NORFOLK TIDES 8, ST. PAUL SAINTS 3 IN ST. PAUL (GAME 1)

A passed ball scored a run in the first and a four-run inning, including a Jud Fabian two-run homer, gave Norfolk all the runs it would need.  Matt Wallner homered in the third to put St. Paul on the board, but Samuel Basallo hit a two-run homer in the fourth.  Basallo homered again in the seventh.  Wallner homered in the seventh as well, a two-run shot, but it was not nearly enough.

Batters:  Matt Wallner was 2-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs.

Pitchers:  Starter Cory Lewis pitched 2.2 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks, striking out three.  Randy Dobnak struck out two in two perfect innings.

Opponents:  Samuel Basallo was 3-for-4 with two home runs (his eighth and ninth), a double, a walk, four runs, and three RBIs.  Jud Fabian was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his ninth.  T. T. Bowens was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run, and an RBI.

ST. PAUL SAINTS 3, NORFOLK TIDES 2 IN ST. PAUL (GAME 2)

Emmanuel Rodriguez homered in the second to give St. Paul a 1-0 lead.  Coby Mayo singled home a run in the third to tie it.  A wild pitch put St. Paul back in front 2-1 in the fifth and a sacrifice fly provided an insurance run.  They needed it, as Chadwick Tromp homered in the seventh to cut the lead to 3-2.  However, Norfolk did not get the tying run on base.

Batters:  Mickey Gasper was 2-for-3.  Emmanuel Rodriguez was 1-for-1 with a home run (his fourth) and two walks.

Pitchers:  Simeon Woods Richardson struck out eight in six innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk.

Opponents:  Vimael Machin was 2-for-3.  Chadwick Tromp hit a home run.  Roansy Contreras struck out five in four innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk.

Stats:  Mickey Gasper, .348/1.176 OPS.  Ryan Fitzgerald, .320/.933 OPS.  Will Holland, .893 OPS.  Mike Ford, .841 OPS.  Anthony Prato, .812 OPS.  Simeon Woods Richardson, 1.50 ERA.

Record:  St. Paul is 23-21, in fifth place, five games behind Nashville.

SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS 2, WICHITA WIND SURGE 1 IN SAN ANTONIO

Francisco Acuna homered in the first to give San Antonio the lead.  It stayed 1-0 until the seventh, when Aaron Sabato homered to tie it.  But in the eighth, Newilian Cedeno delivered an RBI single to drive home what would turn out to be the winning run.  Wichita got the tying run to second with one out in the ninth, but could do no more.  Wichita stranded ten runners and went 0-for-10 with men in scoring position.

Batters:  Gabriel Gonzalez was 3-for-4.  Aaron Sabato was 1-for-3 with a home run, his third.

Pitchers:  Ricky Castro pitched five innings, giving up one run on four hits and no walks and striking out three.  Pierson Ohl struck out three in three innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks.

Opponents:  Francisco Acuna was 2-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.  Henry Baez struck out six in 5.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk.

Stats:  Gabriel Gonzalez, .455/.993 OPS.  Tanner Schobel, .304/.827 OPS.  Tyler Dearden, .300/.818 OPS.  Kyler Fedco, .904 OPS.  Aaron Sabato, .837 OPS.  Jorel Ortega, .825 OPS.  Ricardo Olivar, .817 OPS.  Noah Cardenas,. 810 OPS.

Record:  Wichita is 23-19, in second place, one game behind Arkansas.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 3, FORT WAYNE TINCAPS 1 IN FORT WAYNE

Fort Wayne scored in the first on a Rosman Verdugo RBI single.  A Kaelen Culpepper single-plus-error tied it in the third and Cedar Rapids took the lead in the fourth a Caden Kendle RBI single.  Nate Baez doubled home an insurance run in the eighth.  Fort Wayne did not get a hit after the seventh.

Batters:  Khadim Diaw was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitchers:  Jose Olivares struck out six and walked five in 3.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits.  Kade Bragg struck out five in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.  Cole Percival struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Paulshawn Pasqualotto pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opponents:  Kai Roberts was 2-for-3 with two walks and a run.  Brendan Durfee was 2-for-4.  Clark Candiotti struck out nine in 4.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk.  Harry Gustin struck out four in three innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks.

Stats:  Nate Baez, .337, .922 OPS.  Kaelen Culpepper, .307, .902 OPS.  Khadim Diaw, .306, .906 OPS.  Kyle DeBarge, .882 OPS.  Paulshawn Pasqualotto, 1.29 ERA.  Cole Percival, 1.69 ERA.

Record:  Cedar Rapids is 24-16, in second place, one game behind Quad Cities.

LAKELAND FLYING TIGERS 4, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 1 IN LAKELAND

Wenceel Perez hit a two-run homer to put Lakeland on the board in the third.  Jefferson Valladares doubled home a run in the fifth to cut the lead to 4-1, but Lakeland came back with two more in the bottom of the fifth.  Fort Myers did not put together a threat the rest of the game.

Batters:  Fort Myers had just three hits.

Pitchers:  Dylan Questad struck out six in 4.2 innings, but allowed four runs on four hits and three walks.  Tyler Stasiowski struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk.  Ivran Romero pitched a perfect inning.

Opponents:  Wenceel Perez was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk.  Lucas Elissalt struck out six in 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Luke Stofel struck out five in four innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Stats:  Poncho Ruiz, .317/.855 OPS.  Ivran Romero, 2.29 ERA.

Record:  Fort Myers is 19-23, in sixth (last) place, 5.5 games behind Lakeland.

FCL TWINS 10, FCL PIRATES 2 AT TWINS

Estuar Suero singled home a run in the top of the third to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead, but Ariel Castro answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to put the Twins in the lead to stay.  Ramiro Dominguez hit a three-run double in the fourth to make it 6-2.  The Twins added a run in the fifth and Castro homered again in the seventh.  This was another nine-inning game, and that gave time for Javier Roman to hit a two-run homer in the eighth.  Possibly it's just a matter of agreement between the teams involved whether they play seven or nine.

Batters:  Ariel Castro was 2-for-3 with two home runs, a walk, and three RBIs.  Javier Roman was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and two runs.

Pitchers:  Christian Becerra struck out five in two innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks.  Melvin Rodriguez pitched four innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks with no strikeouts.  Mitch Mueller struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Ruddy Gomez struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks.

Opponents:  Luke Scherrer was 3-for-4 with a double and a run.  Ronaldys Jimenez struck out three in two innings, giving up an unearned run on no hits and a walk.

Stats:  Javier Roman, 1.089 OPS.  Ariel Castro, 1.052 OPS.  Irvin Nunez, .853 OPS.  Ruddy Gomez, zero ERA.  Mitch Mueller, 1.74 ERA.  Christian Becerra, 2.25 ERA.  Melvin Rodriguez, 2.45 ERA.

Record:  The Twins are 8-5, tied for first with the Rays.

TODAY'S TILTS

11:00  FCL Twins at FCL Red Sox
4:35  Cedar Rapids (Ty Langenberg, 0-2, 7.52 and Cole Peschl*, no record) at Fort Wayne (Jose Luis Reyes, 0-3, 5.13 and Miguel Mendez, 1-1, 2.25)
5:30  Fort Myers (Eli Jones, 1-3, 4.41) at Lakeland (TBD)
6:37  Norfolk (Kyle Brnovich, 1-2, 5.62) at St. Paul (David Festa, 2-1, 3.60)
7:05  Wichita (Darren Bowen, 2-0, 2.89) at San Antonio (Sam Whiting, 0-0, 5.93)

*We have been misspelling Cole Peschl's name as Peschi.  Not that he's likely to ever know, but we still regret the error.