Welch provides the juice for Adelaide. See-saw games in Melbourne and Canberra.
ADELAIDE 5, BRISBANE 1 IN ADELAIDE
Twins: Logan Wade (Brisbane) was 0-for-2 with a walk.
Brisbane: Joshua Roberts was 2-for-4. Andrew Aizenstadt struck out three in two perfect innings.
Adelaide: Stefan Welch (Pittsburgh) was 2-for-3 with a walk and a double, scoring once and driving in two. Joe Sclafani (Houston) was 1-for-3 with a walk and a double, scoring twice. Kyle Brueggemann struck out six in 6.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits and one walk.
The game: A wild pitch put Brisbane on the board in the top of the first, but Adelaide got the run right back on Welch's RBI double. Adelaide took the lead in the third on Welch's RBI single. A run-scoring single by James Baldwin and a Cannon double that produced a run gave Adelaide a 4-1 lead in the fourth. Brisbane brought the tying run up to bat in the fifth but never threatened after that.
MELBOURNE 4, SYDNEY 3 IN MELBOURNE
Sydney: Trent Schmutter was 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Mitch Dening (Boston) was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one. Vaughan Harris pitched five innings, giving up one run on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
Melbourne: Jared Schlehuber (Kansas City) was 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Justin Trapp (Kansas City) was 1-for-4 with a double and a run. Freddy Flores struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks.
The game: Schmutter's double put Sydney up 1-0 in the top of the second, but a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second tied the score. It was tied until the fifth, when a Keon Broxton (Arizona) RBI single put Sydney back in the lead at 2-1. The lead held up until the seventh, when Schlehuber's two-run single gave Melbourne a 3-2 advantage. A run scored later in the inning on an error to make it 4-2. Sydney came back to score one on a sacrifice fly in the ninth and put the tying run on second base with two out, but could do no more.
CANBERRA 5, PERTH 3 IN CANBERRA
Perth: Joey Wong was 2-for-3 with a walk and a home run, his second. Brandon Tripp was 1-for-4 with a double. Tucker Nathans was 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Canberra: Casey Frawley was 3-for-4 with two doubles, scoring twice and driving in two. Jeremy Barnes was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. Steven Chambers pitched 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
The game: An RBI double by Frawley and a run-scoring ground out put Canberra ahead 2-0 in the first. Wong's homer put Perth on the board in the second and Perth took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on a two-run single by Nathans. Canberra got the lead right back in the bottom of the fifth when Frawley doubled in the tying run and Barnes singled in the go-ahead run to make it 4-3 Canberra. Barnes had an RBI double in the seventh to provide an insurance run. The last seven Perth batters were retired.