Hector Santiago has a ways to go in his rehab. Jonathan Rodriguez hits his twenty-first homer. One good inning was all the Miracle needed. Home runs carry the E-Twins. A big day for Benjamin Rodriguez leads the GCL Twins to a doubleheader split. All the Twins affiliates remain in position for a wild card spot, with five of them already in.
SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE 8, ROCHESTER 1 AT SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE
Miguel Andujar tripled and scored to put the RailRiders up 1-0 in the second. Daniel Palka's RBI single tied it 1-1. It was all Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after that, though. Andujar hit a two-run homer in the second and Wilkin Castillo hit a two-run homer in a four-run third that made the score 7-1. They added one more in the fifth.
Hector Santiago pitched 2.2 innings, giving up one run on one hit and two walks with one strikeout. He threw 48 pitches. Nik Turley struck out two in two shutout innings to drop his ERA to 2.66 with 79 strikeouts in 67.2 innings. Mason Melotakis pitched a scoreless inning. Matt Hague was 2-for-4 with a walk. Leonardo Reginatto was 0-for-4 and is batting .300. Carlos Paulino was 0-for-4 and is batting .083.
CHATTANOOGA 3, JACKSON 1 IN JACKSON
The Generals got on the board with a sacrifice fly in the third, but Jonathan Rodriguez hit a two-run homer in the fourth to put the Lookouts up 2-1. Jackson put a man on second in the seventh and again in the eighth, but that was as close as they would come. T. J. White doubled home an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth.
Randy LeBlanc, who had struggled in previous attempts at AA, had an excellent game, pitching 7.1 innings and giving up an unearned run on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Gabriel Moya pitched 1.2 scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 0.80 with a WHIP of 0.80 and 84 strikeouts in 56.1 innings. White was 3-for-4 with three doubles. LaMonte Wade was 2-for-3 with a double. Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with his twenty-first home run and is batting .309.
FORT MYERS 5, ST. LUCIE 3 IN ST. LUCIE
The Mets got single runs in the third and fourth to go up 2-0, but the Miracle responded with a five-run fifth. St. Lucie made two errors in the inning, which also featured a run-scoring double by Mitchell Kranson and a Zander Weil RBI single. The Mets got one more in the fifth. They had the tying run on base in both the fifth and the eighth.
Sean Poppen struck out five in five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk. Michael Theofanopoulos struck out three in a scoreless inning. Sam Clay pitched two shutout innings to make his ERA 1.43. Tom Hackimer pitched a perfect inning to drop his ERA to 2.04 with 41 strikeouts in 35.1 innings. Weil was 2-for-4 with a double. Jaylin Davis and Kevin Garcia were each 2-for-4.
CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS
No game scheduled.
ELIZABETHTON 6, KINGSPORT 3 IN KINGSPORT
Anthony Derocie homered in the second to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. J. J. Robinson hit a two-run homer in the fourth to put the Twins ahead 2-1. An error tied it 2-2 in the sixth and Kingsport went back in front 3-2 on a run-scoring triple by Raphael Gladu. Jose Miranda homered in the eighth to tie it 3-3 and Elizabethton got three in the ninth on Wander Javier's three-run homer to go into the lead to stay.
Randy Dobnak pitched five innings, giving up one run on two hits and no walks with four strikeouts. His ERA is 2.39 with a WHIP of 0.95. Jovani Moran struck out five in two shutout innings to lower his ERA to 0.36 with a WHIP of 0.73 and 45 strikeouts in 24.2 innings. Rainis Silva was 3-for-5 and is batting .330. Miranda was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run, his eleventh. Akil Baddoo was 2-for-5 with a double and is batting .359. Javier was 1-for-5 with a home run (his fourth) and three RBIs and is batting .301. Robinson's home run was his ninth.
GCL TWINS 3, GCL RAYS 2 AT TWINS (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)
The Rays scored in the first, but Benjamin Rodriguez delivered a two-run single in the third that put the Twins up 2-1. Carlos Vargas' RBI single tied it 2-2 in the top of the sixth, but Rodriguez led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk, was bunted to second, took third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch to give the Twins a 3-2 advantage. The Rays got a one-out double from Chris Betts in the seventh but could not advance him.
Matt Tracy struck out six in four innings, giving up a run on two hits and no walks. This was his first GCL appearance, as he is on a rehab assignment from Chattanooga. Ricky De La Torre and Jared Akins were each 2-for-3. Alex Robles was 0-for-3 to make his average .314.
GCL RAYS 1, GCL TWINS 0 AT RAYS (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)
The game's lone run scored in the third when Alexander Alvarez walked, stole second, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch. The Twins had plenty of chances, getting at least one man into scoring position in each of innings two through five, but went 0-for-6 with men in scoring position.
Tyler Benninghoff struck out two in two perfect innings. Zach Featherstone pitched a scoreless inning to make his ERA 2.93. Alex Robles was 2-for-3 with a double and is batting .320. Jean Carlos Arias was 0-for-3 and is batting .305.
TODAY'S TILTS
11:00 GCL Twins at GCL Rays
5:30 Elizabethton at Kingsport (Ezequiel Zabaleta, 2-2, 6.19)
5:30 Fort Myers (Clark Beeker, 1-1, 9.00) at St. Lucie
6:05 Chattanooga at Jackson (Ryan Atkinson, 2-2, 4.24)
6:05 Rochester (Adalberto Mejia, 0-1, 3.48) at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Domingo German, 6-2, 2.78)
6:35 Burlington (Andrew Vinson, 9-9, 4.31) at Cedar Rapids (Tyler Watson, 0-3, 4.84)
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Rochester is in first place in the wild card race, leading Lehigh Valley by three games. Their magic number is four.
Chattanooga qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half. They are in first place in the second half, leading Montgomery by six games. Their magic number is one.
Fort Myers is in first place in the second half, leading Charlotte by four games. Their magic number is two.
Cedar Rapids qualified for the playoffs by finishing second in the first half. They are third in the second half, trailing second-place Peoria by one game.
Elizabethton has clinched the division. They lead Greeneville and Johnson City each by 6.5 games.
The GCL Twins have clinched the division. They lead the GCL Orioles and the GCL Rays each by 6.5 games.
The DSL Twins won their division and also won a first-round bye in the playoffs. It appears that they will start their second-round playoff series Thursday.