Yankees MILB Roundup For May 31st – Judge And Romine With 4 RBI Games

Mar 5, 2014; Port Charlotte, FL, USA; New York Yankees catcher Austin Romine (53) works out prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Charlotte Sports Park. (Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

On the final day of May, the Baby Bombers went 3-3 on the six-game slate. While the Tampa Yankees were rained out in their game against Fort Myers, Saturday saw the beginning of the 2014 Dominican Summer League Season in which the Yankees’ two teams each won their season openers. There were  four-RBI games from Scranton’s Austin Romine and Charleston’s Aaron Judge. Plus, the Trenton Thunder were swept in a doubleheader against Portland. Read more about the night’s minor league action below:

TRIPLE-A

Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders (28-26) defeat the Indianapolis Indians (33-22) 7-3 

After a loss to Indianapolis on Friday night, Scranton starter Shane Greene gave the team a solid outing in Saturday’s win. Greene went 6 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on five hits. He struck out six batters and walked two batters in his third win of the year. For Greene, it is his third consecutive victory. Danny Burawa threw the final 2 1/3 innings to pick up his second save of the season.

For the Railriders, the star of the night was Austin Romine. The Railriders’ catcher had three hits and four two-out RBI’s in the contest. This included a RBI single in the second inning and a three-run homer in the top of the eighth, his second of the season. . 1B Francisco Arcia started the scoring for Scranton in the second inning with a RBI single. Arcia and RF Russ Canzler had two hits a piece in Scranton’s victory. The two teams continue their series Sunday afternoon at 1:35 PM ET as Bruce Billings takes the mound for the Railriders against Jeff Locke for the Indians.

BOX SCORE!!!

DOUBLE-A

Game 1: Trenton Thunder (30-26) lost to the Portland Sea Dogs (37-18) 9-4 

The Thunder’s downfall came via a crooked inning from the Seadogs in the top of the fourth. Portland scored five runs in the inning, all against starter Graham Stoneburner. It was a rough afternoon for Stoneburner as he gave up four earned runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. He drops to 2-2 on the season.  The Thunder started off the game well with two of their runs coming in the first inning, including a RBI triple by Rob Refsnyder. With his two-hit performance, Refsnyder has had seven RBI’s in his last ten games (including Game 2). Trenton would to come back in the bottom of the fourth inning. DH Tyson Blaser‘s RBI double and SS Ali Castillo‘s RBI groundout made it 6-4, but that’s as close as the Thunder would get. Reliever Cesar Cabral allowed Portland to score the last three insurance runs in the final two innings to increase the deficit. Portland’s starter, Keith Couch, went all seven innings to improve to 7-0 on the season.

BOX SCORE!!!

Game 2: Trenton Thunder (30-27) lost to the Portland Sea Dogs (38-18) 4-3 

When it came to the final inning, it looked like all was going right for the Thunder in their hope to split the doubleheader. After trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, the offense came alive with three runs to take the lead. After an RBI single from 1B Tyler Austin cut the lead to 2-1,  C Gary Sanchez would culminate the rally with a two-run homer to give Trenton a 3-2 lead. It was Sanchez’s seventh home run of the season. It looked as if the reigning Eastern League Pitcher of the Week, Jeremy Bleich, was going to be bailed out after giving up two runs on six hits in five innings of work.

However, in the top of the seventh inning, reliever Fred Lewis (in his second inning of work), gave up a two-run single to Portland SS Deven Marrero to give up the lead and ultimately, the game. Trenton did rally in the seventh inning, but Rob Refsnyder was left stranded on third base. The Thunder will look to avoid the sweep on Sunday afternoon when Matt Tracy goes up against Portland’s starter, Miguel Pena at 1:05 PM.

BOX SCORE!!!

SINGLE-A 

Tampa Yankees (27-27) vs. the Fort Myers Miracle (31-22) POSTPONED 

Saturday’s series opener for the Tampa Yankees against Fort Myers was cancelled due to rain. The two teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon. The first game will begin at 3:05 PM.

Charleston Riverdogs (27-28) lost to the Asheville Tourists (31-23) 8-4 

Despite Charleston dropping its fourth straight game and its third straight in the series, the star of the night was RF Aaron Judge. Judge was the lone provider of offense for the Riverdogs as he drove in all four runs in the game. It started in the first inning when he hit a two-run double to right field to give the team a 2-1 lead. With Charleston trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Judge tried to bring them back when he hit a  two-run homer to center to cut the lead to 5-4. It was his sixth home run of the season. He has seven RBI’s in his last four games.

As for the pitching, starter Ian Clarkin had trouble keeping the Tourists off the board. Despite a career-high seven strikeouts, Clarkin picked up his third loss of the season as he gave up three runs on six hits over five innings. That being said, he was still pounding the strike zone as he had only one walk and threw 51 of his 75 pitches for strikes. Asheville would tack on three insurance runs in the ninth inning against relievers Rony Bautista and Cesar Vargas. Charleston will look to avoid the sweep and a five-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon at 5:05 PM as Caleb Smith takes his 1.51 ERA to the mound against Antonio Senzatela.

BOX SCORE!!!