David Hurlbut is getting it going. Gabriel Moya needs to move up. Brent Rooker stays hot. Errors hurt the Kernels. Benjamin Rodriguez has a big day. Tyler Jay does well in his first rehab appearance. The DSL Twins lose on the goofy extra inning rule.
ROCHESTER 4, COLUMBUS 3 IN COLUMBUS (11 INNINGS)
Daniel Palka singled home a run in the top of the eighth to give the Red Wings a 3-1 lead, but an RBI double by Tyler Naquin and a run-scoring single by Ronny Rodriguez tied it 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth. In the eleventh, Mitch Garver hit a one-out double and scored on a Kennys Vargas single. The Clippers went down in order in the bottom of the eleventh.
David Hurlbut had his second consecutive good game and his fourth out of his last five. He pitched 6.1 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and no walks with four strikeouts. Jake Reed struck out two in two shutout innings to drop his ERA to 2.31. Alex Wimmers retired all five batters he faced, striking out four of them, to lower his ERA to 2.70 with a WHIP of 0.88 and 41 strikeouts in 40 innings. Niko Goodrum was 3-for-5 with a double. Garver was 2-for-5 with a double. Palka was 2-for-5.
CHATTANOOGA 6, TENNESSEE 3 IN TENNESSEE
The Lookouts scored three in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie and take a 4-1 lead. They had RBI singles by Andy Wilkins, T. J. White, and Max Murphy in the inning. It was 5-1 when Jason Vosler hit a two-run homer in the eighth to cut the margin to 5-3. The Smokies got men to second and third with two out, but a ground out ended the inning. Chattanooga added an insurance run in the ninth.
Zack Littell had his second consecutive good game, going six innings and giving up one run on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Gabriel Moya struck out two in a scoreless inning to make his ERA 0.88 with 80 strikeouts in 51 innings. Wilkins was 3-for-5 with a double. Jonathan Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth), a double, and a walk, scoring three times and making his average .308. Ryan Walker was 2-for-4 with a double. LaMonte Wade was 2-for-4 with a walk. Edgar Corcino was 1-for-5 and is batting .307.
FORT MYERS 5, LAKELAND 4 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)
The Flying Tigers got two in the top of the first, but the Miracle responded with three in the bottom half to take the lead. They had an RBI single by Mitchell Kranson, a run-scoring double by Brent Rooker, and a wild pitch to score a third run. Fort Myers added single runs in the second and third to go up 5-2. It stayed 5-2 until the seventh, when Jake Robson hit a two-run homer to make it 5-4. Lakeland did not get another man on base, however, and the victory was preserved.
Anthony McIver pitched three innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Michael Kohn struck out three in a scoreless inning in his Fort Myers debut. Tom Hackimer pitched a scoreless inning to drop his ERA to 2.37 with 34 strikeouts in 30.1 innings. Rooker was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk. He is 10-for-25 (.400) in his last eight games. Chris Paul was 2-for-3 with a double and is batting .352.
FORT MYERS 3, LAKELAND 2 IN FORT MYERS (GAME 2--8 INNINGS)
A single-plus-error by Brandon Lopez gave the Miracle a 2-1 lead in the fifth. In the seventh, however, Will Allen's RBI single tied it 2-2 and they played an extra inning. The Flying Tigers got a leadoff double in the top of the eighth but did not move the man past second. Sean Miller led off the bottom of the eighth with a triple. A strikeout and two intentional walks followed. Zander Weil then singled to left to bring home the winning run.
Randy LeBlanc struck out seven in five innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk. His ERA is 2.50. Williams Ramirez struck out three in a scoreless inning. Miller was 2-for-3 with a triple, a double, and a walk. Jaylin Davis was 2-for-3 with a double.
BURLINGTON 7, CEDAR RAPIDS 2 IN BURLINGTON
The Bees scored four in the third and led all the way. The Kernels made two errors in the inning. Shane Carrier homered in the fourth and Jordan Gore tripled and scored in the fifth to cut the lead to 4-2, but that was as close as Cedar Rapids would come. Richard Fecteau hit a two-run triple in a three-run seventh that put the game out of reach.
Tyler Watson pitched six innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Eduardo Del Rosario pitched a scoreless inning. Trey Cabbage was 2-for-4. Carrier's home run was his fifth. Royce Lewis was 0-for-4 and is batting .412.
ELIZABETHTON TWINS
No game scheduled.
GCL TWINS 4, GCL RAYS 2 AT TWINS
Trailing 1-0, the Twins scored three in the seventh to take a 3-1 lead. Benjamin Rodriguez and Roni Tapia each contributed an RBI double, with another run scoring on a ground out. Rodriguez singled home a run in the eighth to make it 4-1. The Rays scored one in the ninth and put men on second and third with two out before a strikeout ended the game.
Tyler Jay struck out two in a perfect inning in his first rehab appearance. Pedro Garcia followed and struck out five in five innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk to lower his ERA to 2.38 with a WHIP of 0.77. Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a double. Alex Robles was 0-for-4 and is batting .311.
DSL PHILLIES RED 6, DSL TWINS 5 (11 INNINGS)
The Twins led 4-2 after seven, but the Phillies Red scored two in the eighth to tie it. Jevi Hernandez singled in the tying run. They started using the "man on second" rule in the tenth and each team brought him home, with the Twins scoring on a ground out and the Phillies Red scoring on an error. The Twins lost their runner in the eleventh when he was caught trying to steal third. In the bottom of the eleventh, the Phillies Red runner was successful stealing third and scored on a pickoff error to win the game. The Twins made five errors, leading to four unearned runs.
Fredderi Soto pitched six innings, giving up two runs on two hits and no walks with two errors. Cesar Salazar was 2-for-3. Alberoni Nunez was 2-for-5 with a double and is batting .352. Ruben Santana was 1-for-1 and is batting .353. Yeltsin Encarnacion was 1-for-4 and is batting .331. Estamy Urena was 0-for-5 and is batting .318.
TODAY'S TILTS
9:30 DSL Phillies Red at DSL Twins
11:00 GCL Twins at GCL Rays
11:05 Rochester (Drew Rucinski, 2-5, 2.75) at Columbus (Adam Plutko, 5-12, 6.63)
4:30 Elizabethton (Randy Dobnak, 0-0, 3.48) at Bristol
6:00 Chattanooga at Tennessee (Duane Underwood, Jr, 12-5, 4.15)
6:05 Lakeland (Sandy Baez, 5-7, 4.22) at Fort Myers (Sean Poppen, 2-2, 3.05)
6:30 Cedar Rapids (Patrick McGuff, 2-2, 2.11) at Burlington (Chris Rodriguez, 0-1, 7.94)
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Rochester leads Lehigh Valley by two games in the wild card race.
Chattanooga won the first half and is in first place by five games over Montgomery in the second half.
Fort Myers is in first place by 4.5 games over Charlotte.
Cedar Rapids qualified for the playoffs by finishing second in the first half.
Elizabethton is in first place by 2.5 games over Johnson City.
The GCL Twins are in first place by one game over the GCL Orioles.
The DSL Twins are in first place by 5.5 games over the DSL Mets1.