Scoreboard for June 1, 2007

VAN ROSE vrose@timesleader.com
Rochester catcher Matt LeCroy tries to chase down Bronson Sardinha in the Yankees’ 7-4 loss Friday night at PNC Field.

Rochester 7 at Scranton/WB 4

Record 27-21

W: M. Garza (3-5, 3.19); L: B. Kozlowski (2-4, 3.68)
HR: ROC: G. Jones (8). SWB: S. Duncan (14).

From redwingsbaseball.com: Garrett Jones knocked in four runs, and Matt Garza picked up the win as the Red Wings beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 7-4 Friday night. Rochester retains second place in the International League North Division, a game and a half ahead of the third place Yankees. The two teams meet again in Pennsylvania Saturday night, then the series moves to Rochester for Sunday afternoon and Monday night games at Frontier Field. New York Yankees pitcher Kei Igawa is scheduled to start Sunday for Scranton.

Scranton posted a first inning run off Red Wings starter Garza, on an RBI single by Angel Chavez. The Yankees added another single run in the fifth, after a fielding error at first base by Glenn Williams. Rochester took the lead in the sixth against Yankees reliever Ben Kozlowksi (2-4), putting up three unearned runs including a two-run homer by Jones.

Denard Span tripled in the seventh, driving in Trent Oeltjen to make it 4-2 Rochester.

In the eighth, Jones cracked a double on a 1-2 pitch to the alley in right-center. The extra-base hit scored Gil Velazquez and Williams, who had singled against Colter Bean. Doug Deeds also hit an RBI double off Bean in the eighth, making it a 7-2 game.

Garza (3-5) struck out seven and walked four over six innings, allowing just three hits after throwing 95 pitches, 57 for strikes. Ricky Barrett allowed Shelley Duncan's 14th home run of the season in the eighth inning. Bobby Korecky pitched the ninth and allowed a run, before striking out Shelley Duncan for the final out.

NOTES: Jones now has 35 runs batted in for the season; Tommy Watkins is second on the club with 20 RBI...

The Wings made three errors in the game...

The Wings had scored a total of four runs over Garza's previous three starts; Garza had lost all three...

RHP Eddie Morlan and LHP Ryan Mullins were selected to represent the Fort Myers Miracle in the Florida State League 2007 All-Star Game on June 16. Morlan, 21, was a 3rd-round pick of the Twins back in 2004. Morlan has made a team-high 17 appearances along with registering eight saves for the Miracle pitching staff this season. The Miami, FL native has compiled a 2-1 record with a 2.60 ERA in 27.2 innings of work. Morlan has allowed nine runs on 18 hits while compiling a 13/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Mullins, 23, was promoted to Double-A New Britain this week. Selected in the 3rd round of the 2005 June draft by the Twins out of Vanderbilt University, Mullins collected a 3-3 record in 10 appearances with the Miracle this season. In 54.2 innings tossed, Mullins surrendered 17 runs on 50 hits with a dozen walks and 56 strikeouts. His 1.98 ERA currently ranks him seventh in the Florida State League...

The best of the International League and Pacific Coast League will face off in the 20th annual contest to be held at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico on July 11th. Online voting and the “Make Yourself a Triple-A All-Star” Sweepstakes are now underway; voting begins June 1 and will run through Friday, June 22nd. Fan balloting will account for one-third of the total vote...

RHP Tristan Crawford took a perfect game into the sixth inning and set career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts as New Britain blanked Binghamton, 7-0, on Thursday. Read more about Crawford's effort and the Rock Cats' week in our exclusive Double-A New Britain Rock Cats Report, updated each Friday - click here to read this week's Report...

Kevin Slowey struck out Travis Buck in his Major League debut for the Twins Friday night in Oakland.

Who writes these things? Morlan is from Havana, Cuba, not Little Havana, Miami. Geez.

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New Hampshire 2 at New Britain 3

Record: 27-20

W: T. Lahey (4-0, 3.77); L: T. Thorpe (3-2, 3.56)
HR: NHM: R. Cosby 2 (3). NBR: B. Buscher (4).

E: Guzman (1, throw).

From rockcats.com: New Britain’s Brandon Roberts slammed a double into right field to knock in Kyle Geiger, who had reached base after being hit by a pitch, from first base to give the Rock Cats a dramatic 3-2 walk-off win over New Hampshire on Friday night.

The Fisher Cats took a 1-0 lead when Rob Cosby hit a solo blast to left field to lead off the third inning.

The Rock Cats’ Garrett Guzman doubled to right field to knock in Brian Buscher, who reached base on a walk, to tie the game 1-1 in the sixth inning.

Cosby (3-for-4) went deep again in the eighth to regain the lead for the Fisher Cats, 2-1. The lead was short-lived as Buscher brought the sell-out crowd at New Britain Stadium to its’ feet with a solo shot to right field that tied the game in the bottom of the eighth.

Brad Baker turned in another fine start for the Rock Cats, limiting the Fisher Cats to four hits and one run through seven innings. He struck out five. Reliever Tim Lahey (4-0) came away with the win after allowing two hits and two runs.

Kyle Yates fired seven impressive innings of his own with four hits and one run. He struck out six, but walked four. Tracy Thorpe (3-2) suffered the loss with 1 2/3 innings in relief.

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Sarasota at Fort Myers - Postponed

Record 22 - 31


Jay Rainout-ville

Friday night's Florida State League game between the Sarasota Reds and Fort Myers Miracle was postponed due to rain.

It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on June 13 at 5:05 p.m. ET.

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Kane County 6 at Beloit 7

Record 33-20

W: M. Fox (2-0, 0.00); L: T. Franco Jr. (2-2, 2.84); SV: R. Delaney (18)
HR: KCC: H. Pratt (4), J. Mitchell (2). BEL: D. Valencia (9), G. Olson (2).

E: Santiesteban (6, fielding).

From snappersbaseball.com: Garrett Olson was the hero of the night for the Snappers as they won 7-6 over the Kane County Cougars. Olson hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to put the Snappers on top for good.

Beloit scored first in the bottom of the first inning. The Snappers got four runs, three of which came off the bat of Danny Valencia. Valencia hit a three-run homer to center field, giving Beloit an early 4-0 lead.

Kane County scored runs in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings to take a 6-4 lead. The game remained that way until the bottom of the seventh. Brian Dinkelman singled home Greg Yersich to draw the Snappers to within one, 6-5. The next batter, Garrett Olson, then hit his two-run shot to give Beloit the lead, 7-6.

Matthew Fox pitched three and one thirds innings of two hit, no run relief to pick up his second win of the season. Rob Delaney picked up his eighteenth save of the season to help the Snappers close the door on Kane County.

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Scoreboard for May 31, 2007

Richmond 5 at Rochester 2

Record 26-21

W: M. Acosta (5-1, 1.15); L: D. Gassner (1-4, 5.74)
HR: None.

From redwingsbaseball.com: The Richmond Braves scored twice in both the sixth and seventh innings, breaking a 1-1 tie to defeat the Red Wings 5-2 Wednesday night at Frontier Field. Gil Velazquez drove in the only Rochester run, scoring Trent Oeltjen on a squeeze play in the third inning. The Wings were held to three hits by three Richmond pitchers.

The contest saw a matchup of lefty Dave Gassner, coming off a complete game shutout win on Saturday, against Richmond right-hander Blaine Boyer. A reliever making his first start since May 2005, Boyer recorded two saves against the Wings during the series in Richmond earlier this month.

In the Richmond third, Wes Timmons led off with a double into the left field corner, and was bunted over to third by Gregor Blanco. Timmons scored on a groundball to the right side by J.C. Holt, and the Braves led 1-0.

In the bottom of the third, Oeltjen led off and was hit on the knee by a Boyer pitch. It was the ninth time Oeltjen has been hit by a pitch this season, tops in the International League. Although Oeltjen limped to first base, Boyer kept Oeltjen close and tried to pick him off first base twice. But Oeltjen stole second anyway, then moved to third on Doug Deeds' grounder to to the right side. On the first pitch to Velazquez, Oeltjen broke for home and Velazquez put down a perfect squeeze bunt up the first base line. Velazquez almost was safe at first after Boyer slipped while fielding the bunt; Velazquez was out by a step, and Oeltjen's run tied the game at 1-1.

The Braves got to Gassner in the sixth inning, when Graham Koonce and Carlos Mendez hit RBI singles to put the R-Braves back up 3-1. In the seventh, Blanco's RBI sacrifice fly and a squeeze play bunt hit by J.C. Holt boosted the Braves' lead to 5-1.

Gassner ended his night after 6 1/3 innings, having allowed nine hits and five runs (four earned). Julio DePaula, just down from Minnesota, struck out three in 1 2/3 innings. Brian Bass finished up with a scoreless inning.

Rochester picked up a run in the ninth against Rich Scalamandre, on Garrett Jones' RBI double.

NOTES: Catcher Jose Morales (back) and third baseman Matt Moses (neck) are out of the lineup. The Wings will get a player from Double-A New Britain Friday, expected to be catcher Korey Feiner.

The Red Wings bullpen has done a great job the last five games; in 14 2/3 innings of work, the relievers have allowed just one run on five hits while walking six and striking out 11.

From TwinsBaseball.com - Justin Morneau ranks amongst the top three vote-getters for AL first basemen in All-Star Game balloting. After getting off to a bit of a slow start in '07, Morneau has turned things up a notch over the past few weeks. Morneau now ranks near the top of many offensive categories in the American League, including second in home runs (15), fifth in RBIs (39) and fifth in slugging percentage (.587). Currently in the midst of a season-high 10-game hitting streak, Morneau is hitting .312 with nine homers and 24 RBIs in the month of May.

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Binghamton 0 at New Britain 7

Record: 26-20

W: T. Crawford (5-3, 4.04); L: M. Devaney (2-5, 5.02)
HR: NBR: B. Peterson (5).

E: Molina, F (8, fielding).

From rockcats.com: New Britain’s Tristan Crawford started off strong with three quick outs in the first inning and didn’t miss a beat after a lengthy rain delay. The Australian native was nearly perfect in a 7-0 shutout over Binghamton.

Crawford (5-3) was perfect through the first five innings and went on to throw seven shutout innings. He allowed just one hit and one walk – both in the sixth – and struck out nine.

Meanwhile, the Rock Cats pounded out 13 hits, led by Trevor Plouffe (3-for-5, 3 RBI) and David Winfree (2-for-4, double, triple).

Felix Molina led off the bottom of the first off with a triple and scored on a groundout by Plouffe for a 1-0 lead before lightening forced the umpires to call the players off the field before the start of the second inning. The teams returned to the field at 9:30 P.M. to begin the second inning.

The Rock Cats struck again in the third. Plouffe doubled to center field before scoring on Brian Buscher’s single. Brock Peterson followed with a two-run blast to left field for a 4-0 lead.

Crawford’s attempt at perfection looked to be over when Jose Coronado laced a ball to right field to lead off the top of the sixth. Coronado missed first base, though, and Matt Allegra fired the ball into Plouffe who threw to Peterson at first to retire Coronado. Fate appeared to be on Crawford’s side, but he then allowed a double to Mike Nickeas to break up the perfect game and no-hitter.

Brandon Roberts added an RBI double and scored on another Plouffe RBI groundout in the sixth. Plouffe also had an RBI single in the eighth. Jay Sawatski and Frank Mata added two innings of scoreless relief.

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Matt Betsill

Sarasota 4 at Fort Myers 0

Record 22 - 31

W: R. Ramirez (4-2, 4.71); L: Z. Ward (2-7, 2.51)
HR: SAR: J. Piepkorn (1).

E: Betsill (8, fielding).

The friendly confines of Hammond Stadium proved about as friendly as a room full of kryptonite to Superman as the Miracle posted their 12th shutout of the season, managing only 3 hits in the 4-0 loss to the Sarasota Reds.

Zach Ward took the hard luck loss on the mound, surrendering only 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5 over 7 innings.

B.J. Szymanski doubled a live drive to centerfield. Michael DeJesus singled on a ground ball to Luis Ugueto at short which moved Szymanski to 3rd. A wild pitch by Ward allowed him to score. The last two outs came on ground balls to end the inning, leaving DeJesus stranded.

David Shinskie replaced Ward at the top of the 8th, allowing a single to Daniel Dorn before Jeremiah Piepkorn put one over the left field wall. Shinskie then walked Carson Kainer, who would come home on a Eric Eymann single to finish off the Reds offense for the evening.

Caleb Moore was 2-for-3 on the night with Whit Robbins recording the only other run. Erik Lis returned to the line up tonight only to strike out for 3 of his 4 at bats. Lis is one of two Miracle players in the newly released 2007 FSL Top Prospects set, the other bring Kyle Waldrop who has been already promoted to New Britain.

Jay Rainville (2-5, 2.94) will face off against Logan Ondrusek (4-2, 2.39) Friday night as the two teams conclude the home-and-home series.

Catcher Jeff Christy has been recalled to the AA New Britain Rock Cats. Rochester catcher Jose Morales has been moved to the DL with back spasms, causing the Red Wings to call up a New Britain catcher, likely Korey Fiener. Christy is expected to be in New Britain for the next two weeks.

Yohan Pino's new offspring is a little baby girl. Pino gives a very nice autograph by the way, but he speaks little english.

In past years, the Miracle have had broken bat night. This season, the Miracle are selling broken bats in the gift shop for $15.00. The annual Legends of Rock concert has also fallen by the wayside, so please don't hold your breath wondering which dead band they're going to dig up this time around.

I purchased Matt Betsill's broken bat and have decided I need to learn to bat left. Let's just say it provided a nice diversion from the general apathy on the field. The fact that the only time the "crowd" roared was when a foul ball went into the stands should be a clue in to the way the Miracle were playing.

I am hoping to see a bit more life out of the team in the rubber match.

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Photo: Matt Betsill
Photo: Whit Robbins
Photo: Dwayne White

Kane County 11 at Beloit 1

Record 33-19

W: D. Gordon (1-0, 2.57); L: A. Hawes (3-5, 3.86)
HR: KCC: M. Affronti (4), A. Valdez (2).

E: Singleton 2 (9, fielding, fielding), Craig (1, fielding).

From snappersbaseball.com: Kane County had a six and a three run inning outburst to claim game four of the five game series with the Snappers. Adam Hawes picked up his third loss of the season on Thursday night.
Kane County got things going in the top of the first inning with six runs. They added to their total in the top of the second by adding three more. That would prove to be all they would need in their 11-1 victory over Beloit.

The Snappers got their lone run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a Garrett Olson double to left-center. Olson’s double scored Greg Yersich from first. Olson’s RBI was his seventh of the season.

The loss dropped Beloit’s record to 33-19.

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Scoreboard for May 30, 2007

Richmond 2 at Rochester 3

Record 26-20

W: B. Duensing (1-0, 3.00); L: R. Basner (1-2, 4.05); SV: B. Korecky (12)
HR: None.

E: Casilla (4, missed catch).

From redwingsbaseball.com: The Red Wings beat the Richmond Braves 3-2 Wednesday night at Frontier Field. Brian Duensing got his first Triple-A win with a solid performance on the mound for Rochester.

The Red Wings jumped on top early in the first, when Alexi Casilla led off the game against Ryan Basner with a single and then stole second. He advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a groundout by Glenn Williams.

Rookie lefty Duensing made his Triple-A debut for Rochester, after getting a promotion from Double-A New Britain. His first pitch was ball to Richmond's Gregor Blanco, then Duensing struck out Blanco looking. J.C. Holt singled, but then Duensing started an inning-ending double play with a great fielding play to take away a hit from Yunel Escobar.

Richmond's Doug Clark's single hit Duensing on the back on its way up the middle in the second inning; trainer Tony Leo checked out Duensing, who stayed in the game. The R-Braves tied the score after Duensing walked the ninth hitter, Jon Schuerholz, to start the third inning. Escobar's RBI single plated Schuerholz to make it a 1-1 game.

In the fourth, the Wings broke the tie. Garrett Jones led off with a single and stole second. After a pop out by Matthew LeCroy, Tommy Watkins walked and was thrown out at second on a fielder's choice hit by Trent Oeltjen. Doug Deeds then hit a double to score both runners and put the Wings up 3-1.

The Braves got another run in the sixth with two singles and a sacrifice fly by Clark, but that is all they would get in the inning. Jose Mijares came in to pitch in the seventh throwing two perfect innings to keep the Wings in the lead.

Richmond threatened in the bottom of the ninth against closer Bobby Korecky. With two outs Bill McCarthy hit a shot to centerfield that was arguably ruled a triple. Korecky then got a strikeout from pinch hitter Graham Koonce for the save.

Duensing went six innings with three strikeouts and three walks while giving up seven hits and two earned runs to get the win. Korecky got the save in relief.

NOTES: Former Orioles and Wings star Boog Powell signed autographs and threw out the first pitch Wednesday; check out the Hahn Photographic Pics of the Day for photos...

Another Wings legend, Bobby Grich, will be at Frontier Field Monday June 4. Check out the details in our Promotions Schedule...

RHP Julio DePaula was optioned down to Rochester. DePaula was 0-0 with a 31.50 ERA in three games for the Twins. To make room for Kevin Slowey on the 40-man roster, the Twins will transfer RHP Jesse Crain to the 60-day disabled list. Slowey will make his Major League debut on Friday when he starts against the Oakland A’s....

RHP J.P. Martinez was optioned to Double-A New Britain Wednesday. Martinez was 0-0 with a 12.00 ERA in two games for the Red Wings. With these moves the Red Wings roster stands at 22 players (roster limit is 24)....

With the subtractions of Slowey and Martinez and the addition of DePaula, the Red Wings have endured 24 transactions in the month of May...

Slowey becomes the 10th Red Wings player to be promoted to the Minnesota Twins this season. Of the 10 players, seven (including Rabe and Perkins on the disabled list) are still on the Minnesota roster...

The Red Wings broke a 20-inning scoreless streak at Frontier Field Tuesday night when they scored a run in the second inning. It was the longest scoreless streak at home since May 15-18, 1984 (also 20 innings)...

Rochester scored three runs in the sixth and seventh innings Tuesday night; it was the most runs Rochester has scored in an inning at Frontier Field since they scored seven runs in the sixth inning of the May 9th game vs. Toledo....

Ottawa Lynx skipper John Russell has been selected to lead the IL All-Stars in the 2007 Triple-A All-Star Game. Joining Russell on the IL staff are Rochester Red Wings manager Stan Cliburn, Buffalo Bisons manager Torey Lovullo, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre athletic trainer Darren London. The best of the International League and Pacific Coast League will face off in the 20th annual contest to be held at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico on July 11th....

From TwinsBaseball.com: Joe Mauer's return has now officially been put on hold. The Twins had hoped to activate Mauer from the 15-day disabled list after Wednesday's game, but lingering soreness in Mauer's left quad muscle has ruled that option out. "Obviously he's not going to be activated Friday," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We're just going to keep pushing it back and I'll see where he's at Friday."...

The Twins overcame shaky starting pitching by Scott Baker and came from behind to sweep the White Sox on Wednesday, 7-6, at the Metrodome. Torii Hunter won the game for the Twins when he drew a walk off White Sox reliever David Aardsma to score Jason Tyner.

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Binghamton 9 at New Britain 2

Record: 25-20

W: K. Mulvey (5-4, 3.07); L: J. Martinez (0-1, 1.29)
HR: None.

E: Plouffe 3 (14, fielding, throw, missed catch), Winfree (4, throw).

From rockcats.com: New Britain starter Ryan Mullins was impressive in his Double-A debut, but he was long gone by the time Binghamton scored five runs in the eighth to down the Rock Cats 9-2.

Mullins started off a little shaky in his first game since being promoted from Ft. Myers, but settled down after the first inning to limit Binghamton to six hits and two runs through six innings. He struck out seven.

The B-Mets’ Corey Coles opened the first inning with a walk and Wilson Batista followed with a single. Mullins picked up his first strikeout by sending Fernando Martinez down swinging. Caleb Stewart’s double to center field knocked in both runners for a 2-0 lead.

Kevin Mulvey, the Mets’ second round draft pick from 2006 out of Villanova University, fashioned together seven impressive innings of his own. Mulvey (5-4) allowed just four hits and two runs (one earned). He struck out five.

The Rock Cats retaliated in the sixth when Brandon Roberts opened the inning with a double. Trevor Plouffe drew a walk before Luke Hughes reached base on a throwing error by Mulvey that allowed Robert to score. Mulvey then unleashed a wild pitch that scored Plouffe to tie the game, 2-2.

In the top of the seventh, the Rock Cats were their own worst enemy, as Plouffe’s error at shortstop allowed Mike Nickeas to reach base safely. Nickeas moved to third on Batista’s double. Relief pitcher J.P. Martinez, who has just returned from AAA Rochester, struck out Fernando Martinez swinging but was charged with a wild pitch that allowed Nickeas to score from third to put the B-Mets ahead 3-2.

The B-Mets broke the game open with a five-run inning in the eighth, including a bases loaded three-run triple by Coles and an RBI single by Martinez that scored Coles. Binghamton scored six runs on two hits off J.P. Martinez (0-1) through 1 1/3 innings, but none were earned runs. Throwing errors by Plouffe and first baseman David Winfree allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach base. Plouffe had a rough night in the field with three errors in all.

Joseph Serfass added two scoreless innings in relief for the Mets.

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Eddie Ovalle

Fort Myers 5 at Sarasota 3

Record 22 - 30

W: O. Sosa (2-3, 2.54); L: D. Thompson (1-2, 4.13); SV: E. Morlan (8)
HR: FTM: E. Ovalle (6). SAR: J. Bruce (10).

E: Ugueto 2 (6, fielding, throw).

From miraclebaseball.com: In a battle between the best pitching staff and the best offensive squad in the Florida State League, it was the Fort Myers Miracle who used their solid pitching and an Edward Ovalle three-run homer in a four-run third inning, helping the Miracle to a 5-3 road win over the Sarasota Reds.

Entering Wednesday night, the Sarasota Reds stood atop the FSL with the league’s best record and best batting average as a team. The Reds showed a little bit of their offensive capabilities with a RBI-single from Danny Dorn in the bottom of the first, scoring Mike DeJesus with an unearned run, to grab a 1-0 lead.

The Miracle would follow a half-inning later with an unearned run of their own, knotting things up at one apiece. Caleb Moore kept the inning alive by reaching on a two-out fielding error by Mike Griffin at third, and would later come across on a Matt Betsill RBI-single to right.

The four-run, Miracle third kicked off with a one-out single from Steve Tolleson followed by a double to left off the bat of Juan Portes putting runners at second and third. Ovalle would then blast a three-run shot to left, into the brisk breeze for his fifth dinger of the year, giving the Miracle a three-run lead.

Trailing 5-1, Jay Bruce would connect on a solo-HR to right, his tenth of the year, cutting it to another three-run Miracle advantage. Sarasota would make things interesting after another unearned run crossed the plate in the sixth slicing the lead to 5-3. Miracle relievers Alexander Smit and Eddie Morlan would then silence the Reds bats in the final three innings allowing starter Oswaldo Sosa to pick up his second win of the season.

Sosa would toss 5.2 innings allowing three runs, one earned, on seven hits and five strikeouts in the win. Smit contributed with 1.1 innings allowing just one hit while striking out two. Morlan would follow with a perfect eighth and ninth innings to register save number eight on the year.

The scene now shifts to Hammond Stadium for games three and four of the series beginning at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday night. The Miracle will send RHP Zach Ward (2-6, 2.72) to the mound squaring off against Sarasota’s RHP Ramon Ramirez (3-2, 5.36). Thursday will feature another “Thursty Thursday” with half-price beer all night long along with tributes to Charles Barkley throughout the night.

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Retraction: Please note the Miracle did NOT receive Carlos Garcia from Extended as previously reported. I was having a crazy day at work and trying to help Joan with her computer while talking on the phone and mis-understood the conversation. Please accept my appologies.

At this time the Miracle have not received anyone to fill the spot left open by Ryan Mullins on the roster.


Beloit Daily News Staff photo by Jim Franz
Beloit shortstop Yancarlos Ortiz leaps to bring down a high throw as Kane County’s Michael Affronti slides safely into second. The Cougar moved up on a wild pitch and scored on an error in the sixth inning.

Kane County 3 at Beloit 5

Record 33-18

W: D. Leatherman (5-2, 3.29); L: S. Moore (0-3, 3.15)
HR: BEL: D. Valencia (8), C. Parmelee (5), G. Olson (1).

E: Yersich (6, throw), Woodard (9, fielding).

From snappersbaseball.com: Chris Parmelee had the chance to play hero for the Snappers and took full advantage of it. With one out, runners on first and second, and the Snappers down 3-2, Parmelee hit his fifth homer of the season to right, giving Beloit the 5-3 win over Kane County.

The Snappers scored first in the bottom of the fourth inning off the bat of Danny Valencia. Valencia hit his eighth home run of the season and gave the Snappers the early advantage, 1-0.

The bottom of the fifth inning belonged to Beloit’s Garrett Olson. He hit his first home run of the season to left and stretched the Snappers’ lead to 2-0.

After the Cougars scratched their way back to a 2-2 tie, they took the lead in the top of the ninth inning. Kane County’s Todd Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Jermaine Mitchell from third and giving the Cougars a 3-2 lead.

Beloit’s Danny Valencia started the bottom of the ninth off with a walk. One batter later, Joe Benson walked and brought up the Twins’ 2006 first round draft pick, Chris Parmelee. Parmelee did not disappoint, hitting his fifth homer of the season, sending the Snappers’ fans home happy.

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Scoreboard for May 29, 2007

Richmond 6 at Rochester 7

Record 25-20

W: B. Bass (2-1, 6.84); L: B. Hernandez (5-1, 1.19); SV: B. Korecky (11)
HR: RIC: G. Koonce (6). ROC: D. Deeds (3).

E: Casilla (4, missed catch).

From redwingsbaseball.com: The Red Wings finally put on a strong offensive performance to defeat the Richmond Braves 7-5 Tuesday night at Frontier Field. Rochester trailed 5-1 before rallying with three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. Tommy Watkins went 2-for-4 with four RBI to lead the Wings hitting attack. Doug Deeds also had two hits, including a solo home run that tied the game in the seventh.

Nick Blackburn (0-1) earned a no-decision after throwing six innings, giving up four runs on six hits and striking out three. Brian Bass (2-1) pitched one scoreless inning in the seventh to get the win. Braves starter Trey Hodges also earned a no-decision after pitching six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and striking out five.

The Wings got off to another rough start after leadoff man Gregor Blanco started the game with a walk, followed by a nice bunt single down the third base line by J.C. Holt. A pickoff throw by starter Blackburn was mishandled by second baseman Alexi Casilla and allowed both runners to advance to second and third base. The damage followed when Graham Koonce hit a three-run home run that was barely fair inside the foul pole, giving the Braves an early 3-0 lead.

The Wings, held scoreless over the last 20 innings at Frontier Field, got a run back against Richmond starter Trey Hodges in the second inning. Garrett Jones led off with a double to right-centerfield, moved to third on Matthew LeCroy's ground out, and scored on Tommy Watkins' ground out.

With two outs in the fourth, Blackburn hit Bill McCarthy - and that mistake turned into two more runs for Richmond, who got consecutive RBI doubles to make it a 5-1 game. In the bottom of the inning after Jones and LeCroy both struck out looking on questionable calls, Stan Cliburn and LeCroy were tossed for arguing by home plate umpire Jason Klein. LeCroy's ejection prompted the Wings to use emergency catcher Glenn Williams behind the plate because of back spasms that have plagued starting catcher Jose Morales. Gil Velazquez filled Williams' spot at first base.

The Wings responded in the sixth inning. Casilla led off the inning with a single, followed by a double down the right field line by Denard Span that sent Casilla to third. Williams hit a two-run single to right field to score both runners and cut the deficit to 5-3. Jones then hit a single and Velazquez hit a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners into scoring position. Watkins followed with a run-scoring single to make it 5-4.

In the seventh inning the Wings continued their hot offense. Deeds hit a leadoff home run of relief pitcher Buddy Hernandez the opposite way to left field that was just out of reach of Doug Clark's glove. With two outs Williams reached first base on an error by pitcher Hernandez, who proceeded to hit Jones and then walk Velazquez to load the bases for Watkins. Watkins followed with the biggest hit of the game-- a tie-breaking two-run single on a 1-1 pitch to give the Wings a 7-5 advantage. Hernandez got the loss and a blown save after pitching two innings and giving up one run.

Ricky Barrett did not allow a run and struck out Koonce in the eighth inning after Bass pitched a scoreless seventh. Bobby Korecky came into the ninth inning and got the first two batters to fly out before Wes Timmons doubled to give the Braves one last chance. The speedy Blanco followed with an RBI triple. Holt then grounded out to Watkins-- who created some suspense by barely getting the out in time after double-clutching his throw to first base.

NOTES: RHP Kevin Slowey has been called to Minnesota, and will start Friday at Oakland. The Twins will send a pitcher to Rochester to make room for Slowey; LHP Brian Duensing has been called up from Double-A New Britain and will make his Triple-A debut Wednesday for the Wings against Richmond. Duensing had a 4-1 record with a 2.66 ERA in nine starts for the Rock Cats, with 38 strikeouts and seven walks in 50 2/3 innings; he was the Twins' 3rd round pick in June 2005, after playing college ball for Nebraska. Duensing pitched seven innings and struck out eight in a no-decision start on Friday for New Britain...Twins C Joe Mauer's return from the DL could take place this weekend, which will prompt another player move from Minnesota to Rochester...OF Josh Rabe (sore shoulder) was out of the lineup again Tuesday...The Wings' 2007 team picture was taken by Cardinal Sports Imaging on Tuesday afternoon; the team picture giveaway is scheduled for Friday June 15.

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Binghamton 14 at New Britain 4

Record: 25-19

W: S. Aguilar (2-1, 6.57); L: J. Floyd (3-4, 4.44)
HR: BIN: C. Stewart (8), W. Batista (1). NBR: M. Allegra (7).

E: Plouffe (11, fielding), Buscher 2 (8, fielding, fielding), Sawatski (1, missed catch), Peterson (3, fielding).

From rockcats.com: New Britain starter Jesse Floyd was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning and the bullpen didn’t fare much better as the Rock Cats fell to the Binghamton Mets 12-4.

The Rock Cats got on the board in the third inning when Rashad Eldridge reached base after being hit by a pitch. Felix Molina (4-for-5) delivered a double to put Eldridge on third and Trevor Plouffe’s ground out scored Eldridge for a 1-0 lead.

The lead didn’t last long for the ‘Cats. In the top of the fourth, Plouffe’s fielding error at shortstop allowed Fernando Martinez to reach base. Brett Harper followed with a single before Caleb Stewart’s single to center field knocked in Martinez to tie the game, 1-1. Miguel Negron drew a walk to load the bases before Jose Coronado laced a double to deep center field to clear the bases and put the B-Mets ahead 5-1.

The Rock Cats clawed back in the bottom of the inning, with a two-run double by Kyle Geiger to close the gap, 5-3.

Stewart (4-for-4) hit a two-run homer and Mark Kiger added an RBI double in the fifth. Wilson Batista also had a two-run home run in the eighth.

B-Mets’ starter Salvador Aguilar (2-1) tossed six solid frames, limiting the Rock Cats to three runs (one earned) and seven hits. He struck out four. Brett Harper had three hits and scored three runs for the B-Mets.

Floyd (3-4) allowed five runs (3 ER) on six hits and two walks to take the loss. He struck out three. The bullpen trio of Brian Forystek (1 IP, 3 H 3 R, 2 ER), Danny Powers (3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER), and Jay Sawatski failed to stop the offensive attack of the B-Mets. The pitching staff wasn’t helped by its defense, as the Rock Cats committed four errors on the night.

Matthew Allegra connected for a solo home run for the Rock Cats in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was his team-leading seventh homer of the season.

So much for Ricardo's 13

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The New Britain Rock Cats announced two roster moves, each one involving a left handed pitcher whom they had selected in the third round of the 2005 draft.

LHP Brian Duensing, a 24-year-old resident of Omaha, NE, will depart the Double-A Rock Cats to join the Rochester Red Wings in the Triple-A International League. The 5'11", 195-lb. southpaw was selected by the Twins out of the University of Nebraska in 2005. The former Cornhusker was outstanding for the Rock Cats in 2007, compiling a 4-1 record and 2.66 ERA over nine starts. This is his first trip to AAA.

LHP Ryan Mullins, a 23-year-old resident of Nashville, TN, will replace Duensing by joining New Britain from Ft. Myers in the Single-A Florida State League. The 6'6", 190-lb. Mullins comes to the AA Rock Cats after having compiled a 3-3 record with a 1.98 ERA over 10 appearances in 2007 with the Miracle. He also posted an impressive 56 strikeout-to-12-walk ratio. Mullins leaves the FSL ranked sixth in ERA and strikeouts. Rock Cats


Dwayne White

Fort Myers 8 at Sarasota 2

Record 21 - 30

W: J. Hill (1-2, 3.55); L: T. Wood (2-1, 4.58)
HR: FTM: E. Ovalle (5), D. White (2). SAR: D. Dorn (6).

From miraclebaseball.com: A four-run fifth inning for the Fort Myers Miracle capped off an offensive output on Tuesday night as the Miracle knocked off the Sarasota Reds 8-2. Dwayne White, who went 3-for-5 and came up a triple shy of the cycle, had a three-run blast helping out in the Miracle fifth.

White also started things off for the Miracle in the first singling in Steve Tolleson with the game’s first run. Two unearned runs would come across in the second Miracle inning as Toby Gardenhire reached on a two-out throwing error by shortstop Raul Tablado to keep the inning alive.

Luis Ugueto, who enjoyed a 4-for-6 night at the plate, picked up his first hit in the variety of a RBI-double that scored Gardenhire with the inning’s first run. Tolleson would follow with his second hit of the night plating Ugueto to give the Miracle a three-run lead.

After Edward Ovalle blasted his team-leading fifth home run in the third, a solo-shot to the opposite field, Sarasota would tack on a run in their half of the third to get on the board. B.J. Szymanski led off with a double and would later score on a Miracle throwing error that allowed Mike Dejesus to reach and cut the lead to 4-1.

The Miracle fifth began with Juan Portes reaching on Tablado’s second error of the night at short followed by Ovalle reaching on a hit by pitch. White would send a 1-1 fastball over the wall in right, a no-doubter, sending the Miracle lead to 7-1. Matt Betsill, who picked up a two-out single, would score the final run on Ugueto’s second of four hits on the night.

Danny Dorn would smack a solo-shot to right for the Reds to lead off the seventh, but relievers Angel Garcia and Armando Gabino would combine to retire the final nine Sarasota hitters allowing Josh Hill to pick up his first win of the season.

Hill got the start on Tuesday night as the Miracle saw lefty Ryan Mullins depart for double-A New Britain earlier in the afternoon. Hill went five innings, allowing one run on three hits, while striking out six in his first start.

The Miracle and Reds will square off again in game two of the home and home series at Ed Smith Stadium on Wednesday night. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

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Kane County 5 at Beloit 2

Record 31-18

W: T. Cahill (1-1, 5.40); L: B. Kirwan (1-1, 0.00); SV: S. Moore (6)
HR: BEL: J. Woodard (6).

E: Santiesteban (5, fielding).

From snappersbaseball.com: The Snappers were never able to overcome the two runs Kane County put on the board in the top of the first inning. Brian Kirwan picked up his first loss of the season in the Snappers’ 5-2 loss to Kane County.

After the Cougars scored two in the top of the first inning, Beloit came back to put one of their own on the board in the bottom of the second. Joe Benson scored on an error by Michael Affronti, drawing the Snappers to within one of the Cougars, 2-1.

Kane County had three more in the top of the sixth inning to stretch their lead to 5-1. Beloit’s Johnny Woodard tried to keep the Snappers in it with his fifth homer of the season in the bottom of the sixth. That, however, would be all the Snappers could do against the Cougars.

Brian Kirwan pitched five innings of two run (zero earned), four hit baseball to pick up his first loss of the season.

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Kane County 1 at Beloit 3

Record 32-18

W: M. Fox (1-0, 0.00); L: H. Rodriguez (1-2, 3.24); SV: R. Delaney (17)
HR: BEL: J. Woodard (6).

From snappersbaseball.com: Johnny Woodard hit his second home run of the doubleheader in game two and helped lead the Snappers to a 3-1 victory over the Kane County Cougars. Woodard’s bomb came in the bottom of the first inning after the Cougars took a 1-0 lead.

The Snappers added another run in the bottom of the third inning off the bat of Danny Valencia. Valencia singled home Joe Benson, who was earlier hit by a pitch. Danny’s RBI gave Beloit a 3-1 lead.

That would be all that the Snappers’ pitching staff would need. Tyler Robertson, Matthew Fox, and Rob Delaney combined to allow only one run off four hits. Delaney pitched a scoreless, three strikeout, ninth to pick up his seventeenth save of the season.

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Beloit Daily News

Snappers Reshuffle Roster

Snappers Press Release

The Beloit Snappers have placed catcher, Allan de San Miguel, on the Disabled List with a right ankle sprain, recalled left handed pitcher, Jose Lugo, from the Disabled List, and added left handed pitcher, Tyler Robertson, from extended spring training, all effective today.

Allan de San Miguel is batting .206 with 2 home runs and 13 RBI’s. de San Miguel has a .324 slugging percentage.

Jose Lugo went on the DL on May 18th and is currently 1-2 with a 4.68 ERA. Lugo also has 28 strikeouts in seven games so far this season.

Tyler Robertson went 4-2 last season with a 4.25 ERA for GCL Twins. Tyler had 54 strikeouts in 48.2 innings pitched last year. Robertson was the Twins’ 3rd round pick in the 2006 June draft.

The three transactions put the Snappers’ roster at the Midwest League maximum of 25.

Scoreboard for May 28, 2007

KARIN VON VOIGTLANDER RDC staff photographer
Garrett Jones grimaces when the seventh inning ends after catcher Matthew LeCroy hit into a double play. Manager Stan Cliburn said the team needs to focus on fundamentals following the mistake-filled game.

Richmond 3 at Rochester 0

Record 24-20

W: L. Cormier (1-0, 0.00); L: J. Cummings (3-2, 3.08); SV: B. Boyer (2)
HR: None.

From redwingsbaseball.com: Three Richmond pitchers held the Red Wings to six hits, as the Braves blanked the Wings 3-0 Monday afternoon at Frontier Field. It was the second straight shutout loss for Rochester. Tommy Watkins had a single and double for the Wings.

Atlanta pitcher Lance Cormier was making a rehab start (strained right triceps) for Richmond, after a pair of Double-A rehab starts and one Class A appearance. Cormier retired the first six Rochester batters he faced, with Watkins' double to start the third the first Wings baserunner on the day.

Red Wings starter Jeremy Cummings walked the bases loaded in the second inning, but didn't allow a run. In the third inning, Richmond scored a run on Yunel Escobar's RBI double. Cummings picked off both Gregor Blanco (at first) and Escobar to minimize the damage in the inning. The Braves put up two more runs in the fourth, recording three straight singles off Cummings with one out.

Cormier ran into trouble in the sixth, allowing a single to Doug Deeds, followed by a hit and run with Deeds and Denard Span that put runners at the corners with none out. But the Wings ran themselves out of the inning, with Deeds getting caught between home and first for the first out. Then, Alexi Casilla and Span were on base and Casilla appeared to forgot the number of outs, getting thrown out after Trent Oeltjen's strikeout.

Jose Mijares made his Triple-A Debut, throwing three scoreless innings and allowing a hit and two walks while striking out three. J.P. Martinez pitched a scoreless ninth.

NOTES: Spikes, Mittsy and Tommy Watkins marched in the City Of Rochester Memorial Day Parade Monday morning; the Wings mascots also participated in the Town of Greece Parade Monday afternoon before the game. Check out the Pics of the Day feature to see photos from both parades...

The Red Wings now have a 3-7 record with one rainout on Memorial Day the last 11 years....

The Red Wings pitching staff is currently leading the International League with the fewest number of walks allowed (112). The last time Rochester led the IL in fewest number of walks allowed was 1995 (398 total)...

The Red Wings had an eight-game winning streak vs. Richmond at Frontier Field before Monday's loss....

Rochester had outscored Richmond 47-14 in those eight games, and held them scoreless for 29 straight innings until the third inning run Monday...

The Braves now lead the season series 4-1. A season ago, Rochester won the season series 6-2...

Double-A New Britain scored four runs in the seventh to get back in the game Monday afternoon, then posted three runs in the 11th inning to top Harrisburg 10-7. DH David Winfree's two-run double was the winning hit for the Rock Cats. SS Trevor Plouffe had four of the Rock Cats' 17 hits.

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New Britain 10 at Harrisburg 7 (11 Innings)

Record: 25-18

W: T. Lahey (3-0, 3.95); L: A. Morales (1-1, 2.19)
HR: NBR: M. Allegra (6).

From rockcats.com: The Rock Cats (24-20), beat the Senators Sunday 10-7 in eleven innings.

David Winfree's second double of the game plated Brian Buscher as the go ahead run.

The Rock Cats finished the road trip at 4-4 splitting in both Bowie and Harrisburg. They return home to face the Binghamton Mets for a three game set starting tomorrow night at 6:35 PM.

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Poor Jeff has nothing to do!

Fort Myers Miracle

Record 20 - 30

No Games scheduled

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Photo: Luis Ugueto
Photo: Whit Robbins
Photo: Dwayne White

Beloit 0 at Quad Cities 1

Record 30-17

W: K. Mura (2-0, 0.63); L: A. Burnett (3-3, 3.07); SV: K. Maiques (10)
HR: None.

E: Valencia (6, fielding).

From swingbaseball.com: The Swing of the Quad Cities and the Beloit Snappers traded shutouts during Monday afternoon’s Memorial Day doubleheader at John O’Donnell Stadium, as the Swing took a 1-0 decision in the opener before losing in game two, 4-0. The afternoon was dominated by pitching, as the two teams combined to score in just two of the 28 half-innings.

Quad Cities (27-23) set themselves up for a golden opportunity to pull to within three games of first place after winning the opener, but a strong pitching performance by the Snappers in game two left the Swing five games back. Beloit (31-17) salvaged a series split with the game two victory.

The first game was a scoreless tie before Jared Schweitzer sparked the Swing in the fourth. The 23-year-old out of Kansas drew a walk to lead off the inning, fouling off four consecutive full-count pitches before taking the free pass on the 10th pitch of the sequence.

He was at third base later in the inning when Mark Shorey took ball three to load up the count, but the catcher’s throw back to the mound was low and eluded the pitcher. Schweitzer alertly broke for home, capitalizing on the Snappers’ miscue to score the game’s lone run.

Beloit threatened to even things up in the sixth, but the Swing were up to the task. Danny Valencia blasted a towering fly ball to left that looked like it would tie the game, but 19-year-old outfielder Daryl Jones raced back to the wall, timed his jump perfectly, and brought back the potential home run to preserve the 1-0 lead. Later in the frame there were two men aboard and just one out, but Kyle Mura struck out the last two batters of the inning to keep the Snappers off the scoreboard.

Kenny Maiques (10) came on to close the door in the seventh and fired off a 1-2-3 inning for his first save since May 12. That gave the win to Mura (2-0), who stranded four runners on base over 1.2 scoreless frames of relief. Starter Brad Furnish also pitched well, tossing 4.1 shutout innings while fanning five and allowing three hits.

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Beloit 4 at Quad Cities 0

Record 31-17

W: D. Vais (4-1, 3.51); L: K. Sadlowski (0-2, 4.76)
HR: None.

From swingbaseball.com: Quad Cities headed into game two eager for the doubleheader sweep, but Beloit squashed those thoughts with a big inning in the top of the sixth.

With the game still in a scoreless tie, the Snappers had men at the corners with one away when Johnny Woodard lined a run-scoring single to right. Joe Benson followed with a single of his own that plated another run, but the throw to third bounced off Woodard’s body and into the seats, bringing a third run home. Chris Parmelee capped the rally with a double to left-center that gave Beloit the 4-0 advantage.

That was plenty for the Snappers’ pitching staff, who retired 21 of the 22 batters they faced. Danny Vais (4-1) twirled five scoreless frames to pick up the win, striking out three while allowing a one-out single to Schweitzer in the fourth inning and nothing more. Rob Delaney finished the job with two perfect innings.

Tyler Herron tossed five strong innings for the Swing in game two, fanning three while allowing three hits without figuring into the decision. The loss went to Kyle Sadlowski (0-2), who gave up four runs – three earned – in two innings of work.

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Scoreboard for May 27, 2007

KARIN VON VOIGTLANDER RDC staff photographer
Matt Garza allowed only one run over seven innings, but the Red Wings were shut out by Durham on Sunday night.

Durham 1 at Rochester 0

Record 24-19

W: M. Talbot (4-5, 6.00); L: M. Garza (2-5, 3.21); SV: S. McClung (4)
HR: DUR: J. Ruggiano (5).

From redwingsbaseball.com: The Red Wings lost a pitchers' duel to the Durham Bulls Sunday night at Frontier Field, going down 1-0. The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for the Wings, who host a four-game series with the Richmond Braves beginning tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 pm. Right-handers Matt Garza and Mitch Talbot pitched gems for their respective teams, highlighting a game that was filled with little offense and masterful pitching from both starters and bullpens

The Wings managed only two hits and never had a runner reach second base, giving Garza little offensive support and providing him with a deceptive loss. Talbot earned the win after pitching eight shutout innings and striking out five.

In the first inning Garza had some control issues, throwing his first six pitches for balls. After walking Ben Zobrist, Elliot Johnson followed with a bloop single to center field. However, Justin Ruggiano grounded into a 6-4-3 double play and Wes Bankton grounded out, bailing Garza out of an inning where he threw more balls than strikes.

Garza began to settle down, showing better command of his pitches and being less erratic. But in the third inning Ruggiano hit a towering home run the opposite way to right-center field to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead. Garza retired the next 11 out of 12 batters untile Dustan Mohr's one-out seventh inning single; that was followed by a Raul Casanova single, but Garza fanned Jeremy Owens then got a ground ball out to escape the jam.

The Wings' offense managed just two singles over the first six innings; Alexi Casilla singled to center with two outs in the third, and Denard Span legged out a bunt in the sixth. But Casilla was thrown out trying to steal second, and Talbot picked off Span to get the two fastest Wings off the basepaths.

Garza worked seven innings, allowing four hits and a run while walking four. He struck out seven and threw a total of 108 pitches, 64 for strikes. Ricky Barrett pitched well in relief, striking out four batters in two innings pitched without allowing a hit.

The Wings had a glimmer of hope in the ninth inning after reliever Seth McClung hit pinch-hitter Tommy Watkins with two outs. But Matt Moses grounded out to short to end the game.

NOTES: Spikes, Mittsy and Tommy Watkins will be part of the City Of Rochester Memorial Day Parade Monday at 10:30 am; The Wings mascots will be joined by Matt Tolbert in the Town of Greece Parade Monday at 2 pm...The Red Wings pitching staff pitched 20 consecutive innings without allowing a run, ending with Durham's run Sunday in the third inning. The Red Wings' top five scoreless streaks since 1967: May 30-June 3, 2005-37 consecutive innings...April 15-18, 2006-28 consecutive innings...April 9-11, 2006-27 consecutive innings...May 17-20, 1974-26 consecutive innings...August 6-8, 1967-26 consecutive innings .. Rochester's pitching staff posted two consecutive shutouts Friday and Saturday; since 1967 when Red Wings records begin, Rochester has logged three consecutive shutouts just three times (May 31-June 2, 2005, August 1& 2, 1976, and May 17 & 18, 1974)...Wings pitcher Kevin Slowey is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for May 20-May 26...Slowey, 22, started two games and went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA (15.0 ip, 3 er)...he struck out 13 and walked just two batters...on the season he has recorded 57 strikeouts while walking just five...Slowey was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2005 First-Year Player draft out of Winthrop University...MiLB.com highlights Rochester and the Wings in their "On Location In..." feature this week. Check out the stories by clicking here...Twins catcher Joe Mauer (DL, leg) might return to the lineup this week, which would prompt a pitcher to be sent down to the Wings. OF Rondell White (DL, leg) is working out in Florida but is not ready for a rehab assignment yet.

Tommy Watkins is a Red Wings mascot?

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New Britain 4 at Harrisburg 9

Record: 24-18

W: C. Balester (2-2, 2.98); L: B. Baker (2-2, 4.11)
HR: NBR: F. Molina (4). HAR: J. Whitesell (6), J. Melo (4), R. Bernadina (2).

From rockcats.com: The Rock Cats (23-20), dropped today's game to the Harrisburg Senators. The Cats' out hit the Senators thirteen to nine but left fifteen men on base.

Felix Molina went 3-5, with a homerun and two RBI's.

The Rock Cats will look to finish the road trip at .500 tomorrow with the series finale starting at 1:05 PM.

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David Shinksie

Daytona 3 at Fort Myers 1

Record 20 - 30

W: J. Estrada (1-1, 4.93); L: D. Shinskie (3-2, 3.24); SV: T. Layden (1)
HR: None.

E: Moore (2, fielding), Ugueto (4, throw).

Somedays, it looks like the Bad News Bears out there. Saturday night, Steve Tolleson collided with Eli Tintor in the outfield. At least Tolley managed to hang on to the ball.

Sunday it was Luis Ugeto and Toby Gardenhire tripping over each other at second base.

At least the pitching was good as Jay Rainville out-twirled Jesse Estrada through six innings. He allowed five hits and struck out 7 in six innings. Yes, there was a run, but...

It happened with Brian Dopirak singled a ground ball to Ugeto and Ugeto threw it into the dugout. That moved Dopirak to second. The next single, by Kyle Reynolds was handled by Tintor in right field who fired it to home to try to take Dopirak out. But it got there late, Dopirak crossed the plate behind Caleb Moore, who in turn fired the ball to second in the hopes of at least nabbing Reynolds.

I'm not sure it was the right play. With two outs, Tintor would have had a better chance getting Reynolds at second, but then...would Reynolds have gone to second? He could have stayed, safely at first and Dopirak would have still scored.

So the one run that Jay allowed, unearned, because Ugeto couldn't handle a simple throw to Whit Robbins at first.

David Shinskie replaced Rainville for the seventh and eighth innings. For a moment there, in the eighth, I thought perhaps the ghost of Jose Marzan were inhabiting the Cubs dugout as they laid down two quick bunts to get a man on second. Jesus Valdez singled out to Eddie Ovalle in center and Chris Amador came home, making it 2-1 Cubs.

And the Miracle offense. while less anemic than in other days, couldn't put enough things together in one inning to put another point on the board.

The only Miracle ran came off a Ugueto double and a sac fly by Robbins, that brought Luis in.

So the two teams split the series, and the Miracle head out for a day at the beach before a quick jaunt over to Sarasota for a home-and-home series against the Reds.

Erik Lis reinjured his hammate bone Friday night and has sat out the last two games. It appears to be just bruised and they are resting him to give him time to recover. This was the bone he broke last year in Beloit what ended his season prematurely.

While rumors abound of Yohan Pino being gone to New Britain, these are not exactly true. He is gone, but to Venezuela to be with his wife for the birth of his first child. He is expected back in time to pitch Tuesday's game in Sara. Congratulations to the Pino family.

There has been, as of this writing, no official word as to who - if anyone - the Miracle will lose to call up to New Britain.

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Beloit 2 at Quad Cities 3

Record 30-16

W: P. Walters (4-1, 2.09); L: D. Leatherman (4-2, 3.12)
HR: QC: B. Buckman (10).

E: Valencia (6, fielding).

From swingbaseball.com: The Swing of the Quad Cities could have resigned themselves to being down and out Sunday evening at John O’Donnell Stadium, but in front of a crowd of nearly 3,000 they battled back for the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Beloit Snappers, 3-2.

Quad Cities (26-22) was trailing by a pair and hitless through five innings of play, but Brandon Buckman’s solo homer tied things up in the seventh before Chris Grossman delivered the walk-off hit in the ninth. Beloit (30-16) failed to get anything going against Swing hurler P.J. Walters, who stretched his scoreless innings streak to 28 to pick up the win.

The game was tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth when Jared Schweitzer opened the frame with a double down the third base line. After the Snappers intentionally walked Buckman, Mark Shorey laid down a bunt that snuck past the pitcher for a base hit. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Grossman followed by belting the game winning hit to the warning track in right field for the 3-2 victory.

That gave the win to Walters (4-1), who twirled the final four innings of the ballgame to give his offense a chance to rally. A 22-year-old from Alabama, Walters fanned four while allowing three hits and no walks. Sunday’s outing capped a stellar month of May for the right-hander, who went 4-0 with 29 strikeouts, 16 hits allowed, and three walks issued over six outings and 28 frames.

The Swing offense was hitless through the first five innings, trailing 2-0 before finally breaking through in the sixth. Luke Gorsett dropped a pinch-hit double inside the right field line with two away and later scored on Jim Rapoport’s single to make it a 2-1 game.

In the bottom of the seventh, Buckman evened things up. The slugging first baseman turned on a 1-1 pitch and ended a 17-day homerless drought, planting his league-leading 10th homer on the berm in right field to tie the game at 2-2.

The loss went to Dan Leatherman (4-2), who allowed Buckman’s homer and Grossman’s walkoff hit over two innings of work. Starter Jeff Manship left the game in the bottom of the third after a visit to the mount from the Snappers’ trainer.

Early on, it was a couple of big hits by Chris Parmelee, the 20th overall pick by the Minnesota Twins in the 2006 draft, that got the Snappers out in front. The 19-year-old slugger blasted an opposite-field triple off the Genesis sign on the left-center field wall to open the second inning and came home to score on Allan de San Miguel’s one-out single up the middle. In the fourth, his double off the top of the wall in left helped Beloit to a 2-0 lead.

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Scoreboard for May 26, 2007

Durham 0 at Rochester 3

Record 24-18

W: D. Gassner (1-3, 5.75); L: A. Sonnanstine (6-3, 2.35)
HR: None.

From redwingsbaseball.com: Left-hander Dave Gassner spun a complete game four-hitter, and the Red Wings shut out the Durham Bulls 3-0 Saturday night at Frontier Field. It was the second straight 3-0 shutout win for the Wings, who host the Bulls again Sunday night or a 7:05 pm contest with post-game fireworks.

The Wings staked starter Gassner (1-3) to a 2-0 lead, getting to Durham starter Andy Sonnanstine in the third inning. Denard Span walked with one out, stole second, and scored when Durham second baseman Elliot Johnson threw away the ball on Alexi Casilla's infield hit. Gil Velazquez moved Casilla to third with a ground ball out to the right side, then Casilla scored on an opposite field single by Matt Moses.

Gassner, struggling with an 0-3 record in his past three starts, was sharp and helped himself with a great fielding play in the fifth inning. After walking Brent Butler to open the inning, Gassner leaped up to snag a hard-hit shot by Joel Guzman and throw out Butler at second on a force play. Gassner walked only one batter and struck out four, throwing 107 pitches in the game.

In the bottom of the seventh, Doug Deeds doubled to right field. Denard Span bunted Deeds to third, and Casilla singled to right field scoring Deeds with the final Rochester run.

NOTES: The Wings honored Joe Altobelli on his 75th birthday Saturday night. The team wore replica tops from the 1971 Governors Cup and Jr. World Series championship Rochester club managed by Altobelli, while the staff wore replica t-shirts of the 1971 uniform tops with Alto's name and number 26. Members of Alto's family joined him on the field after the game, for a video scoreboard tribute and birthday cake with fans...MiLB.com highlights Rochester and the Wings in their "On Location In..." feature this week. Check out the stories by clicking here.

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New Britain 5 at Harrisburg 7

Record: 23-18

W: J. Lannan (1-1, 4.50); L: T. Crawford (4-3, 5.02); SV: J. Albaladejo (1)
HR: NBR: M. Allegra (5).

E: Plouffe 2 (10, fielding, throw), Allegra (2, throw).

From senatorsbaseball.com: The Senators found themselves back on the winning side of things Saturday night as they defeated the New Britain Rock Cats 7-5 in front of 4,319 fans at Commerce Bank Park.

Harrisburg starter John Lannan made his second start since joining the Senators and picked up the win pitching into the sixth inning. Lannan walked seven, but received three double plays from his defense, including one that he started. Lannan left the game with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth with a 6-0 lead but Dan Foli gave up a grand slam to Matt Allegra to trim the Senators to 6-4.

The Senators scored their first run in the third inning when Dan Dement singled and then scored on a double by Melvin Dorta. Then in the fifth inning, the Senators scored five runs to make the score 6-0. The Rock Cats contributed to the inning with a couple of errors and a couple of walks, then Frank Diaz capped the inning with a two-run single.

The Senators tacked on a run in the bottom of the eighth on a run scoring single by Brandon Larson. Then the Senators had to withstand a rally by New Britain in the ninth. The Rock Cats scored a run then had the tying run at the plate, but Trevor Plouffe lined out to Dorta to end the game making a winner out of Lannan.

Jonathon Albaladejo pitched the final three innings for his first save of the season.

The four-game series continues on Sunday afternoon at 1:05pm with RH Collin Balester going against RH Brad Baker for the Rock Cats.

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Whit Robbins

Daytona 1 at Fort Myers 2

Record 20 - 29

W: Z. Ward (2-6, 2.72); L: J. Samardzija (0-4, 4.82); SV: E. Morlan (7)
HR: None.

E: Robbins (5, fielding), Tolleson (12, throw), Tintor (4, fielding).

Zach Ward allowed only 1 run on 4 hits and one walk while striking out 4 in six inning worth of work and despite 3 errors, the Miracle held on to an early 2 run lead to defeat the Daytona Cubs, 2-1.

Despite all the hype surrounding Jeff Samardzija, Steve Tolleson started out with a ground-rule double in the first, and the Miracle managed to double their offensive production from the night before.

Jeff Christy reached base on a throwing error by Cubs 3rd baseman Kyle Reynolds, and moved to second on a ground out by designated hitter Matt Betsill. Steve Tolleson signed a ground ball that allowed Christy to score, putting the Miracle up by one.

Eli Tintor would double in Juan Portes in the bottom of the fourth, and the Fort Myers pitching staff took the game the rest of the way.

Jesus Valdez singled a line drive in the top of the seventh and Brian Dopirak doubled him in. That would do it for Ward, who was replaced by Armando Gabino. Gabino would strike out only 1 in 2 innings worth of work, but allowed no hits and issued no walks to hold the Miracle lead.

Eduardo Morlan closed the game down for Fort Myers.

On a side note, there was an agent in the stands tonight who claimed to represent Jeff Manship and Danny Valencia and said both would be promoted to the Miracle from Beloit next week. I wouldn't count on anything until it happens. (Henry Sanchez was also trying to promote himself to the Miracle from extended this afternoon, but I'm sure he's mistaken about the situation.)

Toby Gardenhire may not be MVP on this game, but he gets my vote for MVA - Most Valuable Autographer - after spending a significate amount of time signing for the little league Athletics prior to the game. I was somewhat besieged by the same little league team and did not get a chance to ask Erik Lis what was ailing him.

The Laser Light Extravaganza was pretty lame, but then...I already had my fireworks for the day, watching Anthony Swarzak pitch at extended spring training. After that, anything was bound to be anti-climatic.

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Quad Cities at Beloit (Postponed - Rain)

Record 30-15

Saturday night's Midwest League game between the Swing of the Quad Cities and Beloit Snappers was postponed due to rain.

It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Monday at 2 p.m. ET at Quad Cities.

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Notes: Anthony Swarzak pitched at extended spring training today, a game the Twins lost 7-3. We WERE winning until the 7th inning when Carlos Garcia walked the bases loaded and Matt Williams coming on in relief couldn't hold them. Garcia got hit for 3 runs, Williams for 2.

Hank "The Tank" Sanchez played first for part of the game. Evidently he's been playing most of the week, splitting time with Harvey at first.