Scoreboard for June 15, 2007

JAMIE GERMANO RDC staff photographer
Rochester center fielder Denard Span zeroes in on a short fly ball by Louisville's Joey Votto in the sixth inning at Frontier Field on Friday.
Lousiville 1 at Rochester 0

Record 33-30

W: P. Dumatrait (7-4, 3.30); L: D. Gassner (1-7, 5.37); SV: R. Stone (5)
HR: None.

From redwingsbaseball.com: Three hits and a run in the first inning caused the Red Wings to lose to Louisville 1-0 Friday at Frontier Field. After the first, Dave Gassner and the Wings defense were able to hold the Bats to only one hit and no runs. The Wings offense wasn't as strong, producing only three hits and three players in scoring position during the game.

Gassner started the game by striking out Jeff Kepplinger, who is batting .450 against the Wings during their series. Louisville answered back with three hits and a run in the first inning. Alexi Casilla led off for the Wings with a fly ball that dropped just shy of a home run and became a ground rule double; Casilla moved to third on a groundout, but was stranded at third.

Gassner didn't let the first inning phase him as he only allowed one hit and struck out seven over the next six innings, but the Wings offense didn't help him. During the first four innings, the Wings struck out twice and had only one hit.

Louisville was back in scoring position in the fifth. After being walked by Gassner, Chris Dickerson advanced to second then third on a sacrifice play and fielder's choice. The Wings ended the inning, and Dickerson's hope of scoring, with a 6-4-3 double play.

Jose Morales, playing his first game after being out since May 26 from injury, started the fifth for the Wings with a double to center field, only the Wings second hit of the night. Falling just short of the wall, Morales made it to second and advanced to third on Tommy Watkins' sacrifice play, but Louisville ended the threat after Denard Span grounded out to second to end the inning.

In the seventh, Mike Edwards hit a ball that bounced off Gassner's glove and allowed Casilla to turn the double play. For the Wings, Trent Oeltjen came into the game as a pinch runner for Matthew LeCroy. After two outs, Oeltjen was caught stealing at second base to end the inning.

Julio DePaula relieved Gassner in the eighth. He started the inning by walking Ryan Jorgensen. He made up for his walk by forcing a double play, and striking out the third batter ending the inning. Bobby Korecky pitched a perfect relief inning in the ninth, quickly striking out two of the last three hitters.

NOTES: Friday's paid attendance was 13,114 ... this is the sixth largest crowd in Frontier Field history, fourth largest regular season game crown. It is the largest crowd since opening day in 2005 with attendance of 13,158 ... Josh Rabe is in town this week after his shoulder surgery. He's been given a six-month recovery time...Watkins' family came in from Florida for the homestand ... The Challenger Baseball World Series will be conducted Saturday June 16 at 9 a.m. at Frontier Field, with over 200 players representing squads from Fairport, Greece, Webster, Batavia, and the Finger Lakes little league programs. Challenger Baseball brings together boys and girls ages 6-18 who are mentally and/or physically challenged. Manager Stan Cliburn, catcher Matthew LeCroy, Williams, Spikes, and members of the Red Wings front office will be on hand for the festivities, which are free and open to the public...

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New Britain 4 at Bowie 5

Record: 32-29

W: S. Rleal (1-2, 4.91); L: R. Mullins (0-1, 1.95); SV: J. Miller (4)
HR: NBR: B. Buscher (6).

E: Molina, F (12, throw), Mullins (1, throw), Buscher (11, fielding).

From baysox.com: The Baysox welcomed the New Britain Rock Cats for the first game in a three game series on Friday. Rosman Garcia made his second start of the season, which also turned out to be his second start against New Britain, a 2-1 victory last Saturday on the road. Garcia’s start also turned out to be the Baysox only win on the road trip, dropping the other five games. Since then the Baysox have won four straight and looked to keep rolling as they entered play tonight only one game behind Erie for second place in the Southern Division.

A crowd of 6,143, a majority of which were boy scouts attending Scout Night at the Baysox, were entertained by a great game.

Garcia had an otherwise flawless night aside from giving up a solo home run in the first inning to Brian Buscher, putting the Rock Cats ahead, 1-0.

But the Baysox would battle back in the bottom of the frame, tying the game at, 1-1. Oscar Salazar hit line drive single to right, scoring Paco Figueroa, tying the game.

The Baysox struck again taking the lead in the bottom of the third. Ruddy Yan scored on a ground out by Luis Hernandez, putting the Baysox ahead, 2-1.

Garcia pitched into the seventh, giving up only two hits, but then yielded a lead-off single to Brian Buscher. David Winfree then hit a dribbler towards third base, but Bryan Bass threw the ball past Baysox first baseman Brandon Sing, pulling him off of the bag, for an error putting runners at second and third with the advances on the overthrow.

Rommie Lewis then came into spell Garcia from the game and got the first out of the inning, getting Garrett Guzman to fly out, but Buscher tagged up from third to score, tying the game at, 2-2. Brock Peterson then singled on a line drive to left, scoring Winfree, putting the Rock Cats up, 3-2. Lewis then got Brandon Roberts to fly out for the second out of the inning, before being pulled for Sendy Rleal. Rleal then got Luke Hughes to strike out swinging, ending the threat.

The Baysox then took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth, in a bizarre series of events with both runs scoring without a hit in the inning. Bryan Bass led off with a walk and Ruddy Yan followed Bass up reaching first on a throwing error by New Britain starter Ryan Mullins and advanced to second on the overthrow to first. Bass also advanced to third on the overthrow. Oscar Salazar would then ground into a force out, but Bass scored from third, tying the game at 3-3.

Jose Mijares would then relieve Mullins from the game with two out. The first batter Mijares faced, Val Majewski hit a high pop-up in front of the pitcher’s mound, but third baseman Brian Buscher dropped the sure out and Ruddy Yan and Oscar Salazar came across to score for a 5-3 Baysox lead.

Jim Miller entered the game in the ninth and battled through a bases loaded jam and walked in Garrett Guzman, to put the Rock Cats within one at, 5-4. Miller ended the game and collected his fourth save getting Felix Molina to fly out, with Bryan Bass making a spectacular over the shoulder catch near the Rock Cats bullpen, securing the Baysox win, 5-4. With the win, the Baysox have now run their win streak to a season high five games.

Baysox starter Rosman Garcia, who didn’t factor into decision, turned in six innings of three-hit ball, giving up only three runs, with six strikeouts and only one walk. Sendy Rleal got his first win of the season and improved to (1-2). Miller, who came on to pitch the ninth, converted his fourth save of the year. Mullins was the hard luck loser tonight, going 7.2 innings, giving up only five hits and one earned run. Mullins dropped to (0-1) on the year.

The Baysox will honor the history of baseball on Saturday, with their 6th Annual Negro League Tribute. The Baysox players and coaches will wear retro Philadelphia Stars replica jerseys that will be auctioned off in a live auction during the game. The winning bidders will get to take the jerseys right off the backs of the players following the game. Also, the first 1,500 fans (ages 6 & up) through the gates will receive a free replica Philadelphia Stars hat, courtesy of Dietz and Watson, sponsor of the 6th Annual Negro League Tribute.

Seven former Negro League players will be in attendance at tomorrow’s game and will be honored in a pre-game ceremony and will be signing autographs on the concourse during the game. Players in attendance include: Roosevelt Taylor – Baltimore Bruins (1951), Jimmy Bland – Indianapolis Clowns Eddie Banks, Bert Simmons – Greensboro Redwings (1946 – 1948), Ashville Blues (1949), Baltimore Elite Giants (1950), Al Burrows - NY Black Yankees (1954) & Indianapolis Clowns (1955-1962), Luther Atkinson - Satchel Paige All-Stars (1960), and Jose Piloto – Memphis Red Sox (1948 – 1952).

LHP Craig Anderson (4-1, 5.37) will get the start for the Baysox opposing LHP John Sawatski (3-2, 5.04) for the Rock Cats. First pitch set for 7:05 pm at Prince George’s Stadium.
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Eastern division player Tyler Colvin, a Daytona Cub, watches his Allstar Home Run Derby hit during FanFest at Jackie Robinson Ballpark Friday.
Fort Myers Miracle

Record 29 - 37

FSL All-Star Break

Clearwater's Slayden wins home-run derby
1983: When stars were last here
D-Rays' Davis has few wins for much heat

Beloit 17 at Quad Cities 4

Record 44-25

W: C. Devries (5-3, 2.87); L: S. Garceau (4-4, 3.65); SV: D. Leatherman (4)
HR: BEL: C. Parmelee 2 (9), B. Dinkelman (6), W. Ramos (3), D. Berg (2). QC: J. Schweitzer (5), C. Grossman (3).

E: Olson (12, fielding), Singleton 2 (13, fielding, throw).

From swingbaseball.com: The Swing of the Quad Cities and Beloit Snappers entered play on Friday evening as the top two pitching teams in the Midwest League, but 21 runs, 29 hits, and seven homers later the Swing were eliminated from playoff contention after a 17-4 loss at John O’Donnell Stadium.

Quad Cities (37-30) sent a season-high seven pitchers to the mound, roughed up for season-highs with 17 runs and 19 hits allowed. Beloit (43-25) homered five times and scored runs in seven of the nine innings, led by 2006 first-round Chris Parmelee, who went 4-for-5 with two home runs and six RBI.

The Snappers got the scoring started early, taking advantage of a two-out error in the top of the first that led the three unearned runs. Parmelee’s two-run homer capped the rally, and one inning later Danny Berg’s solo shot gave Beloit a 4-0 lead.

Quad Cities cut that deficit in half in the bottom of the second. With two outs and the bases empty, Jared Schweitzer jacked his fifth home run of the year out of the yard to left to get the Swing on the board. After Wilmer Alvarado was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch, Donovan Solano singled to right-center to drive in another run and make it a 4-2 ballgame.

But the Snappers blew the game open from there. Danny Santiesteban singled in a run to make it 5-2 in the third, and Parmelee went back to work in the fourth. With the bases loaded and one away, the powerful left-handed hitter slugged a towering grand slam to right field for a 9-2 advantage.

The score was 10-2 when Chris Grossman stepped to the plate with one on in the bottom of the sixth. The Swing catcher promptly blasted a 1-1 pitch to the opposite field, clearing the fence in right-center with his third homer of the year to pull to within 10-4.

Beloit immediately quelled any thoughts of a comeback in the seventh. The first five batters of the frame recorded base hits and came around to score, taking advantage of an error to stretch the lead to 15-4. The final touches were put on in the eighth, when a two-run homer by Wilson Ramos cemented the Snappers’ 17-4 win.

Shaun Garceau (4-4) tossed 2.2 innings and took the loss, allowing five runs – four earned – on four hits, four walks, and two home runs.

Beloit starter Cole Devries (5-3) earned the win despite giving up four runs on eight hits over 5.2 frames.

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Scoreboard for June 14, 2007

JAY CAPERS RDC staff photographer
Rochester second baseman Alexi Casilla fields a short hopper during Thursday's 2-0 victory over Louisville at Frontier Field. Tonight's game against Louisville will be broadcast on Ch. 26.

Lousiville 0 at Rochester 2

Record 33-29

W: N. Blackburn (3-1, 2.03); L: M. Gosling (5-3, 3.00)
R: None.

From redwingsbaseball.com: Nick Blackburn pitched his second straight complete game shutout, boosting the Red Wings to a 2-0 win over the Louisville Bats Thursday night at Frontier Field, in the opener of an eight-game homestand for the Wings. Blackburn held the Bats to only six hits over nine shutout innings, striking out five without allowing a walk.

Blackburn, coming off a pair of wins in which he gave up a total of eight hits and one unearned run in 17 innings, allowed a one-out first inning single to Pedro Lopez. The next batter, Joey Votto, drilled a long fly that was headed over the fence and into the Red Wings bullpen, but Garrett Jones raced to the wall and made a leaping catch to take away a home run. Blackburn struck out the next hitter to end the inning, and continued to handle the Louisville lineup. After seven innings, Blackburn had allowed just four hits without walks while fanning four Louisville hitters.

In the second against left starter Mike Gosling, the Wings scraped together a run for an early 1-0 lead. Tommy Watkins beat out an infield hit with one out, stole second base, and moved to third base on a single by Gil Velazquez. With Denard Span batting, the Wings tried a double steal; Watkins scampered home when catcher Ryan Jorgensen threw to second to try to throw out Velazquez, who got hung up between first and second on the play. Velazquez eluded a tag and made it back to first safely.

Gosling limited the Wings to a pair of hits through seven innings, racking up seven strikeouts with just two walks. After surrendering a double to Alexi Casilla with one out, Gosling was replaced by lefty Brian Shackelford. Casilla seized on opportunity to score on a slow ground ball to third base off the bat of Glenn Williams and slid under the tag of the catcher on a close play to score the second run of the game.

Blackburn took the mound in the bottom of the ninth and pitched around a lead-off hit and a double to finish his complete game gem. Votto's double actually fell in when Watkins and Denard Span lost the ball in the lights, but Watkins alertly picked up the ball and threw a strike to third to nab Jeff Keppinger for the second out. Blackburn has won his last three starts for the Wings pitching 26 innings, striking out 15 and allowing only a single unearned run without walking a batter.

NOTES: LHP Carmen Cali was optioned to Rochester from Minnesota Thursday, after the Twins activated LHP Dennys Reyes from the DL. Cali was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA in seven games for the Twins. Cali allowed just three hits in 5.1 innings of work. To make room for Cali the Red Wings optioned LHP Jose Mijares to Double-A New Britain. Mijares was 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA in five games for the Red Wings... With his home run in Louisville on Tuesday, Williams has now homered in all 14 International League ballparks. Jones has hit a home run in every IL Park except for Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium...Twins OF Josh Rabe (DL, right shoulder) had successful shoulder surgery Thursday and could return before the end of the season...The Challenger Baseball World Series will be conducted this Saturday June 16 at 9 a.m. at Frontier Field, with over 200 players representing squads from Fairport, Greece, Webster, Batavia, and the Finger Lakes little league programs. Challenger Baseball brings together boys and girls ages 6-18 who are mentally and/or physically challenged. Manager Stan Cliburn, catcher Matthew LeCroy, Williams, Spikes, and members of the Red Wings front office will be on hand for the festivities, which are free and open to the public...Double-A New Britain INF Luke Hughes was named Eastern League Player of the Week on Monday, after going 13-20 (.650) with five doubles, home run 3 RBI and scored six runs. It is the second straight week that a Rock Cats player has won the award (SS Trevor Plouffe last week). The Rock Cats are the only Eastern League club undefeated in double headers (6-0) and extra innings (4-0) entering play Thursday.

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New Britain 2 at Altoona 5

Record: 32-28

W: K. Bouknight (7-2, 3.27); L: J. Martinez (0-2, 2.33); SV: M. Peterson (12)
HR: NBR: D. Winfree (4).

From Altoonacurve.com: Neil Walker tripled home the tying run and scored the eventual game-winner as part of a four-run eighth inning that lifted the Curve to a 5-2 win over the New Britain Rock Cats Thursday night at Blair County Ballpark. The victory -- Altoona's eighth straight at home -- gave the Curve a three-game series sweep of the Rock Cats to open their six-game homestand.

Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, the Curve offense, which had been held in check for most of the night by New Britain starter Jesse Floyd, erupted for four runs to seize the lead.

Reliever Frank Mata walked leadoff man Brett Roneberg, who then scored the tying run two batters later on Walker's triple, which was misplayed by right fielder Rashad Eldridge. The next batter, Adam Boeve, knocked in Walker with the go-ahead tally on a sacrifice fly to right. Altoona added two more runs in the frame on RBI's by Brian Peterson and Brandon Chaves.

The four-run eighth helped Curve right -hander Kip Bouknight earn his team-leading seventh win of the season. Bouknight (7-2) worked eight strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits, and joined Trenton's Jeff Marquez and Erie's Dallas Trahern as the only Eastern League pitchers with more than six wins so far this season.

Curve closer Matt Peterson recorded a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning to preserve the 5-2 win and Altoona's first-ever sweep of the Rock Cats. Peterson is now 12-for-13 in save opportunities this season. J.P. Martinez (0-2), who allowed three of the Curve's four eighth-inning runs, took the loss for New Britain (31-29).

Walker's eighth-inning triple was one of his three extra-base hits in the game to add to his league-leading total in the category. The Curve third baseman and former Pirates' first round selection now has 33 extra-base hits to lead all Eastern League batters after a 3-for-4 night at the plate. Chaves also posted three extra-base hits in the contest, going 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a triple.

Steven Pearce, the league's hottest hitter entering Thursday's action with a .465 average and 21 RBI in his last 11 games, was held hitless by New Britain pitching in the game to bring an end to both his 11-game hitting streak and 18-game on-base streak.

The Rock Cats remain on the road, traveling up to Bowie, who has won 4 straight. RHP Rosman Garcia (1-2, 5.60) gets the start for the Baysox against New Britain's Ryan Mullins (0-0, 2.25).

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Josh Hill

Sarasota 7 at Fort Myers 2

Record 29 - 37

W: R. Manuel (4-2, 3.79); L: A. Smit (0-3, 5.49)
HR: SAR: C. Tatum (7). FTM: E. Lis (6).

You could see the rain run right up Six Mile Cypress from Gateway and into the stadium. They pulled everyone off the field with Josh Hill pitching in the third, and got the tarp on, but first base was a mess.

Erik Lis hit a home run that just cleared the right field wall in the bottom of the first. Juan Portes, who had walked to get on base, evidently felt it was a double, got to the third base and stopped running long enough to look around. He suddenly realized it was a homerun (I imagine the flashing scoreboard helped) and took off again.

Where, I wonder, was our field manager during this? Shouldn't he have been waving Portes along?

Sloppy fielding contributed to Michael DeJesus run for the Reds in the top of the first. Hill had allowed the run on 4 hits and no walks in 2.0 innings worth of work before the rain ended his evening.

When I left they were pulling the tarp, but had AT LEAST a good hour's worth of clean up time ahead of them. I can't stay for these all-nighters. I've got work the next day AND I had to put TC Bear to bed.

The Miracle sent Alex Smit to the mound upon the game's resumption. Smit, who generally struggles in the early going of a season and turn it on toward the end, has not even been in mid-season form, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits (4 earned) and 1 walk while striking out only 1 in 3.2 innings. Southpaw Kyle Aselton allowed another run in relief on 2 hits and 2 walks, followed by Armando Gabino and Eddie Morlan.

Lis and Edward Ovalle finished up the nigh 2-for-4, Lis with 2 runs and 2 RBI as well.

The Reds remain in first in the West Division, 1.5 games over the Yankees with 3 games left to play. Fort Myers is in fourth place, 12 games behind Sara. I imagine Sarasota is going to be big Miracle fans next week, as Fort Myers finishs off the first half of the season against Tampa when play resumes after the All-star Break on Monday.

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Staff photo by Rob Lucas
Beloit’s Yancarlos Ortiz, right, safely steals secondas Cedar Rapids’ P.J. Phillips lays down a late tag Thursday

Cedar Rapids 6 at Beloit 2

Record 42-25

W: J. Haynes (2-3, 3.86); L: J. Carnevales (2-1, 2.42); SV: R. Cassevah (1)
HR: None.

E: Olson (12, fielding), Singleton 2 (13, fielding, throw).

From snappersbaseball.com: The Snappers lost the final game of the six game series with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 6-2 on Thursday night. Jesus Carnevales pitched a third of an inning and allowed two runs to pick up his first loss of the season.

The Snappers struck first in the bottom of the second inning on a Wilson Ramos RBI groundout. Ramos’ RBI gave Beloit a 1-0 lead after two.

Beloit scored another run in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Wilson Ramos had his second RBI groundout of the night to push the Snappers ahead by two.

That would be all the scoring that the Snappers would do, however. The Kernels scored in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth to take control of the game and eventually win, 6-2.

Beloit starter Brian Kirwan pitched six strong innings of three hit, one run baseball but picked up a no-decision.

The Snappers’ record dropped to 42-25.

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Scoreboard for June 13, 2007

Rochester Red Wings

Record 32-29

No Games Scheduled

New Britain 7 at Altoona 12

Record: 32-27

W: J. Roach (3-1, 4.50); L: B. Baker (2-4, 4.77)
HR: NBR: T. Plouffe (6), R. Eldridge (3). ALT: S. Pearce (7).

From Altoonacurve.com: Steven Pearce clubbed the first grand slam of the year for Altoona to put away New Britain as the Curve erased an early deficit and rolled to a 12-7 win at Blair County Ballpark.

Pearce has hit three home runs in the series after belting two on Tuesday night. He has also accumulated 21 RBI over his last 11 games and is now tied with Neil Walker for the team lead with 34.

The Curve got a later start then they did in the series opener, but ultimatedly got to double-digits in runs for a third consecutive game against the Rock Cats.

The Rock Cats did strike first in the ballgame and built a 3-1 lead after a Rashad Eldridge solo home run off of Curve starter Josh Shortslef in the fourth inning.

However, the Curve bats ignited in the bottom of the inning against Rock Cats' starter Brad Baker. Walker doubled to start the inning. Adam Boeve was hit by a pitch to put two men aboard and the bases were loaded after a Brian Peterson single. Brandon Chaves delivered a run-scoring single to cut the lead to 3-2. Jason Bowers walked with the bases still loaded to force home Boeve to tie the game, 3-3. Andrew McCutchen gave the Curve the lead for good by chopping a two-run single over the head of third baseman David Winfree. Brett Roneberg followed with an RBI-single to score Bowers and then McCutchen came in on a Pearce sacrfice fly to center field. All told, the Curve scored six times to lead 7-3 after four innings.

The six runs eclipsed the season-high of five runs in an inning for Altoona.

Trevor Plouffe led off the fifth inning with his second homer of the series as the Rock Cats scored twice to cut the Curve lead to 7-5 and chase Shortslef from the ballgame.

Despite leaving with the lead, Shortslef didn't stick around long enough to earn the win. Instead, Jason Roach (3-1) claimed the win for Altoona after turning in 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.

Pearce delivered the knock out blow in the bottom of the eighth inning. After Brian Forystek had loaded the bases by plunking Bowers and walking McCutchen and Roneberg, Pearce belted the first pitch from his replacement, Tim Lahey, over the wall in left field to give the Curve a 12-5 lead.

Chris Hernandez surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to cap the scoring, but Dave Davidson came on to secure the victory for the Curve, which also gives them the three-game series as well as the season-series with New Britain.

The Curve have now scored 38 runs in their last three meetings with New Britain while amassing 48 hits.

The two teams will meet for the final time on Thursday night at 7:05 PM. RHP Kip Bouknight (6-2, 3.39) will make the start for the Curve against RHP Jesse Floyd (4-4, 3.68) for New Britain.

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Anthony Swarzak

Sarasota 3 at Fort Myers 1

Record 28 - 37

W: J. Cueto (4-5, 3.15); L: Y. Pino (1-3, 2.38)
HR: None.

The Fort Myers Miracle split a pair of game with the Sarasota Reds, 3-1 and 1-3 in Wednesday's doubleheader.

Yohan Pino struggled on the mound in the first game, giving up all 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4 in only 4 innings worth of work.

Jay Bruce doubled in a pair of runs in the first inning. Bruce was only the third batter Pino faced, giving up a single to Michael Griffin to start the game and alloiwing Michael DeJesus to walk. After Bruce plated his teammates, Pino hit Adam Rosales. However, both Rosales and Bruce were left on base, with a pair of ground outs and a fly out ending the inning.

Steve Tolleson came home in the bottom of the first on a fielding error by Rosales at 1st base. The Miracle nearly had the bases loaded, but Luis Ugueto was taken out at second when Juan Portes ground into a forced out. Edward Ovalle and Dwayne White both flew out to end the offensive threat, and the offense, for the most part, as the Miracle managed only four hits in support of Pino.

DeJesus brought home B.J. Szymanski in the top of the fourth to give the Reds their insurance run.

Angel Garcia finished up the last three innings of the game, allowing only 1 hit and striking out 3 during that time.

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Sarasota 1 at Fort Myers 3

Record 29 - 37

W: A. Gabino (1-0, 0.00); L: L. Ondrusek (4-4, 3.71)
HR: None.

Anthony Swarzak was a bit of a surprise for the Miracle faithful in the second game, finishing off his 50 game suspension. Swarzak worked 5.2 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 8.

The Reds run came in the first inning, with Michael DeJesus singling to center and moving to 3rd on a Jay Bruce double. Adam Rosales would push him over the plate with a ground ball, but Swarzak struck out the next two batters to end the threat.

For the Miracle, the game belonged to Juan Portes, who used his speed to his best advantage, pulling a triple out of fly ball to center and then coming home on a Logan Ondrusek wild pitch.

Portes would get his second run of the night when Erik Lis doubled him home in the bottom of the sixth. Lis picked up the insurnace run on an Edward Ovalle double.

Armando Gabino held on despite a walk in the 7th to finish out the game and give the Miracle the victory which catapults them into 3rd place in the Western Division, 11 games behind division leading Sarasota.

Josh Hill will take to the hill tomorrow for the Miracle against lefy Travis Woods for the Sara-Reds.

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I'm not sure how the addition of Swarzak impacts Jeff Manship's pending promotion. When I asked Jim Rantz, he said "Well, Manship is still in the Beloit rotation, and he's going to pitch in the All-star game. I like to let the kids play in the All-star game, as that's really fun for them."

("What about our All-star game?" Justin says later on in the gift shop. Come one Justin, it's quite clear the FSL All-star game is not FUN.)

While I have heard there are no plans to add any batting help from low A Beloit, the Miracle will be getting Jeff Christy back, as Jose Morales has come off the DL, and is expected to catch tomorrow night's game in Rochester.

In other injury news, Matt Moses remains day-to-day with a sore neck. Errol Siminotish has started pitching, although not off a mound. Rantz expected that he'd be ready to go around July 1. Allan De San Miguel will be rejoining the Snappers after the All-star Break. I'm not sure what that will mean for Wilson Ramos, who has done quite well with the low A squad since being added from Extended Spring Training.

Henry Sanchez has started running and is expected to play in the scrimmages this weekend. He is still on track for a trip to Betsy.


BDN Staff photo by Rob Lucas
Beloit’s Yancarlos Ortiz, left, takes a late throw as Cedar Rapids’ Mark Trumbo (25) steals second. Beloit and Cedar Rapids split a doubleheader at Pohlman Field on Wednesday.
Cedar Rapids 3 at Beloit 1

Record 41-24

W: T. Schoeninger (9-2, 2.67); L: T. Robertson (1-1, 1.89); SV: B. Browning (5)
HR: CED: M. Sweeney (6). BEL: C. Parmelee (7).

From snappersbaseball.com: Beloit Starter Tyler Robertson pitched a strong seven innings of five hit, three run baseball, but still picked up his first loss of the season. The Cedar Rapids Kernels scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to take game one of the doubleheader, 3-1.

The Snappers scored one run in the bottom of the second to take an early 1-0 lead. Chris Parmelee hit his seventh home run of the season to center to give Beloit the early advantage.

That would be all that the Snappers would do offensively, however. A three-run home run by Cedar Rapids’ Matt Sweeney gave the Kernels all the runs that they would need as they went on to win, 3-1.

The loss dropped Beloit’s record to 41-24.

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Cedar Rapids 2 at Beloit 7

Record 42-23

W: M. Fox (4-0, 0.56); L: S. O'Sullivan (4-4, 2.82)
HR: CED: P. Phillips (5).

From snappersbaseball.com: Beloit defeated the Cedar Rapids Kernels in game two of the doubleheader to clinch a first half playoff birth!!!! The Snappers scored seven runs on nine hits to beat the Kernels, 7-2 in seven innings.

After Cedar Rapids scored the first run of the game in the top of the third, the Snappers scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to blow the game wide open. Brian Dinkelman hit a sacrifice fly, Steve Singleton a two-run double, Danny Valencia an RBI double, and Garrett Olson had a two-run single to give Beloit the 6-1 lead.

The Snappers added another run in the bottom of the seventh on a Steve Singleton RBI single to right. Singleton drove home Yancarlos Ortiz, who singled earlier. Steve’s RBI gave the Snappers a 7-1 lead.

Julio Lugo let in a run in the top of the ninth inning, but got the final three outs of the game to seal the deal for the Snappers.

Matthew Fox pitched five innings of five hit, one run baseball to pick up his fourth win of the season.

The win ensured the Snappers a PLAYOFF BIRTH and improved their record to 42-24!!!

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Scoreboard for June 12, 2007

Rochester 3 at Lousville 1 (10 innings)

Record 32-29

W: B. Korecky (2-1, 3.45); L: B. Salmon (1-1, 2.87); SV: B. Bass (1)
HR: ROC: G. Williams (5).

E: Casilla (6, throw), Williams (4, fielding).

From redwingsbaseball.com: Garrett Jones knocked in a pair of runs in the 10th inning, giving the Red Wings a 3-1 win over the Louisville Bats Tuesday night in the conclusion of an eight-game road trip for Rochester. The Wings go into the league's off day Wednesday in second place, a game and half behind Buffalo. The Wings and Bats open a four-game series at Frontier Field Thursday night, the start of eight straight games at home for Rochester.

The Wings loaded the bases in the 10th against Brad Salmon, and after Matt Tolbert struck out for the second out the Bats were poised to wriggle out of trouble and take play into the 11th. But Jones sent a flare into left field, plating both Trent Oeltjen and Gil Velazquez to give Rochester its first lead of the game and the winning margin.

Starters Jeremy Cummings and Elizardo Ramirez were locked in a pitcher's duel, with Louisville picking up an unearned run against Cummings in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead.

Glenn Williams his his fifth homer of the season in the sixth inning off reliever Jason Kershner to knot the game at 1-1. Cummings went seven innings, yielding seven hits and a walk while striking out five. Bobby Korecky took over for Cummings in the eighth, and got into a first and third with none out jam - but escaped trouble with a strikeout and a double play on a failed squeeze play. Korecky pitched two 2/3 innings to get his second win of the season; rookie left-hander Jose Mijares came in to face team home run leader Joey Votto with a runner on in the 10th, and walked Votto to put the tying run at first base. Manager Stan Cliburn replaced Mijares with Brian Bass, who got a fly ball out from Jeff Bannon to end the game. Base picked up the first save of his pro career.

NOTES: Jones boosted his team-leading RBI total to 41...Tolbert, who brought a nine-game hitting streak into the contest, went 0-for-5 and is now hitting .379 for the season...Alexi Casilla had three hits to raise his average to .282...Defying both gravity and mathematical odds, Wings broadcaster Josh Whetzel had two foul balls land in his radio booth Tuesday, including one off the bat of Casilla in the 10th inning.

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New Britain 3 at Altoona 13

Record: 32-26

W: Y. Herrera (1-4, 5.76); L: T. Crawford (6-4, 5.05)
HR: NBR: T. Plouffe (5). ALT: S. Pearce 2 (6), B. Roneberg 2 (5), J. Bowers (3).

From Altoonacurve.com: The Curve supplied plenty of power early, then waited out a 90-minute weather delay before claiming a 13-3 win over New Britain in game one of a three-game series at Blair County Ballpark

Yoslan Herrera (1-4) was the beneficiary of 13 runs of support as he won for the first time as a professional in the United States. Herrera threw six scoreless innings to earn the victory.

Brett Roneberg and Steven Pearce each hit a pair of home runs as the Curve tied the franchise record by belting five in the ballgame. Jason Bowers clubbed the other homer in the third inning.

The Curve did most of their damage off of Rock Cats' starter Tristan Crawford.

Roneberg started the onslaught with two outs in the first inning, sending a solo home run over the wall in right-center field to give the Curve a 1-0 lead. Pearce followed with a double and scored on a Neil Walker single to make it 2-0.

Altoona was back at in the third inning. Bowers led off with his home run to left field. Andrew McCutchen followed with a double and advanced to third on a Roneberg single. Pearce then drilled a three-run homer to make it 6-0.

Roneberg and Pearce hit back-to-back home runs off of Crawford in the fourth inning. Roneberg's came with Bowers aboard to bring the count to 9-0.

Crawford departed in the fourth in favor of Danny Powers who ran into his own troubles in the fifth. The Curve scored four more times on four singles and a walk in the fifth inning to lead, 13-0.

New Britain staged their lone uprising in the seventh inning when Trevor Plouffe clubbed a three-run homer off of Romulo Sanchez.

As Brock Peterson led off the eighth inning for the Rock Cats, the stadium lights at Blair County Ballpark shut off, the power knocked out just ahead of an arriving storm. The combination of factors force a 90-minute delay.

The game eventually continued as Mike Nannini took over for Sanchez and closed out the ballgame with two scoreless innings.

Crawford (6-4) was charged with nine earned runs and took the loss for the Rock Cats.

The Curve have scored 13 runs in back-to-back ballgames against New Britain after they won 13-6 in their last meeting last Thursday at New Britain Stadium. In the two games, Altoona has accumulated 37 hits.

The Curve will look for the series win in game two tomorrow night at 7:05 PM. LHP Josh Shortslef (1-6, 3.88) will make the start for Altoona against RHP Brad Baker (2-3, 3.99) for New Britain.

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Eli Tintor

Fort Myers 2 at Clearwater 0

Record 28 - 36

W: J. Rainville (3-7, 3.00); L: Z. Stott (2-5, 3.44); SV: E. Morlan (9)
HR: None.

From miraclebaseball.com: Fort Myers Miracle starter Jay Rainville and closer Eddie Morlan combined on a four-hit shutout as the Miracle were able to salvage the finale of the three-game series, 2-0, over the Clearwater Threshers on Tuesday night. Rainville went seven innings, allowing four hits while striking out seven. Morlan pitched a perfect eighth and ninth with a pair of strikeouts for his ninth save of the year.

Luis Ugueto lined a triple just inside the first base bag leading off the Miracle fourth. Ugueto would score two hitters later on Edward Ovalle’s RBI-single to left that gave the Miracle an early 1-0 lead.

With one-out and the bases loaded in the seventh, Eli Tintor would score on a wild pitch from Thresher reliever Cory Wylie giving the Miracle their two-run lead. Tintor just snuck by the tag of catcher Lou Marson as he lunged up the third baseline trying to tag out Tintor.

Best scoring chance for Clearwater came in the fourth as Jeremy Slayden roped a double to right followed by a Marson walk. Rainville would get Nic Jackson to pop up to Juan Portes at third before fanning both John Urick and Welinson Baez to end the inning.

Rainville and Morlan combined to retire 18 of the final 19 Thresher hitters on the night. Despite hitting into five double plays, the Miracle picked up their first win of the season, in six attempts, at Bright House Networks Field.

The Miracle head home for a twi-night doubleheader with the Sarasota Reds beginning at 5:05 p.m on Wednesday night. Game one will see the Miracle send RHP Yohan Pino (1-2, 1.91) battle against the Reds’ RHP Johnny Cueto (3-5, 3.34). Wednesday is Fox-4 Kids Club night along with the all-you-cat-eat “Binge on the Berm.” The low price of $12 includes your admission to both games along with the AUCE buffet from 6-7:30 p.m

This was doubly good to see. Normally they don't give Rainy any hits at all, and he's been down because he doesn't feel he's doing enough to get the wins. On top of that I was just getting ready to have a heart-to-heart with Eli about that bat of his - God knows he's been breaking mine with that lack of contact. Perhaps things will turn around in the second half. (Remind me after the Red blank us twice tonight.)

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As for the Miracle's latest wacky promotion, if the local attorney is Michael Hornung, perhaps I can negotiate for Everblades season tickets? Otherwise, this looks like a lot more fun.

June 20th is also the start of the GCL Season. I have (finally) make a decision on the state of my site going forward. We are moving to a new server, which I'll be working on this weekend, and I've registered http://www.gcltwins.com as a domain name.


Staff photo by Jim Franz
Jeff Manship tacked on another effective start to his 2007 resume, beating the Cedar Rapids Kernels Tuesday.

Cedar Rapids 2 at Beloit 5

Record 41-23

W: J. Manship (7-1, 1.49); L: D. Herndon (7-3, 3.38); SV: R. Delaney (21)
HR: BEL: D. Valencia (11), J. Woodard (10).

From snappersbaseball.com: Jeff Manship added to his strikeout total and picked up his seventh win of the season over the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 5-2, on Tuesday night. Manship pitched seven innings and notched another nine strikeouts in the victory.

After Cedar Rapids took a 1-0 lead after the top of the first inning, Johnny Woodard helped the Snappers strike right back in the bottom half. Woodard drove home Wilson Ramos on his tenth home run of the season and gave Beloit a 2-1 lead. That would be all that Manship and company would need.

Two more runs by the Snappers in the bottom of the third inning helped build Beloit’s lead to 4-1. RBI’s from Danny Valencia and Chris Parmelee gave the Snappers enough breathing room to win their second consecutive game over the Kernels.

Both teams would score in the eighth inning to make it a 5-2 game. Reliever Rob Delaney took it from there. Delaney pitched a scoreless top of the ninth inning to add to his league leading save total (21).

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Scoreboard for June 11, 2007

Rochester 4 at Lousville 8

Record 31-29

W: B. Livingston (1-4, 4.68); L: R. Barrett (1-1, 3.66)
HR: None.

From redwingsbaseball.com: A big seventh inning helped Louisville overcome an early deficit and defeat Rochester 8-4 at Louisville Slugger Field on Monday Night. Alexi Casilla was 3-for-4 with two runs scored on the night for Rochester. The Red Wings belted out six doubles on the night, with two each by Casilla, Glenn Williams and Matt Tolbert.

The Bats batted around in the seventh, scoring six runs on five hits. Jeff Keppinger led off the inning with a double and later scored on a Pedro Lopez single. Even after Louisville stopped hitting they continued scoring. Julio DePaula walked three straight batters, forcing in a run on the third walk.

Bobby Livingston (1-4, 4.68) earned his first win this season, pitching seven innings while giving up four runs on 10 hits. Eddie Guardado joined Louisville on Major League rehab assignment and pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Guardado, who had a 1.29 ERA and eight saves for Cincinnati last season, is recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Ricky Barrett (1-1, 3.66) took the loss in relief. Barrett recorded only one out in giving up four runs on four hits. Starter Matt Garza allowed two runs and struck out six in six innings, leaving with a 4-2 lead.

Keppinger was 3-for-4 on the night with a run and two RBI for the Bats. Keppinger, who led the team entering the game with a .426 on base percentage, reached base for the 21st straight game.

NOTES: Tolbert now has an nine-game hitting streak and raised his season average to 393, but is still several plate appearances short of qualifying for the league lead...Red Wings catcher Korey Feiner is still looking for his first Triple-A hit (0-for-24 in eight games with Rochester). Feiner had a great start to the season batting .326 (15-for-46) in his first 16 games with Double-A New Britain. Feiner came close to getting his first Triple-A hit on Sunday but was robbed when Bats centerfielder Chris Dickerson made a spectacular diving catch in the top of the sixth inning...LHP Dave Gassner recorded his second and Rochester’s seventh complete game of the 2007 season Sunday. The last time the Red Wings had seven complete-games in a season was 2001. RHP Kevin Slowey (promoted to Minnesota on May 30) still leads minor league baseball with three complete-games while Gassner is tied for 2nd with two. The last time Rochester had at least eight complete games in a season was 1998 (nine).

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New Britain Rock Cats

Record: 32-25

No Game Scheduled


Zach Ward

Fort Myers 0 at Clearwater 6

Record 27 - 36

W: C. Carrasco (6-2, 2.84); L: Z. Ward (2-8, 2.84)
HR: CLE: J. Urick (4).

E: Ugueto (10, throw).

From miraclebaseball.com: Carlos Carrasco took a one-hitter into the ninth before allowing two more Miracle hits in a complete game shutout as the Clearwater Threshers blanked the Fort Myers Miracle 6-0. Monday night was the second-straight shutout win for the Threshers as they moved to 5-0 at home against the Miracle this season.

Carrasco, touted by Baseball America as the best prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, picked up his fourth career complete game. The Venezuela native signed with the Phillies back in 2003 as an amateur free agent.

Steve Tolleson led off the ball game with a single up the middle before Carrasco would turn on the after burners to retire the next 26 in a row. Clearwater picked up their first complete game of the season behind Carrasco’s nine innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven. Carrasco gave up a two-out single to Tolleson and a double down the right-field line to Portes in the ninth for the final two hits.

Scoring for the Threshers began in the fourth as Miracle starter Zach Ward was in cruise control until a two-out throwing error by Luis Ugueto at short kept the inning alive. After a Lou Marson walk, John Urick would make the Miracle pay for their mistake with an opposite-field, three-run shot giving the hosts a 3-0 lead.

Three-straight Clearwater hits in the fourth would lead to the final three Thresher runs on the night. After a one-out walk to Brad Harman, Michael Spidale followed with an infield single off the glove of Ward on the mound putting runners at first and second. Greg Golson soon plated Harman with his RBI-single to right before Jason Donald’s two-run double to right-center wrapped up the scoring on the night.

The Miracle will look to avoid the sweep on Tuesday night sending RHP Jay Rainville (2-7, 3.36) to the mound. The Thresher will counter with RHP Zac Stott (2-4, 3.71) beginning at 7:00 p.m.

I asked Penny if Joe had said anything to him - offered him any advice - that had led to the 9 strike outs, a season high for him, in his last start. He said "He didn't say anything, he just caught me." In terms of futility, no one walked, and Portes and Ugeto struck out twice. According to Brian's research, the 14th shut out of the season does not set a new record, but it does tend to raise eyebrows.

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Cedar Rapids 4 at Beloit 2

Record 39-23

W: T. Bell (2-2, 3.34); L: A. Craig (1-1, 4.67); SV: B. Browning (4)
HR: CED: M. Sweeney (5).

E: Singleton (11, fielding)

From snappersbaseball.com: The Cedar Rapids Kernels took game one of the six game series with the Snappers, 4-2 on Monday. The Kernels scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to take the lead for good.

Beloit struck first in the bottom of the first inning. An RBI double from Wilson Ramos and an RBI single from Danny Valencia gave the Snappers the early lead.

That would be all the scoring that the Snappers would be able to muster. Cedar Rapids scored single runs in the top of the second and fourth innings to tie the game at 2-2. The Kernels took control of the game in the top of the eighth inning with two runs off of three hits and one error.

Beloit was unable to put any runs across in the bottom half of the eighth and lost game one of the doubleheader, 4-2.

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Cedar Rapids 4 at Beloit 5

Record 40-23

W: J. Carnevales (2-0, 2.45); L: A. Cook (1-2, 0.82)
HR: None.

E: Hawes (2, fielding), Olson (11, fielding).

From snappersbaseball.com: Yancarlos Ortiz’s patience paid dividends for the Snappers in their 5-4 victory over the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Yancarlos had a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth inning to help the Snappers take game two of the doubleheader.

Cedar Rapids got out to an early 4-0 lead over the Snappers in game two. Three runs in the top of the fourth inning helped the Kernels take control of the game early on.

Beloit battled back in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at 4-4. RBI’s from Yancarlos Ortiz, Brian Dinkelman, and Garrett Olson helped breathe life into the dormant Snappers offense.

The game remained tied heading into the bottom of the eighth inning when Ortiz would ignite the crowd and help the Snappers salvage game two of the doubleheader. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning, Ortiz walked up to the plate hoping to play hero. Yancarlos worked the count to 3-2 and somehow laid off a close pitch on the outside of the plate to draw the game winning walk.

Jesus Carnevales pitched an inning of scoreless relief to pick up his second win of the season. The win helped the Snappers improve their record to 40-23.

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Scoreboard for June 10, 2007

Rochester 4 at Lousville 5

Record 31-28

W: P. Dumatrait (6-4, 3.63); L: D. Gassner (1-6, 5.85); SV: B. Salmon (4)
HR: None.

E: Williams (3, missed catch).

From redwingsbaseball.com: Ryan Jorgensen drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning to push Louisville to a 5-4 win over visiting Rochester on Sunday. Glenn Williams and Garrett Jones had RBI singles in the first for the Red Wings (31-28) and Matt Tolbert, who went 3-for-4, lined a run-scoring double in the second.

Jorgensen ripped a double to left that scored Jeff Bannon to break a 4-4 deadlock. He also doubled and scored on Jeff Keppinger's two-bagger in the third. Aaron Herr and Chris Dickerson delivered RBI singles in the first and fourth for the Bats (32-31).

Louisville starter Phil Dumatrait (6-4) allowed four runs on eight hits while striking out three and walking two in seven innings. Rochester led 3-1 after one inning and 4-1 after two. Brad Salmon pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

Rochester starter Dave Gassner (1-6) went the distance, surrendering five runs on 12 hits with two strikeouts.

NOTES: With three hits Sunday, Tolbert now has an eight-game hitting streak batting .484 (15-for-31). Tolbert is batting .542 (13-for-24) on the roadtrip and .386 on the season, and is just four plate appearances short of qualifying for the IL batting lead after he missed 15 games due to a strained oblique muscle...The Red Wings trail first place Buffalo by just 1 1/2 games...The Red Wings now have an 11-19 record at Louisville Slugger Field. Rochester has lost seven of their last 11 games at Louisville Slugger Field. The Rochester franchise has played 49 games in Louisville (two ballparks) and holds just a 16-33 record...Red Wings RHP Nick Blackburn is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for June 2-9...Blackburn, 25, went 2-0 in two starts and posted a 0.00 ERA (17.0 ip, 0 er) with 10 strikeouts and no walks...he tossed a 9.0 inning complete game shutout June 8 vs. Indianapolis...Blackburn was drafted by the Twins in the 29th round of the 2001 First-Year Player draft...

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Bowie 4 at New Britain 6 (10 Innings)

Record: 32-25

W: J. Sawatski (3-2, 5.04); L: S. Rleal (0-2, 7.20)
HR: NBR: B. Buscher (5), L. Hughes (3).

From rockcats.com: New Britain's Brian Buscher crushed a two-run homer over the right field wall in the bottom of the tenth inning to give the Rock Cats a 6-4 walk-off victory against Bowie.

Rock Cats starter Ryan Mullins was masterful again, limiting the Bay Sox to one run on six hits and two walks in just his third Double-A appearance. He struck out two. The 6'6”, 180-lb. Vanderbilt University product has crafted a 2.25 ERA in the Eastern League. He came away with the no-decision as the bullpen couldn't hold the lead for the southpaw.

Bowie scored three runs with two outs in the top of the ninth to tie the game, 4-4. Brian Forystek allowed back-to-back singles before giving way to Frank Mata. The Bay Sox sent pinch hitter Luis Jimenez to the plate and he delivered a two-run double that closed the gap, 4-3. Bryan Bass' RBI double tied the game.

New Britain's Luke Hughes continued his hot streak at the plate by sending the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning from fellow Australian Craig Anderson over the left field wall to put the Rock Cats up 1-0. The Rock Cats bench sat in playful protest as Hughes, who popped up for the final out in the ninth inning in Saturday night's game, returned to the dugout after crossing home plate. Garrett Guzman added an RBI groundout to score Buscher, who reached base on a walk and moved to third on Brock Peterson's double, for a 2-0 advantage.

Brandon Roberts added a two-run single in the fourth inning for the Rock Cats.

Hughes finished the game 2-for-5 and hit .577 (15/26) during the 13-game home stand. Buscher, Peterson, Guzman, and Roberts all finished the day with two hits apiece. Hughes had the chance to end the game just as he started it as he led off the tenth inning. He brought the crowd to its' feet with a deep shot to right field, but the ball fell short and was caught for an out. Trevor Plouffe then drew a walk before Buscher stepped to the plate and delivered the walk-off homer.

Jay Sawatski (3-2) picked up the win with 1 1/3 innings of shutout relief.

Anderson allowed 11 hits and four runs through 7 2/3 innings. He struck out six. Sendy Rleal (0-2) took the loss with 1 1/3 innings in relief after allowing Buscher's home run.

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Oswaldo SosaFort Myers 0 at Clearwater 2

Record 27 - 35

W: J. Outman (6-3, 2.70), L: O.Sosa (2-4, 2.65) S: R Hill (1)
HR: None.

From miraclebaseball.com: Clearwater Thresher starter Josh Outman went six innings allowing five hits with nine strikeouts as the Threshers shut out the Fort Myers Miracle 2-0 on Sunday afternoon. The Miracle see their brief two-game win streak snap and remain winless in four tries this season at Bright House Networks Field.

Both teams had six hits on Sunday but the Threshers were able to string hits together at the right time to put runners on and score the win. A RBI-single from newly acquired Nic Jackson in the third and a groundout from John Urick in the sixth gave the Threshers their pair of runs.

The Miracle had several quality chances in the matinee Sunday as Edward Ovalle and Erik Lis each smacked a one-out double before the Outman and the Threshers ended the threat. Lis drew a lead-off walk in the sixth, but Outman came back to strikeout the side in his final inning of work.

After Lis' double in the fourth and a hit-by-pitch to Whit Robbins, catcher Caleb Moore belted a fly ball to the deepest part of the park that Thresher centerfielder Greg Golson tracked down for the final out, robbing Moore of extra bases and the Miracle of two runs.

Reliever Bear Hill for the Threshers tossed the final three innings to preserve the shutout allowing just one hit with three strikeouts. The Miracle fanned a dozen times against the duo of Outman and Hill on Sunday afternoon.

Game two of the series takes place on Monday night beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Miracle send RHP Zach Ward (2-7, 2.56) to the mound as the Thresher counter with RHP Carlos Carrasco (5-2, 3.26).

This would be the 13th blanking of the Miracle this season, equaling the futility marks of the 2003 & 2004 Fort Myers teams. And we haven't even hit the All-star break yet!

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Staff photo by Rob Lucas
Snappers second baseman Brian Dinkelman chases a ground ball Sunday against Burlington. It went for a hit.
Burlington 5 at Beloit 7

Record 39-22

W: M. Fox (3-0, 0.00); L: J. Cribb (1-5, 6.55); SV: R. Delaney (20)
HR: BUR: M. Thompson (12).

E: Lugo (2, throw).

From snappersbaseball.com: The Snappers won another close game on Sunday over the Burlington Bees, 7-5, to sweep the four game series. Reliever Rob Delaney picked up his Midwest League leading 20th save to help lock down the victory for Beloit.

After Burlington scored first in the top of the third inning, Beloit battled back to tie it up, 1-1, in the bottom half. Brian Dinkelman had a two-out double to left and was driven home by Wilson Ramos one batter later. Ramos' RBI was his eighth of the season.

RBI's from Danny Santiesteban, Greg Yersich, and Brian Dinkelman in the bottom of the fourth inning gave Beloit a 4-1 lead heading in to the second half of the game.

Burlington regained the lead in the top of the fifth inning off the bat of Michael Thompson. Thompson hit a grand slam off of Beloit starter Cole Devries to make it a 5-4 Bees' lead.

After a scoreless sixth inning from both sides, the Snappers took the lead in the bottom of the seventh. A two-run double to left field off the bat of Chris Parmelee gave Beloit the lead and helped bury the Bees for good. Joe Benson followed Parmelee with an RBI single to give the Snappers a 7-5 lead.

Matthew Fox pitched an inning and two thirds of three hit, scoreless relief to pick up his third win of the season. Rob Delaney pitched an inning and a third to pick up his 20th save. The Snappers are now 39-22 on the year.

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Scoreboard for June 9, 2007

Rochester 4 at Lousville 2

Record 31-27

W: J. DePaula (3-3, 2.28); L: K. Saarloos (0-1, 4.15); SV: B. Korecky (14)
HR: None.

From redwingsbaseball.com: Rochester (31-27) scored three runs in the final two innings to defeat Louisville (31-31) in front of 11,919 fans Saturday night. Red Wings first baseman Glenn Williams went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Center fielder Denard Span went 2-for-4 and scored the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.

Bats' starter Mike Gosling struck out eight batters in 6.2 innings, including five in a row, however did not factor in the decision. Gosling allowed one earned run on three hits. Kirk Saarloos (0-1, 4.15) picks up the loss going 1.2 innings, while allowing five Red Wings' hits and two earned runs. RHP Julio DePaula (3-3, 2.28) gets credited with the win, striking out one in 1.0 inning. Rochester starting pitcher Brian Duensing went 6.1 innings and allowed only one run. Ricky Barrett allowed two hits and a run in 2/3 innings pitched before giving way to DePaula; Bobby Korecky worked around trouble in the ninth to record his 14th save.

NOTES: Garrett Jones' key eighth inning double was the only extra base hit of the game's 21 total hits. Tommy Watkins drove in Jones to tie the game at 2-2...Matt Tolbert had one hit and now has a seven-game hitting streak...RHP Tristan Crawford, who started the season with Rochester, has made a successful transition from reliever to starter at Double-A New Britain. Find out more in our exclusive weekly New Britain Rock Cats Report.

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Bowie 2 at New Britain 1

Record: 31-25

W: J. Miller (2-3, 3.00); L: T. Lahey (5-1, 3.41)
HR: BOW: L. Jimenez (4).

From rockcats.com: Bowie’s Val Majewski scored on a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth to give the Bay Sox a 2-1 victory over New Britain.

Majewski walked with one out in the ninth, advanced to third on Luis Jimenez’ single, and came around to score on Eli Whiteside’s sac fly to right field for the game winning run. The Rock Cats rallied in the bottom of the inning, with a leadoff single by Brian Buscher. Brock Peterson struck out before Garrett Guzman (2-for-4) delivered another single. David Winfree was then sent down on strikes to send Luke Hughes, who has been one of the hottest Rock Cats hitters of late, to the plate. Hughes popped up to shallow right field to end the game.

Jimenez, a former Rock Cat, hit a solo home run off New Britain starter Jesse Floyd in the fifth inning to put Bowie ahead 1-0.

New Britain tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Hughes reached base on a single, but was forced out at second base on Kyle Geiger’s ground out. Geiger (2-for-4) was able to advance to second, though, when Bowie second baseman Paco Figueroa misfired his throw to first base on an attempt to complete a double play. Brandon Roberts then knocked in Geiger with a single to center field.

Floyd scattered six hits and allowed one run through six innings. He struck out six. Tim Lahey (5-1) pitched three solid innings in relief with two hits and one run, but took the loss.

Bowie starter Rosman Garcia tossed five solid innings with one unearned run on four hits. James Miller (2-3) picked up the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.

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An interesting bit in the Hartford paper what is only related in terms of the Twins past relationships with a certain agent:

Harvey has been advised by agent Scott Boras and is likely to hire Boras should he choose to pursue a professional career instead of attending North Carolina. Speculation is that Harvey's affiliation with Boras, who has been known to drive up signing bonuses by using college as an option, negatively impacted his draft status.

"We didn't know what the signability [of Harvey]was because of that," Florida Marlins scouting supervisor Steve Payne said of the Harvey-Boras connection. "And we can't take that chance. ... Some [agents] are more difficult to deal with because we believe they over-evaluate the value of their clients." Just Say `Boras,' Draft Stock Drops



Josh Hill fielding autograph requests
Vero Beach 2 at Fort Myers 8

Record 27 - 34

W: J. Hill (3-2, 2.92); L: M. Walker (1-6, 6.08)
HR: None.

Wednesday - Zack Ward - 4 hits. And 2 came after Penny got off the mound, so 2 hits.

Thursday - Jay Rainville - 5 hits. Although only 3 while Rainy was on the mound.

Friday - Yohan Pino - 4 hits. 2+3+4=9 hits, three different starters, three days.

Shaggy Hill? These boys love them some Shaggy Hill as the Miracle exploded for 8 hits and 8 walks to give Hiller some little needed run support.

Hill pitched a shut out through six innings, allowing only 3 hits, and walking 1 while striking out 4. It wasn't until the top of the seventh that he found himself in trouble, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits before he was lifted in favor of Alex Smit.

Luis Ugueto took a walk in the first inning with 2 outs, and moved to second on an Erik Lis single. A wild pitch by the Devil Rays Matthew Walker moved him to third. Eddie Ovalle walked to load the bases, and Dwayne White brought Ugueto home on a ground ball to second to start the scoring for the Fort Myers Squad.

Juan Portes plated Toby Gardenhire in the second. Then the Miracle turned up the heat on Devil Rays defense, which looked over worked through the first two innings.

Ovalle walked, and moved over to third on White's single to right field in the bottom of the third inning. Javi Sanchez walked to load the bases. Toby Gardenhire drew a walk to bring in Ovalle, and Tolley walked in White. Juan Portes triple cleared the bases and even through Juan was out at home, the other 3 runs stood, giving the Miracle a 7-0 lead at the top of the fourth.

Whit Robbins came home on Portes ground out in the fifth to finish off the offensive work for the Miracle, who wouldn't even take a walk to support poor Alex.

Smity allowed 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 1 in 2.1 innings worth of work, but struggled a bit, running his counts.

Another interesting stat - going into this week, the Miracle had avaraged 3.15 walks per game. They average 6.25 walks per game during this home stand. Is Vero Beach pitching that bad? Did Joe's visit help? Does Slice urge them to more patience at the plate than Bolesy does?

I do know that after watching 4 games of Vero Beach fall all over themselves in the field, I'm going to have to bite my tongue when the Miracle do their Bad News Bears routine, because it's never been quite as bad as some of the fielding moves the Devil Rays pulled.

The Miracle now hit the road for three games as they journey to Clearwater to take on the Threshers. Oswaldo Sosa (2-3, 2.61) will take to the mound for the Miracle, and will hope that Fort Myers can continue their offensive onslaught for him, instead of falling prey to Josh Outman (5-3, 2.94)

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Notes: I was told when I got to the stadium that there's a picture going around of Jeff, the bat boy, sound alseep in the second inning. I took that picture and I do have to say that while he certainly looks very relaxed in it, he is NOT sleeping. He was in fact, wide awake and actually moved shortly after I shot it.

You should never listen to stadium rumors. We make them up just to keep the games fun and exciting.




Have you hugged your bat boy today?

Burlington 3 at Beloit 4

Record 38-22

W: D. Vais (5-1, 5.49); L: C. Hayes (1-3, 5.01); SV: R. Delaney (19)
HR: None.

E: Lugo (2, throw).

From MiLB.com: Chris Parmelee hit an RBI single and scored in the eighth inning to lift host Beloit to a 4-3 win over Burlington on Saturday night.

With two outs in the eighth, Daniel Valencia singled and Parmalee followed with a fly ball to right field into the twilight for his fourth triple. Joe Benson, who went 4-for-4, hit a ground ball that took a bad hop into right field for an RBI single, giving the Snappers (38-22) a 4-3 lead.

Danny Vais (5-1) got the last two outs in the eighth to pick up the win for Beloit. Robert Devaney pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his Midwest League-leading 19th save.

Chris McConnell had two hits and two RBIs for the Bees (25-36), who have lost six in a row.

Chris Hayes (1-3) blew his third save and was charged with three runs on six hits in two innings. Burlington starter Harold Mozingo went six innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk with a season-high nine strikeouts.

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The Hawk Eye

The Snappers rallied to win their third consecutive game against the Burlington Bees, 4-3 Saturday night. After two quick outs in the eighth, a Valencia single ignited the rally. Chris Parmelee tripled off the wall to score Danny Valencia and tie the game in the bottom of the eighth, 3-3. Parmelee scored later in the inning on a Joe Benson single to give the Snappers the lead. Benson went 4-for-4 on the night and Wilson Ramos continued to hit well for the Snappers, adding his seventh RBI of the season.

Brian Kirwan threw five innings and allowed two runs for the Snappers, while Danny Vais picked up his fifth win of the season in relief. Closer Rob Delaney grounded the Bees with three quick outs to pick up his Midwest League-leading 19th save.

Burlington starter Harold Mozingo took the no decision, despite striking out nine Snappers in six innings of work. The Snappers rally came against reliever Chris Hayes, who allowed three runs and was saddled with his third loss of the 2007 campaign.

Snappers

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