Doubledays lose battle with Muckdogs 8-7

BATAVIA, N.Y. - The Auburn Doubledays (44-29) are now tied with the Batavia Muckdogs (44-29) for first place in the New York - Penn League's Pinckney division, following an 8-7 loss to Batavia on Sunday night. The Muckdogs have won 19 of their last 21 games.

In a back-and-forth game it was a three-run seventh inning that gave Batavia the lead for good. With one out 3B Patrick Wisdom sent a solo shot sailing over the left field wall for his sixth homerun of the season. Two batters later 1B David Washington hit another bomb, this one of the two-run variety to center field. The homerun was Washington's team-leading ninth of the summer and put Batavia ahead 8-6.

The three Muckdogs runs followed three runs by the Doubledays in the top of the seventh. Back-to-back singles by catcher Spencer Kieboom and SS Mike McQuillan put runners on first and second with one out. Kieboom advanced to third on a fly out to right, and scored on a wild pitch. That wild pitch also allowed McQuillan to go to second, which is where he scored from when 1B Shawn Pleffner doubled down the left field line. Pleffner scored the third run of the frame on a single to right by RF Brandon Miller.

Auburn added one more run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly to right by 3B Carlos Alvarez, but the potential tying run was left stranded at third when the inning ended. The Doubledays plated the rest of their runs in the fourth. Down 3-0 entering the frame, Miller led off with a double to center field. A wild pitch allowed Miller to go to third, and he scored on a groundout to short by LF Wander Ramos. Prior to Ramos' groundout, DH Estarlin Martinez had walked, and he went to second on another wild pitch. Martinez was driven home from second on a double from Alvarez. Alvarez scored the third run of the inning on a single to right by Kieboom.

The Muckdogs scored one in the first and two in the third to build their 3-0 advantage. In the first two different Doubledays fielding errors allowed RF Steve Ramos to both get on base and score from third, making the run unearned. In the third Ramos walked to begin the inning and scored on a two-out double by Wisdom. Wisdom scored from second when Washington delivered a single to right.

Batavia broke the 3-3 tie with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Left fielder Breyvic Valera hit a two-out RBI triple to left to bring home catcher Jonathan Keener. The Muckdogs went up 5-3 in the fifth thanks to a solo homerun by DH Jacob Wilson.

RHP Joe Scanio (2-4) ended up with the win for Batavia, despite also blowing a save opportunity. He went 0.2 innings and was charged for one earned run on two hits. RHP Silvio Medina (1-4) suffered the loss. He threw one inning and allowed three earned runs on three hits, two of which were homers. LHP Lee Stoppelman recorded his seventh save for the Muckdogs, pitching a scoreless ninth.

The Doubledays conclude their two game series with the Muckdogs on Monday September 3. Auburn will send LHP Nick Lee (2-1) to the mound for his 11th start of the season. He will square off against LHP Ben O'Shea (3-2) for Batavia. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05pm. All Doubledays road games can be heard on WAUB 98.1FM and 1590AM, and online at www.fingerlakesdailynews.com by clicking on the WAUB stream under the "listen" tab.