Pearson Punks Portland

The Herd blew a 5-2 lead but managed to pull it out in overtime. Anthony Alford tripled home the winning run before a pair of insurance runs cross the plate on an error and a wild pitch. Alford opened the scoring with a two-run double and Ben Revere doubled home two more. Jordan Patterson added an RBI single and Andy Burns tied the game in the eighth with an RBI double. Revere, Patterson and Burns joined Alford in the two-hit club. Alford also drew a walk while Revere picked up an assist from left field to cut down a runner at second. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Reese McGuire also doubled with McGuire getting hit by a pitch. Cavan Biggio was 0-for-4 with a walk while Roemon Fields went 0-for-5.

Ryan Feierabend was victimized for two unearned runs over 5-1/3 innings, scattering six hits and three walks. He struck out five and threw 61 of his 91 pitches for strikes. Dusty Isaacs stranded a runner for Feierabend in the sixth but blew the save in the seventh by giving up a three-run home run among the four he surrendered in 1-1/3 innings. Javy Guerra pitched 1-1/3 shutout innings before giving way to Conor Fisk, who got the win with a scoreless ninth by striking out two to overcome a walk. Justin Shafer got the save with a shutout frame that included a strikeout.

Nate Pearson made quite a statement in his Double-A debut. He sat down the first 10 hitters he faced and struck out two batters in his first three innings before "tapering" off to one in the fourth and fifth. Four of Pearson's five outs were on the dirt. He was in line for the win but Yennsy Diaz was dinged for four runs on six hits and two walks over three innings, striking out two.

RBI singles by Chad Spanberger and Alberto Mineo accounted for the Fisher Cats runs. Chad Spanberger had a two-hit night. Nash Knight singled, walked and stole a base while Kevin Smith walked and swiped a bag. Forrest Wall and Brock Lundquist heard ball four once.  Santiago Espinal, Kacy Clemens and Riley Adams were all 0-for-4 with Adams still searching for his first Double-A hit.

This game was scoreless heading into the seventh inning stretch. Tampa would score twice against Turner Larkins in the seventh and added two more with a home run off Matt Shannon in the eighth. That ruined a great outing by Joey Murray who made his Florida State League debut. The former Kent State hurler retired the first five hitters in a row and retired seven of the first eight. He stranded a double and a single in scoring position and allowed just one other runner to reach base on an error. Murray yielded just two hits and a walk and struck out six.

Dunedin's lone run came in the ninth when Cullen Large doubled and moved to third on a Christian Williams single. Williams was thrown out trying to steal second. However, a wild pitch brought Large home. Williams had two hits while Chris Bec had a hit and two walks. Norberto Obeso singled and walked. Kevin Vicuna and Cal Stevenson had the other hits. Luis De Los Santos walked but Demi Orimoloye went 0-for-4.

The Lugnuts were limited to five singles, two of them belonging to Otto Lopez but he was caught stealing. Nick Podkul, Ryan Gold and Tanner Kirwer had the other hits. Kirwer also drew a walk as did Jake Brodt, Dominic Abbadessa and McGregory Contreras. Reggie Pruitt and Rafael Lantigua were 0-for-4.

Josh Winckowski did not have his best stuff as he coughed up four runs (three earned) on four hits and five walks over four innings and also uncorked a pair of wild pitches. He struck out two and got six getting six outs on the ground. Marcus Reyes gave up a run on two hits, a walk and a hit by pitcher while ringing up three over three innings. Sean Rackoski surrendered a run on two hits while punching out one in the eighth.