With the way the bullpens on the full-season teams were pitching, Dunedin was lucky they were rained out. Only the short-season teams picked up wins last night.
Syracuse 3, Durham 4
Syracuse took the lead after a 2 run homerun in the fifth from John Schneider. They added another after an RBI hit from Andy Dominique, who went 3 for 3. Meanwhile, David Bush had cruised through 6 scoreless innings before allowing a Josh Phelps single and a Darnell McDonald homer in the 7th. Nonetheless, a fine effort for Bush, who struck out 3 on the night. Brandon League followed for the always popular Bush-League combo and pitched a shutout inning. However, Matt Whiteside couldn't nail down the save as he gave up a walk-off 2 run shot in the ninth, again off the bat of McDonald.
New Hampshire 1, Trenton 6
Zach Jackson had another mediocre outing, lasting 5.2 and yielding 4 runs on 8 hits and a walk. He did, however, strike out 7. Two of those runs scored in the 6th after Jackson let the first two runners on, struck out the next two and was pulled in favour of Jordan De Jong. De Jong was smacked around again. In total, he allowed both inherited runner and 2 of his own runners to score on 3 hits, 4 walks and a hit batsman in 1.2 innings. Clint Johnson was 2 for 4 with a double and had the only run scored.
Dunedin vs. Fort Myers - rained out
Southwest Michigan 4, Lansing 3
Once again, blame it on the bullpen. Chi-Hung Cheng was outstanding, pitching 6 innings of 3 hit shutout ball while striking out 7. With a 1-0 lead in the eighth and a pair on, Jeremy Harper had basically the same disastrous night as De Jong. Both inherited runners scored as well as a pair of his own runners in the following inning on 3 hits, 3 walks. Christian Snavely homered in the ninth, but the Lugnuts came up 1 run short.
Jamestown 3, Auburn 5
Both teams played some sloppy defense with 3 errors apiece including a catcher interference call on each side. Auburn did have some of it's top arms on display. Two 7th round picks, a 5th round pick and a top international signing, to be precise. Randy Dicken pitched 4.2 innings allowing 1 run with 8 K's. Eric Fowler and Robert Ray followed with scoreless outings. Edward Rodriguez allowed 2 runs in his 2 innings but was not helped much by the defense. Emmanuel Sena went 3 for 3 with a homerun while Ryan Patterson had another 2 hits and 2 RBI.
Pulaski 4, Burlington 3
Joe Wice started and threw a solid 5 innings allowing just one run on a solo shot. Zach Kalter opened the game with a lead off single and would eventually score. The Jays then scored another 3 in the 7th after a triple from Jacob Butler and doubles from Jonathan Jaspe and Leance Soto (who only struck out once in his four at-bats. An improvement at least). After 2 shutout innings from Shane Benson, the bullpen was a little shaky but was able to hold the fort.
The Three Stars!
Third star: David Bush
Second star: Emmanuel Sena
First star: Chi-Hung Cheng
Also, best of luck to former Skychief Glenn Williams who dislocated his shoulder just hours after being given the job as the Twins starting 3rd baseman. I'm sure we all hope that the Aussie recovers quickly as he's waited an awful long time for his opportunity.
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