Tucson 8 @ Las Vegas 5 – Boxscore

The Tucson Padres edged out the Lawrie-less 51’s with an 8-5 victory. Scott Richmond started and allowed five runs, four earned, over 5.2 innings. Richmond surrendered 8 hits and two walks, striking out a pair. Rommie Lewis came in with two runners on base and stranded them both. However, he proceeded to allow three runs on four hits, including two solo shots, in his next inning. Winston Abreu pitched two scoreless frames and didn’t allow a hit, striking out two and inducing three grounders.

David Cooper had three of Las Vegas’s 8 hits, including a double, and had 2 RBI. DeWayne Wise was 2-for-5 with two doubles and a pair of runs scored. Adam Loewen was 1-for-2 with three walks and a strikeout. Ryan Shealy, Craig Stansberry and Chris Woodward were held hitless, but each drew a free pass. Brian Jeroloman and Manny Mayorson each had a single and an RBI, with Jeroloman also walking twice, and Travis Snider was 0-for-4 with a walk and also grounded into a double play.

New Hampshire 6 @ Trenton 7 – Boxscore

Zach Stewart started for the Fisher Cats and had a no decision. His ERA sits at 4.66 on the year after he surrendered four earned runs in 5 innings. Stewart struck out five and walked a batter, but his stuff wasn’t particularly sharp, as he gave up 11 hits. Stewart retired 6 batters on ground balls and four on fly balls. B.J. LaMura came in and threw 1.1 innings and Evan Crawford finished the last 1.2 frames. LaMura surrendered three runs, giving him the loss and a blown save (in one of the pointless uses of that rather meaningless stat). LaMura walked two and allowed three hits. Crawford also allowed three hits, but no runs.

New Hampshire scratched together 10 hits and drew three walks, but came up on the short end. Darin Mastroianni, Adeiny Hechevarria, Mike McDade and John Tolisano each had a two hit game. Mastroianni had a double and triple and drew a walk, scoring twice. Hechevarria saw Mastroianni’s triple and topped him with a home run. Hechevarria also scored twice and drove in three runs. McDade hit his seventh home run of the year, a two-run shot. Tolisano was 2-for-3 with a walk. Mark Sobolewski was 1-for-4 with a run scored and Yan Gomes had a single and a walk. Three of the hotter prospects of the year – Anthony Gose, Travis d’Arnaud and Moises Sierra – were kept off the scoresheet.

Palm Beach 5 @ Dunedin 6 – Boxscore

The Palm Beach Cardinals had 15 hits, but the Dunedin pitching was able to minimize the damage and escape with a one-run victory. Chad Jenkins started and picked up his fourth win of the year. His ERA rose to 3.07, as Jenkins allowed four runs over 6 innings. Jenkins walked a batter and struck out five, but he allowed 11 hits. Matt Wright came in and walked two during his inning of relief and Dumas Garcia allowed a hit, but not a run. Wes Etheridge allowed three hits and a run, which saw his ERA jump up to 1.37, but he also struck out three batters, improving his strikeout to walk ratio to 23:6.

The bottom of the lineup led the attack for Dunedin, as the last three batters in the lineup were involved in nearly every run. Kevin Ahrens, batting seventh, was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Sean Ochinko was 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo homer and is now 6-for-his-last-19 with two walks, four doubles and a home run. Ivan Contreras batted ninth and was 3-for-4 with a home run, an RBI and two runs scored. A.J. Jimenez added a solo shot and Kenny Wilson was 2-for-5 with 2 RBI. However, all eyes were on first base, where Adam Lind started and went 0-for-3 with an RBI. He was then replaced by Jon Talley, who was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts.

Burlington 13 @ Lansing 6 – Boxscore

This contest started well for the Lugnuts, as Marcus Brisker walked and he was singled to second by Kevin Nolan. Jake Marisnick singled, driving home Brisker, and then Marcus Knecht doubled, cashing both Nolan and Marisnick. Knecht came in to score on consecutive fly balls by K.C. Hobson and Carlos Perez.

Unfortunately, at that point the wheels fell off the bus. Burlington scored 9 runs over the next two innings and the Bees went on to win the game convincingly. Sean Nolin threw 2 innings, with the first going much better than the second. Nolin allowed four runs on five hits and three walks. Marcus Walden came in in relief and didn’t fare any better. Over 1.2 innings, Walden allowed six runs, five earned, on four hits and three walks. Danny Barnes allowed three runs on three hits and a walk, but at least he was able to eat a few innings, going 3 frames. Steve Turnbull and Alex Pepe combined for 2.1 scoreless innings.

On the offensive side, Marcus Brisker was 0-for-2 with three walks and K.C. Hobson was 0-for-3 with two walks. Marcus Knecht was the driving force for the offence, going 3-for-5 with the aforementioned double, a home run, 4 RBI and two runs scored. Nolan and Marisnick each had two hits and Perez and Michael Crouse each had one. Gustavo Pierre was hitless and made his 31st error.

Three Stars:
3rd Star – Ivan Contreras, 3-4, 2 R, HR, RBI, 6 TB
2nd Star – Adeiny Hechevarria, 2-5, 2 R, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 7 TB
1st Star – Marcus Knecht, 3-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 7 TB