A near-sweep by Twins affiliates.  Dominant starts by Alex Meyer and David Hurlbut.  A big day for Daniel Ortiz.

ROCHESTER 4, SYRACUSE 3 IN ROCHESTER

Batting stars:  Eric Fryer was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, scoring once and driving in one.  Deibinson Romero was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Pedro Florimon was 3-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Alex Meyer struck out eight in six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks.  Aaron Thompson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition star:  Steven Souza, Jr. was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run.

The game:  An RBI single by Romero and a Chris Colabello sacrifice fly gave Rochester a 2-0 lead in the first.  A run scored on a ground out n the second and Fryer tripled in a run in the third to make it 4-0.  From there it was a matter of holding on.  Syracuse got on the board in the fifth, scored in the sixth on a passed ball, and put together three one-out singles in the eight to cut the lead to 4-3.  A double play ended that inning, and another double play in the ninth kept the Red Wings out of trouble and helped them hang on for the win.

Of note:  Eric Farris was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Colabello was 0-for-3 with an RBI.  Left fielder Chris Herrmann was 1-forr-4 with a rrunn.

NEW BRITAIN 9, PORTLAND 8 IN PORTLAND (COMPLETION OF SUSPENDED GAME)

Batting stars:  Daniel Ortiz was 3-for-5 with a triple, scoring once and driving in two.  Reynaldo Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer (his eighth) and two runs.  Nate Hanson was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Cole Johnson struck out four in three innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk.  Lester Oliveros struck out four in two innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Bo Greenwell was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Blake Swihart was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Stefan Welch was 1-for-3 with two walks, scoring once and driving in two.

The game:  When we left this game yesterday, it was tied at five with Portland batting in the bottom of the second.  Swihart doubled in two more runs in that inning to put the SeaDogs ahead 7-5.  Kennys Vargas singled in a run in the fourth to cut the lead to 7-6, but Portland got the run back in the seventh to go up 8-6.  Ortiz singled in a run in the eighth to make it 8-7.  In the ninth, Rodriguez singled and scored on a Hanson double to tie the score.  Hanson took third on a bunt.  Following a walk, a force out allowed him to score the go-ahead run.  Oliveros struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the victory.

Of note:  Corey Wimberly was 1-for-5 with a run.  Vargas was 2-for-5 with a run and two RBIs.  Starter Pat Dean pitched 1.1 innings, giving up six runs on six hits and a walk with one strikeout.

NEW BRITAIN 4, PORTLAND 2 (SCHEDULED GAME--7 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Daniel Ortiz was 2-for-3 with a double and four RBIs.  Corey Wimberly was 3-for-4 with three runs.  Reynaldo Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a double.

PItching star:  Taylor Rogers pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

The game:  Ortiz singled in a run in the first, doubled in two in the third, and drove in another on a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give New Britain a 4-0 lead.  Portland did not get on the board until the seventh, when they went double, single, single, double to start the inning, making the score 4-2 with men on second and third with none out.  Matthew Summers came in and retired both batters he faced, one on a popup and the other on a strikeout.  Ryan O'Rourke then came in and struck out the last batter of the game.

Of note:  Kennys Vargas was 0-for-3.

CLEARWATER 5, FORT MYERS 4 IN CLEARWATER (11 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Jorge Polanco was 2-for-5 with a triple, scoring once and driving in one.  Adam Brett Walker II was 1-for-4 with a home run, his tenth.  Jairo Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching star:  David Hurlbut struck out ten in eight innings, giving up an unearned run on four hits and no walks.

Opposition stars:  Art Charles was 1-for-4 with a walk and a three-run homer, his third.  Chris Swauger was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.  K. C. Serna was 2-for-5 with a run.

The game:  Fort Myers let this one get away.  Polanco tripled and scored in the first to take a 1-0 lead.  They added two in the fifth to make it 3-0 and a home run by Walker II made it 4-0 in the top of the seventh.  Clearwater got an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Miracle still led 4-1 going to the bottom of the ninth.  The first two batters went out.  Then came catcher's interference, a single, and a three-run homer by Charles to tie the game.  Fort Myers got three singles in the eleventh, but could not score.  In the bottom of the eleventh, two walks preceded a Logan Moore game-winning single.

Of note:  Travis Harrison was 1-for-5.  Dalton Hicks was 1-for-5.

CEDAR RAPIDS 5, WISCONSIN 2 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

Batting stars:  Jason Kanzler was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, scoring once and driving in two.  Michael Quesada was 2-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Bryan Haar was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.

Pitching stars:  Aaron Slegers pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  Alex Muren struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition star:  Jose Pena was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fifth) and two runs.

The game:  Francisco Castillo tripled in a run for Wisconsin in the top of the second, but Cedar Rapids came right back with two in the bottom of the second to take the lead.  Kanzler doubled in a run in the third to make it 3-1.  Quesada doubled in a run in the sixth and came around to score to make it 5-1.  The Kernels were in control the rest of the way, with only a Pena ninth-inning homer changing the score.

Of note:  Ryan Walker was 2-for-4 with an RBI.  Chad Christensen was 1-for-4.  Mitch Garver was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.

TODAY'S TILTS

10:00  New Britain (Tyler Duffey, 1-0, 4.40) at Portland (Henry Owens, 5-3, 2.83)

10:05  Syracuse (Taylor Hill, 6-1, 1.63) at Rochester (Logan Darnell, 1-2, 2.43)

6:00  Fort Myers (Jason Wheeler, 3-4, 3.35) at Clearwater (Jeb Stefan, 2-4, 5.45)

6:35  Wisconsin (TBA) at Cedar Rapids (Ryan Eades, 3-6, 6.12)