Another good night for Nishi. Kennys Vargas stays hot for the Snappers. Kuo Hua Lo works six shutout innings in the GCL. A Tony Pena, Jr. sighting!
ROCHESTER 9, PAWTUCKET 6 IN PAWTUCKET
Batting stars: Tsuyoshi Nishioka was 2-for-5. Wilkin Ramirez hit a grand slam, his eleventh homer of the season. Brian Dinkelman hit a two-run homer, his fourth.
Pitching star: Esmerling Vasquez gave up two runs on three hits and three walks in six innings.
Opposition stars: Nate Spears was 3-for-4 with a triple. Tony Pena, Jr. worked 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit.
Key inning: The third. The score was tied at one. A walk, a single, and another walk loaded the bases and Ramirez hit a grand slam. Another single, a Brian Dozier double, and a sacrifice fly scored a fifth run. Dinkelman followed with a two-run homer to make the score 8-1.
PORTLAND 4, NEW BRITAIN 3 IN NEW BRITAIN (10 INNINGS)
Batting star: Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-4 with a double.
Pitching star: Blake Martin retired all four batters he faced, two by strikeout.
Opposition stars: Ryan Dent was 3-for-4 with a double. Zach Gentile was 2-for-2 with a walk and two doubles. Drake Britton worked seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk.
Key inning: The tenth. In a 3-3 tie, the Sea Dogs scored the winning run. Travis Shaw led off the inning with a double and scored when Peter Hissey fit a ground ball up the middle for an RBI single.
Other: The Rock Cats had their chances, stranding nine runners and going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
BELOIT 8, QUAD CITIES 2 IN QUAD CITIES
Batting stars: Kennys Vargas was 3-for-5. Nate Roberts was 2-for-3 with a walk and two doubles. Drew Leachman was 2-for-5 with a double.
Pitching stars: Cole Johnson pitched five shutout innings, striking out seven while giving up two hits and walking one. Mason Melotakis struck out all four batters he faced.
Opposition stars: David Medina was 2-for-4 with a double. Jonathan Cornelius did not allow a hit or a walk in 3.1 scoreless innings. Dixon Llorens struck out five in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.
Key inning: The second. It was a scoreless tie. Two singles, an error, and a balk plated two runs. Two walks loaded the bases, and another balk scored the third run. It was a three-run inning with no RBIs.
Other: A total of three balks were called in the game, all on Quad Cities pitchers.
GREENEVILLE 6, ELIZABETHTON 5 IN ELIZABETHTON
Batting stars: Jorge Polanco was 2-for-5 with a triple. Adam Walker was 2-for-5 with a double. Travis Harrison walked and hit a two-run homer, his fourth.
Pitching star: Kaleb Merck struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Opposition stars: Ariel Ovando was 2-for-2 with two walks and two home runs. He scored three times and drove in three. Terrell Joyce was 2-for-4 with two doubles.
Key inning: The sixth. Each team scored one in the second and three in the fourth for a 4-4 tie. The Astros scored two in the top of the inning on a Rio Ruiz double, a walk, an RBI single by Jose Fernandez, and a wild pitch. In the bottom of the inning, the Twins mounted a two-out rally. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases and Walker delivered an RBI single to make it 6-5. D. J. Hicks then struck out to end the threat.
Other: The Twins got the tying run to third in the seventh and eighth as well, but could not score him. Elizabethton out-hit Greeneville 13-7, stranding fourteen runners.
GCL TWINS 4, RAYS 1 AT TWINS
Batting star: Bryan Santy claws his way onto the list by going 1-for-2 with a walk.
Pitching star: Kuo Hua Lo worked six shutout innings, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out five.
Opposition stars: Lucas Goodgion pitched four shutout innings of relief, giving up two hits.
Key inning: The third. It was a scoreless tie. A walk, a single, and an error scored the first run. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Aderlin Mejia and Dereck Rodriguez made the score 3-0 and an RBI single by Bryan Haar scored a fourth run.
Other: Each team had six hits, with no player on either team getting more than one.
DSL DIAMONDBACKS 13, TWINS 0 AT TWINS
Batting star: Rafael P. Valera was 1-for-2 with a double.
Pitching star: Sebastian Perez threw two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Opposition stars: Juan Heredia was 2-for-2 with two walks and a double, scoring three times. Carlos Hernandez struck out six in five innings, allowing two hits and three walks. Christian Cespedes struck out three in three innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Key inning: The second. Leading 2-0, the Diamondbacks scored seven times to put the game away. Ronny Mejias and Raul Garcia each hit a two-run double. There were four walks, two wild pitches, and an error in the inning.
TODAY’S TILTS
9:30 DSL Twins at Diamondbacks
11:00 GCL Twins at Rays
6:00 Greeneville at Elizabethton Francis Ramirez v. Hudson Boyd
6:05 Bradenton at Fort Myers Casey Sadler v. Cole Nelson
6:05 Portland at New Britain Jeremy Kehrt v. Andrew Albers
6:05 Rochester at Pawtucket Pedro Hernandez v. Daisuke Matsuzaka
7:00 Beloit at Quad Cities Jason Wheeler v. Bradley Watson
That was on purpose, wasn't it? Had to be, right? Right?
Ya think? What about the one in the GCL write-up?
ooh, a Christmas present in summer!
Hey, I went 1 for 2, I'm still batting .500!
TPJ pitching!