came in to relieve Diaz. Hillyer walked Clayton Brandt to bring in Ripken and give the Doubledays a 3-0 advantage.
Doubledays right-handed closer Angher Cespedes closed the doors on the Muckdogs in the 9th inning. Cespedes didn’t allow a hit and struck out the final two batters of the game to earn the save.
June 18:
The Auburn Doubledays beat the Batavia Muckdogs, 5-1, on Saturday Night at Falcon Park to improve to 2-0 this season. Designated hitter Ryan Ripken collected two hits and knocked in two runs for the Doubledays in the win.
The Doubledays struck first in the fourth inning off right-hander Ryan McKay. Randy Encarnacion led off the inning with a walk. With Ryan Ripken batting, Encarnacion stole second base. Ripken then singled into center field and Encarnacion scored to give the Doubledays a 1-0 lead.
Auburn broke the game open in the fifth inning. Clayton Brandt walked to begin the inning. Angelo LaBruna followed with a single to put runners on first and second with no outs. Left-handed pitcher Justin Langley then came in to relieve McKay. With Blake Perkins batting, Langley threw a wild pitch that allowed Brandt and LaBruna to advance to second and third. Perkins grounded out to shortstop for the first out of the half-inning. Andres Martinez then hit a ball to shortstop. On the play, Brandt tried to score from third. Samuel Castro, the Batavia shortstop, made an errant throw home that allowed Martinez to go to second base and allowed Brandt and LaBruna to score as the Doubledays took a 3-0 lead. After an Encarnacion strikeout, Ripken doubled to left field to score Martinez and give Auburn a 4-0 advantage.
The Doubledays added one more run in the seventh inning off Muckdogs right-hander Cecil Tanner. Tanner hit David Kerian with a pitch with the bases loaded to score Blake Perkins and put Auburn up 5-0.
Batavia scored its first run of the series in the ninth inning off Doubledays reliever Steven Fuentes. Rony Cabrera led off the inning with a single. Taylor Munden came in to pinch run for Cabrera. Joseph Chavez then walked to put runners on first and second. After a Blake Anderson strikeout, Matthew Foley knocked in Munden with a single to center field to cut the Batavia deficit to 5-1. During the play, Chavez was thrown out trying to move to third base for the second out of the inning. Fuentes got Javier Lopez to ground out to third to end the game and pick up his first save of the season.
June 19:
The Auburn Doubledays lost for the first time this season, 14-3, to the Mahoning Valley Scrapers on Sunday night at Falcon Park. Auburn collected a season-high eight hits during the game.
Mahoning Valley struck first in the top of the second inning off Auburn starting pitcher Wilber Pena. Emmanuel Tapia led off the inning for the Scrappers with a solo home run to right field, and Mahoning Valley took a 1-0 lead.
The Doubledays responded in the bottom of the second inning off Scrappers left-hander Juan Hillman. With one out, Hillman hit Oliver Ortiz with a pitch. Luis Vilorio followed with a single to put runners on first base and second base with one out. Jake Jefferies then singled in his first at bat of the season. Ortiz scored on the hit, Vilorio advanced to third, and Jefferies moved to second on the throw as the Doubledays tied the game at one. Andres Martinez then grounded to the shortstop. Jefferies was thrown out at third, but Vilorio scored to give the Doubledays a 2-1 lead.
The Scrappers regained the lead in the third inning with five runs. Alexis Pantoja had an RBI double, Tapia knocked in two runs with a double, Mitch Longo hit an RBI sacrifice fly, and Jonathan Laureno had an RBI single, all as part of the five-run third inning that gave Mahoning Valley a 6-2 lead.
Mahoning Valley extended its lead in the fifth inning with three runs. Auburn responded in the bottom of the fifth inning with a run, but after five innings, the Doubledays trailed the Scrappers, 9-3. Mahoning Valley added two runs in the seventh inning, one run in the eighth, and two runs in the ninth to finish with 14 runs on the evening.
June 20:
The Auburn Doubledays bounced back from their first loss of the season to crush the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, 7-1, on Monday night at Falcon Park. Shortstop Clayton Brandt knocked in two runs for the Doubledays in the win.
Auburn (3-1) jumped on Mahoning Valley (1-3) starting pitcher Luis Jimenez early. In the bottom of the first inning, Blake Perkins led off with a double. Perkins tagged up and advanced to third base on an Andres Martinez fly out to right field. After a Randy Encarnacion walk, Ryan Ripken hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Perkins to give the Doubledays a 1-0 lead.
The Doubledays added two runs in the third inning. Angelo LaBruna walked to begin the inning. Perkins then grounded to the shortstop position, but Scrappers shortstop Luke Wakamatsu misplayed the ball as LaBruna advanced all the way from first base to third base and Perkins was safe at first. Martinez followed with a ground ball to second base, but Erlin Cerda bobbled the ball in an attempt to toss the ball to second base, so all the runners were safe and LaBruna scored to increase Auburn’s lead to two. After an Encarnacion strikeout, Ripken walked to load the bases. Two batters later, Oliver Ortiz worked a walk to score Perkins from third as the Doubledays took a 3-0 advantage.
Mahoning Valley’s lone run came in the top of the fifth inning off Auburn starting pitcher Yonathan Ramirez. With one out and nobody on, Jodd Carter hit a home run to left field to cut the Doubledays’ lead to 3-1. That run was the only blemish of the night for Ramirez who pitched five innings of three-hit ball, while striking out five batters.
The Doubledays responded in the bottom of the fifth inning with four runs off left-hander Randy Valladares to break the game open. With two outs, Ripken walked. Tres Barrea followed with a single to put runners on first and second. Ortiz then singled, moving Barrera to second and scoring Ripken to put Auburn up 4-1. Valladares then hit Jake Jefferies to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Brandt singled to score Barrera and Ortiz to open a 6-1 Doubledays advantage. The fourth run of the inning scored when LaBruna singled with Jefferies on third base. Jefferies scored, and the Doubledays led 7-1.
Auburn right-handers Maximo Valerio and Angher Cespedes combined for four innings of scoreless relief work while only allowing one Mahoning Valley hit.
The Doubledays and Scrappers conclude their three-game series Tuesday night at Falcon Park. The Doubledays are scheduled to send right-hander Weston David to the mound to face Scrappers left-hander Ryan Colegate. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
The Pursuit 