Scoreboard for July 1, 2007

JAY CAPERS RDC staff photographer
Red Wings center fielder Darnell McDonald unsuccessfully climbs the wall trying to catch a home run ball in the second inning.

Buffalo 8 at Rochester 7

Record 42-39

W: J. Lara (2-2, 5.05); L: B. Korecky (2-2, 3.43)
HR: BUF: A. Marte (9), B. Snyder (9), M. Rose (2). ROC: G. Velazquez (1).

E: Velazquez (2, fielding), Buscher (1, throw).

From RedWingsBaseball.com: Mike Rose led off the 10th inning with a home run off Bobby Korecky, as the first place Buffalo Bisons rallied to defeat the Red Wings 8-7 Sunday night at Frontier Field. Jose Morales had four hits and Gil Velazquez homered for the Wings. The loss dropped Rochester four games behind the Bisons. The two teams meet in Buffalo Monday and Tuesday, with the Wings returning home for five games starting with Wednesday's Independence Day celebration and post-game fireworks.

Jason Miller, taking the starting rotation spot of Matt Garza after Garza's promotion to Minnesota, started the game by striking out the first batter. Buffalo moved into scoring position off an error and a single. Miller picked off a runner on second and Tommy Watkins made a diving catch to get the Wings out of trouble in the first.

Buffalo put numbers on the scoreboard in the second inning. Miller had a rough time as Andy Marte hit a home run that landed in the Bisons' bullpen. Two batters later, Brad Snyder crushed a home run far past right field to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead.

The Wings rallied for the lead in a run-filled third inning. Velazquez started the inning with a line drive down left field for a single. He advanced to second on a bunt by Alexi Casilla that landed Casilla on first. Both moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Watkins. Buffalo starting pitcher Jeremy Sowers then walked Darnell McDonald to load the bases. Garrett Jones came up to bat and slammed a ball to an open space in the outfield for an RBI triple bringing in three runs for the Wings. Ken Harvey, after having been activated from the DL on Saturday, hit a barely fair RBI double plating Jones. Harvey then scored the fifth run for the Wings off Morales' RBI single to bring the score to 5-2.

The Wings got into trouble as Buffalo closed the gap in the sixth inning. Julio DePaula came in to relieve Miller and started the inning by walking the first two batters. DePaula allowed a base hit by Rose that loaded the bases. Keith Ginter scored a run off a sacrifice play as the other runners stayed on base. Both then moved into scoring position off a wild pitch. DePaula got the second out before he was relieved by Brian Bass. Buffalo scored their second run of the inning when Marte ran home off a wild pitch by Bass. The Wings were able to end the inning still holding onto the lead, 5-4.

The Wings answered Buffalo's run in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Velazquez drilled a ball over the left field bullpen for a solo home run, increasing the Wings lead to 6-4. It was Velazquez' first home run of the year.

Lead off batter Watkins hit a line drive for a double in the seventh. McDonald then made it to first on a strong over throw error by the shortstop. Increasing the Wings lead, Watkins scored off a sacrifice fly by Jones. McDonald then stole second but was stranded as Buffalo was able to hold the Wings to a score of 7-4.

Ricky Barrett came into the game with one out and one on, and gave up an infield single off the glove of Casilla. Barrett fanned Brad Snyder for the second out, then Jonathan Van Every got credit for a run-scoring infield hit on another great attempt by Casilla. Korecky relieved Barrett and retired Hector Luna to escape with the Wings holding a 7-5 lead.

The Bisons staged a ninth inning rally against Korecky, starting with Luis Rivas reaching first on a throwing error by Brian Buscher. Joe Inglett followed with a double down the right field line to put the tying runs in scoring position with none out. Ryan Mulhern blooped a single to right to pull the Bisons within one run, and Ginter's RBI sacrifice fly plated Inglett to tie the game. Korecky had been successful in 18 of his 20 save opportunities this season.

Watkins led off the bottom of the ninth by ripping a single to left, and moved to second on McDonald's sacrifice bunt. The Bisons made a pitching change, with Juan Lara coming in to face Jones. Jones swung at the first pitch and popped up for the second out, then Lara's wild pitch put Watkins at third. But Lara fanned Glenn Williams on a 3-2 pitch to send the game into extra innings.

Buffalo's lead off batter Rose scored the winning run with a solo home run in the tenth inning. With two pinch hitters, Rochester was unable to score in the tenth to end the game. Korecky took the loss for Rochester and Lara was given the win.

NOTES: Morales raised his batting average to .363...Fans who won the "Take Me Fishing" contest held earlier this season spent Sunday morning fishing at Powdermill Park with players Chris Heintz and Josh Rabe, Stan and Stu Cliburn and Red Wings front office staffers. Check out the Hahn Photographic Pics of the Day to see photos. from the outing...Twins Johan Santana, Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter were named to the American League All-Star Team on Sunday. Pat Neshek is one of five final candidates to be voted onto the AL squad; vote for Pat now by clicking here... Brock Peterson smacked a homer and had a career-high six RBI to power the Twins' Double-A New Britain club to a 10-9 win over host Reading on Sunday. Peterson ripped an RBI double in the fourth inning, smacked his 11th homer with a man aboard in the sixth and doubled home three runs to key a five-run seventh, erasing a 7-5 deficit, to put the Rock Cats (37-41) ahead for good. New Britain reliever Jose Mijares (3-0) allowed one run on a hit and three walks while striking out one in one inning to pick up the win. Tim Lahey gave up a run on three hits, fanning one without issuing a walk in 2 1/3 frames to record his third save....Canadian pop-punk rock stars Hawk Nelson headlined the pregame Faith Tour concert in the Walk of Fame area. The band, who portrayed The Who in an episode of the NBC series "American Dreams," has also appeared in the film "Yours, Mine and Ours" with Dennis Quaid. Check out pics of the band's Sunday performance at Frontier in our Pics of the Day section; check out HawkNelson.com and myspace.com/hawknelsononline for more on the band...The Red Wings (42-39 record) need three more wins in their final eight games before the All-Star break to have their fourth consecutive winning record at the All-Star break. Rochester will need their third consecutive winning second half of the season to make a playoff push. Since 2005 the Wings have a 55-51 record after the All-Star break...The Bisons lead the season series 4-2. A season ago, Buffalo won the season series 9-7. The Red Wings were 4-4 at Frontier Field and 3-5 at Dunn Tire Park.

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New Britain 10 at Reading 9

Record: 37-41

W: J. Mijares (3-0, 3.68); L: C. Willey (0-1, 20.25); SV: T. Lahey (3)
HR: NBR: B. Peterson (11). REA: P. Ramos (4).

From MiLB.com: Brock Peterson smacked a homer and had a career-high six RBIs to power New Britain to a 10-9 win over host Reading on Sunday.

Peterson ripped an RBI double in the fourth inning, smacked his 11th homer with a man aboard in the sixth and doubled home three runs to key a five-run seventh, erasing a 7-5 deficit, to put the Rock Cats (37-41) ahead for good.

The 23-year-old first baseman's previous best was a five-RBI game against Dunedin while playing for Fort Myers in the Class A Advanced Florida State League on April 27, 2005.

New Britain reliever Jose Mijares (3-0) allowed one run on a hit and three walks while striking out one in one inning to pick up the win. Timothy Lahey gave up a run on three hits, fanning one without issuing a walk in 2 1/3 frames to record his third save. Starter Brad Baker yielded five runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Peeter Ramos belted his fourth homer, a two-run shot, in the fifth for the Phillies (40-42). Jason Hill singled in the second to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.

Cory Willey (0-1), who worked the seventh in relief and failed to get an out, surrendered five runs on three hits and a walk in taking the loss. Reading starter Carlos Carrasco yielded five runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 frames.

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A storm approaches over Hammond Stadium

Lakeland 3 at Fort Myers 2

Record 5 - 6

W: B. Badenhop (8-5, 3.23); L: J. Rainville (4-8, 3.59); SV: F. Dolsi (13)
HR: LAK: M. Hernandez (13).

E: Portes (12, fielding), Dinkelman (2, fielding).

Mrs. Wright wanted to know when I find time to do all of this. I said "I don't, which is why I'm behind on the Miracle site."

The Miracle got behind early on a less then stellar performance by Jay Rainville, and could not catch up. Hopefully, I will fair better.

Rainville walked William Rhymes who came home on a Cameron Maybin sac-fly to put the Flying Tigers on the board in the first. Rhymes again put a hurting on the Miracle in the third when he doubled out to right, then came home on a Maxwell Leon single. Rainville managed to get Wilkin Ramirez to ground into a timely double play to end the inning.

The glowering skies and threating storm had left by the sixth inning, when Rondell White also left the game. Michael Hernandez knocked one over the left field wall to make it 3-0 Flying Tigers. That also ended Rainville's stint on the mound, at which point the Fort Myers squad decided they could break out the bats.

The Miracle rallied back a bit in that inning, when Brian Dinkelman singled out to center with 1 out. Juan Portes reached on a force attempt when Lakeland short stop Mark Haske missed the catch. Dwayne White poped up, but an Erik Lis single plated Dinkelman to put the Miracle on the board.

Luis Ugueto doubled in the bottom of the seventh and moved to 3rd on an Ovalle fly out. Jeff Christy singled to drive him in, making the score 3-2. It started to look promising when Steve Tolleson was hit by a pitch, but Dinkelman ground into a force out and Portes flew out to end the inning.

The Miracle could raise no offense in the last two innings to get even close to tying up the game.

Rainville allowed all three Tiger's runs, earned, on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4 in six innings. Angel Garcia completed the game, walking 2 and striking out 6 in 3 innings worth of work.

Burke Badenhop pitched well for Lakeland, limiting the Miracle to only 1 earned run on 7 hits while striking out 3 in 6 innings. Cameron Maybin left the game in the bottom of the first after suffering what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder. Wilkin Ramirez was ejected in the 3rd by 1st base umpire Travis Brown after the threw his helmet, evidently in disgust at Brown's call on the double play. Lakeland field manager Kevin Bradshaw went with him after arguing the descion with the Brown. Once he pulled the finger out and started pointing, you just knew Bradshaw was getting the boot.

Lis was 2-for-4 on the night with 1 RBI, Dinkelman and Ugueto were also 2-for-4, both with 1 run each.

The two teams rematch tonight, right hander Oswaldo Soso (2-4, 2.50) gets the start for the Miracle.

Rumor Central: Word at the park was the catcher Javi Sanchez was leaving the team to take a coaching position with LSU. I do not have confirmation on this, but will check it out tonight. Sanchez was dressed and in the dugout last night, but Toby Gardenhire was handling catching duties in the bullpen.

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Clinton 0 at Beloit 1

Record 5-5

W: T. Robertson (3-2, 2.23); L: B. Coffman (5-4, 3.88); SV: R. Delaney (26)
HR: BEL: W. Ramos (5).

E: Olson (16, fielding), Cates (1, fielding).

From snappersbaseball.com: Four Snappers’ pitchers combined for the shutout as Beloit defeated Clinton, 1-0 on Sunday afternoon. Wilson Ramos hit a first inning solo home run (his fifth of the season) to give the Snappers all they would need.

After Joe Benson led the bottom of the first inning off with a strikeout, Ramos blasted a homer off the scoreboard. Wilson’s scoreboard smash resulted in Snappers’ fan, Tom Klipstein winning $500 courtesy of West Bend Mutual. Ramos’ homer ignited the fans and the Snappers’ pitching staff as they closed the door on the LumberKings.

Starter Tyler Robertson pitched six innings of four hit, no run baseball to earn his third win of the season. Aaron Craig, Jose Lugo, and “Sandman” Rob Delaney pitched the final three innings to finish the job.

Rob Delaney pitched a scoreless ninth inning to add to his Midwest League save lead of 26. The win pushed the Snappers’ second half record to 6-5.

(I am so looking forward to having Tyler, Wilson and Joe up to play for the Miracle next season.)

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Elizabethton 11 at Bristol 1 (7 innings)

Record 10 - 1

From MiLB.com: Steven Hirschfeld hurled five perfect innings as visiting Elizabethton rolled to an 11-1 victory over Bristol in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader.

Making the second start of his professional career, Hirschfeld (1-0) struck out four before giving way to reliever Michael Rogers. The 21-year-old right-hander has tossed eight scoreless frames since the Twins selected him in the ninth round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

Rogers allowed one run on two hits and a walk with three strikeouts over the final two innings.

Rene Leveret delivered a two-run single in the first and Benjamin Petsch clubbed a three-run homer, his second, in Elizabethton's eight-run third. Estarlin De Los Santos went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Henry Sanchez and Mark Dolenc each drove in a run for the Twins (10-1).

White Sox starter Gregory Infante (0-1) was rocked for seven runs -- six earned -- on three hits and four walks while striking out two in 1 1/3 innings. Adam Tollefson provided little relief, yielding four runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 4 2/3 frames.

Hancer Vargas broke up the no-hit bid with a single in the seventh before scoring on Logan Johnson's base hit for Bristol (2-9).

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Elizabethton 9 at Britsol 4 (7 innings)

Record 11 - 1

W: S. Steedley (1-0, 5.00); L: L. Guzman (0-1, 7.88)
HR: None.

E: Steedley (1, fielding).

From MiLB.com: Benjamin Petsch and Estarlin De Los Santos drove in three runs apiece to as visiting Elizabethton beat Bristol, 9-4, to complete a sweep of Sunday's doubleheader.

Petsch staked the Twins to a quick lead with a bases-loaded triple in the first inning. De Los Santos delivered a two-run single in the fourth and an RBI base hit in the fifth that made it 8-2.

Henry Sanchez chipped in a two-run double and Ozzie Lewis went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Twins (11-1), who also won the opener, 11-1.

Starter Spencer Steedley (1-0) yielded two runs on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts over five innings for his first professional win. Omar Alcala allowed two runs and three hits with two walks in 1 1/3 frames, fanning two.

Bristol's Luis Guzman (0-1) was charged with eight runs -- three earned -- on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts over four innings. Hector Santiago surrendered a run on two hits and a walk while fanning one in 1 2/3 frames.

Sergio Morales collected two hits and an RBI, while Jose Martinez and Nick Mahin each drove in a run for the White Sox (2-10).

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GCL Twins 5 at GCL Reds 3

Current Record: 8 - 2

W: J. Acosta (1-0, 0.00); L: C. Snowden (0-1, 9.00); SV: D. Rondon (2)
HR: RDS: T. Brown (2).

E: Arias (2, pickoff).

Santos Arias gave up a 3-run home run to Tony Brown in the second inning Sunday at the Ed Smith Complex in Sarasota, Florida, but was otherwise excellent allowing only 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7 in 5 innings. Meanwhile the GCL Twins rallied back in the 7th inning, to go on to win their contest with the GCL Reds, 5-3.

Ben Revere picked up a single out to right field in the sixth inning and then stole second base to get the Twins fired up. Andrew Schmiesing's ground out moved him to third, and he came home on Jeanfred Brito's ground out to second base. Juan Richardson then hit into a double, but Alexander Soto struck out to end the inning. But it made the game 3-1.

In the seventh, Yangervis Solarte singled to start the inning and newcomer Angel Morales followed him onto base with a single out to center. Nick Biagini laid down a lovely bunt that not only moved his teammates into scoring position, but got him onto base as well. Wang-Yi Lin struck out, but Revere reached on an error by 1st baseman Rafael Sanchez to drive in Solarte, making it 3-2. He would be taken out at 2nd on Schmiesing's force out, but that also tied the game up with Morales coming home. Brito reached on an error by 3rd baseman Brett Bartles that plated Biagini. Richardson's single caught Brito at home, trying to run in from second base.

Closer Danny Rondon came in to finish off the game, allowing only 1 hit with a thunderstorm threatening. Jose Acosta pitch 3 innings in relief of Arias, allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 1.

Richardson was 3-for-4 in the game with a double, and Morales, the Twins 3rd round pick in the 2007 draft, was 2-for-4 with 1 run and a triple. Revere, Schmiesing, and Brito were credited with RBIs, the other two runs being unearned.

The Twins stay on the road, traveling to the City of Palms Complex in Fort Myers to take on the Red Sox on Monday. Liam Hendriks is expected to make the start for the Twins.

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Notes: Two GCL Twins alumni, 1st baseman Justin Morneau and center fielder Torii Hunter were named to the MLB All Star game in San Francisco...Kevyn Feiner, the brother of New Britain catcher Korey Feiner is playing for the GCL Reds. He as 0-for-4 today. He his .227 in 28 games with the GCL Reds last season...The Daniel Berlind/Michael McCardell show rolls again on Thursday. Fort Myers fans might want to catch these two talented pitchers while they can as one, if not both, are expected to be doing the Betsy Bop shortly...Rookie League Elizabethton first baseman Rene Leveret was named the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for the week ending June 29. Leveret, 21, hit .370 with two doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs in six games for the E-town Twins.

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