Wood you believe that a pitcher in his first full professional season could strike out 10 in four innings? That’s one way to Gage a prospect’s progress.
Scranton/Wilks-Barre 4, Lehigh Valley 3
The RailRiders walked off the IronPigs on an Oswaldo Cabrera single. Alan Rangel went 5.1 innings with four hits, two runs (one earned), and six K; Kyle Backhus had a blown save, and Kirby Snead took the loss. Gabriel Rincones Jr. was two for four with a double, and Carter Kieboom was two for two with a double after
coming in to replace Alex Binelas, removed with an injury, at first base.
Reading 10, Hartford 5
The Fightin Phils had 14 hits on the night against the Yard Goats. Pedro León and Caleb Ricketts had three apiece, Dante Nori, Raylin Heredia, and Aroon Escobar had two each. Bryan Rincon had a rough night (0 for five, three K) in a rough stretch (his fifth consecutive game without a hit). Gage Wood had a whopping 10 strikeouts in just 4 innings, walking two and allowing two runs on four hits.
Hub City 2, Jersey Shore 1
The BlueClaws capitalize both halves of their compound name, but the Spartanburgers don’t. That’s not really important. What is important is turning your hits into runs. Both Hub City and Jersey Shore had six hits, but the Spartanburgers eked one more run out of their half-dozen knocks. Four of those six BlueClaw hits came from the duo of Nathan Humphreys and Daunte Stuart, who had two each; Humphreys also reached base on an HBP. Starter Ryan Dromboski allowed all six Hub City hits and both runs over five innings of work; though one of those runs was unearned thanks to an error from Scott Mudler at first. He struck out five and walked one.
Clearwater 9, Fort Myers 3
In game one of this doubleheader, the Threshers got the better of the Mighty Mussels thanks to a six-run fourth. Eight of the Clearwater nine had hits, with Reece Moroney and Matthew Ferrara having two each; the former also reached twice via the free pass. Tyler Spangler and Jonathan Hogart matched Moroney for walks, and Will Gasparino outdid them by taking three. Starter Sean Youngerman went five inning with three hits, one ER, and three K. Interestingly, all of the Thresher hits were singles; they had to push their baserunners home the old fashioned way (though with the aid of copious free passes and a few HBPs).
Clearwater 6, Fort Myers 5
Clearwater went into the seventh (and final, given the MiLB doubleheader rules) inning down five. They then proceeded to score six. A parade of singles, aided by a walk, a wild pitch, and an error, spelled victory for the Threshers. Jack Hopko’s single to center ended the memorable affair. As in the first game, Reece Moroney and Matthew Ferrara both had two hits. Starter Zuher Yousuf went four innings with five hits, 3 ER, and 4 K, surrendering two homers. Richie Cortese got the win thanks to pitching a hitless inning in the top of the seventh.
