Norfolk, VA — The Herd rolled over the tide quickly in this one. Josh Thole spanked a two-run homer off Jake Arrieta in the first inning and plated another in the third on a groundout. Eugenio Velez drove in two runs in the third and fourth innings with a ground-rule double and a single respectively. Mike Nickeas contributed a two-run double in the fourth. Mauro Gomez went deep for a solo shot in the fifth off Arietta and added a two-run bomb in the seventh off former Jay Mark Hendrickson. Velez led the hit parade with three and also stole a base. Thole, Gomez, Nickeas and Jim Negrych had two apiece. Thole is only hitting .331 and Negrych is at .358 now with a .273 mark in his last 10 games. Some folks would have you believe they are not deserving of call-ups! Ricardo Nanita singled and walked while Ryan Goins was 1-for-4. Andy LaRoche and Ryan Langerhans were both 0-for-4.Claudio Vargas (4-5) kept the Orioles affiliate in check to two runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks over five frames. He served up a Zelous Wheeler home run ball, struck out one and induced seven outs on the ground. Bobby Korecky was also victimized by a Wheeler dinger among his two runs over 2 2/3 frames. The damage was done on five hits and two walks and he only struck out one. Joel Carreno could not avoid a house call from Dr. Longball either as Jason Pridie put one over the wall but he surpassed Vargas' and Korecky's strikeout totals by striking out the side in the ninth.
Dunedin 3 Charlotte 0
Dunedin, FL — Scott Copeland (6-1) put up six goose eggs on the linescore by scattering four hits, three walks and a hit by pitch. He racked up five strikeouts and 10 groundball outs. Shawn Griffith put up two scoreless frames with a single walk being his only blemish. Ajay Meyer overcame three singles with two punchouts in a shutout ninth for his second save.Shane Opitz plated the first run with a two-out single but was denied a second RBI when Michael Crouse was thrown out at home in the fourth inning. Dunedin added two more insurance runs in the fifth with a Gabe Jacobo single and a K.C. Hobson double. Jon Berti had three hits and stole a base. Jacobo singled twice and drew a walk. Hobson doubled twice, Crouse doubled and singled and Opitz singled twice. Peter Mooney singled and walked. Nick Baligod doubled in five at-bats. Matt Newman and Chris Schaeffer both had 0-for-4 nights.
Lansing 2 Great Lakes 1
Midland, MI — Southpaw Daniel Norris had a WHIP of one in his five innings of work by allowing one run on two hits and three walks. He had just two K's but seven of his 10 outs in play did not escape the infield. Kramer Champlin struck out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect sixth. Ian Kadish (1-2) allowed a hit and a walk but struck out two over two scoreless frames. Arik Sikula struck out two in a perfect ninth for his seventh save.The Lugnuts tied the game on a Kevin Patterson blast to right field in the seventh inning. They grabbed the lead for good on a Jorge Flores fielder's choice in the eighth. Patterson had two of Lansing's five hits. Chris Hawkins singled and walked, Carlos Ramirez doubled and Jorge Flores had a base hit and stole a base. Dwight Smith Jr., Kellen Sweeney and Dalton Pompey all heard ball four once. Sweeney entered the game as a defensive replacement at third for Gustavo Pierre, who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Christian Lopes went 0-for-4 and Aaron Munoz was 0-for-3.
DSL Blue Jays 8 DSL Braves 5
San Pedro de Macoris, DR — The Jays scored a converted touchdown before the Braves responded. An Andres De Aza sacrifice fly opened the scoring in the first inning. Dean Bell singled home the next run in the second before a five-run explosion in the fourth. The rally began and ended with bases-loaded walks by Richard Urena and Juan Tejada with a Michael De La Cruz two-run single and a De Aza RBI single in between. De La Cruz singled home one more run in the fifth. De La Cruz had three hits and a walk. Bell had two knocks and a walk. Deiferson Barreto, Ronniel Demorizi, Javier Hernandez and De Aza were also in the two-hit club with Barreto getting the only extra-base hit, a double. Urena singled and walked. Leudy Garcia struck out three times and went 0-for-5.Miguel Castro began his season on the right foot with three shutout innings, giving up just two hits and a walk while striking out five. Dalton Rodriguez (1-0) got the win despite four runs scoring in his two innings. However, three of them were unearned as the Jays committed three errors with a passed ball in the mix. Rodriguez allowed four hits, issued three walks and struck out two. Yonardo Herdenez survived two walks to pitch a scoreless inning. Lefty Wilfri Aleton also overcame two walks but pitched two scoreless frames. Greylor Conde yielded a run on two hits and two walks and struck out one in the ninth.
