Byungho Park hits his first home run. A comeback by the Lookouts and a Miracle comeback by Fort Myers. A big start for Cedar Rapids.
ROCHESTER 3, PAWTUCKET 1 IN PAWTUCKET
There was no score until the fifth, when Mitch Garver hit his second home run of the season to put the Red Wings up 1-0. They added a run in the seventh on back-to-back two-out doubles by Ben Paulsen and Leonardo Reginatto and another in the eighth when Byungho Park hit his first home run. Ryan Court homered for the only Red Sox run in the eighth.
Aaron Slegers, who has been hot and cold all year, was hot in this one, going 7.1 innings and giving up just one run on three hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Manager Mike Quade then took a page from Paul Molitor's book and used three relievers to get the last five outs. Garver was 3-for-4 and had a double along with his home run. Paulsen was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Zack Granite was 1-for-4 and is batting .310.
CHATTANOOGA 9, BIRMINGHAM 6 IN CHATTANOOGA
The Barons led 3-1 after six. Edgar Corcino's two-run single capped a three-run seventh that put the Lookouts up 4-3. The Barons took the lead back 5-4 in the top of the eighth on Cleuluis Rondon's two-run double. Chattanooga took the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth, scoring five times. Two-run doubles by Dan Rohlfing and Corcino helped put the game out of reach.
Fernando Romero pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Jonathan Rodriguez was 3-for-5. Corcino was 2-for-2 with a double and four RBIs. Nick Gordon was 2-for-4 with a walk and is batting .321. LaMonte Wade was 1-for-3 with two walks and is batting .327.
FORT MYERS 7, CHARLOTTE 6 IN CHARLOTTE
The Miracle trailed 6-1 after seven. A four-run eighth, capped off by a two-run single by Kevin Garcia and helped by two walks and a hit batsman, got Fort Myers back into the game. In the ninth, an error was followed by Shane Kennedy's game-tying triple and an RBI double by Chris Paul that put the Miracle ahead 7-6.
Dereck Rodriguez had a bad inning in the fifth, giving up three runs, but overall was okay, going six innings and allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts. His ERA is 2.80. Nick Anderson had not allowed a run all season, but gave up two of them in this game in one inning, making his ERA 1.26. Sam Clay pitched two shutout innings to make his ERA 2.66. Paul was 3-for-5 with a double and is batting .317. Kennedy was 2-for-4 with a triple. Zander Weil and Sean Miller were each 2-for-5.
CEDAR RAPIDS 7, BOWLING GREEN 5 IN BOWLING GREEN
The Kernels scored five in the first inning, getting a three-run double by Caleb Hamilton and a two-run homer from Christian Cavaness, his second. Lewin Diaz hit a two-run homer in the second (his fourth) to make it 7-0. Cedar Rapids hung on from there. Jonah Heim's three-run homer in the seventh made it 7-5. The Hot Rods got the tying run on base in the eighth and had the tying run at bat in the ninth, but could make nothing of it.
Clark Beeker had pitched well again until the three-run homer in the seventh. For the game, he pitched six innings and allowed five runs on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts, making his ERA 2.56. Colton Davis pitched a perfect inning and Andrew Vasquez struck out four in 1.1 scoreless innings. Vasquez now has an ERA of 1.84 and has 23 strikeouts with 6 walks in 14.2 innings. Diaz was 3-for-5 and had a double in addition to the home run. Cavaness was 2-for-4 and had a double in addition to his home run. Jermaine Palacios was 0-for-5 and is now batting .321.
TODAY'S TILTS
12:35 Rochester (Kyle Gibson, 0-1, 4.50) at Pawtucket
1:15 Birmingham (Michael Kopech, 2-2, 2.70) at Chattanooga (Paul Clemens, 1-0, 4.06)
Fort Myers Miracle--no game scheduled.
Cedar Rapids Kernels--no game scheduled.