The Auburn Doubledays clinched the division title and a playoff spot Saturday. Josh Banks made a strong claim for a promotion. With Lansing and Auburn in the playoffs the other teams in contention continued to slip. Dunedin lost their fourth in a row and are now out of the playoffs. New Hampshire are a half game back with two games left, three games left for Portland, their rivals in the chase. The Dunedin and New Hampshire offenses have struggled with the playoffs in sight.
Josh Banks made a strong case for a promotion yesterday when he pitched 7.2 innings giving up one run on six hits. The run allowed by Banks was in the first inning but Kevin Barker responded with a home run in the second inning. The Chiefs tacked on four runs in the sixth highlighted by a two run double from John-Ford Griffin and an RBI double from Barker. Ryan Roberts, Griffin and Barker had two hits each.
For the fourth day in a row Dustin Majewski hit a home run, this one in the third inning put the Fisher Cats ahead. But Trenton tied it against Ty Taubenheim and went ahead against Jean Machi in the eighth. New Hampshire had only five hits, two from Aaron Mathews.
Adrian Martin pitched seven innings but a solo home run allowed in the fourth inning gave him the loss. Brandon League pitched one inning in relief. The hitters managed only six hits, MVP Josh Kreuzer, just off the DL, had two of them.
Lansing scored four runs in the first inning, held on as West Michigan came to within one at 4-3, then scored three late runs to win 7-4. James Dougher was just promoted from the GCL to make the start but left after one batter due to an injured arm. The bullpen took over, notably Chris Reddout who pitched three shutout innings. Lansing's four runs in the first started with doubles from Jonathon Diaz and Chris Emanuele and was capped by a three run double from Paul Franko. Travis Snider had a day off. Brian Pettway had three hits, Paul Franko had two hits and four ribbies.
Auburn were up 3-2 after three innings and cruised to a division clinching win. Luis Perez started but only pitched four innings as he allowed five hits and three walks. Nathan Melek pitched three hitless, shutout innings to get the win. Victor Santana and Ben Zeskind hit two run homers to pace the offense. Leance Soto also had a hit and two RBI's.
3 star selection
3rd star - John-Ford Griffin
2nd star - Paul Franko
1st star - tie, Victor Santana and Ben Zeskind
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