Oswaldo Arcia hits a three-run walkoff for New Britain. Max Kepler hits a grand slam. A LEWWWWW! sighting!
NORFOLK 11, ROCHESTER 4 IN NORFOLK
Batting stars: Tsuyoshi Nishioka was 3-for-4 with a double. Wilkin Ramirez was 2-for-5 with a home run, his eighth. Chris Parmelee was 2-for-4 with a walk.
Pitching star: Bobby Lanigan worked two shutout innings, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Carlos R. Rojas was 3-for-4. Joe Mahoney was 3-for-5. Nate McLouth was 2-for-4 with a triple and a home run, driving in three.
Key inning: The fourth. With the score tied at two, Sean Burroughs walked and scored to put the Red Wings in front. The Tides came back with five in the bottom of the inning, all with two out and no one on. Brandon Waring ignited the rally with a game-tying homer. Three singles produced another run, then McLouth hit a three-run shot to put Norfolk comfortably ahead.
Other: Ex-Twin Lew Ford was 1-for-5 with a double. He is hitting .332 with an OPS of .949 in 199 at-bats.
NEW BRITAIN 8, NEW HAMPSHIRE 5 IN NEW BRITAIN (GAME 1—9 INNINGS—SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Batting stars: Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his third. Joe Benson was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Aaron Hicks was 2-for-5 with a double.
Pitching star: Dakota Watts struck out two in two shutout innings, allowing two hits.
Opposition stars: Joel Galarraga and John Talisano were each 3-for-4 with a double. Mark Sobolewski was 2-for-5 with two doubles.
Key inning: The ninth. The score was tied at five. With two out and none on, Hicks singled and Chris Herrmann walked. Arcia then delivered a walk-off three-run homer for the Rock Cats.
NEW BRITAIN 4, NEW HAMPSHIRE 0 IN NEW BRITAIN (GAME 2—SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Batting stars: Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-3 with a double. Chris Herrmann was 2-for-3.
Pitching star: Steven Hirschfeld threw a complete-game shutout, giving up six hits and no walks while striking out six.
Opposition star: Jake Marisnick was 2-for-3.
Key inning: The first. The Fisher Cats opened the game with a pair of singles, but a doubleplay wiped out their chance to score. In the bottom of the inning, Herrmann singled, took third on a Chris Colabello single, and scored on an error to give Hirschfeld the only run he would need.
DUNEDIN AT FORT MYERS
Rained out. Will be made up as part of a doubleheader today.
LAKE COUNTY 9, BELOIT 8 IN LAKE COUNTY
Batting stars: Miguel Sano was 1-for-3 with two walks and a home run, his nineteenth. Steven Liddle was 1-for-4 with a walk and a homer, his second.
Pitching star: Tim Atherton worked 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up no hits but walking three.
Opposition stars: Luigi Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Enosil Tejada worked two shutout innings.
Key inning: The ninth. The Snappers put runners on first and second with one out, but did not score. In the bottom of the inning, Leonardo Castillo reached on an error, advance to third on a pair of fly outs, and scored on a wild pitch to end the game.
Other: The teams combined to go 6-for-32 with runners in scoring position. That seems like a huge number of at-bats with runners in scoring position.
ELIZABETHTON 8, BLUEFIELD 0 IN ELIZABETHTON (GAME 1—SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Batting stars: Max Kepler was 1-for-3 with a grand slam, his first. Niko Goodrum was 1-for-3 with a homer, his third.
Pitching stars: Hudson Boyd went four innings, giving up two hits and three walks. Brett Lee threw two shutout innings, allowing a hit and a walk. Tyler Duffey struck out three in one inning, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: None.
Key inning: The second. The score was tied at zero. A double, a single, and a hit batsman loaded the bases. Michael Quesada, Romy Jimenez, and Candido Pimentel each delivered RBI singles. Kepler then hit a grand slam to put the Twins up 7-0.
BLUEFIELD 14, ELIZABETHTON 7 IN ELIZABETHTON (GAME 2—SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)
Batting stars: Joshua Hendricks was 3-for-4 with a double. Jorge Polanco was 2-for-4 with a double.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Eric Arce was 2-for-3 with a walk and two homers, driving in seven. Art Charles was 2-for-2 with three walks and a homer, scoring four and driving in three. Nico Taylor was 2-for-4.
Key inning: The third. The Twins had cut an 8-0 deficit to 8-4. The Blue Jays then scored four more to put the game out of reach. Two walks, a hit batsman, two singles, and a wild pitch produced the runs.
Other: Bluefield scored four runs in each of the first three innings.
GCL TWINS AT ORIOLES
Rained out. Will be made up as part of a doubleheader today.
DSL ROCKIES 8, TWINS 2 AT TWINS
Batting stars: Eddy Concepcion was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Gabriel A. Ynfante was 2-for-4.
Pitching star: Elias Villasana struck out two in two shutout innings, allowing one hit.
Opposition stars: Marcos Derkes was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Henry Garcia was 2-for-4 with a double and drove in three. Angel Lezama struck out seven in 6.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks.
Key inning: The ninth. Already leading 4-1, the Rockies scored four to put the game away. Two walks, two singles, and two errors produced the runs.
Other: The Twins made five errors in the game.
TODAY’S TILTS
9:30 DSL Twins at Rockies
10:00 GCL Orioles at Twins
GCL Twins at Orioles
4:05 Dunedin at Fort Myers Asher Wojciechowski v. Cole Nelson
Dunedin at Fort Myers TBA v. TBA
6:00 Johnson City at Elizabethton Silfredo Garcia v. TBA
6:05 New Hampshire at New Britain John Stilson v. Aaron Thompson
6:15 Rochester at Norfolk Jeff Manship v. TBA
From the New Britain Herald:
The Twins also had a heart attack moment when Hicks and Benson both dived for the same ball and collided with each other. Both stayed in the game and the shortstop recovered the ball and gunned down the guy trying to go to third.
Cool -- Kepler has some power.