Lexington
The Legends had a long meeting after Thursday’s game. Greg Langbehn saw progress but it wasn’t quite enough. Leandro Cespedes had his worst outing of the season giving up 8 runs in a little over 4 innings of work. He gave up 3 home runs in the process.
The Legends jumped out to an early lead but by end of the 5th, they were down 9 to 8. The Legends came back to tie it 6th, 7th and 8th but couldn’t take the lead. They lost 12-11.
There was a little drama in the plate in the 5th. Lakewood slugger Michael Durant hit a monster homer that he took some time to admire before rounding the bases.
Fixler, the catcher, didn’t appreciate Durant holding up to admire the shot.
“I made a mistake by looking at it. But I mean, hey, you’ve got to have some kind of fun,” Durant said. “He had a few words for me, but I didn’t say nothing back. I just messed up. … What he said was right.”
Saturday, Lexington ended their home losing streak with a 4-2 victory over Lakewood. Matt Cusick continued his hot start breaking the 2-2 tie in the 8th with a homer.
“The lefty that started, he was throwing me fastballs in all night,” Cusick said. “I just figured that that’s where it was going to be with the new guy from the pen. He’s another lefty, a similar pitcher. So I just sat on a fastball in.”
Carlos Ladeuth was effective, giving up just one earned run in 7 innings.
“Carlos gave us exactly what we needed tonight,” Manager Gregg Langbehn said. “We were pretty thin in the bullpen, and you couldn’t ask for anything better — seven innings, and I don’t know if he got to 80 pitches. … He was very efficient and did a nice job.”
Sunday belong to Sergio Severino. He pitched a gem! Severino bounced back from a very short outing last time out to no hit Lakewood for 6 innings. However, he had used too many pitches to go back out for the 7th.
“He was out of pitches too early,” Manager Gregg Langbehn said. “If it would have been after eight innings, that’s different. … He was at 91 pitches after six innings.”
Mike Koons came on in relief and was continued the mastery of the Lakewood hitters through 2 more no hit innings. In the 9th with the Legends holding on to a 1-0 lead, defense and luck played a part in maintaining the shutout.
“Barnes, I know, has a very good arm, so I know we always have a shot,” (Legends Catcher) Carceek said. “When I got the ball, I went to tag him and I just missed him. But I saw that his hand missed the plate, so I ran over there (past the plate) and put the tag on him.”
Umpire Larry Cory, filling in for his one game of the series, waited for Carceek to apply a late tag, then made the call. Claws Manager Steve Roadcap, coaching at third base, bitterly disputed the call.
Salem
Making the most of opportunities. Salem scored single runs in the 1st, 5th and 6th without a single hit, and a single run in the 4th off that involved only one hit (a single). That opportunistic style of play gave the Avs a 4-1 lead through 6 innings.
Polin Trinidad continued his solid pitching allowing just one run in 7 innings. Trinidad got no decision on the night as the bullpen blew the lead and allowed Myrtle Beach to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
Jordan Parraz, who had 3 of the 4 Av hits on the night, hit a 2 out homer to center to regain the lead. Jason Dominguez recovered from a rough 9th for a 1-2-3 10th to claim the win.
Av’s beat writer Katrina Waugh, shares this tidbit about Parraz’s ability to get on base this season:
Jordan Parraz took a Carolina League-best 17-game on-base streak into Friday’s game at Myrtle Beach, a streak that began in the season-opener on April 4.
Six times the streak has been preserved by walks.
Parraz has drawn 11 walks and been hit by pitches twice this season. He has struck out 10 times.
Parraz’s penchant for getting on base has paid dividends for the Avalanche.
He is tied with Lynchburg’s Edgardo Baez for the Carolina League lead in runs scored with 15.
Saturday night, Salem’s rally hats didn’t work as they scored 3 runs late but it wasn’t enough in their 6-4 loss to Myrtle Beach
Sunday, the Av’s were off.
Corpus Christi
The bad news is that Brad James wasn’t at his best pitching in front of family and friends in Frisco Friday night. The good news is he didn’t have to be, because the Hooks banged out 11 runs in their 11-6 victory over Frisco. Tommy Manzella extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a RBI triple. The defense was almost as good as the offense turning 5 double plays on the evening.
Brian Bogusevic kept the ball in the yard on Saturday but the bullpen didn’t in a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Frisco.
Bud Norris struck out 8 and allowed 1 run on Sunday. The Hooks bats took care of the rest, plating 5 in the 5th. The bullpen held on with some drama for the 6-4 victory.
Round Rock
The Express couldn’t provide enough offense to support a solid pitching performance by Josh Muecke. He went 6 innings and only allowed 1 run, despite pitching around 4 errors. New Orleans won the game on a solo home run in the 10th inning.
Saturday, the Express were rained out.