Norfolk 3 Indianapolis (Pirates) 2 (12 innings)
(RHP) Kevin Gausman returned to action from his recent bout of pneumonia and picked up right where he left off. The club continues to limit his pitch counts (just 77 tonight), so he only managed 4 and 2/3rds innings of work. He certainly wasn't hittable, as he yielded just 2 hits and zero runs while striking out 6 over the course of his work. But his pitch count did get a bit inflated thanks to 3 walks issued. The free passes are getting to be a bit concerning now, as his BB/9 rate has ballooned to 4.8/9 and his BB% is a rather ghastly 12.5%. Miguel Gonzalez may have bought himself some more time in the big league rotation with his performance last night, and Gausman isn't doing himself any favors by putting on so many baserunners. If he wants to make a case for claiming a rotation slot in the bigs he will have to improve his control, and rapidly.
The 'pen would take over and pitch 7.1 strong innings; combining for 14 Ks over that span. The only damage done by the Baby Buccos came in the 7th inning that saw them plate two runs courtesy of two separate throwing errors; one by the SS to start the inning and one by the 3Bman with two outs.
But no worries, said the offense. (DH) Jemile Weeks would come to the plate to lead off the 12 inning and manage to draw his 4th free pass of the night. A (2B) Steve Lombardozzi ground out would move Jemile up to 2nd, where he would then eventually come in to score on (CF) Francisco Peguero's third single of the night. That makes consecutive 3 for 6 nights for Peguero. A nice way to start one's season after a lengthy stint on the D.L.
New Britain (Twins) 7 Bowie 6
Feel kinda bad for this New Britain organization. It was supposed to be the season of Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton, but alas, each has been injured and there would be no joy in Mudville central Connecticut this season. But I digress...
The real story of the night was at 1B for Bowie. No, not Christian Walker. He had the night off. I speak, of course, of Christopher Lyn Davis, aka 'Crush', aka 'Thor'. Our collective fears of a lengthy D.L. stint have abated as Davis commenced a (hopefully) brief rehab stint with a 1-4 effort last night. He popped out and K'd twice before notching a line drive single in the 8th. (CF) Dariel Alvarez then brought him home with a 2 run blast to right field, his 6th of the season. But the lead New Britain had established proved too much for the Baysox, as the boys from Bowie were unable to score any more runs this night.
Said lead was allowed courtesy of (LHP) Anthony Vasquez, who was worked over by the Rock Cats to the tune of 11 hits, 2 BBs, and 7 ER over 3.2 IP. Southpaws Jason Gurka and Ashur Tolliver staunched the bleeding in relief, but to no avail as the damage was already done for the night.
Winston-Salem (White Sox) 3 Frederick 0 (Suspended/5th inning)
Res ipsa loquitur. They will look to complete this game later on today.
Lakewood (Phillies) 1 Delmarva 8
After a brutal start to the season that saw him yield 16 ER over 12.2 innings, (RHP) Luc Rennie seems to have found his stride. This marked his 3rd straight 'Quality Start', if such things are your cup o' tea. Specifically this time: 6 innings, 5 hits and 1 walk, 1 ER, 4 Ks. That makes 18 innings, 7 ER and 17 Ks to 1 walk over his last 3 starts. That'll play.
(RF) Mike Yastrzemski and (CF) Josh Hart continue to be a dynamic pairing, as they combined to go 6 for 8. Little Yaz knocked a double and a triple while also reaching via Catcher interference. While Hart added his 5th SB of the season as well. However, Hart did get CS and committed his 1st error of the season. (3B) Drew Dosch put together a 3 for 4 night and drew a walk. But the singular damage of the night was done courtesy of (SS) Jeff Kemp's 7th inning Grand Slam.
One can peruse the boxscores for themselves via this link.
Today's Probables are as such:
Norfolk: (RHP) Mike Wright
Bowie: (RHP) Tyler Wilson
Frederick: (RHP) Brady Wager
Delmarva: (RHP) Austin Urban