Voit, Luke Voit, Somerset Patriots
Luke Voit (Photo courtesy of Somerset Patriots)

Somerset Takes Five Games From Richmond Behind Voit, Sands

New York Yankees Double-A affiliate Somerset Patriots took five games from the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants affiliate) in a six game set at TD Bank Ballpark this past week. The Patriots record improved to 27-14 on the season, top in their division standings.  

Saturday June 19th’s game marked the first sellout of the season in Bridgewater, as the Patriots welcomed a crowd of over 7,000. 

With some help from 2020 MLB home run champion Luke Voit, playing with Somerset on a rehab assignment, the Patriots offense exploded for 43 runs including thirteen home runs over the six games.

Catcher Donny Sands hit four home runs during the week, all coming in the first three games. Sands went three-for-four with two home runs and three RBI on Tuesday night, propelling the Patriots to a 10-1 win. 

On Wednesday night, the Patriots and Flying Squirrels were tied at five in the bottom of the tenth inning. With a runner on second base and one out, Sands stepped up to the plate and belted a home run over the left field wall to walk it off and give the Patriots a 7-5 victory. 

Sands also hit a three-run homer on Thursday, to finish the series with ten RBI over five games. 

Infielder Oswaldo Cabrera hit two home runs on Thursday to guide the Patriots to a 9-3 victory, and hit .320 over the six game set. 

Voit Enjoys Big Weekend

Yankees first baseman Luke Voit, recovering from a right oblique strain, hit home runs on Friday and Saturday, racking up six RBI over his five games in Somerset. He will return to the Yankees lineup on Tuesday as they host the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium. 

Infielders Diego Castillo and Oswald Peraza each contributed a homer over the series. Peraza had ten hits over the six games, while Castillo continued to swing a hot bat adding nine hits. 

The Patriots pitching staff featured five new faces following a flurry of transactions before the series began on Tuesday. Three of the Yankees top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline Luis Medina (#7) , Ken Waldichuk (#27), and Hayden Wesneski (#30) all entered the Pats’ starting rotation.

Glenn Otto Jr. continued to shut down opponents during his two starts over the week, earning the win on both Tuesday and Sunday. Otto combined to throw 13 innings, allowing only one run on six hits while striking out 19. He now leads the Northeast League with 74 strikeouts.

Janson Junk earned the win in his start on Saturday, continuing giving up a run on one hit and four strikeouts through six innings of work. Junk’s 1.03 ERA this season leads all of Minor League Baseball among qualified pitchers. 

Yankees #7 prospect Luis Medina struck out 10 batters and allowed three runs in 5.2 innings of work on Wednesday in his Double-A debut. 

Southpaw JP Sears allowed no runs in four innings of work in relief throughout the series, striking out nine and allowing only two hits, lowering his ERA to 1.98 on the season. 

A Look Ahead

The Patriots will hit the road and head to Portland, Maine where they will play a six game set with the Sea Dogs (Red Sox affiliate) beginning on Tuesday June 22 at 6 P.M. They will then head to Harrisburg (Nationals affiliate) for a six game series the following week, before returning home on July 6 for a six game series with the Erie Seawolves (Tigers affiliate). 

The Seawolves lineup includes four of their top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, highlighted by the first overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, Spencer Torkelson. Tickets are available at somersetpatriots.com

Stay up to date on the Somerset Patriots and Minor League Baseball in New Jersey right here at Jersey Sporting News

Eli Fishman