The Twins apparently aren't too concerned about whether Rochester makes the playoffs. A second consecutive good game by Randy LeBlanc. Fort Myers prepares for the playoffs. A fine Class A debut for Randy Dobnak. The E-Twins face a must-win game tonight. The GCL Twins end their season.
PAWTUCKET 7, ROCHESTER 2 IN ROCHESTER
Matt Dominguez hit a two-run homer in a four-run second that put the Red Sox ahead 4-0. Bryce Brentz hit a two-run homer in the fifth that made it 6-0. Dominguez homered again in the sixth to make it 7-0. The Red Wings finally got on the board in the eighth on a two-run double by Daniel Palka, but it was too little and too late.
Hector Santiago, who in no way has resembled a man who is ready to pitch, continued to not do so, throwing 4.1 innings and allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Drew Rucinski struck out two in two shutout innings of relief to drop his ERA to 2.57. Matt Hague was 2-for-3 with two doubles. Leonardo Reginatto was 0-for-4 and is batting .300. Robbie Grossman, on a rehab assignment, was 0-for-4. Ryan Walker made his AAA debut and was 0-for-3.
CHATTANOOGA 5, MONTGOMERY 1 IN CHATTANOOGA
Edgar Corcino hit a three-run homer in the fifth to put the Lookouts ahead 3-1. Alex Perez singled home a run in the sixth and Chattanooga added one more in the seventh to make it 5-1.
Randy LeBlanc, who had flopped in his earlier attempt at AA, had his second consecutive strong outing since coming back there. He pitched eight innings, giving up one run on six hits and no walks with seven strikeouts. Todd Van Steensel struck out two in a scoreless inning to lower his ERA to 1.38 with 59 strikeouts in 58.2 innings. Ryan Strasborger was 2-for-3 with a walk. LaMonte Wade and Perez were each 2-for-4. Corcino was 2-for-5 with a home run (his sixth) and three RBIs and is batting .302.
JUPITER 7, FORT MYERS 2 IN JUPITER
Trailing 2-0, the Miracle got a run-scoring double from Mitchell Kranson and an RBI single from Kevin Garcia to tie the score 2-2 in the fourth. They had the bases loaded with one out, but could not do any more damage. It cost them, because the Hammerheads scored five in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Gunner Pollman hit a two-run single in the inning. Fort Myers did not get a man past first base after the fourth inning.
Brady Anderson struck out five in four innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk. Alex Robinson pitched a scoreless inning. Williams Ramirez struck out three in two shutout innings to make his ERA 2.98 with 65 strikeouts in 60.1 innings. Michael Theofanopoulos struck out two in a scoreless inning. Jermaine Palacios was 2-for-4 with a triple and a double. Brent Rooker was 2-for-4. Ariel Montesino was 0-for-2 and is batting .400.
BELOIT 3, CEDAR RAPIDS 2 IN BELOIT
Caleb Hamilton singled home a run in the top of the first. The 1-0 lead held up until the sixth, when J. C. Rodriguez hit a two-out two-run double to put the Snappers up 2-1. Travis Blankenhorn doubled home a run in the eighth to make it 2-2, but Beloit got the run back in the bottom of the eighth on a single, a wild pitch, and two bunts. The Kernels had men on second and third with one out, but Ben Rortvedt was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a foul popup to end the game.
Randy Dobnak made a successful Class A debut, pitching seven innings and giving up two runs on six hits and a walk with one strikeout. Blankenhorn was 2-for-4 with a double. Royce Lewis reached on an error to start the game and was replaced by a pinch-runner. No word on what happened to him, but manager Tommy Watkins says he "should be fine".
GREENEVILLE 3, ELIZABETHTON 2 IN GREENEVILLE (PLAYOFF GAME ONE)
J. J. Robinson homered in the second, but Frankeny Fernandez answered with a homer in the bottom of the second to tie it 1-1. Fernandez struck again in the fourth, singling home a run to put the Astros ahead 2-1. Jose Miranda tied it up in the eighth with an RBI double, but Juan Pineda tripled in a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 3-2 Greeneville. The Twins got a two-out single in the ninth, but no more.
Bailey Ober struck out eight in six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks. Rainis Silva and Gorge Munoz were each 2-for-4.
GCL NATIONALS 4, GCL TWINS 0 AT NATIONALS (PLAYOFF GAME)
Yasel Antuna singled home a run in the third. In the sixth, Antuna tripled in a run and scored on a Juan Soto double. A passed ball added another run to make it 4-0 and there it stayed. The Twins had men on first and third in the second and had a leadoff double in the seventh, but were turned aside each time.
Blayne Enlow struck out six in five innings but allowed four runs on five hits and a walk. Kevin Marnon struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings. Derek Molina struck out three in 1.1 scoreless innings. Benjamin Rodriguez and Taylor Grzelakowski were each 2-for-4 with a double. The loss ends the GCL Twins' season.
TODAY'S TILTS
12:35 Pawtucket (Jalen Beeks, 6-6, 3.66) at Rochester (Adalberto Mejia, 0-1, 3.04)
1:15 Montgomery (Benton Moss, 4-4, 3.68) at Chattanooga (Ryan Eades, 3-3, 3.87)
2:00 Cedar Rapids at Beloit (Seth Martinez, 4-10, 3.77)
6:00 Greeneville (Chad Donato, 1-1, 4.02) at Elizabethton
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Rochester is tied for Lehigh Valley for first place in the wild card race. According to the Red Wings' facebook page, Lehigh Valley holds the tiebreaker, so it will take both a Rochester win and an IronPig loss for the Red Wings to reach the playoffs.
Chattanooga won the first half and has clinched the second half.
Fort Myers won the second half. It appears they will host Palm Beach in the first game of a best-of-three series tomorrow.
Cedar Rapids qualified for the playoffs by finishing second in the first half. They will finish third in the second half.
Elizabethton won their division. They trail Greeneville 1-0 in their best-of-three playoff series.
The GCL Twins won their division. They lost in the first round of the playoffs.
The DSL Twins won their division. They lost in the second round of the playoffs.