AUBURN - It's pretty difficult to quiet a Dollar Thursday crowd at Falcon Park, but with the number of fans remaining in the last several innings, a dropped pin could have been heard.
Jill Connor / The Citizen
Doubledays shortstop Bryan Kervin prepares to catch the throw from catcher Chris House as Muckdogs baserunner Frederick Parejo slides safely into second base during Thursday's game at Falcon Park. Auburn second baseman Jon Del Campo backs up the play.
Doubledays shortstop Bryan Kervin prepares to catch the throw from catcher Chris House as Muckdogs baserunner Frederick Parejo slides safely into second base during Thursday's game at Falcon Park. Auburn second baseman Jon Del Campo backs up the play.
After rain soaked Leo Pinckney Field on Thursday afternoon, the Auburn Doubledays grounds crew did a fantastic job of getting the field in playing condition with a 40-minute delay to the start of the game.
If only the contest was as clean as the infield looked. Allowing the Doubledays to score just once in the previous night's doubleheader, Batavia blanked Auburn 11-0 in a game that never once seemed close.
But even with some unexpected pitching gaffs and the inefficient bats, Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg's message to the team after the game didn't involve screaming.
“One guy walks off the field with a loss, but it's a team 'L',” Holmberg said. “We've got to get over it and we've got to move on, like I told them. We've got to make some adjustments. It's no more than if you lost 1-0, just that tonight it was 11-0. Just as we won here the other night 18-3, we lost here 11-0. Everything (Batavia) did was right and it wasn't that everything we did was wrong, but we took a lot of pitches and a lot of strikes out there.”
When the Doubledays blew out Williamsport just five days prior on Holmberg's birthday, the outcome was the exact opposite for pitching coach Antonio Caceres' birthday.
Starter Joel Carreno (5-2) was shaky in his second loss, lasting just four innings and allowing five runs, seven hits and three walks.
“Carreno wasn't sharp tonight,” Holmberg said. “Out of the shoot, he kind of sputtered a little bit. He had been pretty consistent, but even in warm-ups, he was inconsistent and erratic.”
Jay Monti came into the game in relief, but couldn't stretch his outing into two innings.
He gave the reigns to Justin Cryer after 1 2-3 innings, giving up three more runs on six hits and a walk.
Cryer spent 1 1-3 innings on the mound, allowing three more runs, four hits and a walk in his night.
Chuck Huggins lasted the ninth, but allowed a hit.
The Muckdogs' 18 hits were the most given up by Auburn this year.
In the fourth and seventh innings, respectively, Auburn pitchers also gave up two home runs - by designated hitter Chris Swauger and second baseman Jose Garcia. Swauger led the team in RBIs with three.
Offensively, it wasn't much prettier for Auburn. Of the team's seven hits, only three came in the first seven innings - two in the seventh.
Despite no runs and just 10 hits over the last 16 innings for the Doubledays, the Muckdogs trio of pitchers on Thursday night earned the credit for the zero on the scoreboard.
Starter Ramon Delgado (3-1) fanned seven and allowed one hit and no walk in his five frames.
Adam Veres was just as dominating over the next three innings, striking out six and giving up four hits. Dan Richardson pitched the ninth and a bases-loaded 5-3 double play sealed the game.
“I told the guys that we just have to come back at it tomorrow,” Holmberg said. “I can almost guarantee that it's going to be a low scoring game as most ball games are after a high scoring affair. We'll just get over this, forget it - I had just hoped that we could have celebrated Antonio's birthday in a better fashion.”
The loss sets the Doubledays (28-20) two games back of first-place Jamestown and one game behind second-place Batavia.
The Doubledays and Muckdogs meet again today in Batavia.
Notes: First baseman Mike McDade went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts to end his 13-game hit streak. ... Carreno's fifth strikeout, of Beau Riportella in the fourth, gave him a share of the league lead at least for a day. The co-leader, Hudson Valley's Nick Barnese, is scheduled to pitch tonight.
D-days Today
Record: 28-20
Standings: Third place, two games behind Jamestown
Streak: 2 losses
Next: at Batavia, 7 p.m.
If only the contest was as clean as the infield looked. Allowing the Doubledays to score just once in the previous night's doubleheader, Batavia blanked Auburn 11-0 in a game that never once seemed close.
But even with some unexpected pitching gaffs and the inefficient bats, Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg's message to the team after the game didn't involve screaming.
“One guy walks off the field with a loss, but it's a team 'L',” Holmberg said. “We've got to get over it and we've got to move on, like I told them. We've got to make some adjustments. It's no more than if you lost 1-0, just that tonight it was 11-0. Just as we won here the other night 18-3, we lost here 11-0. Everything (Batavia) did was right and it wasn't that everything we did was wrong, but we took a lot of pitches and a lot of strikes out there.”
When the Doubledays blew out Williamsport just five days prior on Holmberg's birthday, the outcome was the exact opposite for pitching coach Antonio Caceres' birthday.
Starter Joel Carreno (5-2) was shaky in his second loss, lasting just four innings and allowing five runs, seven hits and three walks.
“Carreno wasn't sharp tonight,” Holmberg said. “Out of the shoot, he kind of sputtered a little bit. He had been pretty consistent, but even in warm-ups, he was inconsistent and erratic.”
Jay Monti came into the game in relief, but couldn't stretch his outing into two innings.
He gave the reigns to Justin Cryer after 1 2-3 innings, giving up three more runs on six hits and a walk.
Cryer spent 1 1-3 innings on the mound, allowing three more runs, four hits and a walk in his night.
Chuck Huggins lasted the ninth, but allowed a hit.
The Muckdogs' 18 hits were the most given up by Auburn this year.
In the fourth and seventh innings, respectively, Auburn pitchers also gave up two home runs - by designated hitter Chris Swauger and second baseman Jose Garcia. Swauger led the team in RBIs with three.
Offensively, it wasn't much prettier for Auburn. Of the team's seven hits, only three came in the first seven innings - two in the seventh.
Despite no runs and just 10 hits over the last 16 innings for the Doubledays, the Muckdogs trio of pitchers on Thursday night earned the credit for the zero on the scoreboard.
Starter Ramon Delgado (3-1) fanned seven and allowed one hit and no walk in his five frames.
Adam Veres was just as dominating over the next three innings, striking out six and giving up four hits. Dan Richardson pitched the ninth and a bases-loaded 5-3 double play sealed the game.
“I told the guys that we just have to come back at it tomorrow,” Holmberg said. “I can almost guarantee that it's going to be a low scoring game as most ball games are after a high scoring affair. We'll just get over this, forget it - I had just hoped that we could have celebrated Antonio's birthday in a better fashion.”
The loss sets the Doubledays (28-20) two games back of first-place Jamestown and one game behind second-place Batavia.
The Doubledays and Muckdogs meet again today in Batavia.
Notes: First baseman Mike McDade went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts to end his 13-game hit streak. ... Carreno's fifth strikeout, of Beau Riportella in the fourth, gave him a share of the league lead at least for a day. The co-leader, Hudson Valley's Nick Barnese, is scheduled to pitch tonight.
D-days Today
Record: 28-20
Standings: Third place, two games behind Jamestown
Streak: 2 losses
Next: at Batavia, 7 p.m.
