Shrimp Clinch Title, Sharks Walk Off, Duval Continues To Impress

Transactions

LHP Jeff Kinley was assigned to Jacksonville from the Hammerheads.

LHP Jared Lakind was assigned to Jupiter from Greensboro.

RHP Ryan Lillie was promoted from Batavia to Greensboro.

Triple-A

Pacific Coast League

New Orleans Baby Cakes 3, Oklahoma City Dodgers 2

New Orleans (55-79) defeated the OKC Dodgers (LAD, 71-66), 3-2 in front of 10,369 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Victor Payano struck out five in four two-hit innings. Tayron Guerrero (3-2, 5.02) earned the win with a hitless eighth inning, and Clayton Mortensen earned his first triple-A save of the season with a perfect ninth. He struck out two.

Grant Green knocked in Cal Towey in the second inning for a 1-0 Baby Cakes lead that would hold until the bottom of the seventh. That’s when Henry Ramos (3) smacked a two-run homer for the Dodgers and put the Cakes on their heels.

But not so fast, large home crowd. Brian Anderson drew a bases loaded walk in the ninth to tie it up, and Eury Perez scored on a Towey single to put New Orleans up, 3-2.

Perez and Towey led the New Orleans offense with three hits each. #3 Marlins prospect Brian Anderson turned in an 0-for-4 night to drop to .339 for the season.

'Cakes take down Dodgers in ninth

Double-A

Southern League

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 5, Pensacola Blue Wahoos 2

The Jumbo Shrimp (68-68) finally reached a .500 overall mark for the season on the same night they locked up the second-half division title. The 5-2 win against the Blue Wahoos (CIN, 71-65) sets the stage for a five-game elimination series at the close of the regular season against....the first half champ Blue Wahoos.

4,609 fans were on hand at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville to see Chris Mazza earn no-decision in 6 ¹⁄₃ innings, striking out four and allowing two earned runs. Miguel Del Pozo (1-0, 3.00) earned the win with 1 ²⁄₃ hitless innings, whiffing two, and Esmerling De La Rosa notched his third save with a hitless ninth.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, the Shrimp got on the board on David Vidal’s RBI-single to score Braxton Lee with two out. The tie would remain until the fourth, when #25 Marlins prospect John Norwood (19) went deep to left to put Jacksonville up by a 2-1 count. The lead didn’t last long, though. Pensacola leveled things up in the fifth with a Gabriel Guerrero sacrifice fly.

The game remained tied until the eighth inning, when Miami’s #26 prospect Austin Dean singled Taylor Ard home and Norwood followed with a two-run triple for the 5-2 final.

Dean's single leads Jacksonville to 5-2 win over Pensacola

Advanced-A

Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads 3, Fort Myers Miracle 2 (11)

399 at Roger Dean Stadium were on hand to see the Hammerheads (65-67) top the Miracle (MIN, 74-58), 3-2 in 11 innings. Mason Davis scored the winning run on an Angel Reyes single and a throwing error by Miracle third baseman Brandon Lopez.

Jupiter broke the seal on the scoreboard in the fifth inning on Zach Sullivan’s RBI-double, but the Miracle equalized things in the sixth with a Lopez RBI-single. The Hammerheads scored again in the bottom of the sixth on a Reyes single and a throwing error by Fort Myers shortstop Jermaine Palacios. Fort Myers forced extra innings with a Zander Wiel ninth-inning sacrifice fly.

Marlins #6 prospect Merandy Gonzalez tossed a quality start despite earning a no-decision. He limited the Miracle to one earned run in six innings, surrendering zero walks and five hits while striking out three. Ben Holmes allowed one hit in three innings, and Jose Quijada (5-1, 2.31) got another win with two perfect extra innings of relief.

Hammerheads Walk-Off in the 11th

Single-A

South Atlantic League

Greensboro Grasshoppers

Max Duval (4-0, 2.09) earned a 79 GameScore with seven shutout innings of work as the Grasshoppers (72-60) topped the Intimidators (CWS, 68-66), 4-0. It was the Grasshoppers 10th shutout of the season.

Duval held Kannapolis to five hits and no walks while striking out seven. Kyle Keller whiffed six in two shutout innings to close the door on the Intimidators in a non-save situation.

Miami’s seventh ranked prospect Brian Miller collected half of Greensboro’s offensive output for the game, with three hits and two RBI. Luis Pintor scored on number nine prospect James Nelson’s would-be groundout that was booted by opposing third baseman Grant Massey to open the scoring in the sixth, and Eric Gutierrez followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

Miller doubled the Grasshoppers’ lead in the next inning with a two-run, two-out single, and also stole two bases on the night.

The result of the contest left the Grasshoppers locked in a three-way tie with the Hickory Crawdads (TEX) and the West Virginia Power (PIT) for first place in the SALLY Northern Division second-half playoff race. The winner will face the Intimidators in the Division series beginning next week.

Duval, Miller lead Greensboro to 4-0 win over Kannapolis

Short-Season-A

New York-Penn League

Batavia Muckdogs 1, Williamsport Crosscutters 2

Sean Guenther (1-3, 3.57) turned in a quality start and earned a tough luck loss to the Crosscutters (PHI, 33-34). Guenther struck out four in six innings, surrendering two earned runs on four hits and zero walks. Shane Sawczak tossed two perfect innings, striking out two in relief for the Muckdogs (29-39).

Luis Encarnacion (2) led off the third for the Crosscutters with a home run, then Guenther uncorked a wild pitch to allow Brian Mims to cross the plate. Demetrius Sims halved the lead in the fifth inning, scoring on a Michael Hernandez single, but the Muckdogs couldn’t make anything else happen.

Number 23 prospect Ricardo Céspedes led the Muckdogs offense with a pair of singles. #8 Brayan Hernandez went 1-for-4 to drop his average to .325. #13 Thomas Jones went 0-for-3 and #21 Sean Reynolds went 1-for-4 with a triple.

Encarnacion's homer leads Williamsport to 2-1 win over Batavia

Rookie

Gulf Coast League

GCL Marlins 7, GCL Astros 1

The Marlins (31-23) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead against the Astros (26-27) at Roger Dean Stadium early this afternoon, then held on for a 7-1 triumph. Despite winning nine of their last 10 contests, the Marlins were eliminated from postseason consideration due to a GCL Nationals victory over the Mets.

Manuel Rodriguez (3-0, 2.61) was sharp in his five-inning start, striking out three and allowing just one baserunner on a first-inning single. He retired the final 13 batters that he faced, and faced the minimum of 15 men.

Kyle Farjad started the sixth, and surrendered the only Astros run of the day on an Alfredo Angarita bases-loaded walk. Blake Anderson, Dylan Cyphert, and Karl Craigie combined to keep the Astros off the board the rest of the way.

Isaac Galloway (2) homered to lead off the bottom of the first for the Marlins, then Michael Donadio scored on a fielders’ choice, Yeral Encarncion crossed the plate on a wild pitch, Shao-Pin Ho hit an RBI-single, and Jan Mercado brought one home with an RBI-ground out. The Fish tacked on another pair of runs in the second a Justin Cohen sacrifice fly and a Ben Fisher RBI-single.

The Marlins only picked up six hits for the game, to four for the Astros. #14 prospect Joe Dunand went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored, and #28 prospect Albert Guaimaro played the final two innings in center field as a defensive replacement.

Later

Noon - The GCL Marlins host the division champion GCL Nationals (34-20).

6:30PM - Ben Meyer (3-3, 2.10) will start for the Hammerheads against the Miracle.

7:00PM - The Crawdads (63-73) will host the Grasshoppers as they try to sort things out in the SALLY league.

7:05PM - Sam Perez (3-1, 2.08) will start opposite the Crosscutters for the Muckdogs.

7:05PM - The Jumbo Shrimp will start Matt Tomshaw (12-6, 3.63) against the Blue Wahoos.

8:00PM - Omar Bencomo (0-2, 7.20) makes the start for the Baby Cakes against the Nashville Sounds (64-71).

On This Date

In 2007:

After speeding through Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket, Clay Buchholz made a splash in his second Major League start, no-hitting the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. Buchholz, who out-dueled Roger Clemens in the Eastern League in June, led the eventual World Series champs to a 10-0 win. The Texas native became the first American League rookie to hurl a no-hitter since Wilson Alvarez against Baltimore in 1991.

Most minor league programs end play on Monday, which is the case for the Baby Cakes, the Hammerheads, and the GCL Marlins. The Muckdogs play an extra three days, and the sky’s the limit on the Grasshoppers and the Jumbo Shrimp. For updates, you can always check Fish Stripes for the latest.