A huge first inning in New Britain. The DSL Twins get out-hit, yet put up three touchdowns in seven innings and win by eight. Elizabethton apparently has a player to be named later.
ROCHESTER 5, PAWTUCKET 3 IN PAWTUCKET
Batting stars: Clete Thomas was 2-for-4 with a home run, his seventh. Rene Rivera hit a home run, his fifth.
Pitching star: Casey Fien struck out four in two perfect innings.
Opposition star: J. C. Linares was 3-for-4 with a double.
Key inning: The seventh. The Red Wings trailed 3-0. With two out and none on, Thomas and Rivera hit back-to-back homers. Michael Hollimon and J. R. Towles followed with back-to-back doubles. Tsuyoshi Nishioka walked and Pedro Florimon followed with a two-run double to put Rochester ahead 5-3.
NEW BRITAIN 14, BOWIE 7 IN NEW BRITAIN
Batting stars: Chris Colabello was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk. Estarlin De Los Santos was 2-for-5 with a double and a home run (his second), driving in four. Evan Bigley was 2-for-4 with a double, driving in four.
Pitching star: Daniel Sattler threw 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up a run on one hit.
Opposition stars: Rhyne Hughes was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Zelous Wheeler was 2-for-4 with a double. Robert Hinton struck out six in 3.1 scoreless innings.
Key inning: The first. The BaySox used two walks, a triple, a double and a single to jump to a 4-0 lead. The first seven Rock Cats reached base. Aaron Hicks tripled, Chris Herrmann singled, Oswaldo Arcia doubled, Colabello walked, Bigley doubled, Deibinson Romero singled, and De Los Santos hit a home run. It looked as if that would kill the rally, as the next two batters struck out, but Hicks singled, Herrmann reached on a fielder’s choice, and Arica, Colabello, and Bigley each singled. At the end of the first inning, New Britain led 10-4.
FORT MYERS 11, ST. LUCIE 2 IN FORT MYERS
Batting stars: Lance Ray was 2-for-3 with a homer, his ninth, scoring three times and driving in three. Daniel Ortiz was 2-for-5 with two doubles, driving in three. Kyle Knudson was 2-for-5 with a double.
Pitching star: Marty Popham struck out three in three shutout innings, allowing two hits.
Opposition stars: T. J. Rivera was 2-for-4 with a double. Adam Loewen was 2-for-4. Taylor Whitenton struck out two in two shutout innings.
Key inning: The second. In a scoreless tie, the Miracle loaded the bases on a hit batsman and two singles. Another hit batsman scored the first run, Daniel Santana’s infield hit scored another, and a walk scored a third. Ortiz then hit a bases-clearing double to give Fort Myers a six-run lead.
CEDAR RAPIDS 10, BELOIT 1 IN BELOIT
Batting star: Adam Pettersen was 2-for-3 with a walk.
Pitching star: Clint Dempster struck out four in two shutout innings, allowing one hit.
Opposition stars: Gary Mitchell was 3-for-5 with a home run, scoring three times. Zach Wright was 2-for-2 with two walks and a three-run homer. Austin Wood gave up one run on four hits and two walks in six innings.
Key inning: The fifth. Leading 2-1, the Kernels scored five times. Four singles and Wright’s three-run blast produced the runs.
ELIZABETHTON 7, PRINCETON 2 IN PRINCETON
Batting stars: Adam Walker was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second, driving in three. Romy Jimenez was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Max Kepler was 2-for-3 with a double.
Pitching stars: Tyler Herr struck out two in two shutout innings, allowing one hit. Brett Lee gave up a hit and a walk in two shutout innings.
Opposition star: Andrew Toles was 2-for-4 with a triple.
Key inning: The first. A walk, a single, and Kepler’s double brought in the first run. A single by Walker and a double by Jimenez made it 3-0. A single-and-error by Travis Harrison brought in two more.
Other: Romy Jimenez appears to be the artist known last year as Romy Trinidad. Oddly, he is frequently referred to both ways in the same box score.
GCL TWINS 3, RAYS 2 AT TWINS
Batting stars: Logan Wade was 2-for-3 with a triple. Aderlin Mejia was 2-for-4 with a double.
Pitching stars: Yorman Landa struck out three in 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and a walk. Chris Mazza struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up three hits.
Opposition stars: Benjamin Kline was 3-for-4. Armando Araiza was 2-for-4. Jordan Harrison struck out four in three shutout innings, allowing only a walk.
Key inning: The eighth. The Twins trailed 2-1. Mejia and Dereck Rodriguez each doubled to tie the score and Bryan Haar put the Twins ahead with a two-out single.
DSL TWINS 7, PADRES 3 AT PADRES (GAME 1—SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Batting star: Adonis Pacheco was 2-for-4 with a triple.
Pitching star: Jadison Jimenez threw three shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Opposition star: Jose Ruiz was 2-for-3.
Key inning: The seventh. The score was tied at three. Two walks and an error loaded the bases with none out. Victor Arias singled in one. With two out, a wild pitch scored a second run and Pacheco tripled in two more.
Other: Each team had five hits.
DSL TWINS 21, PADRES 13 AT PADRES (GAME 2—SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Batting stars: Jorge Andrade was 3-for-5 with a double and a home run, scoring three times and driving in seven. Francis Mateo was 2-for-2 with a three run homer. Dubal Baez was 2-for-3 with a double and two walks, driving in three.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Luis Barahona was 3-for-4 and scored three times. Miguel Jimenez was 2-for-5 with a home run, driving in three. Jonas Lantigua was 2-for-2 and drove in three.
Key inning: The third. The Twins had scored eight in the first, only to see the Padres score seven in the first two innings to cut the lead to one. The Twins came back with nine in the third. The Twins had five walks, two singles, and two home runs in the inning.
Other: The Twins were out-hit, fourteen to thirteen, but still won by eight. It would seem that getting out-hit in a game where you win by eight would be unusual. Perhaps not in the DSL, however.
That is a lot of runs scored in just seven innings. In fact, were it an MLB game, it would be the most runs scored with just 13 hits, with the previous record being 20 runs.
Can Casey Fien start?
Well, I suppose he could, but he probably wouldn't last more than two or three innings. Which, come to think of it, makes him about the same as Nick Blackburn.