A solid game for Zack Littell. A better game for Lewis Thorpe. Charlie Barnes pitches well, too. Ben Rodriguez hits an inside-the-park homer to lead the Kernels. Lots of batters off to good starts for the E-Twins. Anthony Escobar has the best game of them all.
ROCHESTER 2, SYRACUSE 1 IN ROCHESTER (10 INNINGS)
The Chiefs scored one in the ninth to send the game to an extra inning. Syracuse failed to score in the top of the tenth, getting two strikeouts, a single that only sent the runner to third, and another strikeout. In the bottom of the tenth, Zack Granite delivered a one-out single to bring home the winning run.
Granite did not start, but replaced Byron Buxton in the field as the tenth inning started. I don't know why. Buxton was 1-for-3 and struck out twice.
Zack Littell pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, giving up four hits and a walk and striking out six. Nick Anderson struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.
CHATTANOOGA 12, BILOXI 2 IN CHATTANOOGA
The Lookouts scored three runs in the first inning and led all the way. The Shuckers did not get on the board until the ninth.
Jimmy Kerrigan was 4-for-5 with a home run (his second), scoring four times and driving in two. He is batting .429. Chris Paul was 3-for-5 with two doubles and six RBIs. Ryan Walker was 3-for-5. Tanner English was 2-for-5 with a home run, scoring twice. Brent Rooker was 1-for-4 with a home run (his tenth) and a walk, scoring twice. Andy Wilkins was 0-for-4 with a walk and is batting .320.
Lewis Thorpe was brilliant, striking out twelve in seven shutout innings and giving up one hit and one walk. Paco Rodriguez pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.
FORT MYERS 10, BRADENTON 0 IN BRADENTON
Leading 1-0, the Miracle scored six in the fifth and three in the sixth. Ben Rortvedt had a two-run double in the fifth and Caleb Hamilton had a three-run triple in the sixth.
Lewin Diaz was 3-for-5 with a double and scored twice. Mark Contreras was 3-for-6. Caleb Hamilton was 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, and a walk, driving in three. Luis Arraez was 2-for-4 with two walks. He is batting .413 in his last ten games (19-for-46). Rortvedt was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in two. He is batting .333. Taylor Grzelakowski was 2-for-5 with a double. Brandon Lopez was 2-for-5. Alex Kirilloff, in his high-A debut, was 1-for-6.
Charlie Barnes had his best game of the season, pitching seven shutout innings and giving up five hits and two walks and striking out four. Colton Davis pitched two shutout innings, giving up no hits and no walks and striking out one.
CEDAR RAPIDS 5, WISCONSIN 4 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
With the Kernels trailing 4-3 in the sixth, Ben Rodriguez hit a two-out two-run inside-the-park home run to put Cedar Rapids in the lead to stay. The last eight Timber Rattlers were retired, five of them on strikeouts.
Rodriguez was 2-for-3 and the home run was his fourth. David Banuelos was 2-for-3 with a double. Royce Lewis was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his seventh. He is batting .305. Akil Baddoo was 2-for-4 with a double.
Randy Dobnak pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and a walk and striking out three. Jovani Moran pitched 2.2 perfect innings, striking out five of the eight batters he faced.
ELIZABETHTON 9, BURLINGTON 5 IN ELIZABETHTON
The Twins had leads of 3-1 and 4-2, but it took a three-run seventh to break a 4-4 tie and put them in the lead to stay. Ryan Jeffers doubled home the lead run.
Jeffers was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring twice and driving in three. He is batting .636. Trevor Casanova was 2-for-3 with a walk and is batting .714. Lean Marrero was 2-for-4 with a double and is batting .500. Ricky De La Torre was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and is batting .308. Ariel Montesino was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs and is batting .400. Jared Akins was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs. Colton Burns was 1-for-4 and is batting .333.
Andrew Cabezas struck out five in three innings, giving up one run on one hit and no walks. Carlos Suniaga pitched three innings, giving up one run on one hit and striking out two. Johan Quezada pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
GCL TWINS
No game scheduled.
DSL TWINS 5, DSL YANKEES 0 AT YANKEES
All five runs came in the fifth inning. Wander Valdez hit a three-run triple and scored on a Francisco Martinez single. The lone Yankee hit came leading off the ninth inning.
Martinez was 3-for-4 and is batting .343. Jim Caceras was 1-for-4 with a double and is batting .310.
But the star was Anthony Escobar, who pitched seven no-hit innings, walking one and striking out three. He faced the minimum twenty-one batters, as they man he walked was caught stealing. He has an ERA of 0.68 and a WHIP of 0.56 in 26.2 innings. He has given up just 10 hits and opposing batters are batting .114 against him. Yolby Guzman pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.
TODAY'S TILTS
9:30 DSL Yankees at DSL Twins
11:00 GCL Red Sox at GCL Twins
5:30 Fort Myers (Tyler Wells, 5-3, 2.47) at Bradenton (Adam Oller, 0-1, 4.22)
6:00 Elizabethton at Bristol (Roger Santana)
6:05 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Justus Sheffield, 1-2, 3.03) at Rochester (Stephen Gonsalves, 4-3, 5.10)
6:15 Biloxi (Kodi Medeiros, 4-3, 3.61) at Chattanooga (Sean Poppen, 1-3, 7.58)
6:35 Wisconsin (Dylan Fife, 5-3, 3.67) at Cedar Rapids (Bailey Ober, 3-1, 5.58)