Photo by Ernest Dove, MMN

Rochester (69-68) 6, Syracuse (73-64) 1  Box Score

Syracuse’s offense struggled in Friday’s game as they were held to just 7 hits and were only 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Nimmo played his ninth rehab game with Syracuse as he nears his return from a lengthy stint on the injured list. Haggerty and Krizan continue to rake upon their promotions to Triple-A.

Oswalt made his final start of the Triple-A regular season and was hurt by some poor defense behind him in the loss. Even with the relatively lackluster performance, Oswalt has a 1.98 ERA with a 43:7 K:BB ratio over his last ten starts. Blackham has been good at limiting runs in his brief time in Triple-A, but has seen his strikeouts drop dramatically upon his promotion. After striking out 59 batters in 39.2 innings with Binghamton, he has struck out only 10 batters in 14.1 innings with Syracuse.

Binghamton (65-72) 4, Hartford (72-64) 2  Box Score

With a four-run, ten hit performance in Friday’s game, the Rumble Ponies were able to take the victory in the first game of the final series of the season. Gimenez continued his hot streak with a three-hit game and is now hitting .317 over his last ten games. Fermin stole home as part of a double steal in the seventh inning. Jeremy Vasquez made his first left-field start with Binghamton after playing all but 36.0 innings at first base so far in his career.

Peterson had his most dominant start of the season, needing just 88 pitches to strike out a season-high ten batters and limiting the opposition to just a single unearned run. It has been a mixed season for Peterson, in terms of both health and performance, but it is great to see him finish the season with such a strong performance.

It is also interesting to see him finish the season with a strikeout rate significantly higher than it was at lower levels (9.47 in 2019 vs. 8.1 in 2018). Uceta has dominated all season and has not allowed a run in his last 17.2 innings pitched.

Augusta (74-61) 7, Columbia (52-81) 3  Box Score

Columbia’s offense was limited to just three runs on seven his in Friday’s loss. Despite reaching base twice in this game, Mauricio has had a miserable August: He is hitting .207/.245/.241 for the month. Molina has been heating up in recent weeks and is now 12-for-35 over the span of his last ten games.

James has struggled greatly during the second half of the season, posting a 5.76 ERA with a 31:28 K:BB ratio over 12 starts. MacDonald was making his Columbia debut after putting together a strong performance in Kingsport. Moreno has a 0.69 ERA with 19 strikeouts over his last 10 outings (13.0 innings pitched).

Aberdeen (41-31) 5, Brooklyn (40-32) 4  Box Score

The Cyclones offense had opportunities to score more than the four runs they pushed across, but went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Baty was making his Brooklyn debut and had an immediate impact, clearing the bases with a three-run double in the third inning. Mangum’s 16 stolen bases rank eighth inning the New York-Penn League.

It was a big strikeout night for Cyclones pitching, with the three pitchers combining to strike out 15 batters over eight innings. Edwards more than doubled his previous career-high of four strikeouts with nine strikeouts in this game. He now has a 12:0 K:BB ratio over his last six innings pitched.

Mullenbach pitched an immaculate inning in the eighth, but gave up four straight hits without recording an out in the ninth, allowing Aberdeen to win the game.