The Undercards: Matt Buschmann Pitches Well, But Not Well Enough As Bulls Fall

It had been a great run for Matt Buschmann, the career minor leaguer who has toiled away as essentially minor league filler. His 5-0 record and 3.36 ERA since being promoted to Durham were a nice surprise, but all good things must eventually come to an end. Buschmann still pitched well last night, but came up on the short end of the decision against the Rochester Red Wings.

Rochester Red Wings (Twins) 4, Durham Bulls 2

Matt Buschmann has been excellent since arriving at Durham, and last night was no exception. Unfortunately, he made the first mistake of the game, and the Bulls were unable to come all the way back. Scoreless heading into the sixth, the Red Wings loaded the bases with one out. Jeff Clement singled to center to score a run, and Chris Parmelee was thrown out at the plate. Rochester put another run across in the seventh on a sacrifice fly, and appeared poised to break the game open in the eighth. With runners on second and third, Deibinson Romero singled to score a run, but Jermaine Mitchell was thrown out at the plate. Romero eventually scored on a base hit by Josmil Pinto, and the Red Wings took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth. At that point, the Bulls began to mount a comeback, loading the bases with no outs. A fielder’s choice plated a run, and Leslie Anderson cut the lead in half with an RBI single. The Bulls reloaded the bases with one out, but Chris Gimenez struck out and Jesus Flores grounded out to third to end the game. Buschmann took his first loss for Durham, giving up one run on five hits and four walks, striking out nine in 5.2 innings. Vince Belnome was 1-2 with two walks.

Montgomery Biscuits 2, Chattanooga Lookouts (Dodgers) 1

The Biscuits took the lead in the bottom of the second, and as he has seemingly been since arriving in Montgomery, Curt Casali was involved. Todd Glaesmann tripled to lead off the inning, and came home on a groundout by Casali to give the Biscuits the lead. Cameron Seitzer added to the lead with a solo home run in the fourth, giving Montgomery a 2-0 lead. Those two runs appeared to be all the starter Jacob Thompson would need, as he was cruising through the Lookouts lineup. Thompson entered the ninth with a four hit shutout, and recorded the first two outs before surrendering a double to Jon Garcia. That was all for Thompson, who was lifted for Braulio Lara. Lara, however, gave up an RBI single to Joc Pederson, and Chattanooga had cut the lead in half. Juan Sandoval then came on to close out the game, and retired Brian Cavazos-Galvez to preserve the victory. Thompson got the win, giving up one run on five hits, striking out five as he finished one out shy of his first professional complete game. The Biscuits were only held to three hits and a walk, but they made those baserunners count as they came away with the victory.

Charlotte Stone Crabs 8, Brevard County Manatees (Brewers) 1

The Manatees put an early run on the board when D’ Vontrey Richardson led off the game with a double, moved to third on a balk, and scored on a groundout. That would prove to be the extent of their offense as Sean Bierman shut the Manatees down the rest of the way. Charlotte took the lead in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with one out for Lucas Bailey. Bailey came through with a two run single, and the Stone Crabs took a 2-1 lead. Charlotte put the game away in the fourth, scoring five runs highlighted by an RBI double by Kes Carter and a two run single off the bat of Jake Hager. Hager drove in another run in the sixth, and the Stone Crabs went on to a relatively easy 8-1 victory. Bierman picked up the win, giving up one run on four hits in six innings. Hager was 2-5 with two RBIs. Willie Argo was 2-4 with two runs scored and a walk in the victory.

South Bend Silver Hawks (Diamondbacks) 8, Bowling Green Hot Rods 7 – (Fifteen Innings)

It was a historical night for the Hot Rods, as they wound up playing the longest game in franchise history. Andrew Toles kicked the scoring off for Bowling Green in the first, as he doubled, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly. The Silver Hawks took the lead in the top of the second, but Leonardo Reginatto scored on Patrick Leonard‘s two out double to tie the game. South Bend scored again in the top of the fourth, but the Hot Rods came back again in the bottom of the inning, retaking the lead on a two run homer by Joey Rickard. Fidel Pena tied the game again for South Bend, but the Hot Rods had one more rally in them, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Leonard had an RBI single and Andrew Toles followed with a two run base hit of his own. Unfortunately, Leonard was thrown out attempting to score after a run down to end the inning. That run would end up being a major difference, as the Silver Hawks tied the game with two outs in the ninth. Rudy Flores had a two run home run, and Roidany Aguila followed with a solo shot. The game remained tied into the fifteenth inning, when the Silver Hawks took the lead. Pena singled, stole second and took third on an errant throw by Luke Maile, before scoring on a sacrifice fly for the game winning run. Austin Pruitt took the loss, giving up an unearned run in two innings of relief, striking out three. Toles and Leonard each had three hits in the loss.