ST. PAUL SAINTS 5, INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS 3 IN ST. PAUL
Carson McCusker hit a two-run double in the first inning to give St. Paul the early lead. A sacrifice fly made it 3-0 after two. It stayed there until the fifth, when Nick Yorke got Indianapolis on the board with a two-run single. Mike Ford singled home a run in the seventh to make it 4-2, but Indianapolis responded with a pinch-hit home run by Nick Solak in the eighth to cut the lead to one again. Ryan Fitzgerald doubled home a run in the bottom of the eighth, however, and this time Indianapolis had no answer. They did get the tying run up to bat with one out in the ninth, but their last two men went out.
Batters: Royce Lewis was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Anthony Prato was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs. Ryan Fitzgerald was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, a run, and an RBI. Carson McCusker was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Jeferson Morales was 2-for-5.
Pitchers: Zebby Matthews struck out five but walked four in 4.2 innings, giving up two runs on two hits. Kyle Bischoff pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one. Jacob Bosiokovic pitched a perfect inning, striking out one. Kody Funderburk pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.
Opponents: Ji Hwan-Bae was 2-for-5 with a double and a run. Nick Solak was 1-for-1 with a home run, his fifth. Nick Yorke was 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.
Stats: Royce Lewis is batting .500 with an OPS of 1.096. Ryan Fitzgerald is batting .324 with an OPS of .950. Carson McCusker is batting .316 with an OPS of 1.020. Anthony Prato is batting .314 with an OPS of .844. Kody Funderburk has an ERA of zero. Zebby Matthews has an ERA of 1.93. Anthony Misiewicz has an ERA of 2.53. Alex Speas has an ERA of 2.84.
Record: St. Paul is 11-13, in seventh place, 3.5 games behind Memphis.
SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS 12, WICHITA WIND SURGE 4 IN WICHITA
Jeremy Rivas hit a three-run homer in the first to put Springfield up early. Wichita tied it in the third on a bases-loaded walk and a two-run single by Rubel Cespedes. An RBI single and a sacrifice fly in the fourth put Springfield back in front 5-3. Andrew Cossetti homered in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 5-4. From there, however, it was all Springfield. Ramon Mendoza homered in a two-run sixth, Miguel Ugueto hit a two-run homer in a four-run seventh, and Carlos Linares singled home a run in the ninth.
Batters: Tanner Schobel was 3-for-5. Kala'i Rosario was 2-for-4 with a walk. Andrew Cossetti was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk. Rubel Cespedes was 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Pitchers: Starter Ricky Castro struck out three and walked three in three innings, giving up three runs on three hits. That's a lot of threes.
Opponents: Speaking of threes, Springfield had three batters who each got three hits and scored three times. Jeremy Rivas was 3-for-5 with a home run (his fourth), a double, three runs, and four RBIs. Miguel Ugueto was 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs, and two RBIs. Ramon Mendoza was 3-for-5 with a home run (his second), three runs, and three RBIs. Carlos Linares was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Starter Brycen Mautz struck out three and walked three in three innings, giving up three runs on, unfortunately, four hits.
Stats: Kyler Fedco is batting .315 with an OPS of 1.050. Ricardo Olivar is batting .308 with an OPS of .806. Aaron Sabato has an OPS of .868. Tanner Schobel has an OPS of .803.
Record: Wichita is 12-9, tied for second with Northwest Arkansas, two games behind Arkansas.
CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 8, WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS 1 IN CEDAR RAPIDS
Danny De Andrade homered in the second to put Cedar Rapids on the board, but a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth tied it 1-1. In the bottom of the fifth, however, Kaelen Culpepper hit a three-run homer to put Cedar Rapids in the lead to stay. A ground out scored a run in the seventh, and Culpepper hit a two-run single in a three-run eighth that sealed the victory.
Batters: Kevin Maitan was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs. Kaelen Culpepper was 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and five RBIs. Danny De Andrade was 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and two runs. Kyle DeBarge stole his eleventh base.
Pitchers: Jose Olivares struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up one hit and no walks. Jeremy Lee pitched three innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk. Wilker Reyes struck out two and walked one in two shutout innings. Samuel Perez struck out two in a perfect inning.
Opponents: Blake Burke was 2-for-4. Manuel Rodriguez pitched four innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out three.
Stats: Kevin Maitan is batting .348 with an OPS of .942. Kaelen Culpepper is batting .344 with an OPS of .995. Kyle Hess is batting .316 with an OPS of .932. Jose Olivares has an ERA of zero. Wilker Reyes has an ERA of 1.64.
Record: Cedar Rapids is 12-8, in second place, two games behind Quad Cities.
FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 10, CLEARWATER THRESHERS 1 IN CLEARWATER
Fort Myers scored early and often, getting all ten runs in the first three innings. Three of them came in the first, as Byron Chourio led off the game with a triple, Jose Salas followed with an RBI single, and Jay Thomason followed that with a three-run homer. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly brought home two in the second. Clearwater got their lone run in the bottom of the second on a Raider Tello homer, but Fort Myers responded with five in the third. Maddux Houghton singled home one, and later in the inning Salas hit a grand slam. Three Fort Myers pitchers took it from there, limiting Clearwater to just four hits for the game.
Batters: Jose Salas was 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs, and six RBIs. Poncho Ruiz was 2-for-5. Jay Thomason was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fifth) and two walks.
Pitchers: Michael Carpenter struck out four in three innings, giving up one run on two hits and no walks. Zander Sechrist pitched three shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks and striking out two. Devin Kirby walked three and struck out two in three shutout innings, giving up one hit.
Opponents: Raider Tello was 1-for-3 with a home run (his second) and a walk. A. J Wilson struck out three and walked one in three shutout innings.
Stats: Jose Salas is batting .500 with an OPS of 1.500. Jay Thomason has an OPS of .932. Zander Sechrist has an ERA of 1.35. Devin Kirby has an ERA of 1.50. Michael Carpenter has an ERA of 3.00.
Record: Fort Myers is 12-9, tied for first with Dunedin.
TUESDAY'S TILTS
12:05 Wichita at Frisco
4:05 St. Paul at Columbus (doubleheader)
5:05 Jupiter at Fort Myers
6:35 South Bend at Cedar Rapids
milb.com does not list any starters for these games at this writing.