Playing catch-up. The Dominican Summer League season started Saturday.
ROCHESTER RED WINGS
Thursday--ROCHESTER 5, INDIANAPOLIS 2 IN INDIANAPOLIS
A walk and four singles led to three fourth-inning runs and a three-run lead that the Red Wings would not lose. Tommy Milone had another strong game, going 6.1 innings and allowing just one run on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Eddie Rosario was 2-for-5 with a home run (his second) and is now batting .317. James Beresford was 2-for-5 to raise his average to .300. Wilfredo Tovar was 2-for-4 with a walk.
Friday--ROCHESTER 5, LOUISVILLE 0 IN LOUISVILLE
All of the runs came in the top of the third, four of them on a Kennys Vargas grand slam. Andrew Albers pitched seven shutout innings, giving up five hits and a walk with five strikeouts. In seven starts with the Red Wings, he's 4-1, 3.30--as the Twins rotation continues to struggle, it's not impossible that we could see him in Minnesota at some point this season. The home run was Vargas' eighth. He also had a double and two walks, going 2-for-3. Jorge Polanco was 3-for-5 and is now batting .315. Logan Schafer made his Rochester debut and went 1-for-3 with a walk.
Saturday--LOUISVILLE 5, ROCHESTER 4 IN LOUISVILLE
Scott Schelber homered in the eighth to break a 4-4 tie. Eddie Rosario had hit a two-run homer in the sixth to tie it at four. The homer was Rosario's third. He was 1-for-4 and is now batting .319. Jorge Polanco was 1-for-4 with a double to make his average .312. James Beresford and Buck Britton were each 2-for-4. Jason Wheeler struck out six in six innings but gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks. He pitched three scoreless innings after allowing three in the third. It was the worst game he's pitched all year, but it left his ERA still at 2.05 with a WHIP of 0.99 in eight Rochester starts.
Sunday--ROCHESTER 8, LOUISVILLE 6 IN LOUISVILLE
The Red Wings led 7-2 after six but had to hold on to win. Tommy Field was 3-for-5 with a double. Adam Brett Walker II was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eleventh. Eddie Rosario was 2-for-5 with a double and is now batting .324. Jorge Polanco was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second) and is now batting .320. Kyle Gibson pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts.
CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS
Thursday--CHATTANOOGA 4, BIRMINGHAM 2 IN BIRMINGHAM
They were all one-run innings, with the Lookouts scoring once in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth and the Barons getting one in the first and eighth. David Hurlbut is getting things going after a very poor start to the season, pitching 6.1 innings and giving up just one run on seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts. His ERA is down to 4.53 from a high of 7.71. Daniel Palka was 2-for-4 with two home runs, his tenth and eleventh. Zach Granite was 2-for-5 with a double. Ryan Walker was 0-for-3 with a walk and his average dropped to .309.
Friday--BIRMINGHAM 3, CHATTANOOGA 2 IN BIRMINGHAM
A walk, two bunt singles, another walk, and a sacrifice fly brought home the tying and winning runs for the Barons in the seventh inning. Aaron Slegers had his third good game in a row, striking out six in six innings and giving up one run on three hits and three walks. He has dropped half a run from his ERA in that span. D. J. Hicks was 2-for-2 with two walks. Zach Granite was 2-for-4.
Saturday--CHATTANOOGA 9, BIRMINGHAM 6 IN BIRMINGHAM
The Lookouts scored four in the second and four in the fourth to take an 8-5 lead. Zach Granite was 2-for-3 with a triple and two walks. Travis Harrison was 2-for-5 with a triple. Daniel Palka was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his twelfth) and two walks. Kohl Stewart had a rough outing in his AA debut, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts. He was removed after 1.2 innings following a lengthy rain dealy. Four relief pitchers combined to hold the Barons to one run over the final 7.1 innings.
Sunday--JACKSONVILLE 3, CHATTANOOGA 1 IN CHATTANOOGA
The Suns scored single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh to take the win. D. J. Baxendale allowed one run on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts, but was removed after only five innings because he had thrown ninety-five pitches. Leonardo Reginatto was 2-for-4 to lead the offense, which managed only five hits.
FORT MYERS MIRACLE
Thursday--ST. LUCIE 8, FORT MYERS 0 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)
The Mets dominated, scoring in five of the seven innings while the Miracle managed just one hit, a third-inning single by Brian Olson. Keaton Steele lasted only three innings, surrendering five runs on nine hits and no walks with no strikeouts. The only other Miracle baserunner came when Trey Vavra was hit by a pitch in the sixth.
Thursday--FORT MYERS 4, ST. LUCIE 3 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)
Alex Real's two-run single tied it 3-3 in the fifth and Chris Paul delivered a walkoff single in the seventh. Felix Jorge pitched a complete game, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and no walks with four strikeouts. Real was 3-for-3 with a double. Paul was 2-for-4.
Friday--DAYTONA AT FORT MYERS
Rained out.
Saturday--DAYTONA 4, FORT MYERS 2 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)
The Miracle took a 2-0 lead in the third, but the Tortugas got two in the fourth and two in the fifth to get the win. Randy Rosario pitched five innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and no walks with one strikeout. Nick Gordon was 2-for-3 with a double. Chris Paul was also 2-for-3.
Saturday--DAYTONA 2, FORT MYERS 1 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)
The Miracle led 1-0 after six, but Taylor Sparks delivered a two-run double in the seventh and the Tortugas got a 2-1 victory. Stephen Gonsalves pitched a seven-inning complete game, striking out eight and allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and no walks. The Miracle had only four hits, all singles. Edgar Corcino had two of them, going 2-for-3.
Sunday--DAYTONA 4, FORT MYERS 0 IN FORT MYERS
A three-run fifth, highlighted by a two-run Brian O'Grady double, made it 4-0. Three Tortugas pitchers held the Miracle hitless for eight innings before Tanner Witt led off the ninth with the lone Fort Myers safety, a single. Randy LeBlanc made his high-A debut and pitched well for four innings before struggling in the fifth--his line was five innings, four runs, six hits, three walks, and one strikeout.
CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS
Thursday--BELOIT 7, CEDAR RAPIDS 1 IN BELOIT
A six-run third, highlighted by Brett Siddall's three-run homer, put this one out of reach early. The explosion came off Dereck Rodriguez, who got through four innings but gave up seven runs on seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Jermaine Palacios was 3-for-4 to lead the offense. A. J. Murray was 2-for-4 with a double. LaMonte Wade was 2-for-4 and is now batting .320. Nelson Molina was 0-for-4 to fall to .316.
Friday--PEORIA 13, CEDAR RAPIDS 4 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
The Chiefs scored three in the first and five in the second and controlled the game the rest of the way. Miles Nordgren did settle down after those first two innings, but in 5.1 innings he was charged with eight runs (seven earned) on eleven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Daniel Kihle and Nelson Molina were each 2-for-4, with Molina now batting .325. LaMonte Wade was 1-for-3 with two walks and is batting .320. Luis Arraez was 0-for-4 and is batting .317.
Saturday--CEDAR RAPIDS 9, PEORIA 2 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
Two-run singles by Sean Miller and A. J. Murray led to a four-run second. The Kernels led 7-0 after three and coasted the rest of the way. J. J. Fernandez was 4-for-4 with a home run (his third) and a double. Zander Weil was 3-for-5 with a double. Miller was also 3-for-5. Nelson Molina was 1-for-4 and is batting .321. LaMonte Wade was 1-for-4 and is batting .318. Cody Stashak bounced back from a poor game, striking out seven in six innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks. Williams Ramirez struck out four in three shutout innings of relief. He has 16 strikeouts in 12.2 innings (6 games) and has an ERA of 0.71 with a WHIP of 0.71.
Sunday--PEORIA 9, CEDAR RAPIDS 4 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
The Chiefs scored four in the second to take an early lead and put the game out of reach with three in the seventh. Eduardo Del Rosario made his Class A debut and gave up five runs on six hits and a walk with one strikeout in four innings. Kevin Garcia was 2-for-4 and is now batting .333 since being sent back from Fort Myers. Alex Perez was 2-for-5. Nelson Molina was 1-for-4 with a double and is batting .318. Lamonte Wade was 1-for-3 with two walks and is also batting .318, but with an OBP of .438 (38 walks). Luis Arraez did not play Saturday or Sunday--he is not on the disabled list, and we have not been able to discover if he is injured.
DSL TWINS
Saturday--TWINS 6, ORIOLES2 2 AT ORIOLES2
Leading 3-0 after seven, the Twins scored three in the eighth to put the game out of reach in the DSL season opener. Pedro Garcia struck out five in four no-hit, no-run innings, walking two. Carlos Suniaga followed with three shutout innings. Edgar Herrera was 3-for-4 and Ruben Santana was 2-for-5 with a double.
TODAY'S TILTS
9:30 DSL Orioles2 at DSL Twins
6:05 Buffalo (Drew Hutchison, 2-2, 2.93) at Rochester (Jose Berrios, 3-2, 3.27
6:05 Daytona (Kuery Mella, 4-4, 2.64) at Fort Myers (Tyler Jay, 4-4, 2.44)
6:15 Jacksonville (Jake Esch, 6-4, 4.29) at Chattanooga (Ryan Eades, 2-2, 4.93)