Another fine outing for Alex Meyer. A big inning does New Britain in. Cedar Rapids loses its sixth straight.
ROCHESTER 5, COLUMBUS 4 IN ROCHESTER
Batting stars: Deibinson Romero was 1-for-4 with a grand slam, his second homer. Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs. Chris Herrmann was 3-forr-4 with a double annd ann RRBI.
Pitching stars: Alex Meyer struck out seven in five shutout innings, giving up no hits and four walks. Aaron Thompson struck out three in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.
Opposition stars: Matt Carson was 1-for-4 with a walk and a two-run homer, his second. Tim Fedroff was 1-for-3 with two walks and a run. Scott Barnes struck out six in two shutout innings, giving up a hit.
The game: Rochester opened the game with three singles and a Romero grand slam, giving the Red Wings a 4-0 lead before a man was retired. The grand slam killed the rally, however, and neither team did any more on offense until the fifth, when doubles by Arcia and Herrmann made it 5-0. That looked like it would be plenty, because Columbus did not get a hit off Meyer and only managed a seventh-inning single off Deolis Guerra. That changed in the eighth, as Fedroff opened the inning with a single and Carson followed with a two-run homer. Two singles and two errors followed to make it 5-4 with men on first and third with two out. A strikeout ended the inning and the Clippers did not threaten in the ninth.
Of note: Eric Farris was 1-for-4 with a run. Wilkin Ramirez was 0-for-4. Pedro Florimon was 1-for-4.
PORTLAND 13, NEW BRITAIN 5 IN NEW BRITAIN
Batting stars: Reynaldo Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in one. Kennys Vargas was 1-for-3 with a double and two walks, scoring once and driving in two. Brad Boyer was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.
Pitching star: Sean Gilmartin pitched five innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on eight hits and a walk with one strikeout.
Opposition stars: Mookie Betts was 3-for-5 with a walk and a home run (his sixth), scoring three times and driving in three. Henry Ramos was 3-for-5 with a double and a triple, scoring once and driving in one. Shannon Wilkerson was 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three.
The game: It was a good game for quite a while. A single, an error, and two more singles put Portland on the board with a 2-0 lead in the second. Brandon Waring hit a two-out two-run single in the bottom of the second to tie it up. In the fourth, Rodriguez reached second with a single-and-error, was bunted to third, and scored on a sacrifice fly to give New Britain a 3-2 lead. Betts led off the fifth with a single, stole second, and scored on a Carlos Rivero single to tie it up. It was still 3-3 after six. In the seventh, however, the SeaDogs scored six times to take control of the game. Betts hit a two-run homer in the inning, followed by three singles, two doubles, a walk, and another single. The Rock Cats got two back in the bottom of the seventh, but Portland scored four in the ninth to put the game away.
Of note: Tony Thomas was 0-for-5. Nate Hanson was 0-for-3 with two walks and a run.
FORT MYERS AT BREVARD COUNTY
Rained out.
BURLINGTON 6, CEDAR RAPIDS 2 IN BURLINGTON
Batting stars: Bo Altobelli was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once and driving in one. Carlos Avila was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
PItching stars: Yorman Landa pitched 2.2 innings, giving up an unearned run on one hit with one strikeout. Jared Wilson struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Stephen McGee was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring twice and driving in two. Erick Salcedo was 2-for-3 with two walks, scoring once and driving in two. Alfonso Alcantara pitched five shutout innings of relief, allowing no hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
The game: Each team scored once in the second. Burlington had three singles in the third to go ahead 2-1, but Cedar Rapids got two walks and an RBI double by Avila to tie it at two after four. In the fifth, however, the Bees rallied for four, with the last two scoring on a throwing error. The Kernels did not get a man past first base after the fourth inning.
Of note: J. D. Williams was 0-for-4. Chad Christensen was 1-for-4. Mitch Garver was 0-for-3 with a walk. Ivory Thomas was 0-for-3 with a walk. He now has 25 walks in 67 plate appearances and has a slash line of .171/.478/.244. Starter Felix Jorge pitched 4.1 innings, surrendering five runs (four earned) on nine hits and four walks with two strikeouts.
TODAY'S TILTS
6:00 New Britain (Pat Dean, 2-1, 3.69) at Harrisburg (Paolo Espino, 0-2, 7.16)
6:05 Columbus (TBA) at Rochester (TBA)
6:05 Daytona (Felix Pena, 1-4, 1.38) at Fort Myers (Alex Wimmers, 2-2, 4.00)
6:30 Cedar Rapids (Aaron Slegers, 4-0, 3.27) at Burlington (Garrett Nuss, 3-0, 3.72)