A rough start for Chris Heston. The Lookouts keep coming back. Three was the key number for the Kernels. The DSL Twins can score runs.
SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE 9, ROCHESTER 3 IN SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE
The RailRiders scored four runs in the first three innings to take a 4-0 lead. Niko Goodrum homered in a two-run sixth and a three-base error led to a run in the eighth to cut the margin to 4-3. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre came back with five in the bottom of the eighth to put the game out of reach. Ex-Twin J. R. Graham struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief. Greg Bird, with the RailRiders on a rehab assignment, went 0-for-3 with two walks.
Chris Heston, rumored to be a possibility to start one of the games in the Twins' Saturday doubleheader, did not inspire confidence, lasting only 2.1 innings and allowing four runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout. In his defense, he hasn't exactly been pitching on a regular schedule or even been allowed to stay in one spot very long lately. Tim Melville made his Rochester debut with 4.2 innings of relief, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Zack Granite was 3-for-5 with a double and is batting .322. Goodrum's home run was his sixth.
CHATTANOOGA 9, MONTGOMERY 8 IN MONTGOMERY (11 INNINGS)
The Biscuits scored two in each of the first two innings to take a 4-0 lead. The Lookouts tied it 4-4 in the top of the fifth, but Justin O'Connor homered in the bottom of the fifth to give Montgomery a 5-4 lead. Nick Gordon's RBI single tied it in the eighth and three Biscuit errors, all coming with two out in the ninth, plated a run that gave Chattanooga its first lead of the game at 6-5. Riley Unroe had an RBI triple in the bottom of the ninth to tie it 6-6. In the eleventh, Ryan Walker delivered a two-run triple and scored on a Gordon double to give the Lookouts a three-run lead. They needed all of them. Montgomery loaded the bases with none out in the bottom of the eleventh. Two ground outs scored two runs, but a third ground out ended the game.
Dereck Rodriguez made his first AA start and it did not go well, as he pitched only two innings and gave up four runs on four hits and four walks with three strikeouts. One suspects nerves may have been an issue, as he had not had control problems at Fort Myers. Nick Anderson struck out two in two shutout innings to make his ERA 2.25. John Curtiss pitched two innings and gave up his first two earned runs of the season in the eleventh, making his ERA 0.75. Walker was 4-for-6 with two triples, scoring three times and driving in three. Gordon was 3-for-7 with a double and is batting .316. Edgar Corcino was 2-for-6 with a walk. T. J. White was 0-for-2 with four walks and is batting .315.
CHARLOTTE AT FORT MYERS
A doubleheader was rained out.
CEDAR RAPIDS 10, QUAD CITIES 5 IN QUAD CITIES
Christian Cavaness hit a two-run triple and later scored in the second to put the Kernels up 3-0. The River Bandits tied it 3-3 in the third, but Cedar Rapids got three more in the fourth, with Ben Rortvedt hitting a two-run double and scoring on a Travis Blankenhorn triple, to go up 6-3. Two in the sixth made it 8-3 and the game was secure.
Sean Poppen pitched well other than the third inning, going 5.2 innings and giving up three runs on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts to make his ERA 2.80. Hector Lujan struck out four in 1.2 scoreless innings to make his ERA 2.08. He has 25 strikeouts and just 3 walks in 26 innings. Brandon Lopez was 3-for-5. Blankenhorn was 2-for-3 with two triples and a walk. Rortvedt was 2-for-4 with a double. Mitchell Kranson was 2-for-5 with a double. Jermaine Palacios was 1-for-5 with a home run (his eleventh) and is batting .319.
DSL TWINS 13, DSL ROCKIES 1 AT TWINS
The Twins have now scored forty-eight runs in their last four games. They got one in the first, four in the third (two on an error), three in the fourth (including a two-run homer by Agustin Marte), one in the sixth on Estamy Urena's triple, and four in the seventh, two on a Marte double. The Rockies scored their lone run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Jesus Toledo pitched five shutout innings, giving up four hits and a walk with four strikeouts and keeping his ERA at zero in seven innings. Elvis Rivas struck out four in six perfect innings. Marte was 3-for-5 with a home run and a double, driving in four. Estamy Urena was 3-for-5 with a triple and is batting .538. Samuel Vasquez was 3-for-4 with two walks and four runs and is batting .375. Wander Valdez is 2-for-4 and is batting .333. Alberoni Nunez was 1-for-4 with a double and a walk and is batting .370. Juan Martinez was 1-for-4 with a double and is batting .389.
TODAY'S TILTS
9:30 DSL Twins at DSL Rockies
4:30 Charlotte (Travis Ott, 1-0, 4.40) at Fort Myers (Lewis Thorpe, 0-2, 1.38)
Game 2 Charlotte at Fort Myers
5:35 Rochester (David Hurlbut, 3-4, 3.44) at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Brady Lail, 3-2, 4.91)
6:00 Chattanooga at Tennessee
6:35 Cedar Rapids (Domenick Carlini, 3-4, 5.10) at Quad Cities (Cionel Perez, 3-3, 5.05)