Elizabethton takes 1-0 lead in the best-of-three division series.  Rochester gets knocked out of the playoff race.  Fort Myers wins, but it's not enough to take the division.

PAWTUCKET 10, ROCHESTER 4 IN PAWTUCKET

Batting star:  Aaron Hicks was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Stephen Pryor pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk with one strikeout.  Ryan O'Rourke pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit with one strikeout.  Michael Tonkin retired all four batters he faced, striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Alex Hassan was 3-for-3 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in three.  Ryan Lavarnway was 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs.  Byrce Brentz was 1-for-4 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.

The game:  Corey Brown doubled in a run in the second to put Pawtucket up 1-0.  In the third, Hicks drove in one with a double, a second run scored on a ground out, and Josmil Pinto doubled in a third run to give Rochester a 3-1 lead.  It didn't last long.  In the bottom of the third, the first two batters were retired, but five consecutive singles brought home three runs and gave the Red Sox a 4-3 advantage.  In the fourth, a walk, a single, and an error loaded the bases, followed by another walk and two-run singles by Lavarnway and Hassan to put Pawtucket up 9-3.  The Red Wings did not threaten to get back into the game.

Of note:  Eric Farris was 1-for-5 with a home run, his fourth.  Pinto was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Chris Colabello was 0-for-4.  Pedro Florimon was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Starter Jose Berrios struck out three in three innings, but gave up six runs on seven hits and three walks.

Pennant race update:  The loss knocks Rochester out of the playoff race.

NEW BRITAIN 6, NEW HAMPSHIRE 3 IN NEW BRITAIN

Batting stars:  Kyle Knudson was 3-for-3 with a double and a hit-by-pitch, scoring once and driving in three.  Mike Kvasnicka was 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs.  Eddie Rosario was 1-for-3 with a home run (his eighth) and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Adrian Salcedo struck out six in six innings, giving up two runs on four hits and no walks.  Cole Johnson struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition star:  John Anderson pitched a perfect inning.

The game:  Rosario homered in the first to give New Britain an early 1-0 lead.  In the fifth, doubled by Melky Mesa and Derrick Chung and a single by Jorge Flores gave New Hampshire a 2-1 lead.  The Rock Cats bounced right back to score three in the bottom of the fifth, getting an RBI double by Knudson, a run-scoring single by Corey Wimberly, and a sacrifice fly.  Knudson drove in another run, this time with a single, in the sixth to got up 5-2.  The Fisher Cats scored once in the eighth and put the tying run on base with none out, but that was as close as they would come.  New Britain added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on another run-scoring single by Wimberly.

Of note:  Wimberly was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Jorge Polanco was 1-for-4.  Mike Gonzales was 0-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.

FORT MYERS 14, JUPITER 1 IN JUPITER

Batting stars:  Max Kepler was 3-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in three.  Tyler Grimes was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in three.  Dalton Hicks was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Starter Steven Gruver pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and two walks.  Tyler Jones struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Todd Van Steensel pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hit with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Yosmany Guerra was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Juan Avila was 2-for-4 with a run.

The game:  Stuart Turner hit a two-run homer in the second to put Fort Myers ahead 2-0.  The Miracle then scored five in the third on three walks and four singles to put the game out of reach early.  Fort Myers later added three in the sixth and four in the seventh.  The lone Jupiter run came in the bottom of the seventh.

Of note:  Niko Goodrum was 1-for-5 with a run and two RBIs.  Travis Harrison was 0-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Adam Brett Walker II was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.

Pennant race update:  The win wasn't enough, as Bradenton swept a doubleheader to take the second half championship by two games over Fort Myers.  The Miracle still makes the playoffs by winning the first half.  Their first-round playoff series starts Wednesday.

CLINTON 1, CEDAR RAPIDS 0 IN CLINTON

Batting star:  Chad Christensen was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Lewis Thorpe struck out four in four shutout innings, giving up three hits and four walks.  Dallas Gallant retired all six batters he faced, striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Jose Flores pitched three shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk with two strikeouts.  Blake Holovach pitched five shutout innings, giving up three hits and one walk with three strikeouts.  Martin Peguero was 3-for-4 with a double and a run.

The game:  The game's lone run came in the fifth.  Peguero led off the inning with a double.  He was still there with two out, but a wild pitch was followed by a double by Joseph DeCarlo.  Cedar Rapids never had two men on base at the same time and never got a man past second base.

Of note:  Jonatan Hinojosa was 0-for-3.  Max Murphy was 0-for-4.

ELIZABETHTON 7, JOHNSON CITY 6 IN JOHNSON CITY (PLAYOFF GAME 1--13 INNINGS)

Batting stars:  Trey Vavra was 3-for-7 with a double, scoring once and driving in four.  Tanner English was 3-for-7 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one.  Tyler Mautner was 3-for-6 with a double and a run.

Pitching stars:  John Curtiss struck out five in five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.  Dereck Rodriguez struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Keaton Steele pitched three perfect innings with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Dailyn Martinez pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts.  Casey Grayson was 4-for-6 with a double and a run.  Jose Godoy was 2-for-6 with a double and an RBI.

The game:  Mautner doubled and scored in the second to give Elizabethton a 1-0 lead.  It stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when an error and a Jorge Fernandez double put the Twins up 2-0.  In the bottom of the sixth, a walk, a single, a ground out, and two wild pitches tied the score and later in the inning Godoy's two-run double put Johnson City up 4-2.  Elizabethton came right back with a four-spot of their own in the seventh, getting an RBI single from English and a three-run double by Vavra.  Then it was the Cardinals turn to come back.  Carlos Torres tripled and scored in the seventh and two singles and an error brought home the tying run in the eighth.  There was no more scoring until the thirteenth.  The first two batters went out, but English doubled, Nick Gordon was intentionally walked, and Vavra singled to right to score the go-ahead run.  Johnson City went down in order in the bottom of the thirteenth, and did not have a baserunner after Grayson's leadoff double in the tenth.

Of note:  Gordon was 1-for-5 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch, scoring once.  Tyler Kuresa was 3-for-6 with a double.

Other series:  Tanner Murphy hit a three-run homer in a four-run first that gave Danville a 4-3 win over Princeton.  Danville leads the series 1-0.

TODAY'S TILTS

12:05  Rochester (Kris Johnson, 9-7, 3.57) at Pawtucket (Steven Wright, 5-5, 3.41)

12:35  New Hampshire (Casey Lawrence, 9-9, 3.74) at New Britain (Adrian Salcedo, 3-9, 4.19)

2:00  Cedar Rapids (Ryan Eades, 9-11, 5.36) at Clinton (Carlos Misell, 8-11, 4.80)

6:00  APPALACHIAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS, GAME 2

Johnson City (Landon Beck, 1-1, 3.19) at Elizabethton (Sam Gibbons, 4-5, 3.88)