A couple of back-and-forth games. One shutout.
CANBERRA 5, BRISBANE 3 IN BRISBANE
Twins: Logan Wade (Brisbane) was 1-for-4.
Canberra: Mike Crouse (Toronto) was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Robbie Perkins (Colorado) was 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run, his third. Aaron Thompson struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up one hit and one walk.
Brisbane: Patrick Leonard (Tampa Bay) was 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run, his third. Andrew Campbell was 1-for-3 with two walks and a run. Casey Barnes pitched six innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
The game: There was no score until the third. A walk, an error, and another walk loaded the bases, and Crouse singled to put Canberra ahead 1-0. Brisbane tied it in the fourth on Leonard's homer and took the lead 3-1 in the fifth on two walks, a bunt single, a bases-loaded walk, and a run-scoring double play. The lead held up until the seventh. Canberra's inning started with a Perkins homer to cut the lead to 3-2. A walk and two singles loaded the bases and a pair of sacrifice flies put Canberra ahead 4-3. Brisbane put the tying run on third with two out in the bottom of the seventh, but could not score. In the eighth Crouse singled in an insurance run. Brisbane did not get the tying run on base after that.
MELBOURNE 2, SYDNEY 0 IN SYDNEY
Melbourne: Ryan Casteel (Colorado) was 2-for-3 with a walk and a double. Brad Harman was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run. Freddy Flores pitched seven innings, giving up three hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Sydney: Vaughan Harris pitched five innings, allowing one run on two hits and three walks with two strikeouts. Luke Wilkins pitched two shutout innings, allowing one hit and no walks with one strikeout.
The game: In the fourth, a walk, a double, and a wild pitch put Melbourne ahead 1-0. Melbourne added a run in the second when Ryan Dale (Kansas City) walked, stole second, and scored on a Tyler Massey (Colorado) single. Sydney's best scoring chance came in the eighth, when Michael Lysaught opened with a double and went to third on a ground out. A strikeout and a ground out ended the inning.
PERTH 7, ADELAIDE 5 IN PERTH
Adelaide: Ben Lodge was 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Byron Wiley was 0-for-3 with two walks, scoring once and driving in one. T. J. Hose struck out four in three innings, giving up one run on four hits and one walk.
Perth: Brandon Tripp was 2-for-4 with a grand slam, his tenth homer. George Barber was 3-for-4 with three runs. Zach Staniewicz (Baltimore) pitched six innings, allowing an unearned run on two hits and five walks with two strikeouts.
The game: Perth got a run-scoring double play in the first to go ahead 1-0 and scored two in the second on a Tim Kennelly (Philadelphia) two-run homer to take a 3-0 lead. Adelaide got on the board in the fifth on a walk, an error, and a sacrifice fly. In the Adelaide seventh, a walk, a single, and another walk loaded the bases. A walk made it 3-2, RBI singles by Lodge and Chris Jacobs (Dodgers) put Adelaide in the lead and a run-scoring double play made the score 5-3. In the bottom of the seventh, Perth came back. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases, and Tripp hit a grand slam to put Perth in front 7-5. Adelaide did not get a man past first base after that.