Cedar Rapids wins its ninth straight!  Another solid outing for D. J. Baxendale.  Byron Buxton goes deep.

BUFFALO 5, ROCHESTER 2 IN ROCHESTER

Batting stars:  Clete Thomas was 3-for-5 with a double and a home run (his fourth), driving in two.  Chris Colabello was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Andrew Albers struck out seven in six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and no walks.  Shairon Martis pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Dave Bush struck out five in six innings, allowing one run on six hits and no walks.  Josh Thole was 4-for-4 with a two-run homer and scored twice.  Ryan Goins was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

Key inning:  The ninth.  Leading 2-1, Buffalo opened the inning with three singles, making it 3-1.  A stolen base and an error made it 4-1, and a balk and a squeeze bunt made it 5-1.  All the damage was done off Tim Wood.  The Red Wings tried to get back into it in the bottom of the ninth.  A hit batsman and a walk put two on with none out.  The next two batters went out, but a walk and an RBI single by Thomas brought the winning run up to bat.  Colabello then flied out to center to end the game.

HARRISBURG 6, NEW BRITAIN 2 IN  NEW BRITAIN

Batting stars:  Reynaldo Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Curt Smith was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Michael Tonkin retired all four batters he faced.

Opposition stars:  Caleb Clay pitched 5.2 innings, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and three walks.  Jerad Head was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.  Destin Hood hit a home run and drove in three.

Key inning:  The sixth.  Trailing 4-0, the Rock Cats tried to get back into the game.  A single, a walk, and an error plated one run.  A walk loaded the bases and a walk to Rodriguez made the score 4-2 with two out.  Ian Krol then came in to strike out James Beresford and end the threat.  New Britain did not get a man past first base the rest of the game.

FORT MYERS 5, CLEARWATER 2 IN CLEARWATER

Batting stars:  Angel Morales was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run (his second), driving in two.  Eddie Rosario was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once.  Andy Leer was 2-for-4 and scored twice.

Pitching stars:  D. J. Baxendale struck out five in six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk.  Chad Rodgers pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Corey Williams struck out one in a perfect ninth.

Opposition star:  Nick Hernandez struck out seven in six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and four walks.

Key inning:  The sixth.  Fort Myers had led 2-1 since the second.  Rosario walked, went to second on a single by Miguel Sano, took third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a Kennys Vargas single to give the Miracle a two-run lead.

CEDAR RAPIDS 5, LANSING 4 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

Batting stars:  Byron Buxton was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, his fourth.  Dalton Hicks hit a two-run homer, his fourth.

Pitching star:  Matt Tomshaw pitched five shutout innings, giving up four hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Shane Opitz was 2-for-3 with a walk and scored twice.  Chris Hawkins was 2-for-4 and scored once.

Key inning:  The ninth.  Lansing trailed 5-2.  With one out, a single, a walk, and a single loaded the bases.  David Hurlbut, in his second inning of work, struck out Dalton Pompey, but an error on what should have been the last out plated two runs, making the score 5-4 and putting runners on first and second.  Tyler Jones came in and got Christian Lopes to line out to right to end the game.

TODAY'S TILTS

12:00  Fort Myers (Jason Wheeler, 2-0, 5.84) at Clearwater (Hoby Milner, 2-2, 7.40)

5:35  Harrisburg (Brian Broderick, 1-1, 5.40) at New Britain (Logan Darnell, 2-1, 2.73)

5:35  Cedar Rapids (Brett Lee, 2-0, 2.13) at West Michigan (Hudson Randall, 2-2, 0.87)