Josh Towers was all set for the win, two outs in the ninth nursing a 2-1 lead. But Adam Lind lost a fly ball in the dusk and a triple tied the game and left Towers on the bench as the Chiefs won the game in the bottom of the ninth. Towers went 8.2 innings and gave up the two runs on seven hits in what manager Basso descibed as his best start in AAA.
Ottawa had taken the lead in the top of the seventh on a home run. In the bottom of the seventh singles by Rob Cosby, Chad Mottola and Russ Adams tied the game. With Mottola on third and Adams on second Ottawa walked Adam Lind and it worked. In the bottom of the ninth Ottawa pitched to Lind and he made them pay, and atoned for his defensive mis-play, hitting a walk-off home run. Lind is now hitting .352 and the only mystery is why Mike Basso still has him hitting eighth in the lineup. Cosby, Mottola and Adams each had two hits.
9-0 is the score for a forfeit game, the Fisher Cats did not forfeit but they might as well have. The Cats had only three hits in the game. Yankee uber-prospect Philip Hughes pitched his usual five innings allowing only two hits and lowering his ERA to 2.50 in 18 AA starts. David Purcey started for New Hampshire and pitched six innings giving up five runs on eight hits and three walks. Purcey's last start was much better and that summarizes his season, one step forward, two steps back. It is hard to say that Purcey has made much progress this year, his delivery and control issues are still problems. Generally teams don't make major delivery changes in-season, it looks like Purcey should go to the fall league and rework his delivery.
Dunedin - Scheduled day off
One bad inning cost Lansing the game. Lansing led 3-2 going to the bottom of the sixth. Sean Stidfole had started and allowed the two runs when Edward Rodriguez was called on to start the sixth. A lead -off error, a passed ball and a wild pitch started the inning, two home runs finished it and a 3-2 lead became a 7-3 deficit. Brian Pettway went 3-4 with a home run.
Auburn 3 Oneonta 2 - 10 innings
Ben Zeskind hit a game winning home run in the top of the tenth to lead Auburn to Victory. Ben Harrison deserves a nod too, Brandon Magee loaded the bases with none out in the bottom of the seventh with Auburn up 2-1. Harrison got a double play and a strikeout to leave the game tied. Seth Overbey rode a nervous tenth, he loaded the bases with one out, but escaped with the win. Zeskind, Luke Hopkins and Matt Liuzza each had two hits.
A good all-round performance by Pulaski. Pulaski scored singles in each of the first four innings, plus a three spot in the sixth and cruised from there. Alex McRobbie pitched five innings of seven hit ball, Drew Taylor and Edgar Estanga pitched two scoreless innings each. Six hitters had multi-hit games, Chris Emanuele led all hitters with 3 hits. Travis Snider was 2-4 with a walk and no K's.
Stars
3 Josh Towers
2 Ben Zeskind
1 Adam Lind
Standings
Syracuse are 56-67, and are in sixth and last place, 15 games behind Scranton
New Hampshire are 53-67, and are in sixth and last place, 13 games behind Trenton
Dunedin are 23-27, and are in fifth place, five and a half games behind Clearwater and Fort Myers
Lansing are 20-30, and are in sixth and last place, 16 games behind West Michigan
Auburn are 27-25 and are in third place, one and a half games behind Mahoning Valley
Pulaski are 28-24 and are in second place, one game behind Danville
