The Harrisburg Senators recent slump continued tonight as they lost to the Erie Seawolves 5-4, the Senators' 4th straight loss. Though they weren't blown out 14-0 like they were in losses on Sunday and Tuesday, Harrisburg was plagued by a lack of clutch hitting. They left 10 men on base, many of them in scoring position. Senators starting pitcher David Maust was also hurt by the long ball, giving up 3 home runs that accounted for all but 1 of Erie's runs. For much of the game it appeared the hosts would post their first win since Saturday's doubleheader sweep, as they scored single runs in each of the first 3 innings to take a 3-1 lead (Erie scored their run in the 3rd on a solo home run). Frank Diaz and Melvin Dorta each had RBI singles, scoring Dan Dement and Josh Whitesell respectively, and Dement hit a solo home run to lead off the 3rd inning. Unfortunately, Harrisburg could have scored even more runs as they also left 4 men on base in the first 2 innings. The score stayed 3-1 until the top of the 6th when Erie struck with a 4-spot, using a solo home run and 2-run homer off of Maust and an RBI double to deep CF off of Danny Rueckel (scoring a runner that was Maust's responsibility) to take a 5-3 lead. The Senators got one run back in the bottom of the inning, as Rich Lane and Dorta singled (Dorta's single should have been an error on the Erie SS) and Dement drove in Lane with another RBI single to pull within 5-4. However, the Senators could score no more runs. Perhaps the key play of the game in the bottom of the 8th, when Jesus Feliciano was thrown out at the plate after a Lane single to RF. (Feliciano came into to pinch run for Josh Whitesell, who singled, and advanced to second after a Ian Desmond sacrifice bunt.) Lane got to second on the play, but was stranded there. Harrisburg got one runner on base in the 9th on a Casto walk but he never got beyond 1st base, ending the Senators' chances.
General game notes:
- Tonight's home plate umpire was REALLY bad, especially in the early innings. Players on both teams were questioning his calls. Ryan Church got into a brief argument after striking out in the 1st inning (on a pitch that appeared to be a strike from my angle), and manager John Stearns jawed with the umpire after the 1st inning.
- Ryan Church was also involved in the game's most amusing moment. During his second at-bat, he lost control of his bat on a swing, throwing the bat above the Senators dugout and into the first row of the stands. No one was injured. A couple of pitches later, Church was sawed off as bad as anyone I've ever seen, as his bat was broken along the length of the bat all the way up to the end of barrel. Half of his bat ended up in shallow RF, while the other long sliver of bat was still in Church's hands.
Individual Harrisburg Senators player notes:
Kory Casto - did not have a particularly good night at the plate, though he did draw 2 walks. He ended up 0 for 3 with a strikeout and couldn't get a 2-out hit with 2 men on base in the 6th inning. Casto did make a couple of fine plays at 3rd base, displaying a very strong arm to nail runners at first on a couple of close plays. He's now batting .267 and has .394/.459/.853 OPS numbers.
Frank Diaz - had a decent night to hopefully break out of his recent slump, going 2 for 5 (both singles) and 1 RBI. On the bad side, he also struck out twice and looked bad on both strikeouts. He had real trouble with some off-speed pitches. He played RF and made a fine running catch in foul territory early in the game. His batting average now stands at .282 and he has .316/.417/.733 OPS numbers.
Ryan Church - had a quiet 0 for 4 night with 1 walk and 1 strikeout (see general game notes for info about both the walk and strikeout). Church is now 1 for 12 hitting-wise in his brief time at Harrisburg. He was solid defensively in CF.
Salomon Manriquez - went for 1 for 4 with a single and he also struck out once (which ended the Senators' threat in the 1st inning). Manriquez also couldn't come through in another key situation later in the game. Manriquez's batting average has dropped to .267 and he has 8 walks and 1 HBP in 107 official plate appearances.
Ian Desmond - was officially 0 for 2 but had 2 sacrifice bunts. Both bunts, especially his first bunt right down the 1st base line, were well executed. Desmond's batting average remains below the Mendoza Line at .179. Desmond was solid at SS, though he did nearly pull 1st baseman Rich Lane off the base on one throw.
Josh Whitesell - had a 2 for 4 night with 1 run scored. Whitesell was the DH tonight.
Melvin Dorta and Dan Dement - both of these solid utility players went 3 for 5. Dorta had 3 singles (one of which should have been an error) and 1 RBI, while Dement was even more impressive with a home run, 2 singles, 2 RBI's, and 2 runs scored.
David Maust - took the loss as he gave up 5 runs (all earned) on 7 hits and 1 walk in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out 1 batter. His problem was the long ball as all but one of the runs he gave up was scored on an Erie home run.
Danny Rueckel - pitched a solid 3 1/3 innings, giving up no runs, 3 hits, and no walks while striking out 4 men.
MILB.com box score