ST. PAUL SAINTS 8, BUFFALO BISONS 7 IN ST. PAUL
Will Wagner hit a two-run single in the third to put Buffalo up 2-0. Will Holland doubled home a run in the fourth and the Saints scored two in the fifth to go up 3-2. The lead lasted until the next half-inning, when Joey Loperfido hit a two-run single to make it 4-3. That lead also lasted until the next half-inning, when Edouard Julien hit a two-run single-plus-error to give St. Paul a 5-4 lead. In the eighth, homers by Loperfido and Davis Schneider put Buffalo back in front 7-5. Not to worry, because Mike Ford hit a three-run homer in the ninth to give the Saints a walkoff victory!
Batters: Ryan Fitzgerald was 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, and two runs. Mickey Gasper was 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, and two runs. Jeferson Morales was 2-for-4 with a run. Edouard Julien was 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI. Mike Ford was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer and two walks.
Pitchers: Andrew Morris struck out six in five innings, giving up two unearned runs on eight hits and a walk. Alex Speas pitched a scoreless inning, walking one. Tyler Beede pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.
Opponents: Joey Loperfido was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourth), a walk, two runs, and four RBIs. Will Robertson was 3-for-4 with a walk. Will Wagner was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Davis Schneider was 2-for-5 with a home run. Tommy Nance struck out three in two perfect innings.
Stats: Mickey Gasper is batting .421 with an OPS of 1.560. Ryan Fitzgerald is batting .337 with an OPS of .976. Carson McCusker is batting .333 with an OPS of 1.065. Mike Ford has an OPS of .877. Jeferson Morales has an OPS of .859. Patrick Winkel has an OPS of .829. Kody Funderburk has an ERA of 2.31. Alex Speas has an ERA of 2.45.
Record: St. Paul is 17-14, in third place, 1.5 games behind Nashville.
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS 6, WICHITA WIND SURGE 5 IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
Rubel Cespedes hit a two-run homer in the first and Wichita scored two in the second to take a 4-0 lead. It stayed 4-0 through six, and it was looking good. But Gavin Cross hit a two-run homer in the seventh and did it again in the ninth, tying the score. A bases-loaded walk scored on for Wichita in the tenth, but Carter Jensen delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the tenth to walk it off for Northwest Arkansas.
Batters: Tanner Schobel was 4-for-6 with a double, two runs, and an RBI. Rubel Cespedes was 3-for-4 with a home run (his third), a double, two walks, and three RBIs. Ben Ross was 2-for-5 with a walk and an RBI. Kala'i Rosario was 2-for-6 with an RBI.
Pitchers: Trent Baker struck out six and walked three in five shutout innings, giving up one hit.
Opponents: Gavin Cross was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his second and third) and four RBIs. Rudy Martin was 2-for-4 with a run. Ben Sears struck out three and walked three in two shutout innings, giving up two hits. Ryan Ramsey struck out five in five innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits and two walks.
Stats: Tyler Dearden is batting .321 with an .843 OPS. Kyler Fedco has an OPS of .968. Aaron Sabato has an OPS of .914. Rubel Cespedes has an OPS of .809. Tanner Schobel has an OPS of .808. Jarret Whorff has an ERA of 1.84. Trent Baker has an ERA of 2.03.
Record: Wichita is 15-14, in third place, three games behind Northwest Arkansas.
CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6, BELOIT SKY CARP 5 IN BELOIT
Danny De Andrade doubled home a run in the first and Cedar Rapids scored three in the second on three hit batsmen, two walks, and a wild pitch to go ahead 4-0. Beloit scored two in the bottom of the second, but Cedar Rapids scored one in the third on three more walks and another hit batsman. But Jay Beshears hit a two-run double in the third and homered in the fifth to tie it 5-5. There was no more scoring until the eighth, when a walk, a passed ball, and a De Andrade RBI single produced the game-winner for Cedar Rapids.
Batters: Danny De Andrade was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Kyle DeBarge was 2-for-5 with two runs. Jaime Ferrer was 0-for-2 but was hit by pitches three times.
Pitchers: Alejandro Hidalgo struck out four in three innings, but allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits and two walks. Cole Percival pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two. Paulshawn Pasqualotto pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.
Opponents: Fenwick Trimble was 3-for-5 with a run. Jay Beshears was 2-for-5 with a home run (his third), a double, and three RBIs. Colby Shade hit a home run. Gabe Bierman pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks and striking out two. Jack Sellinger struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.
Stats: Nate Baez is batting .333 with an OPS of .951. Kaelen Culpepper is batting .328 with an OPS of .901. Kyle DeBarge has an OPS of .879. Kyle Hess has an OPS of .825. Danny De Andrade has an OPS of .813. Paulshawn Pasqualotto has an ERA of zero. Cole Percival has an ERA of 2.08. Wilker Reyes has an ERA of 2.30.
Record: Cedar Rapids is 19-9, in second place, one game behind Quad Cities.
DUNEDIN BLUE JAYS 7, FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS 3 IN FORT MYERS
Homers by Jean Joseph and Sam Shaw gave Dunedin a 3-1 lead in the third. Yasser Mercedes hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to tie it 3-3. But it was all Dunedin after that. Joseph singled home a run in the fourth to make it 4-3. It stayed close until the eighth, when Dunedin scored three more to put the game out of reach.
Batters: Yasser Mercedes hit a two-run homer, his second. Fort Myers had only two hits.
Pitchers: Adrian Bohorquez struck out five in three innings, but allowed four runs on three hits and two walks.
Opponents: Bryce Arnold was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a run, and an RBI. Jean Joseph was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second) and three RBIs. Sam Shaw was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth), a walk, and two runs. Gage Stanifer struck out four and walked three in four shutout innings, not allowing a hit.
Stats: Jay Thomason has an OPS of .979. Cole Peschi has an ERA of 0.83.
Record: Fort Myers is 15-14, tied for second with Clearwater, one game behind Dunedin and Lakeland.
TODAY'S TILTS
11:00 FCL Twins at FCL Orioles
6:05 Dunedin (TBD) at Fort Myers (Jakob Hall, 1-0, 4.80)
6:05 Cedar Rapids (Tanner Hall,1-1, 5.95) at Beloit (Karson Milbrandt, 0-1, 3.86)
6:37 Buffalo (TBD) at St. Paul (Cory Lewis, 1-2, 9.00)
7:05 Wichita (Connor Prielipp, 0-2, 4.73) at Northwest Arkansas (Ben Kudrna, 0-2, 5.23)