Alex Meyer is removed from the game as a precaution.  An excellent game for Taylor Rogers.  A shutout for Ethan Mildren.  The Appalachian League playoffs start this afternoon!

BUFFALO 3, ROCHESTER 0 IN ROCHESTER

Batting star:  Eric Farris was 2-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Mark Hamburger pitched seven shutout innings of relief, giving up two hits and one walk with six strikeouts.  Deolis Guerra pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition star:  Brad Mills pitched seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

The game:  In the first, Dalton Pompey singled, stole second, took third on a passed ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  In the second, Matt Hague doubled in a run and later scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.  That's where the score stayed.  Rochester got two one-out singles in the third, but a double play ended the inning.  They did not get another hit until the seventh, when Chris Colabello hit a leadoff double but was stranded at second.  In the ninth, a walk and a single put two on with two out, but a fly out ended the game.

Of note:  Chris Herrmann was 1-for-4.  Josmil Pinto was 0-for-2 with two walks.  Colabello was 1-for-2 with a double.  Pedro Florimon was 0-for-4.  Starter Alex Meyer pitched only one inning, facing two batter in the second before being removed.  Reports say that his velocity had been down some in his start Monday and was down significantly further in this start.  He failed to reach 90 mph when he normally throws 95 or better.  Reports also indicate that his arm slot had been dropping in recent starts.  His line for this game was three runs (two earned) on two hits and a walk.

Pennant race update:  Rochester is barely hanging on.  They are back to third in the wild card race, two games behind Pawtucket and a half game behind Buffalo with two to play.  The best they can do is tie for the wild-card spot, in which case a tie-breaker would be used.  I don't know who holds the tie-breaker, but the milb.com standings do not indicate that Pawtucket has clinched or that the Red Wings have been eliminated.  Rochester plays Pawtucket in the final two games of the season.

NEW BRITAIN 3, NEW HAMPSHIRE 1 IN NEW BRITAIN

Batting stars:  Nate Hanson was 3-for-4 with three doubles, scoring once and driving in one.  Eddie Rosario was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventh) and a double, scoring twice.

Pitching stars:  Taylor Rogers struck out nine in eight innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks.  Daniel Turpen struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition star:  P. J. Walters struck out seven in 7.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and no walks.

The game:  The was no score until the fourth, when Hanson doubled and Mike Gonzales singled him home.  Rosario homered in the sixth to make it 2-0.  New Hampshire got on the board in the eighth on two singles and a sacrifice fly, but New Britain got the run back in the bottom of the eighth on consecutive one-out doubles by Rosario and Hanson.  The Fisher Cats got the tying run up to bat with one out in the ninth but did no more damage.

Of note:  Jorge Polanco was 0-for-4.  Gonzales was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

FORT MYERS 5, JUPITER 0 IN JUPITER (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Max Kepler was 1-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Niko Goodrum was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Stuart Turner was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Pitching star:  Ethan Mildren pitched a complete game, giving up three hits and no walks with two strikeouts.

Opposition star:  Carter Capps struck out two in two perfect innings.

The game:  Fort Myers did not get a hit until the fourth.  The game was scoreless until the sixth.  A walk, a bunt, and a ground out put a man on third for the Miracle with two out.  An error allowed the first run to score.  Then came a walk, and RBI single by Turner, a Kepler two-run double, and a Tyler Grimes RBI single.  It was 5-0, and that was all the runs Fort Myers would need.  Jupiter did not get a baserunner after a leadoff single in the third; their last fifteen batters were retired.

Of note:  Aderlin Mejia was 0-for-3.  Travis Harrison was 0-for-4 with a run.  Dalton Hicks was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Adam Brett Walker II was 0-for-1 with two walks.

FORT MYERS 7, JUPITER 3 IN JUPITER (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Bryan Haar was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Dalton Hicks was 2-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in two.  Travis Harrison was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once.

Pitching stars:  Starter Brett Lee pitched a perfect inning.  Brandon Peterson struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Nick Burdi struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition star:  Blake Barber was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run.

The game:  Hicks singled in a run in the first and Jason Kanzler singled one home in the second to give Fort Myers a 2-0 lead.  Jupiter tied it in the fourth on RBI doubles by Chadd Krist and Jesus Solarzano.  Each team scored once in the fifth to leave the score tied at three.  In the seventh, a one-out double and two walks loaded the bases for the Miracle.  An error scored one run, Haar brought home two with a single, and Jairo Rodriguez had a run-scoring single to make it 7-3 Fort Myers.  The Hammerheads did not get the tying run up to bat in the bottom of the seventh.

Of note:  Aderlin Mejia was 0-for-3 with two walks and a run.  Max Kepler was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.  Adam Brett Walker II was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run.

Pennant race update:  Fort Myers is tied for second with Palm Beach, 1.5 games behind Bradenton.  Today is the last day of the regular season, but Bradenton plays a doubleheader, so the Miracle could still tie for the division championship. Either way, Fort Myers has qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half.

CLINTON 7, CEDAR RAPIDS 5 IN CLINTON

Batting stars:  Mitch Garver was 3-for-5 with a run and two RBIs.  Jonatan Hinojosa was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Alex Swim was 1-for-4 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Josue Montanez struck out four in 2.1 innings, giving up an unearned run on one hit.  Brian Gilbert struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up only a walk.

Opposition stars:  Seon Gi Kim struck out six in five innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk.  Aaron Barbosa was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.  Christian Carmichael was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

The game:  Garver singled in a run in the first and Carmichael singled in a run in the second to leave the score tied 1-1.  Clinton's first two batters in the fourth were retired, but then a walk, a single, another walk, a hit batsman, and three consecutive singles produced five runs and gave the LumberKings a 6-1 lead.  The Kernels battled back, scoring two runs on an error in the sixth.  Clinton got one in the bottom of the sixth, but Cedar Rapids got two more in the seventh to make it 7-5.  That was as much as the Kernels could do, however, as they did not get a man past first base after the seventh inning.

Of note:  Starter Stephen Gonsalves struck out six in 3.2 innings but gave up six runs on six hits and five walks.

TODAY'S TILTS

9;35  Fort Myers (TBA) at Jupiter (Cody Crabaugh, 1-1, 5.40)

12:35  New Hampshire (Ben White, 1-0, 4.26) at New Britain (Jose Berrios, 3-4, 3.54)

2:00  Cedar Rapids (Lewis Thorpe, 3-2, 3.72) at Clinton (TBA)

3:00  APPALACHIAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS, GAME 1

Elizabethton (John Curtiss, 2-1, 2.30) at Johnson City (TBA)

5:05  Rochester (TBA) at Pawtucket (Henry Owens, 2-1, 3.66)