Andrew Albers shines and Keon Broxton goes deep again. Jermaine Palacios and Andrew Bechtold have big days. Alex Isola hits a key homer. Denny Bentley takes one for the team.
ST. PAUL 11, IOWA 1 IN IOWA
The Saints scored six in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead. Mark Contreras and Jimmy Kerrigan homered in the inning.
Batting stars: Contreras was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his seventh), a double, and two runs. Willians Astudillo was 2-for-5. Drew Maggi was 2-for-6 with two RBIs. Keon Broxton was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourth), two walks, and two runs. Kerrigan was 1-for-5 with a home run, his sixth.
Pitching stars: Andrew Albers struck out six in six shutout innings, giving up six hits and a walk. Ian Gibaut struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk. Robinson Leyer struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.
Opposition stars: Trent Giambrone was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Ryan Meisinger struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Good stats: Jose Miranda was 1-for-4 and is batting .367.
Bad stats: Broxton is batting .182. Leyer has an ERA of 6.12. Gibaut has an ERA of 7.88. Joe Harvey gave up a run in one inning and has an ERA of 33.75.
Record: The Saints are 26-28, in fourth place in the AAA East/Midwest, nine games behind Omaha.
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS 10, WICHITA 9 IN WICHITA (10 INNINGS)
Andrew Bechtold homered in the ninth to tie it 8-8, but Dairon Blanco hit a two-run homer in the top of the tenth. Bechtold came up again with two out in the tenth, representing the winning run, but struck out.
Batting stars: Jermaine Palacios was 4-for-5 with a double and two runs. Bechtold was 2-for-4 with two home runs, his seventh and eighth. Spencer Steer was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and a walk. B. J. Boyd was 2-for-5. Trey Cabbage was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer (his second) and two runs. Aaron Whitefield was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his fourth.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Blanco was 3-for-5 with a home run (his fifth), a double, a walk, three runs, and three RBIs. Austin Cox pitched five innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk and striking out four.
Starter: Bryan Sammons pitched five innings, giving up three runs on three hits and two walks and striking out two.
Good stats: Steer is batting .345. Ernie De La Trinidad returned to the lineup, going 1-for-5 and batting .319. Zach Neff gave up two runs (one earned) in three innings and has an ERA of 2.05.
Bad stats: Sammons has an ERA of 6.32. Calvin Faucher allowed three runs in one inning and has an ERA of 8.76. Jhonleider Salinas allowed two runs in one inning and has an ERA of 14.54.
Record: The Wind Surge is 31-24, in first place in the AA Central/North, a half game ahead of Tulsa.
CEDAR RAPIDS 10, PEORIA 2 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
Alex Isola hit a three-run homer in the second to give the Kernels a 4-1 lead.
Batting stars: Seth Gray was 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs. Isola was 3-for-5 with a three-run homer (his seventh) and three runs. Jair Camargo was 2-for-4 with a home run (his tenth) and four RBIs.
Pitching stars: Ben Gross pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and striking out two. Ryan Shreve pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one. Owen Griffith struck out three in two perfect innings.
Opposition star: Jordan Walker was 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, and two runs.
Good stats: Shreve has an ERA of 2.38. Gross has an ERA of 2.76.
Bad stats: Griffith has an ERA of 6.84.
Record: The Kernels are 29-26, in second place in the High-A Central/West, 7.5 games behind Quad Cities
ST. LUCIE 8, FORT MYERS 6 IN ST. LUCIE
The Mets tied it at four in the fourth on three bases-loaded walks and scored four in the sixth to break the 4-4 tie.
Batting stars: Willie Joe Garry, Jr. was 2-for-3 with a walk. Yunior Severino was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fourth), a double, and a walk. Will Holland was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fourth), a double, and two runs.
Pitching stars: Carlos Suniaga struck out four in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.
Opposition stars: Jaylen Palmer was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two runs. Jose Peroza was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Drake Nightengale struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Starter: Denny Bentley, normally a reliever, pitched well for three innings, but his line is 3.1 innings, three runs, two hits, and four walks. He struck out five.
Good stats: None.
Bad stats: Jesus Feliz made his Class A debut and went 0-for-5, so he is batting zero. Nick Anderson was 0-for-3 and is batting .135. Garry, Jr. is batting .180. Aaron Sabato was 0-for-3 and is batting .181. Holland is batting .192. Charles Mack was 1-for-3 and is batting .196. Suniaga has an ERA of 5.87. Bradley Hanner allowed one run in zero innings and has an ERA of 7.84
Record: The Mighty Mussels are 31-24, in third place in the Low-A Southeast/West, 6.5 games behind Tampa.
TODAY'S TILTS
11:10 Fort Myers (Brent Headrick, 3-3, 2.81) at St. Lucie
6:35 Peoria at Cedar Rapids (Cody Laweryson, 0-1, 5.40)
6:39 St. Paul (Josh Winder, 1-0, 1.59) at Iowa
7:05 Northwest Arkansas at Wichita (Chris Vallimont, 0-0, 0.00)