The Harrisburg Senators won a pair of 1-run decisions in their Saturday night doubleheader against visiting Akron, defeating the Aeros 5-4 in the opener and 7-6 in 8 innings (1 extra inning) in the nightcap. How the Senators won both games was quite different however. In the early game, Harrisburg never trailed and held on late. The Senators jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the 2nd inning, using a Frank Diaz walk, a Josh Whitesell 2-run homer, a Salomon Manriquez single, and another 2-run homer, this one by Rich Lane, to give themselves an early cushion. Akron struck back with single runs in the 3rd and 4th innings off of eventual winning pitcher Justin Echols, but the Senators responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the 4th, using a Rich Lane walk, a bloop single over 1st base by Ian Desmond (after he failed to get a sacrifice bunt down) that helped Lane get to 3rd base after some heads up baserunning, and an RBI ground out by Jesus Feliciano. The score remained 5-2 until the top of the 6th, when Akron scored a pair of runs on a 2-run homer. That was it for Echols, who was replaced by closer Roy Corcoran with 1 out in the 6th. Corcoran retired all 5 batters he faced to gain his 12th save of the season.
In Game 2, the Senators trailed most of the way in a game that featued 7 errors, 4 by Harrisburg. Akron scored an unearned run in the top of the 1st using a Melvin Dorta error, a pair of singles, and a Josh Whitesell error (that didn't advance any runners but allowed an at-bat to continue). The Senators responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the 1st, using a Dorta walk and a Kory Casto RBI double to get on the board. The Aeros came back with 2 more runs off spot starter Danny Rueckel in the 2nd inning and even though the hosts pulled within 3-2 in the bottom of the 3rd on 2-out singles by Ender Chavez (not to be confused with Endy Chavez) and Josh Emmerick sandwiched around an Akron balk, things weren't looking good for Harrisburg in the later innings. Things looked even bleaker after Akron scored another run in the top of 6th off of reliever Gerald Plexico, who replaced Rueckel in the 5th. But the Senators struck back in dramatic fashion with 3 runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 5-4 lead into the final (7th) inning. Ian Desmond started the one out rally with a hard hit single to left and Jesus Feliciano followed with a seeing-eye single to left. Melvin Dorta was up next, and he surprised many people by hitting his first home run of the season, a shot to left-center. In the top of the 7th, with Roy Corcoran unavailable due to his 1 2/3 innings of work in Game 1, Devin Perrin came on to try to get the save. He was unable to do so. He gave up a double to right field on his first pitch and advanced the runner to 3rd base on a wild pitch on his next pitch. He was able to get one out without damage but then gave up a deep sacrifice fly to LF in which Chavez had no chance to make a play at the plate. In the bottom of the 7th, Harrisburg mounted a 2-out rally and had runners at the corners, but Desmond made a poor bunt on a non-suicide squeeze attempt and Akron overcome mental mistakes on the play (like not throwing to 1st and instead trying to get the runner coming from 3rd base - Ender Chavez almost got back to 3rd base safely after poor execution on the rundown) to force extra frames. The Aeros scored another run off of Perrin in the 8th inning on a pair of singles and an "advance one base" error by Chavez to take a 6-5 lead. The Senators would not die however. In the bottom of the 8th, Dorta drew a 1-out walk, his 3rd walk of the game, and advanced to 2nd base on a weak grounder by Casto. That brought up Frank Diaz. Diaz up to that point had a forgettable game (0-4) with the bat that included a strikeout, a ground out with the bases loaded, and a deep fly out to straightaway CF in the 6th inning when the Senators were trying to score insurance runs. He did hit the ball well in that last out, and perhaps showed signs of breaking out of his recent slump. Diaz hit the ball hard again in his 5th at-bat, but this time he pulled the ball to straightaway LF and hit a no-doubt-about-it, 2-run homer to win the game for the Senators. He was mobbed by his teammates after reaching home plate. Diaz' home run (and Dorta's earlier 3-run shot) allowed Harrisburg to continue its amazing winning ways on City Island.
General game notes:
- In the second game, the home plate umpire had a VERY inconsistent strike zone. In fact, he failed to call what appeared to be a 3rd strike down the middle on the batter who ended up putting Akron ahead in the 8th inning. It ultimately didn't hurt the Senators though. The man in blue was also inconsistent for both teams.
- The Senators drew their largest crowd of the season so far for the doubleheader - 6,187. It was a great night for baseball weather-wise.
Individual Harrisburg Senators player notes:
Kory Casto - enjoyed a 3 for 7 night in the 2 games with 2 doubles, a single, a walk, and 1 RBI. Both of his doubles were hard hit. He made a nice play at 3rd base in Game 1 to end an inning when Akron was threatening. Unfortunately, he also made a mental mistake on the base paths, forgetting how many outs there were at one point in Game 1. Casto is now hitting .291 and has .415/.500/.915 OBP/SLG/OPS numbers, truly excellent statistics in what has been a pitching-oriented Eastern League this year.
Frank Diaz - had a combined 1 for 7 night with 1 walk, but that 1 hit was a big one, a game-winning, walk-off, 2-run homer in Game 2. Diaz also scored 2 runs, one in each game. He did have some poor at-bats in the second game, especially early in the game, when he swung at too many high fastballs in his first 2 at-bats and wasn't patient enough to allow the pitcher to prove he could throw strikes. In his 2nd at-bat, he swung at the second pitch (which would have been called a strike) on a 1-0 count and grounded out with the bases loaded to end the inning, even though the 2 previous batters walked. Diaz played RF in both games and played solidly. (Jesus Feliciano played CF in both games.) I'll add that if Diaz has a weakness defensively it is charging or coming forward on balls; he seems very strong at reacting and going back or laterally. Diaz' batting average is now .293 and his OPS numbers are .329/.440/.769.
Salomon Manriquez - played only in Game 1, going 1 for 3 with a single and run scored. He also failed to get a bunt down in one at-bat and popped out to the pitcher. He stood out defensively behind the plate, making a perfect throw to gun down a potential base stealer and making a good block of the plate and holding onto the ball after a relay from LF to save a run. That run saved proved to be the margin of victory in Game 1. Like Frank Diaz, Manriquez has been slumping the last couple of weeks, and his numbers now stand at .280 (batting average) and .320/.409/.729 (OPS splits).
Ian Desmond - went a combined 2 for 6 in the doubleheader with 2 singles (one a looper, one hard hit) and a run scored. He also failed to get a bunt down, but ended up singling in that at-bat. He made one of the 4 Senators errors in Game 2, booting a relatively easy grounder. He's now hitting .196 and has drawn a mere 4 walks in 111 official plate appearances.
Josh Whitesell - enjoyed a 2 for 4 night in the 2 games with a home run, a single, a walk, 2 RBI's, and a run scored. He committed an error at 1st base on a foul pop-up in Game 2 (he was the DH in Game 1). Manager John Stearns also replaced Whitesell at 1st base late in Game 2. Simply put, Whitesell does not appear to be that good a defensive player but does have legitimate pop in his bat.
Justin Echols - picked up the win in Game 1, giving up 4 runs (all earned) on 6 hits (including 1 home run) in 5 1/3 innings. He walked 2 batters while striking out 4 men.
Danny Rueckel - pitched adequately in a spot start in Game 2, going 4 innings and giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits. He struck out 2 batters and didn't walk anyone. The defense behind him hindered his effort. He didn't figure in the game decision.
Roy Corcoran - pitched 1 2/3 of spotless relief in Game 1 to pick up the save. He recorded 2 strikeouts.
Devin Perrin - picked up the win in Game 2 despite giving up single runs in both the 7th and 8th innings in his 2 innings of work. Overall, he pitched 2 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs (1 earned). He also struck out 3 batters.
MILB.com box score - Game 1MILB.com box score - Game 2
