Lewis Thorpe continues to pitch well. Home runs carry Melbourne. A complete game in Sydney.
MELBOURNE 5, BRISBANE 2 IN BRISBANE
Twins: Logan Wade (Brisbane) was 0-for-3. Lewis Thorpe (Melbourne) pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits and no walks with five strikeouts.
Melbourne: Brad Harman was 2-for-4 with a home run, his fourth. Justin Huber was 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run. Josh Davies was 1-for-3 with a home run, his second.
Brisbane: Patrick Leonard (Tampa Bay) was 1-for-4 with a double and a run. Marcus Bradley was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run. Matt Bates pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk.
The game: Harman homered in the first, Huber homered in the second, and Jared Schlehuber (Kansas City) hit a two-run homer in the third to give Melbourne a 4-0 lead. Brisbane never got closer than three runs.
SYDNEY 5, ADELAIDE 1 IN SYDNEY
Adelaide: Chris Adamson (San Diego) was 2-for-3 with a double. Brock Hebert (Seattle) was 2-for-4 with a double and a run. James Baldwin (Dodgers) was 2-for-3.
Sydney: Zach Shepherd was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs. Mitch Dening (Boston) was 2-for-4 with a double and a run. Craig Anderson pitched a complete game, allowing one run on nine hits and no walks with four strikeouts.
The game: An RBI groundout and a run-scoring single by Guy Edmonds made it 2-0 Sydney after two. Jeremy Cresswell singled in a run in the third to cut the lead to 2-1, but Sydney got the run back in the fourth on an RBI double by Daniel Arribas (Pittsburgh). Sydney added single runs in the fifth and sixth to take control of the game.
PERTH 6, CANBERRA 0 IN PERTH
Canberra: Shane Opitz (Toronto) was 2-for-4. Brian Grening struck out seven in six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and one walk.
Perth: Joey Wong was 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Matt Kennelly (Atlanta) was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Mike Ekstrom struck out nine in 7.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk.
The game: An RBI single by Tucker Nathans and a run-scoring double by Brandon Tripp put Perth ahead 2-0 in the first. It remained there until the sixth, when Kennelly delivered an RBI single. Perth added two in the seventh and one in the eighth to put the game out of reach. Canberra's biggest threat came in the second, when they had runners at the corners with one out.