Perhaps Yunesky Maya could hear the Nats cries for help all the way from South Florida? Maya made another large step towards a callup and September rotation spot. After celebrating his 29th birthday Saturday, the Cuban righthander pitched five scoreless innings over Rochester before yielding a run in the sixth. Maya's line: (W, 1-1) 5.2IP, 6H, 1ER, 2BB, 3K. Jason Botts' fifth inning grandslam provided all of the necessary offense in a 7-2 Chiefs win over Rochester.

I'm liking this Guzman for Roark and Tatusko trade more and more each day. Tanner Roark provided another shot in the arm for the Harrisburg rotation Wednesday night, yielding only one run in 6.1 innings. Shortstop Josh Johnson was the offensive star. He had two doubles and a walk on the night.  After his leadoff double in the 9th, he scored the winning run on an Edgardo Baez seeing eye single in a Harrisburg 2-1 win over New Hampshire. Harrisburg retains a 1/2 game lead over Bowie with the win.

Marcos Frias had one of his better starts of the year in a tough season. He allowed just one unearned run in a 4-2 Potomac win over the Salem Red Sox. Sean Rooney's two run homer in the fourth inning was the decisive blow for the P-Nats. Potomac's victory keeps them 1.5 games in front of Wilmington for the division lead.

Hagerstown won 9-1 in a laugher over the Lexington Legends. Big story in this one was the debut of 2010 second round pick Sammy Solis. Solis started the game and pitched two shutout innings, striking out one batter. Paul Applebee (W, 6-5) pitched the remaining seven innings for the win. JP Ramirez led the hit parade with two runs scored and two RBI.

Links and key performances after the jump:

• Brian at Natsfarm.com is going out on top. Huge loss for the Natmosphere as he focuses on his teaching career. Brian's half of what got me hooked onto the minors and he'll be sorely missed. If you've ever read any of his stuff, drop by and offer a parting note.
  
• Bud Poliquin from the Syracuse Post-Standard reflects on how Syracuse's season performance rates to some of their recent campaigns. In a nutshell, more wins and more buzz than recent seasons but the manager is still far from satisfied.

AAA Syracuse:

• Yunesky Maya, RSP: 5.2IP, 6H, 1ER, 2BB, 3K, WP; 98 pitches, 62 strikes; 9 groundouts, 3 flyouts
• Fan Fav Boomer Whiting, LF: 0-4, BB, K
• Fan Fav Michael Martinez, SS: 3-5, R, 2RBI
• Fan Fav Josh Wilkie, RRP: 1.1IP, 0ER, 0BB, 3K

AA Harrisburg:

• Tanner Roark, RRP: 6.1IP, 5H, 1ER, 3BB, 2K
• Cole Kimball, RRP: (S, 11) 1IP, 0ER, 1BB, 1K
• Stephen Lombardozzi, 2B: 1-3, BB, SB, CS
• Chris Marrero, 1B: 0-3, BB, K, fielding error (17)
• Michael Burgess, RF: 0-3, HBP
• Josh Johnson, SS: 2-3, 2R, 2 2B, BB, K

High A Potomac:

• Derek Norris, C: 0-1, BB, K (Norris was ejected in the third inning)
• Bill Rhinehart, RF: 1-3, BB, K
• Tyler Moore, 1B: 2-4, R, K
• Marcos Frias, RSP: (W, 7-5) 6IP, 1R, 0ER, 3H, 2BB, 3K

Low A Hagerstown:

• Sammy Solis, LSP: 2IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 1K
• Paul Applebee, LSP: (W, 6-5) 7IP, 4H, 1ER, 0BB, 5K
• Rick Hague, SS: 2-5, 2R, 2B, BB, 2K
• JP Ramirez, LF: 2-5, 2R, 2RBI, 2B
• Destin Hood, RF: 0-3, R, 2BB, K
• Eury Perez, CF: 2-3, BB, CS