Results and Highlights from 5/30/12

Portland – 3 GM 1
Harrisburg – 2
WP: Billy Buckner (4-3, 3.20)
LP: Erik Davis (4-2, 2.81)
HR: Portland – Jeremy Hazelbaker (4), Bryce Brentz (6)

Portland (21-31) – 2 GM 2
Harrisburg (28-24) – 5
WP: Garcia (1-0, 1.45)
LP: Stolmy Pimentel (1-2, 5.04)
S: Nelo (5)
HR: Portland – Juan Carlos Linares (7)

HIGHLIGHTS: Game one starter Billy Buckner pitched all seven innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk. He had four strikeouts to bring his season total to 51, tied for fourth most in the Eastern League … Game two starter Stolmy Pimentel also went the distance for Portland, allowing 5 runs and 7 hits over 6 innings. He has allowed 10 runs and 13 hits in his last two starts … Derrik Gibson stole his seventh base of the season in game one and is tied for ninth in the Eastern League. Jeremy Hazelbaker stole his ninth base of the season in game two and is tied for seventh in the league … Hazelbaker’s game one homer gave him a round tripper in three straight game … Zach Gentile and Juan Carlos Linares were the only Sea Dogs to get a hit in both games, each getting one hit per game.

Norfolk (21-31) – 2
Pawtucket (34-20) – 3
WP: Justin Germano (5-3, 2.89)
LP: Brad Bergesen (2-3, 4.91)
S: Clayton Mortensen (2)
HR: Norfolk – Lew Ford (2), Jai Miller (7)

HIGHLIGHTS: Justin Germano allowed 2 runs and 7 hits over 7 innings for Pawtucket. It is the third time this season that he has gone 7 innings … Jose Iglesias “rested” for the fifth straight game … Mauro Gomez went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles. He now has 14 doubles on the season, tied for second most in the International League … Josh Kroeger went 2 for 4, his third straight 2-hit game. He is batting .341 over his last ten games … Relievers Tony Pena Jr. and Clayton Mortensen combined for 5 strikeouts in 2 innings.

New Britain (30-21) – 7
New Hampshire (20-30) – 2
WP: B.J. Hermsen (3-1, 2.68)
LP: Chad Jenkins (2-4, 4.98)
HR: New Britain – Aaron Hicks (6), Chris Herrmann (5)

HIGHLIGHTS: New Britain starter B.J. Hermsen retired the first thirteen batters he faced. He struck out 4 and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits over 8 2/3 innings … New Hampshire starter Chad Jenkins lasted 4 innings in his first start back from the disabled list. He allowed only 2 runs and 3 hits, but 2 of those hits were long balls. Jenkins has allowed 9 home runs this season, second most in the league … Rock Cats’ SS Estarlin de los Santos broke and 0 for 17 slump with a lead-off single in the seventh inning … New Hampshire’s Mike McDade went 1 for 3 to bring his batting average to .324, fifth best in the Eastern League. He is batting .354 with 8 home runs, 23 RBIs and 16 runs in the month of May … With the win the Rock Cats remain a half-game up on Reading in the Eastern Division. The Fisher Cats fall into a tie for last place with Portland.

Game Times and Pitchers for 5/30/12

Portland Sea Dogs (Billy Buckner 3-3, 3.28) GAME 1
vs. Harrisburg Senators (N/A) @ 6:00 p.m.

Portland Sea Dogs (Stolmy Pimentel 1-1, 4.44) GAME 2
vs. Harrisburg Senators (N/A) @ 45 mins. after game one

New Britain Rock Cats (B.J. Hermsen 2-1, 2.83)
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Chad Jenkins 2-3, 5.03) @ 7:05 p.m.

Norfolk Tides (Brad Bergesen 2-2, 4.96)
vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (Justin Germano 4-3, 2.93) @ 7:05 p.m.

Games Times and Pitchers for 5/23/12

David Bromberg heads a decent pitching matchup in paper with a noon start time down in New Britain. Bromberg will be getting his sixth start of the season and is 1-1 with a 1.40 ERA and 25 Ks over his initial five starts. He will face off against Zack Wheeler who is ranked as the top prospect in the New York Mets farm system by Baseball America. In seven starts this year the 21-year-old has struck out 45 batters over 37 2/3 innings.

The Sea Dogs will be looking to break a current team 0 for 35 streak and will hope to put an end to that in game one of their doubleheaders against the Fisher Cats. Chris Hernandez and Billy Buckner are slated to be the Portland starters in the two seven-inning affairs. Neither pitcher has faced the Fisher Cats who have Deck McGuire and Yohan Pino on the counter-attack. Both New Hampshire starters are also coming into their outings having never faced their opponent this year.

Binghamton Mets (Zack Wheeler 3-2)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (David Bromberg 1-1) @ 12:05 p.m.

Portland Sea Dogs (Chris Hernandez 2-3, 2.64) GAME 1
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Deck McGuire 2-5, 6.75) @ 6:05 p.m.

Portland Sea Dogs (Billy Buckner 2-3, 3.53) GAME 2
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Yohan Pino 3-1, 3.29) @ 6:05 p.m.

Results from 5/18/12

Binghamton (19-20) – 0
Portland (15-25) – 4
WP: Billy Buckner (2-3)
LP: Gonzalez Germen (1-2)

HIGHLIGHTS: Starter Billy Buckner had his best outing of the season, tossing 6 scoreless innings while allowing 3 hits and 3 runs to go with 3 strikeouts … Left fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBIs … Derrik Gibson went 0 for 3 and was the only Sea Dogs player without a hit. His hit streak was halted at nine games, but his on-base streak extended to ten games with a walk … With the win the Sea Dogs move to 3-6 on the season against the BMets.

Trenton (20-18) – 7
New Hampshire (16-23) – 1
WP: Michael O’Brien (1-0)
LP: Yohan Pino (3-1)
HR: Trenton – Corban Joseph (2), Cody Johnson (10)
New Hampshire – Brian Van Kirk (2)

HIGHLIGHTS: Starter Yohan Pino lasted 5 innings, but allowed 6 earned runs on 7 hits and 4 walks … Brian Van Kirk went 1 for 4 with a solo home run and has run his hit streak to six games … Catcher Sean Ochinko played in his first AA game since being called up from Class-A Dunedin and was 0 for 3 at the plate. Ochinko was promoted to replace A.J. Jimenez who looks to be headed for Tommy John surgery after tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm. Jimenez, considered to be a top defensive talent behind the dish, was ranked as the Blue Jays No. 12 prospect by Baseball America coming into the season … Trenton evened up the season series at 6 wins apiece.

New Britain (24-16) – 5
Reading (23-16) – 3
WP: B.J. Hermsen (2-1)
LP: David Buchanan (1-5)
S: Daniel Turpen (4)
HR: New Britain – Matt Rizzotti (1), Joe Benson (1), Aaron Hicks (5), Chris Colabello (6)

HIGHLIGHTS: Starter B.J. Hermsen went 7 2/3 innings, his longest outing to-date, and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits with 3 strikeouts … Batting in the leadoff spot Joe Benson homered on the first pitch of the game. He had 2 homers in 28 games with Rochester …Matt Rizzotti went 3 for 4 with a home run … Third baseman Nathan Hanson was the only New Britain player without a hit … With the win the Rock Cats improve to 3-2 against Reading this season and take a ½ game lead over the RPhils for first place in the Eastern League’s Eastern Division.

Pawtucket (27-16) – 5
Durham (17-26) – 6
WP: Romulo Sanchez (1-1)
LP: Junichi Tazawa (0-1)
S: Brandon Gomes (3)

HIGHLIGHTS: Reliever Junichi Tazawa was saddled for his first loss of the season despite not allowing one earned run. Two unlikely errors from Jose Iglesias in the bottom of the eighth inning opened the door for the Bulls to put up 4 runs and come back from a 5-2 deficit … Iglesias went 4 for 6 on the day, his first four-hit game of the season … Che-Hsuan Lin stole 2 bases, giving him 5 on 6 attempts this year … The PawSox still maintain a one-game lead over the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs who have won five straight games.

Game Times and Pitchers for 5/18/12

The Sea Dogs return to Hadlock Field for a brief three-game homestand against the BMets. Billy Buckner will hit the hill for Portland in his eighth start of the season. He has only faced three teams all season; New Britain twice, Binghamton twice and Trenton three times. Of his prior two outings against the Mets, Buckner has gone 0-1 over 10 innings, allowing 5 runs, 10 hits and 2 walks, with 10 strikeouts.

Ross Ohlendorf gets his eighth start of the year for Pawtucket, in search of his first win since April 21st, which happened to come against the same Durham Bulls that he will face tonight. In that game Ohlendorf scattered 6 hits and a walk for 4 runs over 5 2/3 innings. He will be opposed by Chris Archer, the reigning International League Pitcher of the Week and third-ranked prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays system according to Baseball America.

New Hampshire’s Yohan Pino will be looking to notch his fourth win over his last five starts. He has allowed only 5 runs over his last 26 1/3 innings, striking out 24 in the process. He did not factor into the decision when he started against the Thunder back on May 6th. In that game he allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk.

B.J. Hermsen will get the nod for New Britain in Reading. Fresh off his first win of the year, Hermsen beat these very RPhils last Saturday after allowing 2 runs and 7 hits over 7 innings. He has gone 6 1/3 innings or more in each of his three starts with New Britain since being called up from Ft. Myers.

Binghamton Mets (Gonzalez Germen 1-1, 5.54)
vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Billy Bucker 1-3, 4.10) @ 6:00 p.m.

Pawtucket Red Sox (Ross Ohlendorf 3-3, 4.91)
vs. Durham Bulls (Chris Archer 3-4, 4.71) @ 7:05 p.m.

Trenton Thunder (N/A)
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Yohan Pino 3-0, 2.16) @ 7:05 p.m.

New Britain Rock Cats (B.J. Hermsen 1-1, 2.66)
vs. Reading Phillies (David Buchanan 1-4, 5.26) @ 7:05 p.m.

Results and Highlights from 5/6/12

Portland (9-21) – 3
New Britain (18-12) – 1
WP: Billy Buckner (1-2)
LP: B.J. Hermsen (0-1)
S: Charle Rosario (1)
HR: Portland – Reynaldo Rodriguez (3)

HIGHLIGHTS: Portland starter Billy Buckner went 6 innings, allowing 1 run and 5 hits to earn his first win with the Sea Dogs … Juan Carlos Linares was 1 for 3 with a double and an RBI. He has hits in 20 of 25 games this season … New Britain center fielder Aaron Hicks went 3 for 4 with an RBI and 2 stolen bases. He now has 7 stolen bases on the season, tied for the team lead with Pedro Florimon who stole his seventh in the game … The Sea Dogs have won two of the three series they’ve played versus New Britain this year, capturing five of their nine total wins against the Rock Cats.

New Hampshire (13-16) – 3
Trenton (14-14) – 4 (11 inn.)
WP: Michael Dubee (2-0)
LP: Matt Daly (0-3)
HR: New Hampshire – Mark Sobolewski (6)
Trenton – Kevin Mahoney (3)

HIGHLIGHTS: Starter Yohan Pino pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk … Reliever Danny Farquhar served up a solo home run to Kevin Mahoney in the bottom of the ninth, tying the game and sending it to extras. It was Farquhar’s first blown save of the season and the third by the Fisher Cats in the last four games … Mike McDade went 1 for 4 and now has an eight game hitting streak … Ryan Goins reached base in all six of his at-bats, going 3 for 3 with 3 walks. It was his third straight three-hit game and he has now hit safely in six straight … Mark Sobolewski went 2 for 5 with a home run, RBI, run and a walk. It was the second straight game that he connected on a round-tripper and sixth straight game with at least one hit.

Pawtucket (19-12) – 7
Scranton/W-B (14-14) – 5
WP: Doug Mathis (1-2)
LP: Andy Pettitte (0-1)
S: Garrett Mock (4)
HR: Pawtucket – Josh Kroeger (2)

HIGHLIGHTS: Doug Mathis went five innings for his first win of the season … Scranton starter Andy Pettitte’s presence set a regular season record with 13,584 in attendance, and that’s without the hometown team even being involved. Pettitte got roughed up in 5 innings of work and you can read Thomas Saucke’s first-hand account of the his efforts in the post below this one … Reliever Junichi Tazawa allowed 2 runs in two innings of work. It was the first two runs he has allowed for the PawSox this season … Pedro Ciriaco went 3 for 4 with a double, RBI and 2 runs. It is the fourth multi-hit game during his current six game hit streak … Lars Anderson picked up his first three-hit game of the season, driving in two runs and notching two doubles for the second straight game … Jose Iglesias went 2 for 3 with an RBI and run scored. It was his fifth straight two-hit game and he has raised his batting average to .253 after ending April at .200.

Games Times and Pitchers for 5/6/12

With the first Sunday of May comes some actual May-like weather, as the clouds begin to dissipate and what better way to take advantage of it than with some baseball.

Down in Trenton, Yohan Pino looks to continue to get stronger in his fourth start of the season. Last time out he threw eight solid innings against Reading, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and a walk. He did face Trenton back on April 5th in his only relief appearance of the season, blanking the Thunder in the one inning he worked.

The Sea Dogs are 1-5 over their last six games and will look to the winless Billy Buckner to try and turn things around. Bucker will be making his sixth start for Portland and he has pitched five or more innings in every start thus far. Countering for New Britain will be B.J. Hermsen who was magnificent in his first start after being called up from Ft. Myers. The 27th ranked prospect in the Twins system (per Baseball America) pitched seven innings against Harrisburg, allowing 1 run while scattering 4 hits and a walk.

The PawSox game versus Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was moved from Batavia to Rochester, presumably because of the pandemonium that Doug Mathis causes wherever he pitches. In his previous four starts Mathis’ has allowed 16 runs in 16 1/3 innings. The Yankees will be pitching some old journeyman named Pettitte against him…tough luck for those fans hoping to see two good pitchers today!

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Yohan Pino 2-0, 2.57)
vs. Trenton Thunder (Cory Arbiso 0-0, 2.55) @ 1:05 p.m.

Portland Sea Dogs (Billy Buckner 0-2, 4.50)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (B.J. Hermsen 0-0, 1.29) @1:35 p.m.

Pawtucket Red Sox (Doug Mathis 0-2, 7.17)
vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Andy Pettitte NR) @ 2:05 p.m.

Game Times and Pitchers 4/30/12

Andy Pettitte did not make the trip to Portland, so instead the Thunder will throw Graham Stoneburner in his second start of the season. The Sea Dogs counter with Billy Buckner, who is in search of his first win of the season.

The PawSox wrap up a four game-set in Columbus with Brandon Duckworth getting his fourth start of the season against Chris Seddon. Duckworth has struck out 21 batters and allowed 21 hits in 21 innings this season.

In New Hampshire – where we will take our talents this evening – the Fisher Cats have Deck McGuire on the hill coming off of his shortest outing of the season when he only made it three innings against Binghamton last Wednesday. Eastern League wins leader Trevor May will get the nod for the first place RPhils.

The Rock Cats bats will look to take down Eastern League ERA leader Daniel Rosenbaum, who has allowed only 3 earned runs in 28 2/3 innings. The Sens took two of three games in New Britain earlier in April, outscoring the Cats 18-12.

Trenton Thunder (Graham Stoneburner 0-0, 0.00)
vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Billy Buckner 0-2, 4.71) @ 6:00 p.m.

Pawtucket Red Sox (Brandon Duckworth 3-0, 2.91)
vs. Columbus Clippers (Chris Seddon 2-1, 4.66) @ 6:35 p.m.

Reading Phillies (Trevor May 4-0, 2.35)
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Deck McGuire 1-3, 8.24)

New Britain Rock Cats (N/A)
vs. Harrisburg Senators (Daniel Rosenbaum 3-0, 0.94)

Games Times and Pitchers for 4/24/12

The PawSox will look to continue their eight game win streak as Scranton-Wilkes Barre blows through town for a quick two game set. Alex Wilson and D.J. Mitchell pose a nice matchup on the hill, but if the winds kick up as expected, there is a great chance it won’t go that way.

Chad Jenkins will be looking to rebound from back-to-back losses in which he allowed 13 earned runs over 9 2/3 innings. Unfortunately there is rain and snow in the forecast for Binghamton, with lows in the 30s.

In sticking with the weather theme, New Britain looks clear for play, but like in Pawtucket heavy winds of 20+ mph are being predicted, so things could get very interesting in these games depending on which way it’s headed. Billy Bucker and Logan Darnell will be hoping it’s at their backs as they take the mound for their respective squads

Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees (D.J. Mitchell 2-0, 2.12)
vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (Alex Wilson 1-0, 5.27) @ 6:15 p.m.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Chad Jenkins 1-2, 8.04)
vs. Binghamton Mets (Zach Wheeler 0-2, 2.40) @ 6:35 p.m.

Portland Sea Dogs (Billy Buckner 0-2, 6.00)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (Logan Darnell 2-0, 2.81) @ 6:5 p.m.

Game Times and Pitchers for 4/9/12

For the first time all season we do not have a doubleheader on tap.

Billy Bucker (no relation) gets the start for Portland tonight, hoping to get them their first “W” after getting swept in their season-opening series in Reading. Buckner is the only Sea Dog with major league experience.

A couple other guys who have logged some big league innings will be starting for the local clubs. New Hampshire’s Brett Cecil gets the nod against the RPhils, while Doug Mathis will go for the PawSox at McCoy tonight.

Alex Wimmers gets his first start of the year for the Rock Cats. Ranked as the No. 25 prospect in the Twins organization, the first-round pick from Ohio State will be making his AA debut.

Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Scott Elarton)
vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (Doug Mathis) @ 6:15 p.m.

Harrisburg Senators (Mike Ballard)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (Alex Wimmers) @ 6:15 p.m.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Brett Cecil)
vs. Reading Phillies (Julio Rodriguez) @ 6:35 p.m.

Portland Sea Dogs (Billy Buckner)
vs. Trenton Thunder (Josh Romanski) @ 7:05 p.m.