A big day for John Ryan Murphy. Three home runs lead the Lookouts. A bad first inning sinks Fort Myers. Ben Rortvedt has a key hit for the Kernels.
ROCHESTER 5, BUFFALO 3 IN BUFFALO (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)
John Ryan Murphy had a two-run single and Bengie Gonzalez had a two-run triple, both in the second inning, to give the Red Wings a 4-0 lead. Mike Ohlman hit a two-run homer in the third and the Bisons added another run in the fourth to cut it to 4-3. There was no more scoring until the seventh, when Murphy homered to give Rochester an insurance run. Buffalo got the tying run on base in the ninth on a pair of one-out walks, but that was all they did.
David Hurbut pitched five innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk with two strikeouts. His ERA is now 1.61 in four starts (22.1 innings). Alan Busenitz and Alex Wimmers each pitched a scoreless inning. Murphy was 2-for-3 with his second homer. He has gone 7-for-15 and has raised his average to .270. Quintin Berry was 2-for-3. Matt Hague was 1-for-3 and is batting .313. Tommy Field was 0-for-3 and is batting .301.
BUFFALO 4, ROCHESTER 1 IN BUFFALO (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)
Again a four-run inning made the difference, but this time it went to the Bisons. Three singles, an error, a walk, and two wild pitches added up to a 4-0 lead for Buffalo after three. The Red Wings loaded the bases in the first and had men on first and third in the second, but did not score until the fifth, when an error brought home the lone Rochester tally. The Red Wings went 2-for-11 with men in scoring position.
Nik Turley struck out five in three innings, but gave up four runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks in his Rochester debut. Bengie Gonzalez was 2-for-3. Matt Hague was 0-for-2 and is batting .306.
CHATTANOOGA 7, PENSACOLA 4 IN CHATTANOOGA
The Blue Wahoos led 4-0 after three and a half innings, but the Lookouts scored in every inning after that to take a 7-4 win. Nick Gordon homered in the sixth (his second) to tie it 4-4 and LaMonte Wade homered in the seventh (his third) to put Chattanooga in the lead to stay. Edgar Corcino had a two-run single in the ninth for some insurance.
Paul Clemens struck out seven in six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk. Todd Van Steensel struck out two in two shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 1.59 in 11.1 innings. John Curtiss pitched a scoreless ninth to keep his ERA at zero through 9.1 innings. Corcino was 3-for-4 with a home run. Wade was 3-for-4 with a home run. Gordon was 2-for-5 with a home run and is batting .326. Engelb Vielma was 0-for-4 and is batting .310. Tanner English was 0-for-3, dropping his average to .085.
DAYTONA 5, FORT MYERS 2 IN FORT MYERS
The Tortugas scored five runs in the first inning and that was all they needed. Their first two batters were retired, but then two walks and two hit batsmen produced one run, Afredo Rodriguez hit a two-run double, and Chad Tromp had a two-run single. The Miracle scored both of their runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Shane Kennedy and a run-scoring single by Brian Navaretto.
David Fischer did well after the first inning, but his line is four innings, five runs, three hits, three walks, and two strikeouts. Brady Anderson pitched three shutout innings and Anthony McIver pitched two, with McIver lowering his ERA to 2.16 in 16.2 innings. Fort Myers only had five hits and no one got more than one. Chris Paul was 0-for-4 to drop his average to .314. Max Murphy was 1-for-3 and is batting .306.
CEDAR RAPIDS 6, LAKE COUNTY 3 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
With the Kernels trailing 2-1, Mitchell Kranson delivered an RBI single in the third to tie it and Ben Rortvedt hit a two-run double later in the inning to put Cedar Rapids in front 4-2. Shane Carrier doubled in two in the sixth to make it 6-2 and put the Kernels in control of the game.
Tyler Beardsley struck out seven in seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and a walk. Alex Robinson and Max Cordy each pitched a scoreless inning, with Cordy dropping his ERA to 2.00 in 9 innings. No Cedar Rapids batter had more than one hit. Jermaine Palacios was 1-for-4 and is batting .392. Kranson was 1-for-3 with a walk and is batting .321. Aaron Whitefield was 1-for-4 and is batting .310. Rortvedt was 1-for-4 and got his average back into triple digits at .107.
TODAY'S TILTS
12:05 Rochester (Adalberto Mejia, 0-0, 0.00) at Buffalo (Mike Bolsinger, 1-1, 1.46)
5:35 Daytona (Jesus Reyes, 2-0, 3.47) at Fort Myers (Keaton Steele, 1-3, 8.10)
6:15 Pensacola (Luis Castillo, 1-1, 2.08) at Chattanooga (Randy LeBlanc, 0-1, 36.00)
6:35 Lake County (Aaron Civale, 1-2, 3.49) at Cedar Rapids (Tyler Wells, 2-0, 1.88)