The Chiefs jumped out to an early lead after Chad Mottola's homerun scored Gabe Gross in the first and Eric Crozier followed with a solo shot in the second. Crozier decided he wanted more, so he hit a double, then another one, the second driving in two runners in the sixth.

Syracuse didn't need eleven, though -- Francisco Rosario was on the mound. Rosario was really working fast last night in the first couple of innings, from what I heard. When he gave up the ball to Spike Lundberg (two scoreless innings) after the sixth, he left having allowed only one hit and striking out six. Yes, he did walk four, but nobody came around to score on him. Jesse Carlson ruined the shutout in the ninth when he gave up two homeruns.

Harrisburg 9, New Hampshire 3
Box score

Eight hits for the Fisher Cats but only one was not a single and they ended up with just three runs to show for it.

Cameron Reimers didn't have much yesterday, giving up seven runs in the first two innings, albeit three were unearned after Carlo Cota made a fielding error at second. Jamie Vermilyea came on in the fifth and stayed through to the eighth. His only mistake was a homerun by Melvin Dorta in the fifth; Vermilyea went 1-2-3 in both the sixth and seventh innings.

Jose Umbria picked up his first hit of the year in the top of the second, driving in Raul Tablado. Tablado reached first base on a single and advanced to second on an error all on the same play; if this was a close game, that error would have been more significant.

Former Fisher Cat (in the sense that Dave Maurer is a former Blue Jay) Kip Bouknight picked up the win for Harrisburg, tossing six innings and four strikeout at New Hampshire, and retiring the last six batters he faced.

Lakeland 10, Dunedin 1
Box score

Michael McDonald could not keep his good start going last night. Five-plus innings, nine hits, six runs. It's funny, though -- he flew through the fourth and fifth innings before hitting the wall in the sixth. The bullpen didn't help much, either.

Jayce Tingler singled and tripled but did not score either time. Manny Mayorson scored the D-Jays' sole run. Ryan Roberts made two errors at second base.

Lansing 2, West Michigan 1
Box score

A bitterly cold night in Michigan, as the Whitecaps-Lugnuts rivalry continued. Chi-hung Cheng was both good and bad tonight, working quickly and striking out seven batters but also walking three. Jordy Templet and Danny Hill were great in relief, Hill recording his sixth save in his sixth appearance of 2005.

The winning run came on, of all things, a passed ball. Eric Nielsen scored the second run for the Lugnuts, the first coming off a Ryan Klosterman solo shot. Nielsen also smacked two doubles and reached base three times tonight, more than anyone else in the game.

Klosterman made a couple of great plays in the field, too -- one in the fifth and a another in the sixth. A somewhat controversial First Star selection, but Crozier's homerun came in an 11-3 loss.

Three-Star Selection:
3. Francisco Rosario
2. Eric Crozier
1. Ryan Klosterman

Today’s Games:
Syracuse (Miller) @ Pawtucket, 12:05 ET.
New Hampshire (Marcum) vs Binghamton, TBD.
Dunedin (Isenberg) vs Tampa, 7:00 ET.
Lansing (Perez) vs West Michigan, 6:05 ET.