The Citizen
Glenn Gaston / Special to The Citizen
Auburn's Manny Rodriguez slides into second base under Hudson Valley's Shawn O'Malley during Saturday's game at Falcon Park in Auburn.
Auburn's Manny Rodriguez slides into second base under Hudson Valley's Shawn O'Malley during Saturday's game at Falcon Park in Auburn.
AUBURN - The Auburn Doubledays might be the best in the New York-Penn League when they score first, but on Saturday, it made no difference. The only thing that mattered was who scored last.
With one out in the bottom of the tenth inning, second baseman Darin Mastroianni laced a barely fair line drive down the third base line to score pinch runner Kelly Sweppenhiser to propel the Doubledays to a 4-3 win over Hudson Valley at Falcon Park.
“It was finally nice to do something to help the team win, especially after they scored that tying run,” Mastroianni said. “Whenever you can pull out a game like this, especially at home, it's always a big win. We're really excited.”
And rightfully so. In the second of the three-game series, the Renegades jumped out to an early lead similar to the one they managed in the first game of the series. Greg Sexton and Angel Fermin each hit a sacrifice ground out to score a run in the first two innings. Luis Sanchez laid down a sacrifice of his own, a perfect bunt that scored JP Arencibia in the bottom of the second.
Then came the resilience that the Doubledays displayed more of in the beginning of the season. After collecting just six hits against the Renegades on Friday, they tallied 11 in game two. With two outs and one on in the fourth, Sanchez smacked a single to left field to score Carlos Vasquez. Ben Zeskind then doubled to score Sanchez for the lead. Auburn's shortstop was productive with every at-bat, with three hits in addition to the two RBIs.
While Doubledays starter Brett Cecil allowed just two hits after the second inning and left the game with the lead after six innings of work, he didn't get a decision. In his longest outing of the season, the former reliever fanned four batters and allowed just one earned run.
“Brett threw strikes, got ahead of the count and he kept his pitch count between 65 and 70 in six innings,” Doubledays pitching coach Antonio Caceres said. “He did a good job tonight.”
Auburn's best reliever, Edgar Estanga got his first blown save of the season when the Renegades gathered three hits in the eighth, capped off with a Sexton single that scored Emeel Salem. Other than the score, Estanga more than earned his win when he struck out two of the batters in the ninth and got in on a smart defensive play in the tenth. Salem drove a tough play to Manny Rodriguez at first base with one out and no one on base. Salem had a chance to earn a base hit but missed the bag entirely on a head first slide. Rodriguez flipped the ball back to Estanga, who tagged the base for the second out.
The situation then got sticky when Cody Cipriano and Maiko Loyola consecutively hit singles that soon put them in scoring position. That was until Sexton popped one out to Adam Calderone in center field. Calderone made an incredible catch falling down while back peddling to make the out and help give Estanga the win.
“I'm calm in those kinds of situations,” Estanga said through an interpreter. “I've faced big leaguers in Venezuela, so when I come out here, it's something I've faced before. My train of thought is to just concentrate on the hitter.”
The Maturin Monagas native kept his perfect record in tact, upping his record to 5-0.
“He threw the ball really well, he got his pitches down and threw ahead,” Caceres said. “There were some plays that maybe should have been made and a couple of ground balls were hit, but I thought he did a hell of a job. Cecil didn't get the win tonight, but we're more concerned with the way he pitches and it was good tonight. He's improving.”
With another chance, the Doubledays made the best out of it. Pinch hitter Shawn Scobee walked off six pitches from Noah Booth, who got his first loss in one inning of work. Vasquez laid down another perfect sacrifice bunt to move over Sweppenhiser before Mastroianni walked away the hero for the night.
“Scobee had a real good at-bat and got over on a good sacrifice bunt by Carlos and it was a real good hit in that situation,” Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg said. “We got some hits from guys that maybe haven't been contributing maybe as much as two or three guys here and there and that's what you need. This was a good team win.”
With the momentum, the Doubledays (18-13) play their last home game until July 30 against Hudson Valley (13-17), today.
With one out in the bottom of the tenth inning, second baseman Darin Mastroianni laced a barely fair line drive down the third base line to score pinch runner Kelly Sweppenhiser to propel the Doubledays to a 4-3 win over Hudson Valley at Falcon Park.
“It was finally nice to do something to help the team win, especially after they scored that tying run,” Mastroianni said. “Whenever you can pull out a game like this, especially at home, it's always a big win. We're really excited.”
And rightfully so. In the second of the three-game series, the Renegades jumped out to an early lead similar to the one they managed in the first game of the series. Greg Sexton and Angel Fermin each hit a sacrifice ground out to score a run in the first two innings. Luis Sanchez laid down a sacrifice of his own, a perfect bunt that scored JP Arencibia in the bottom of the second.
Then came the resilience that the Doubledays displayed more of in the beginning of the season. After collecting just six hits against the Renegades on Friday, they tallied 11 in game two. With two outs and one on in the fourth, Sanchez smacked a single to left field to score Carlos Vasquez. Ben Zeskind then doubled to score Sanchez for the lead. Auburn's shortstop was productive with every at-bat, with three hits in addition to the two RBIs.
While Doubledays starter Brett Cecil allowed just two hits after the second inning and left the game with the lead after six innings of work, he didn't get a decision. In his longest outing of the season, the former reliever fanned four batters and allowed just one earned run.
“Brett threw strikes, got ahead of the count and he kept his pitch count between 65 and 70 in six innings,” Doubledays pitching coach Antonio Caceres said. “He did a good job tonight.”
Auburn's best reliever, Edgar Estanga got his first blown save of the season when the Renegades gathered three hits in the eighth, capped off with a Sexton single that scored Emeel Salem. Other than the score, Estanga more than earned his win when he struck out two of the batters in the ninth and got in on a smart defensive play in the tenth. Salem drove a tough play to Manny Rodriguez at first base with one out and no one on base. Salem had a chance to earn a base hit but missed the bag entirely on a head first slide. Rodriguez flipped the ball back to Estanga, who tagged the base for the second out.
The situation then got sticky when Cody Cipriano and Maiko Loyola consecutively hit singles that soon put them in scoring position. That was until Sexton popped one out to Adam Calderone in center field. Calderone made an incredible catch falling down while back peddling to make the out and help give Estanga the win.
“I'm calm in those kinds of situations,” Estanga said through an interpreter. “I've faced big leaguers in Venezuela, so when I come out here, it's something I've faced before. My train of thought is to just concentrate on the hitter.”
The Maturin Monagas native kept his perfect record in tact, upping his record to 5-0.
“He threw the ball really well, he got his pitches down and threw ahead,” Caceres said. “There were some plays that maybe should have been made and a couple of ground balls were hit, but I thought he did a hell of a job. Cecil didn't get the win tonight, but we're more concerned with the way he pitches and it was good tonight. He's improving.”
With another chance, the Doubledays made the best out of it. Pinch hitter Shawn Scobee walked off six pitches from Noah Booth, who got his first loss in one inning of work. Vasquez laid down another perfect sacrifice bunt to move over Sweppenhiser before Mastroianni walked away the hero for the night.
“Scobee had a real good at-bat and got over on a good sacrifice bunt by Carlos and it was a real good hit in that situation,” Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg said. “We got some hits from guys that maybe haven't been contributing maybe as much as two or three guys here and there and that's what you need. This was a good team win.”
With the momentum, the Doubledays (18-13) play their last home game until July 30 against Hudson Valley (13-17), today.
Citizen
Hot Jobs
New! Off the Menu
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.