AUBURN - Six hours.
Jill Conner / The Citizen
Auburn Doubledays starter Danny Farquhar delivers a pitch in the fifth inning against Lowell in the first game of a doubleheader Monday.
Auburn Doubledays starter Danny Farquhar delivers a pitch in the fifth inning against Lowell in the first game of a doubleheader Monday.
From the first pitch to the last, that's how long it took the Auburn Doubledays to split a doubleheader with Lowell at Falcon Park Monday. While the first game wasn't even close, a 6-1 decision that went to Lowell - it took nearly 2.5 hours to complete. In the evening contest, the Doubledays weren't about to embark on a road trip to Wappingers Falls without at least one good note.
They weren't about to make it easy either. After all, the series was on the line and historically, the Doubledays are nothing if not exciting at home.
Auburn clawed its way back from an early deficit to take the second game, 3-2, in 10 innings. For those keeping track, that's 17 innings and 16 combined pitchers used in one day of baseball.
“Any time you play a doubleheader, you want to split it,” Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg said. “We were flat the first game and flat the second game. We weren't having very good at-bats and we were exhausting all of our pitching options. But as for how big this win was, it was huge.”
While most of the Doubledays pitching staff fared well in the second game, it was Kyle Walter that walked away with his second win of the year. But that was mostly due to his catcher, Joel Collins.
After sitting out the entire first game and seven innings of the second, Collins entered the game in the eighth inning in relief of Karim Turkamani. With one out and Carlos Vasquez on second via a Charlie Rosario walk and then a sacrifice Chris Hopkins bunt, Collins blasted an RBI double to center field to end the long night.
“I missed the first seven innings of the game and came in to pinch hit - I was just looking for something to put into play,” Collins said. “I wasn't trying to do too much. I wanted to go home and get something to eat, we were all hungry.”
The Spinners scored two runs on consecutive Zach Gentile and Will Middlebrooks RBIs off Doubledays starter Josh Wells. For the second straight outing, Wells struggled early, giving up three hits and walking three in just three innings.
“He throws good, he just wasn't throwing strikes consistently,” Doubledays pitching coach Antonio Caceres said. “He was throwing too many pitches, enough for me to have to take him out. It was the same with Matt Wright in the first game. I'm not too happy with the way the guys are throwing the ball because they're walking too many guys.”
A Vasquez sacrifice ground-out scored Adam Amar in the bottom of the inning to cut the Spinners' lead in half. In the fourth, Amar ripped his third home run of the season, a solo blast to left field to tie the game.
It was a classic pitcher's duel from there, as it was Charles Huggins, Bobby Bell, Matt Daly and Walter against the Spinners' Stephen Fife, Mitchell Herold and Rosario. Kyle Weiland started a decent game for Lowell, striking out five and walking none in four innings.
But for Auburn, it was Bobby Bell that stole the show.
Bell got in the most work, striking out four of 10 batters in his 3 1-3 frames. What's better still is that he didn't allow a hit, a walk or a baserunner.
“He was really good tonight,” Caceres said. “I think we were walking too many guys and throwing too many pitches, but Bell threw the ball well.”
In the first game, Matt Wright earned his first decision of the season, but it wasn't to his favor. Wright suffered the loss after just 2 1-3 innings on the mound, allowing three hits, two walks and three runs. With the score already 3-0 in the third with one out, Jay Monti entered the game in relief and gave up two more runs on a walk and four hits.
Brock Huntzinger earned his third win of the season and kept his ERA under 1.00 in his five frames. Chris Demons prevented the shutout for Auburn when he scored on a Lance McClain wild pitch in the sixth. The Doubledays managed just three hits in the first game overall, making the way they ended the night that much more important.
“You don't ever want to get swept in a doubleheader,” Collins said. “We have a big road trip coming up against Hudson Valley, so it was really important for our team that we got the second game tonight.”
Notes: Lowell's Mitch Dening went 0-for-9 in the three-game series, bringing his recent total up to 0-for-15. ..After getting six hits in the second outing, Auburn tallied only nine hits on the day, while Lowell managed 15. Amar had four of those hits (two in each game). ... It was the first series that Auburn has won since the team was in Oneonta July 2-4. ..The Doubledays have the day off today, which will be their last until the New York-Penn League All-Star game in August.
They weren't about to make it easy either. After all, the series was on the line and historically, the Doubledays are nothing if not exciting at home.
Auburn clawed its way back from an early deficit to take the second game, 3-2, in 10 innings. For those keeping track, that's 17 innings and 16 combined pitchers used in one day of baseball.
“Any time you play a doubleheader, you want to split it,” Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg said. “We were flat the first game and flat the second game. We weren't having very good at-bats and we were exhausting all of our pitching options. But as for how big this win was, it was huge.”
While most of the Doubledays pitching staff fared well in the second game, it was Kyle Walter that walked away with his second win of the year. But that was mostly due to his catcher, Joel Collins.
After sitting out the entire first game and seven innings of the second, Collins entered the game in the eighth inning in relief of Karim Turkamani. With one out and Carlos Vasquez on second via a Charlie Rosario walk and then a sacrifice Chris Hopkins bunt, Collins blasted an RBI double to center field to end the long night.
“I missed the first seven innings of the game and came in to pinch hit - I was just looking for something to put into play,” Collins said. “I wasn't trying to do too much. I wanted to go home and get something to eat, we were all hungry.”
The Spinners scored two runs on consecutive Zach Gentile and Will Middlebrooks RBIs off Doubledays starter Josh Wells. For the second straight outing, Wells struggled early, giving up three hits and walking three in just three innings.
“He throws good, he just wasn't throwing strikes consistently,” Doubledays pitching coach Antonio Caceres said. “He was throwing too many pitches, enough for me to have to take him out. It was the same with Matt Wright in the first game. I'm not too happy with the way the guys are throwing the ball because they're walking too many guys.”
A Vasquez sacrifice ground-out scored Adam Amar in the bottom of the inning to cut the Spinners' lead in half. In the fourth, Amar ripped his third home run of the season, a solo blast to left field to tie the game.
It was a classic pitcher's duel from there, as it was Charles Huggins, Bobby Bell, Matt Daly and Walter against the Spinners' Stephen Fife, Mitchell Herold and Rosario. Kyle Weiland started a decent game for Lowell, striking out five and walking none in four innings.
But for Auburn, it was Bobby Bell that stole the show.
Bell got in the most work, striking out four of 10 batters in his 3 1-3 frames. What's better still is that he didn't allow a hit, a walk or a baserunner.
“He was really good tonight,” Caceres said. “I think we were walking too many guys and throwing too many pitches, but Bell threw the ball well.”
In the first game, Matt Wright earned his first decision of the season, but it wasn't to his favor. Wright suffered the loss after just 2 1-3 innings on the mound, allowing three hits, two walks and three runs. With the score already 3-0 in the third with one out, Jay Monti entered the game in relief and gave up two more runs on a walk and four hits.
Brock Huntzinger earned his third win of the season and kept his ERA under 1.00 in his five frames. Chris Demons prevented the shutout for Auburn when he scored on a Lance McClain wild pitch in the sixth. The Doubledays managed just three hits in the first game overall, making the way they ended the night that much more important.
“You don't ever want to get swept in a doubleheader,” Collins said. “We have a big road trip coming up against Hudson Valley, so it was really important for our team that we got the second game tonight.”
Notes: Lowell's Mitch Dening went 0-for-9 in the three-game series, bringing his recent total up to 0-for-15. ..After getting six hits in the second outing, Auburn tallied only nine hits on the day, while Lowell managed 15. Amar had four of those hits (two in each game). ... It was the first series that Auburn has won since the team was in Oneonta July 2-4. ..The Doubledays have the day off today, which will be their last until the New York-Penn League All-Star game in August.
