AAA: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees
The final regular season game of the season went a few innings long in a playoff preview as Pawtucket defeated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 6-4 in twelve innings on Monday. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre used six pitchers, including reserve catcher Ryan Baker, as none threw more than three innings in a true bullpen game. With the playoffs (and a rematch beginning in Pawtucket) starting on Wednesday, neither team wanted to burn through their pen, which resulted in Baker and Sox IF Jonathan Hee finishing the game for their respective teams. At the plate, only Melky Mesa managed multiple hits, but it was a Darnell McDonald home run and Baker’s pinch-hit, eighth inning, two-run double which provided the most spark for the Yankees offense. These two teams meet again starting on Wednesday, as they begin a five-game playoff series.
AA: Trenton Thunder
Ramon Flores took the Eastern League by storm in his debut, recording a pair of hits, including a two-run home run in his second at-bat. Flores would also score twice as the Thunder defeated Binghamton 8-5 in their regular season finale. Addison Maruszak and Kevin Mahoney each drove in a pair of runs for Trenton, while Tyler Austin and Rob Segedin drove in a run each. Most impressively may have been Adonis Garcia, who has been phenomenal at the plate since his promotion a month ago. With a single yesterday, Garcia is now riding a 10-game hitting streak as the Thunder enter the playoffs. On the mound, Nik Turley made his Double-A debut, allowing three runs on eight hits in five innings of work and earning the win. The man he replaced in the rotation, Mikey O’Brien, came out of the pen and provided 2.2 innings of relief, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits.
Low-A: Charleston RiverDogs
Bryan Mitchell may have took the expression “saving the best for last” a little too literal. After struggling for most of the past couple of months, Mitchell turned in six shutout innings of one-hit baseball in Charleston’s final game of the season as they downed Augusta 7-1 on Monday. In addition to Mitchell’s stellar performance on the mound, the bats were working in full force for the RiverDogs. Dante Bichette led the team in hits, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored on the day. Four other hitters had two hits on the day for Charleston, as they totaled 14 as a team, and every starter except for Eduardo Sosa reached base at least once.
