Gwinnett 6, Buffalo 1
By Pete Shapiro
The Gwinnett Braves scored two runs in the first inning and put up a four-spot in the sixth, to brand the Herd with the loss by a score of 6-1 on Tuesday night. Right-hander Jeremy Hefner (3-2, 2.72) started the game for Buffalo and was ineffective for the first time this season.
After pitching extremely well in his first six GS, this time out he lasted 5.2 innings but gave up all six runs, on six hits, two walks, and two strikeouts to absorb the loss. Three relievers: Elvin Ramirez, Josh Edgin, and Jeff Stevens came on in support of Hefner and combined for 3.1 innings, giving up no runs, one hit, and one walk while striking out four.
There was no offense to speak of for the Bisons against Gwinnett starter Todd Redmond (3-3, 2.84) and relievers Anthony Varvaro, and Jaye Chapman. The only run for the Herd was on a ninth inning triple by Fred Lewis off Chapman, followed by a ground ball to score Lewis from third.
The big hit of the game goes to Gwinnett LF Stefan Gartrell for his two-run home run in the first, the seventh for him this season. The big defensive play of the game goes to Gwinnett LF Stefan Gartrell for his running, tumbling catch of Omar Quintanilla’s slicing line-drive in the eighth inning. For the night Gartrell went 1-2 with two runs, two walks, a stolen-base, a home run, and two RBI’s. Second-baseman Drew Sutton went 3-4 with two runs, a double, and an RBI for Gwinnett.
Center-fielder Corey Wimberly, Lewis, and Quintanilla each had two hits for the Bisons in the loss. Wimberly is now the Bisons lead-off hitter and center-fielder, and is 4-8 with a walk since being activated from the D.L. on Sunday. First-baseman Josh Satin collected a Silver Sombrero, going 0-3 with three strikeouts. Val Pascucci hit a double in the sixth inning which extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Herd Rumblings: In addition to the hitting streak by Scooch, Vinny Rottino has an 18-game streak working after a 1-3 performance last night. Game two of the four-game set against Gwinnett continues Wednesday at 7:05 at Coca-Cola Field. The Braves will start righty Jair Jurrjens (2-0, 2.05) and the Bisons send south-paw Garrett Olson (0-3, 3.35) to the mound.
Trenton 10, Binghamton 1
By Tim Burns
The Binghamton Mets return home on Tuesday night probably didn’t go as they had hoped against the Yankees AA affiliate from Trenton. Behind a 16-hit barrage, the Thunder defeated the B-Mets in the first game of a three game set by a score of 10-1.
Mark Cohoon got the call for the B-Mets, making his seventh start of the 2012 season. Over eight innings worth of work, Cohoon allowed seven earned runs on ten hits, including two home runs by the Thunder. Cohoon, who took the loss, had his toughest inning by far in the eighth where he gave up those two home runs along with three singles.
Mark Turgeon would replace Cohoon in the inning, but didn’t fare much better. Turgeon gave up two doubles and two singles to the Thunder batters, finally striking out Dave Adams to end the frame. When all was said and done, the Thunder scored eight runs on nine hits in the inning.
Turgeon would pitch the ninth as well, holding the Thunder to only two hits and no runs. Turgeon’s line on the night would end up two innings pitched, three runs on six hits, with one strikeout.
It would take the B-Mets batters until the bottom of the eighth to finally put a run on the board. Trenton’s pitchers frustrated the B-Mets, holding them to seven hits on the night. Raul Reyes and Reese Havens both went 0/4 with three strikeouts a piece. Sean Kazmar was 2/4 with a double, and Juan Lagarres was 2/4 with a double as well. These were the only two B-Mets batters with a multi-hit night. Matt den Dekker, who scored the lone run for the B-Mets in the game, went 1/4 with his only hit being a double.
Trenton starter Shaeffer Hall (3-4, 3.59) would earn his third win of the season on the night. In 6 2/3, Hall allowed only five hits and no runs, and struck out four B-Mets.
B-Mets Buzz: On Tuesday, Erik Turgeon was re-assigned to the B-Mets from the Brooklyn Cyclones, a move purely on paper as Turgeon had remained in Binghamton with the team. The B-Mets will look to even the series on Wednesday night as Collin McHugh (4-2, 2.40) takes the hill for the home team. Trenton will send Brett Marshall (4-1, 3.27) to the mound.
Bradenton, St. Lucie: Postponed Rain
Lucie Logistics: After game two of the three-game series was rained out on Tuesday night, it has been rescheduled as part of a double-header on Wednesday, with the first game starting at 10:30 am. The Marauders send Pirates 2010 1st-round draft pick (second overall) Jameson Taillon (2-2, 1.47) to the mound in game one, followed by right-hander Hunter Strickland (2-0, 2.81). St. Lucie counters with Major League right-hander Chris Young (0-0, 0.00) making his second rehab start, and Erik Goeddel (1-1, 2.12) is likely to make the other start. In his first start on May 10th, Young went five innings against Brevard County, giving up five hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.
Savannah 4, Charleston 3
By Sean Kenny
Jacob DeGrom had another quality pitching effort, and the Gnats offense knocked across two runs in the ninth that would wind up being the deciding runs in the Gnats 4-3 victory, their third in a row.
Savannah put across a run in the 4th on a Dustin Lawley solo-homer (his 5th), a run in the fifth on a Brandon Brown sac-fly, and two more on a Brown double in the ninth. While the offense hasn’t been like clockwork in some cases, it is putting across runs when it matters and quality pitching is keeping them in every game. Aderlin Rodriguez went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and no strikeouts. Anytime you can put those two words together – “hits” and “no strikeouts” it is a promising sign for the kid with light-tower power but limited plate discipline.
Gnats Notes: T.J. Rivera stretched his hit streak to six, and his games-with-an-error streak to two. After a week where he couldn’t buy an out, Travis Taijeron is 0 for 9 with 5 K’s in his last two games. Gregory Pron went 1 for 3 with a run scored, but is hitting .165 on the season, and is striking out in roughly 33% of his at-bats. A big theme amongst Gnats starters and relievers – they aren’t walking many batters. Savannah goes for the three-game sweep of Charleston in the final game of the series today with left-hander Alex Panteliodis (3-1, 0.89) taking the hill for the Gnats, while Charleston counters with righty Caleb Cotham (2-1, 2.18). Game time is slated for an 11:05 am start.
