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Durham (Rays) 0, Norfolk 1
So, (LHP) Tsuyoshi Wada has kinda made something of this season. He certainly got off to a rather slow and unimpressive start following his rehab from Tommy John surgery. But he has been nothing but spectacular over 7 of his past 10 outings. Tonight (or yesterday night, depending on when you happen to read this) saw Wada go 6 shutout innings, yielding 5 hits and 3 walks while K'ing 2. Over his past 10 starts (dating back to July 5th) his is sporting a 2.83 ERA over 60.1 innings, with 46 Ks to 18 BBs. I imagine he'll be getting a call up to Baltimore and given a shot (at least in the 'pen) to show whether he is worth his $5m option for next season.
On offense, (2B) Jonathan Schoop went 0-3, w/ 1 K and an Error. But he did help turn 2 DPs. (RF) Henry Urrutia went 1-3. (CF) Chris Dickerson went 1-3, w/ a BB and a K.
The Tides have now taken control of the International League Wild Card slot with 2 games to play in the season.
Bowie 6, Erie (Tigers) 1
(LHP) Eduardo Rodriguez continued his 2nd half shine with 6 innings of shutout pitching. He allowed 5 hits and a walk while K'ing 6 over the course of 92 pitches (58 strikes). SteveO informs us of ERod's production of late:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>In his last 4 starts for Bowie, Eduardo Rodriguez is 3-0 with 0.36 ERA. That is 25 IP, 16 hits, 1 runs, 3 BB, 26Ks, .182 avg against.</p>— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) <a href="https://twitter.com/masnSteve/statuses/373990120598159361">September 1, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Pretty good, I'd say.
(LF) speedster John Reutigger went 0-1, w/ 3 BBs. (DH) Caleb Joseph was shocked to find himself going 2-5. (RF) Dariel Alvarez went 1-4, w/ a K and a Run. ( C ) Brian Ward went 2-4, w/ a 2B and a Pickoff of a runner at 1st.
While the Baysox are not in contention for postseason play, this win did ensure a 6th consecutive season of .500 or better play. Nice little streak goin' there fellas.
Potomac (Nats) 7, Frederick 5
(RHP) Zach Clark has not taken to the mystical arts of the Knuckleball quite as quickly as Eddie Gamboa, it would seem. 4+ innings, 6 hits and 5 BBs lead to 5 ER in this game. (RHP) Matt Hobgood came on in relief and pitched 4 innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 ER while not walking any and K'ing 2 with a 7 to 1 ground out to fly out ratio. While Hobgood's 4.32 ERA on the season over 93.2 innings pitched (mostly out of the 'pen) isn't exactly sterling, the nearly 2 to 1 ground out to fly out ratio on the season is quite intriguing. Generating that much sink and keeping the ball in the park (just 4 HRs allowed on the season) is a perfect recipe for the O's as long as the infield defense is above average. His biggest bug-a-boo at the moment is with his control; 39 walks in his 93+ innings, or about 4 per 9 innings. If he can cut the BBs down I remain of the opinion that Hobgood has a legitimate shot of making the majors and being a productive pitcher for the O's as soon as 2015. It will be interesting to see how he is handled next season. I imagine he will return to Frederick at the onset of the season. But will he be used as a multi-inning super-reliever again? Or perhaps will he be stretched out some more and given a shot in the rotation? Time will tell...
( C ) Michael Ohlman's 2013 season has been spectacular. He would go 3-3, w/ a BB and 2 runs scored as the DH in this game. On the season his slash line sits as such: .312 / .410 / .524. Among his fellow Carolina Leaguers those marks are good for: 4th / 5th / 4th. He has the 8th most BBs drawn in the league with 56. And, he's a pretty decent runner on the basepaths: 5/5 in SB attempts. The defense is still a work in progress, certainly. But there is plenty of time for this 22 year old to work on that aspect of his game. Bowie stands to be a much more exciting offensive squad once he makes it there next season.
Other of note: (2B) Ryan Flaherty continued his tour of the O's minors. He went 1-4, w/ a solo HR. (CF) Glynn Davis: 0-5, w/ 1 K. ooof.
Delmarva 2, Hickory (Rangers) 8
(LHP) Matt Taylor brought a close to a decent enough 2013 campaign. 5 innings, 8 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk and 4 Ks, along with 1 pickoff in this game. A solid 3.77 ERA over 25 starts and 138.1 innings on the season. He'll almost certainly find himself in Frederick's rotation to start next season. (CF) Gregory Lorenzo went 1-4, w/ 1 K and was picked off 1st in his own right. Corner OFers Creede Simpson and Lucas Herbst each had 2 hit nights.
Aberdeen 7, Brooklyn (Mets) 0
With this win the Ironbirds seized control of their Division. (RHP) Sebastian Vader set an Ironbirds record with his 7th Win of the season. He pitched 7 shutout innings, yielding but 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4. He will certainly make his way to Delmarva to start his 2014 season. (RHP) Alex Santana came on in the 8th. He allowed 2 hits and a walk over his 2 innings of work, and struck out 4. That makes 48 Ks in 33.2 innings for him. That's pretty gaudy.
(1B) Trey Mancini was the primary star on the offensive side. 4-5, w/ a 2B and a SB. (CF) Mike Yastrzemski put forth a 2-5 effort with a 2B as well and stole his 8th base in 16 attempts. Gotta work on that % there, Mikey.
Among the 2 playoff contending squads, Norfolk and Aberdeen, Steve Johnson will get the start for the Tides today and Hunter Harvey takes the mound for the Ironbirds. Go get 'em, lads.